Survey says: Organic farmers making most of pandemic
Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, farmers were able to keep their operations going as the process of farming itself didn t change at all.
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Mary Perry drives her two-horse sleigh along the trails Friday at Winterberry Farm in Belgrade. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
BELGRADE The cadence of life at Winterberry Farm remains virtually unchanged amid the coronavirus pandemic.
More than two decades ago as a single mother, Mary Perry dedicated her life to farming, and that passion remains to this day. Her 40-acre farmstead, which she and her three children tend to, is one of Maine’s many organic farms that have felt both the good and bad reverberations of the last 10 pandemic-dominated months.
Unity’s Common Ground Country Fair set for in-person return this year
The fair is scheduled for Sept. 24-26 at the Common Ground Country Fairgrounds in Unity.
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Free horse-drawn wagon rides were featured during the 2019 Common Ground Country Fair in Unity. Organizers announced Friday that the 2021 fair would return to in-person, after being held virtually last year amid the pandemic.
Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file
The Common Ground Country Fair is coming back in-person.
While it won’t be attracting the traditional crowds of 60,000-plus visitors who flock to the fairgrounds in Unity, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association announced Friday its plans to host an in-person, coronavirus-compliant fair Sept. 24-26.
Clouds loom over the Common Ground Country Fair in Sept. 2013.
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association has announced plans to go ahead with an in-person fair for its signature event: The Common Ground Country Fair. Of course the CDC has given us some really wonderful sanitation guidelines and data driven mandates for us to follow, says Fair Director April Boucher.
Boucher says plans are still in progress, but the fair will be reshaped a bit to allow for social distancing. Face coverings will be mandated, and additional sanitation stations will be provided. And she says the fair will develop demonstrations that allow for adequate spacing of onlookers.
ICUs remain busy even as vaccinations surpass 50% in Maine
May 7, 2021 GMT
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital intensive care units reached alarming levels as Maine raced to vaccinate residents surpassing a threshold of 50% of eligible Mainers being vaccinated on Friday.
More contagious COVID-19 variants are likely playing a role in the growing number of patients in ICU beds, officials said.
Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston has been experiencing its heaviest COVID-19 inpatient burden in recent weeks. Sixteen of the 21 patients, or more than three-quarters, were in the ICU as of Wednesday, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Maine CDC reports 218 new COVID-19 cases, no more deaths sunjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sunjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.