Community Calendar

A Ribbon Cutting to celebrate the newly constructed village blacksmith shop at the Long Branch School & General Store takes place at 5 p.m., Wednesday, September 12. Long Branch School & General Store is also celebrating their first anniversary. The Open House is 5-7 p.m.

The grand opening will include demonstrations by blacksmith instructors along with past and current students and staff, and light hors d’oeuvres. In addition Jay Martin, Small Business Advocate for the Secretary of State's Office and Kristine Schuman, Midcoast Region Account Executive for the Dept. of Economic and Community Development will make brief remarks.

The Long Branch School & General Store opened in Bowdoinham one year ago, and they are pleased to hold the official grand opening of their newly constructed village blacksmith shop offering courses in Beginner Blacksmithing on Saturday mornings, Kids’ Blacksmithing on Sunday mornings and Women’s Night at the Forge on selected Friday evenings. The shop is also available for rent by students and other interested qualified blacksmiths. Their team of blacksmith instructors recently spent one full week demonstrating at this year’s Topsham Fair, as they continue their outreach in revealing this classic iron-working skill to the public.

Course offerings are extremely varied and include composting, animal husbandry, bread making, construction, small business classes, baking, fiber arts, pottery, alternative health and wellness, music, woodworking, as well as blacksmithing. Courses are continually being added to their curriculum. Most classes can be taken in the evening or on a weekend during the day, and although some may run over multiple weeks, many more are just two to six hours and are easy to fit into a busy working lifestyle.

The focus in the general store is on local. Here you will find produce grown by our local farmers and products made by local vendors. Given the abundance of local crafts people, they carry a wide variety of handmade items. They also carry local foods such as jam, chocolates, BBQ sauce, spices, bread and frozen meals, cookies and pie, and wine and beer from several local wineries and breweries. They work with area farmers to supply them with milk, eggs, beans, meat and seasonal vegetables. They also have some general hardware and a wide selection of animal feed for horses, pigs, sheep, chickens, and also dog and cat food.

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