Jacqui DeFranca and Jon Denton, owners of Sweetcream Dairy in Biddeford, Maine. The science, the stubbornness, and the shared joy that brought Jon Denton back home to Biddeford — and let his wife Jacqui build a life around it The Sweetcream Dairy storefront. Sweetcream Dairy sits on Main Street in Biddeford like it belongs there, like it always knew it would end up exactly where it is. Not because the path was obvious. Not because it was easy. But because this is what happens

Sarah Hoover, program director at Apex Youth Connection in Biddeford, Maine. From the outside, Apex Youth Connection doesn’t try to impress you. The building on Granite Street isn’t pretty. It’s scrappy. It looks like a place built for use, not for show. The kind of place that gets the job done and doesn’t apologize for it. Inside, the order reveals itself. Bikes and bike parts are everywhere, but nothing is careless. Handlebars hang in clean rows. Cranks, chains, gears — al

Heather Paquette, President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine. Outside the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, the morning felt unmistakably like Maine. The sun was bright, the air was cold, the wind was sharp, and snow clung to the edges of the parking lot. It was the kind of day that makes you hurry from your car to the door. Inside, the world felt entirely different. The warehouse moved with purpose. Volunteers sorted boxes beneath lights that cast winter light across th

Denis Garriepy, Chief Operating Officer of Landry / French Construction, at a job site in Alfred, Maine on Wednesday, November, 26, 2025. On a recent morning in Alfred, Denis Garriepy checked the time before stepping into the unfinished York County First Responders Training Center. He had already visited one project earlier that day and had two more scheduled before heading back to the office. Landry / French Construction currently has fifteen active projects across the regio

Michelle and John Corgan outside Bell Farm Shops. They purchased the property in 2017 and have transformed it into one of the most beloved shopping destinations on the Seacoast. Bell Farm Shops in York has a presence that stops people in their tracks. The tall red barn at 244 US Route 1 looks like it could be the set of a movie. The cupola rises above the rooftops with a horse weathervane. The morning sun rests on the shingles and the red picket fence. Wind chimes move on the

Kim Cochrane-Coleman is the owner of Biddeford Painting in Southern Maine. Photographed on November 3, 2025 in Biddeford, Maine. Jasper fixed appliances, Scott ran the lanes that kept Biddeford rolling, and Kim paints the places people live their lives. In this city of brick mills and salt air, the Cochrane name has long meant something simple but powerful: care for what’s yours, and care even more for what you share. Three generations have done that in three different ways—

Melissa Colley at Saco Scoop in Saco, Maine. A Door That’s Always Open It’s a Monday afternoon on Main Street in Saco, Maine, and the Saco Scoop shop smells like hot fudge and waffle cones. Behind the counter,  Melissa Colley  greets every customer by name — or, if she doesn’t know it yet, simply as “my friend.” “Because that’s the way it always was,” she says, glancing at the handwritten menu above her shoulder. “And don’t change what’s not broken.” At 209 Main Street, next

When Cheryl and Dale Wilkinson first stepped inside the centuries-old barn on Dennett Road, they didn’t just see decay — they saw history worth saving. The beams were hand-hewn, the floors uneven, the air thick with memory. Years of renovation later, This Old Barn stands again in all its rustic glory: a 202-year-old structure now alive with weddings, laughter, and the steady pulse of family effort. How an Old Farm Became a Barn Venue Rebuilding This Old Barn in Dayton, Maine

David Stover, of Southern Maine, is the owner of Saint Nick's Chimney Service. Saco, Maine — With a brush rod in one hand and a grin in the rain, David Stover climbs the ladder like he’s done it a thousand times before. Below him, his mother Sherrell runs the vacuum inside the house, her steady rhythm matching his scraping above. Together they form the heart of Saint Nick’s Chimney Service , a Southern Maine company that has been keeping hearths clean and safe for more than

Silas Wolff's face glows from the fire of a coal forge while creating a chef knife. Photo by Cy Cyr. Kennebunkport, Maine, hums with early - Fall quiet. The scent of salt and pine mixes with the faint metallic tang of steel in the air. Out back of an old family barn, beside stacks of wood and a coal forge glowing orange, a German Shepherd named Bjorn thumps his tail and drops a stick at the feet of his owner, Silas Wolff . Inside the workshop, sparks burst like fireflies as

Katie and Cody Sherer, owners of Mainely Blooms at 1903 Portland Road in Arundel, Maine. Photo by Cy Cyr. Three Generations on the Same Patch of Maine Soil Here on a long, humming stretch of Route 1 in Arundel, a family’s land has been put to work for three generations—and three entirely different businesses. That continuity is the quiet power behind Mainely Blooms , the perennial nursery and flower farm owned by Cody and Katie Sherer at 1903 Portland Road in Arundel, Maine

Gabe Sutton, of Biddeford, Maine, has been a furniture maker and woodworker for 25 years. Photo by Cy Cyr In a sunlit workshop in...

Brad McCourt, owner of Brew England in Biddeford, Maine on September 26, 2025. Photo by Cy Cyr. If you stroll down Main Street in...

Mike Norcia, owner of Sternlines and Forewind Golf

Brian Fairfield, Maine Dry-Stone Waller

Joe Poisson, Southern Maine Mosquito and Tick owner.

A boat tour around Wood Island Lighthouse in Biddeford, Maine