Boss of the barn

At Open Gates Equine Rescue’s Open Barn on June 20, Director Deb Hutchins recounted the story of Angel, the horse whose rescue led to the facility’s creation.

At 365 pounds, the 18-month-old filly was only about half her ideal weight. In 1998, the state confiscated her from a farm in Arundel. This prompted Deb Hutchins, who was a volunteer at an animal shelter in West Kennebunk, and Linda Walker to purchase their New Gloucester farm in 2000 for boarding distressed horses.

Soon afterward, Open Gates took in Angel’s mother, Princess, and half-sister, Lady, to reunite the family. Since then, several other horses have been taken in and sheltered by this facility, whose mission is “to protect, rescue and rehabilitate equine.”

Having attained her proper weight, Angel now looks fit and acts frisky. According to Hutchins, she has emerged as the alpha horse of the herd. As such, Angel has been dubbed the “boss of the barn.”

For more information on Open Gates, call 926-5570 or see www.opengatesequinerescue.com.

Holiday hours

Due to the holiday, the New Gloucester Public Library will be closing at noon on Friday, July 3, and will be closed all day on Saturday, July 4.

Historical Society meeting

There will be a business meeting of the New Gloucester Historical Society on Thursday, July 16, at 7 p.m. at the New Gloucester Meetinghouse, 389 Intervale Road (next to the Town Hall). The agenda will include a discussion about the 1839 Universalist Meetinghouse. All members are urged to attend.

Culture Fest ’09

Experience live music, food and games from around the world at Culture Fest ’09: Celebrating Culture and Community Passion. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 19, with a rain date of Sunday, July 26.

Culture Fest will be held at Crossroads Community Church, which is located on Route 100 in Gray Village, just north of McDonald’s and across the street from the American Legion Hall.

Musical guests include African Gospel Rhythms, consisting of Pezzy and Maria Kudakwashe and their two daughters, Natasha and Natalie; Stephanie Dunn of Gray, who plays classical and Celtic music; and Grimaldi Martinez of Lewiston, who will be playing music from his Puerto Rican roots.

Crossroads Cafa will also be open during this event. The proceeds from all purchases from their menu will be donated to people in need within the Gray-New Gloucester community.

Raffle drawings will be held. Prizes include a night at a B&B, a massage, jewelry and more.

For more information visit www.crossroadsmaine.org or call Anthony McKeown, 233-6086.

Kindling Stone

Kindling Stone, a musical duo from Nashville with strong Maine roots, will perform for the third year at the 1794 Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village Meetinghouse, Route 26, New Gloucester, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 25.

Chris Moore and Mark Wingate offer original folk songs as well as as songs representing several American musical traditions. Their instruments are the fiddle, the mandolin and the reed organ. The cost is $15, and reservations are required. Call 926-4597.

Spirit Salad

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, sprinkled with a lot of fun and high energy, are the ingredients at this year’s Summerfest at the First Congregational Church in New Gloucester, organizers say.

Summerfest will be held at the 19 Gloucester Hill Road church during the week of July 27-31 from 9 a.m. to noon daily. All children age 4 up to those entering sixth grade in the fall are invited to join for a week of singing, dancing, acting, games, cooking, arts and crafts, and learning about the “Spirit Salad.”

For more information or to register, please call the church office at 926-3260.

My mistake

In my last column, I incorrectly referred to Betty Haymon’s first-grade class as a kindergarten class in the segment about their Fish Friends program. Here’s a heartfelt apology to Mrs. Haymon and her class for my error.

Rescuing Angel from near starvation led to the development of Open Gates Equine Rescue in New Gloucester. Deb Hutchins is a co-owner of the facility.