This year’s event will once again offer virtual and in-person activities, both free and ticketed. The festival’s signature experience is a live streamed Virtual Tasting (via ZOOM), co-led by local apple historian Todd Little-Siebold and special guests on Saturday 11/13 from 7:30 - 9:00p. The Virtual Tasting will include a lively discussion with Maine cider and cheese makers, pairing suggestions and time for audience questions.
Ticket purchase of $115 includes a generously-filled Cider + Cheese Bag with cheese from - Fuzzy Udder Creamery, Garden Side Dairy@ Hatch Knoll Farm, Crooked Face Creamery, York Hill Farm and Springdale Farm. Hard ciders from Whaleback Farm, Rocky Ground, Cornish Cider, Fogtown Brewing Company and Norumbega Cidery - enough for 4 hearty size tastings to share!
All tickets include an entry to win a ticket to the Downeast Cider + Cheese Festival in 2022!
An in-person Festival Market will be held onSaturday, 11/13 in Merrill Park on Franklin Street, Downtown Ellsworth! The Market will be open 10a - 3p and feature local slow food purveyors, cheesemakers, cidermakers, food vendors, live music, and other specially made items from Maine. Special guest, Laura Sieger from MOFGA, will be offering apple identification. The market will also be one of three prescheduled Cider + Cheese Bag pick-up locations.
To bolster our business community, four Ellsworth area banks,Bangor Federal Credit Union, First National Bank, Franklin Savings Bank, and Machias Savings Bank with support from Bar Harbor Bank & Trust have generously sponsored our second rendition of the Downtown Grants Program. Applications opened 11/1 and close on 11/22. This year's funding focus supports emerging entrepreneurs and small business owners alike. Mini-grants of $1000 will be available for start-up or expansion projects to help entrepreneurs and support economic opportunities.
We have partnered with Desert Harvest, Maine Trail Finder, and the Look Out For ME initiative to provide guidelines, tips, and resources for your next Ellsworth adventure. By assembling this page of downtown Ellsworth-centric walks we aim to highlight our city’s natural attributes making it easy to plan your next shopping, eating, hiking trip to downtown Ellsworth. To watch all videos produced in partnership with Wayne & Jemily Ayers-Creech of Back to the Basix click button below! More videos added weekly.
OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT | 71 OAK STREET
FMI: click here
MIKE'S COUNTRY STORE FOR SALE | 92 WATER ST
FMI: click here
Being Present; Letting Go and the Power of the Pause - Healthy Acadia
Thursday, November 4: 5-6pm
Join Healthy Acadia for this guided mindfulness workshop with Barbara Sinclair, PhD. The free online event is the eighth installment in Healthy Acadia’s Monthly Mindfulness series. Sinclair will guide participants through a body-mind-heart scan. We'll explore tools to help us remember to take a pause from our daily autopilot routine to focus on our present state of being.
The Broadband Committee will hold a public forum in the Council Chambers at City Hall to answer questions and hear comments on potential broadband expansion in the City of Ellsworth.
The next in-person constituent coffee hours will take place at the Moore Community Center in the Friends in Action Cafeteria. Coffee and tea will be provided and masks are required.
125 State Street
Ellsworth
FREE FMI: To schedule a private conversation - Nicole.Grohoski@legislature.maine.gov or 207-358-8333
Ellsworth City Council Meeting
Monday, November 15: 7pm
You can tune in and participate in Ellsworth City Council meetings through various online methods. Please visit the City Council webpage for meeting notices and participation instructions.
Ellsworth Community Music Institute is continuing in-personMidday Concerts @ 1:00 at the Moore Community Center! Due to COVID-19 restrictions the audience will be limited to 50 members and seats will be filled first come, first served. Masks will be required of all attendees, regardless of vaccination status.
Green Ellsworth in partnership with the Island Institute will host a Zoom forum with experts on Sea Level Rise in Ellsworth. Open to the public; participants must preregister by CLICKING HERE.
Thriving in Uncertain Times - Union River Center for Innovation
Thursday, November 18: 11am- 12:30pm
Join us for a FREE online workshop focused on practical ideas and action steps you can put in place immediately to begin thriving in uncertain times. Let’s do what we can to move ourselves forward!
On the last Sunday of every month, all year long, the Ellsworth Bike Party will meet at 3pm in front of City Hall. A fun way to explore Ellsworth, and see the city from a different angle! If you’d like more info or a reminder of each month's meeting, email: ellsworthbikeparty@gmail.com
Winter Marketplace - Fogtown Brewing Co. + Little Red Flower Truck
Saturday, December 4: 10am-3pm
Outdoor marketplace in the beer garden, featuring local artists showcasing and selling their fine art, hand-made products, crafts. Glass-blowing demonstrations and blown-glass holiday gifts will be for sale upstairs at Atlantic Art Glass.
We are pleased to extend a heartfelt welcome to Darren Easler! Darren has been chosen to serve as the first student on the Heart of Ellsworth Board of Directors.
Student voice is vital for the future of Ellsworth and the development of the Heart of Ellsworth board. When notified about the board appointment, Easler’s response was “I am ecstatic to be selected for this position. I am thrilled to be able to work with leaders in my community, and hope to use my voice as a student to help the organization's goals of creating artistic and educational opportunities and experiences [in downtown Ellsworth].”
The creation of the student board of directors position was one of many goals resulting from a strategic planning session in 2019 supported by Maine Community Foundation, Main Street America, Maine Downtown Center. For more of the story check out our blog - Downtown Beat - heartofellsworth.org/blog
Energy Audits - A Climate to Thrive
Last chance for subsidized energy audits for small businesses! A Climate to Thrive has partnered with Hancock County to provide funding through a grant from the USDA to subsidize energy audits for small businesses and farms throughout Hancock County. This program ends in April, 2022. These Level Two audits provide business-owners with valuable ways to reduce energy consumption and, importantly, costs. Those interested should contact A Climate to Thrive at johannah@aclimatetothrive.org as soon as possible.
Ellsworth Historic Preservation Commission - Open Alternate Position
Are you interested in architectural, historic, and environmental heritage in the City of Ellsworth? An alternate position is open for nominations to serve on the Historic Preservation Commission. Applications are on a rolling basis. Letters of interest can be sent Heidi Grindle, City Clerk, by email hgrindle@ellsworthmaine.gov, US Mail, or hand-delivered to 1 City Hall Plaza, Ellsworth Maine 04605
Time Machine - Celebrate Ellsworth's Business History!
In celebration of Main Street commerce and Ellsworth’s history of hard-working downtown entrepreneurs, we have partnered with the Ellsworth Historical Society to profile historical businesses of downtown. Join us each month as we take you on a journey and in between newsletters, help piece together local mysteries over at the Ellsworth Historical Society News Facebook Group!...new facts and treasures emerge regularly!
At the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, professional photographers were the public’s only source for pictures of themselves. Two of the most important photographers working on Main Street were B.F. Joy and Irving Osgood. Here is a clever advertisement for a lesser-known photographer. It mimics the elaborate, clasped case of a daguerreotype portrait.
Your Donation = Endless Smiles on Main Street!
Heart of Ellsworth remains focused and committed to economic growth through projects that enhance our downtown for both visitors and community members to enjoy.
Your contribution ensures that we meet our goals and your support inspires us to exceed them!
Heart of Ellsworth is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
Your gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
SAVE THE DATE! DEC 4: Downtown Ellsworth Christmas Parade
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We are pleased to extend a heartfelt welcome to Darren Easler! Darren has been chosen to serve as the first student on the Heart of Ellsworth Board of Directors.
