HISTORY: Echoes was founded in 1988 by Gordon Hammond and Kathryn Olmstead and published quarterly until 2017, first from offices in Bridgewater and Westfield, and, after 1992, from an office in Caribou, Maine. The first issue was a brochure commissioned by the Association of Aroostook County Chambers of Commerce. Because the brochure looked like a magazine, people wanted to subscribe. Their interest ignited a successful campaign for charter subscribers, offering the brochure as a free “Premiere Edition” with every order for a one-year subscription. Orders flowed in and Echoes took on a life of its own. As the identity of the magazine evolved, community became the dominant theme of its content, inspiring the subtitle Rediscovering Community.

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PURPOSE: Echoes focused on positive values rooted in the past that have relevance for the present and the future. The magazine suggested that knowledge of rural experiences can help us live in modern society – that there is permanence in places where roots are deep and traditions are strong. Yet it was not just a homage to the past; it was a prescription for the future – a calm and positive voice in a world looking for answers. It was a portrait of home, whether home is a place or a time, a memory of the past or a vision of the future.

 

CONTENT: Echoes contained illustrated feature stories, essays, columns, first-person life stories, poetry, fiction, recipes, photography and artwork.

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A sampling of topics in Echoes

Cultures of Aroostook: Acadian, Canadian, Irish, Lebanese, Maliseet, Micmac, Scots, Swedish

Farms and Forests: hand picking potatoes, farming and lumbering traditions.

Growing up in northern Maine

Hunting and fishing

Paddling the Allagash and other rivers

Wild and domestic animals

The Depression

Profiles of people

Aroostook athletes

Aroostook businesses and products

Northern Maine festivals and events

Rural food and recipes

Maine Communities

Local history

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STAFF in 2017

Editor and Designer: Kathryn Olmstead

Associate and Poetry Editor: Glenna Johnson Smith

Assistant Editor: Mary-Ann McHugh

Illustrations: Gordon Hammond

Printing and Typesetting: Print Works, Presque Isle Maine

Publisher: Echoes Press