The Gathering Place (TGP) is a unique community. Our guests are of all ages: older people living on Social Security or a pension, some just scraping by and some pretty comfortable; aging hippies; bold young men and women, school dropouts, college graduates, musicians, fishermen, veterans, retirees, artists, new Mainers, people traveling through, and people who’ve […]

I used to think the gold standard for American health care reform would be a “universal” or “single-payer” system similar to Canada’s, where everyone is covered, there are no bills to consumers and government directs spending to providers. Canada’s system is called Medicare. It started when our Medicare did, in 1965, and became nationwide by […]

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” hasn’t cracked a Joe Biden joke since April 15, when cast member Michael Che quipped, “President Biden has tried to downplay the recent leak of classified U.S. documents that were posted on social media, because when you’re over 80, a couple of leaks are nothing to be embarrassed about.” With strikes […]

While I always enjoy Maine State Music Theatre’s spectacular productions, the highlights, for me, are often the big dance numbers, the times when ensemble members strut (or tap) their stuff with utter precision and unabashed joy. I imagine the years of hard work that each dancer spent leading up to that moment. I appreciate the […]