MATTAWAMKEAG, Maine — On a recent rainy, gray Friday morning, there wasn’t much happening in the tiny northern Penobscot County town of Mattawamkeag, population 687 and shrinking. A few trucks carrying logs and wood chips slowed on the ice-skimmed roadway as they rumbled past small churches, the shuttered elementary school, a battered motel and restaurant, the general store and liquor outlet.
But bright lights were shining from one end of the corrugated-steel municipal building that houses the town office, the Fire Department and the library. Inside, two long tables were set with 20 chairs each. The warm air was aromatic with the smell of good food — soups, desserts, homemade yeast rolls and fresh-brewed coffee. Four women bustled energetically in the kitchen, preparing for the weekly Warming Hearts Soup Luncheon. The event is open to all, free of charge.
Karen Morrison, 61, and her friend Carol McKinnon, 63, both of Mattawamkeag, are the creative culinary spirits behind the luncheon, now in its second year. Morrison said in an email that she and her friend are retired and drawing Social Security, and they’ve dipped into their own pockets to pay for the luncheons, which typically attract 20 to 40 residents from Mattawamkeag and surrounding towns. Some who come to eat drop a few dollars into the donations can, as their budgets allow, and at least one local business also has chipped in. But Morrison and McKinnon have supplied much of the food for these meals themselves.
Morrison said the two women shop carefully at local markets to stock the kitchen’s freezer and larder. Along with a handful of other volunteers, they arrive at 7:30 each Friday morning to start the yeast dough rising, create the soups and set out the tables and chairs. They happily give of their time and talent to plan, prepare, serve and clean up after the luncheons, Morrison said, but they can’t keep bankrolling the project themselves and must look to the larger community for financial support. In addition to the cost of the food, she said, the public kitchen desperately needs a new stove and improved storage if the meals are to be sustained. Attracting more “paying customers” who can offset the cost of the meal through donations would go a long way, she said.
“We are really trying to get away from the idea that this is a ‘soup kitchen’ for the poor,” Morrison said, taking a break from the busy preparations. “Everyone is welcome — those who can’t pay as well as those who can. Truckers passing by, vacationers, hunters, people out for a drive, everyone. This is really about building community spirit and reconnecting with our neighbors.”
From prosperous to needy
Morrison grew up in Mattawamkeag and nearby Winn. Like many who attend the luncheon, she recalls a time when the region was prosperous and growing, thanks to solid, middle-class jobs readily available in area paper mills. Mattawamkeag, she said, was a fine place to raise a family, with good schools, active churches, several restaurants, stable local businesses and other small-town amenities. The village felt safe. Neighbors looked after each other.
“It’s all gone now,” she said. “This whole community is so needy now.”
Like many towns in northern Maine, Mattawamkeag has been hard-hit by recent changes in the papermaking industry. Mills in nearby Millinocket and East Millinocket have closed their doors, leaving hundreds of workers without jobs and undermining the economy of the entire region. In Lincoln, the mill is running with a fraction of its former workforce. The industry is in decline in other areas of the state as well. Paper mills in Rumford and Jay have downsized significantly, and the mill in Bucksport closed abruptly last year, putting 570 local workers out of a job.
As the paper industry has destabilized, younger families have moved away, leaving behind a community of aging residents without a social network to support them. According to census reports, Mattawamkeag’s population peaked at about 1,000 in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Between 2000 and 2010, the population dropped from 825 to 687, the number of families decreased from 234 to 197 and the median age rose from 40 to 50.4 years.
Bob Berg, 68, who owns a gun shop in Mattawamkeag, said he and his wife do what they can to help their neighbors. In addition to donating cash and raffle items to the soup luncheons, they plow driveways and mow lawns free of charge for those who cannot pay.
“Most of the people around here are in their 80s,” Berg said. “We’re no youngsters ourselves, but this is something we can do to help out.”
Jobs lost in the mills themselves affect a widening circle of related businesses. Herb Brehaut, 59, whose wife, Gaynell, helps cook for the soup luncheon, was laid off last week from a mill in nearby Chester that makes landscape timbers, because paper mills are no longer buying the wood chips created as a byproduct of the timber-production process. His son, Travis, 38, also was laid off. Both men hope to be rehired sometime after the new year, but in the meantime they were happy to eat a warm lunch at the municipal building and socialize with their neighbors, dropping their contribution into the donations can.
Retired school librarian Connie Cahill, 79, who has lived in Mattawamkeag since she was 11, stopped in to see what was going on. It was her first time at the luncheon; she was just picking up some soup to bring to a friend, she said. In the town’s more prosperous past, Cahill’s father owned and operated the IGA grocery on Main Street, which is now closed. She and her late husband raised seven children in Mattawamkeag, all of whom have moved to other areas of the state to find work, she said.
For nearly 20 years, Cahill guided the reading habits of local children at the Dr. Carl Troutt Elementary School. The school closed in 2009 and Cahill retired. The children now get bused to Lincoln.
“When the school closed down, I guess I did, too,” Cahill said.
Altogether, about 20 people drifted in for lunch, staying to enjoy the warm company of neighbors and taking a break from the gray day outside. The kitchen crew served up a comforting menu including a savory chicken and vegetable soup with small potato dumplings; a rich sausage stew with a thick, cheesy broth; fragrant yeast rolls; and a selection of desserts including brownies made from scratch, an apple crisp, and a dense, sweet cake made with fiddleheads. Volunteer drivers delivered about a dozen hot meals to homebound residents. The federally funded Meals on Wheels program also makes weekly deliveries of frozen meals throughout Penobscot County, but many areas have waiting lists.
“I love to cook,” Morrison said, looking around at the bright room and her neighbors enjoying their food. “I wish we could do more. I wish more people would come. We’re really trying to make this a stronger community.”
The Warming Hearts Soup Luncheon is open to the public for good food and good company from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Friday at the municipal building on Route 2 in Mattawamkeag. There is no charge for the meal, but donations are gratefully accepted. The group will host a Christmas party for adults from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18, after the regular lunch meal. To learn more about Warming Heart Soup Luncheon, visit them on Facebook.
