Moxie in ME-Day 1/Moody's Diner

Moxie has its own history, books about its beginnings, and even a law, recognizing it as Maine’s official soft drink. With all that, Moxie certainly has to have a band of zealots and fans—the drink’s official fan club. Enter the New England Moxie Congress (NEMC).

The NEMC, or The Congress, for short, officially held their first meeting in July, 1991. They began as a small group of Moxie drinkers (and some that weren’t) that were interested in the phenomenon that was Moxie.

According to Congress historian, John Lehaney, “We’re a fairly diverse group.” Lehaney, a retired community college counselor, who lives in Missouri, travels back to New England every summer, in July, to attend the variety of Moxie events that happen each year.

Like many of the Congress, Lehaney’s passionate about Moxie and has taken it upon himself to compile a four volume history of the Congress, housed at the Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage, in Union, Maine, which is where visitors will find a sizable collection of Moxie memorabilia and other assorted Moxie-related items, including the Moxie Bottle House.
[Excerpt about the New England Moxie Congress, from Moxietown, by Jim Baumer, ©2008 (RiverVision Press)]


I was invited by the New England Moxie Congress to participate at their 3rd annual Moxie Day, at one of Maine's iconic roadside diners, Moody's Diner, in Waldoboro.

This day signifies the arrival of The Congress in Maine, as they begin four days of events, which will included Saturday's Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls.

Congress President, Merrill Lewis, has been an advocate of Moxietown, promoting it via the group's website, and offering RiverVision Press table space today to sell books at Moody's. I interviewed Lewis for the new book, and have found him to be gracious, accomodating, as well as a tireless promoter of the work of The Congress, and of Moxie.

We had a great day at Moody's, and were treated like royalty by both the NEMC, as well as Mary Olson, of Moody's.

It was a banner day, and a great preparation for tomorrow's book signing at Frank Anicetti's Moxie Store.

[Nothing beats a stop at Moody's Diner]

[Right turn for Moxie]

[Wil Markey's Moxie Horsemobile, parked by the Moody's Gift Shop]

[Wil Markey's organ, originally built for the 1939 World's Fair]

[Don Worthen (former NEMC Prez), and Merrill Lewis, NEMC's current commander-in-chief]

While today was an all around great day, one of my favorite parts, was meeting the amazing Wil Markey, who has built several Horsemobile replicas.

Built on a LaSalle chassis, these classic automobiles allow them to be driven, while seated upon the horse mold, mounted in the center of the vehicle.

A member of America's greatest generation, Markey is a dynamo of activity, and is always eager to share a story about a horsemobile, vintage organ, of some aspect of an amazing life.

Back at you Friday, from Lisbon Falls, Moxie capital of Maine.

Moxie madness begins

I'm off to Moody's Diner, in Waldoboro, to bivouac with the New England Moxie Congress. We'll be invading the parking area, and occupying it most of the day.

This is my first Moody's experience with the Congress, so I'm not sure what to expect. Hoping to sell books and possibly see Jimm E's new alternative fuel vehicle, powered by Moxie (you can have your wind Mr. Pickens, make my alternative, Moxie!).

Last night, had the opportunity to watch my 207 segment. The feedback from the jury is that I acquitted myself well.

After spending the day at Moody's, it's on to Lisbon Falls, Friday and Saturday, and then, Sunday, we're holding our own RVP, post-Moxie bash at the compound.

Drink Moxie!!

The death of the automobile

Americans have had a century-long love affair with the automobile. Ever since Henry Ford introduced his Model T, granting motoring access to the working masses, the automobile has been interchangeable with the American experience.

Around the same time that Henry Ford masterminded the assembly line process of automobile manufacturing, General Motors was creating its own iconic brand, Chevrolet. Even today, people classify themselves as “Chevrolet,” or “Ford” people in their loyalty to the competing brands.

General Motors, as American as baseball and apple pie, is in serious trouble. With its stock price at a half-century low, GM is faced with the prospect of cutting many of its eight various brands. Rivals Ford and Chrysler have recognized that being smaller is necessary if they have hopes of surviving the restructuring of the U.S. auto industry. While some GM executives and board members have talked about the need to possibly jettison their Saab brand, much the way Ford unloaded Land Rover and Jaguar, Chief Executive Richard Waggoner has resisted.

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal by John Stoll intimates that the company’s structure, still overly heavy with mid-level managers, many responsible for GM’s recent woes, is to blame for the company’s inability to reach consensus and make quick decisions. Consequently, GM’s continued listing and Waggoner’s critics are legion.

Ironically, the company has put a great deal of import in the development of the Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid. Could GM, still operating as an automotive dinosaur, see its fortunes intertwined with lithium-ion batteries?

Oil’s escalation in price will require new ways of thinking, from what our future cars look and how they drive, to possible new models of transportation beyond our current, one-car, one-person way of doing things.

Fearing fear itself

"The fearmongers of both sides offer no solutions, they just want us to crouch in our foxholes and be scared."
[Comments posted on the The Smirking Chimp blog]

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
[FDR-from his first inaugural address, March 1933]

Americans are panicked. Maybe it's the 24/7 drumbeat of the doom and gloom, mainstream media, hoping that the citizenry will succumb to its bludgeoning.

Sadly, our lack of historical perspective seems to make it worse. Oil is high, gas is expensive, but at least we're not limited to buying it on odd, or even-numbered days, depending on what number your license plate ended with.

I'm planning on enjoying Independence Day, with the people I care about. I'm happy to have a new book out that's selling. My appearance on the 207 program validates my efforts on the writing and publishing side. My daytime gig is bearing fruit and I'm making a difference in helping people begin to empower their own lives.

I've never been a big fan of flag waving, or chest-thumping patriotism, but I'm going to hang out the red, white, and blue at the compound, and enjoy some deserved downtime, and offer my own silent "thanks" for the opportunities still available in America.

Small beers and small presses

I don’t know much about Small Beer Press, other than Book Dwarf dropped a reference to them, and I thought I’d Google them. Oh--they hail from Northampton, MA, best known as the setting for Tracy Kidder's Home Town.

They are a publisher of fiction and fantasy, and they appear to have a fairly substantial catalogue of interesting books, like this one.

Apparently Maureen F. McHugh is a big deal, as she uses her middle initial in her name, and also lumps mothers in with monsters, of which, given the technologically-fueled death of imagination, there seems to be a dearth of these days, other than the run-of-the-mill creations of modern Hollywood. According to the blurb from McHugh's book, mothers and monsters have become one and the same.

I liked this title because I could alter it to read, The Baum(er) Plan for Financial Independence, of which I’ve been spending some time launching.

Since I’ve spent my life evading money at all costs, I thought it time to begin laying up some resources for my later years. Not that picking up bottles on the side of some abandoned highway, in a post-apocalyptic world doesn’t sound romantic.