Wellness on the Water #195

Aaron Frederick:

There are a lot of ills in the world right now, and the opportunity to kind of be in your metabolism is usually the thing that can bring you back to center.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

So everyone has their role. There is so much going on. It's really fast paced. You're changing direction, you're changing everything depending on the wind. And if you could imagine how quickly the wind changes and how sensitive these boats are, everything's moving. It's all moving parts. And to have five people on a fairly tight boat, you certainly need to know not only your job but what everyone else is doing. So you're out of their way. Everyone has a very specific job and you have to be efficient at it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to Love Maine radio show number 195, Wellness on the Water, airing for the first time on Sunday, June 7, 2015 in each issue of Old Port Magazine. Our Active Life piece features people who are successfully integrating wellness activities into their busy lives. Many Mainers find their wellness and simultaneously make a living from the water. Today we speak with two such Mainers, Erin Frederick, former director of Ripple Effect, and Brianne o' Donnell Fisher, a realtor with the Swan Agency and Avid bo. Thank you for joining us. Our next guest is an individual whom I've known for several years. This is Brianne o' Donnell Fisher, who is a realtor with the Swan Agency and avid boater. Brianne lives with her husband, Alex in a newly renovated 1903 John Spencer home on the Portland Peninsula. Brianne, it's great to have you here today.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Thank you for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I love that what you do in your life is so much about the water. You and I were talking about the work you do with the Swan Agency, the types of houses that you sell, you know, your passion for boating, and even the fact that you're in here today wearing your water boots and you have apparently ducks in your front yard because of the rain. But everything is so water based. Tell me about how this started for you as a child.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Sure. Well, you know, when I grew up, I had a very active family and we had camps on Sebago Lake and we had a little island on Tacoma Lake. And so I kind of grew up around lake sports, you know, tubing and wakeboarding and water skiing. And then as I moved to Portland, officially I was born here, but like, officially my first apartment and running the boulevard and, you know, getting out and seeing Casco Bay, I just started being more of an ocean person. So I was skiing one day at Sugarloaf and a friend of mine, Kane Smith, said we are looking for a fifth on our J24 sailboat. And so of course, top of the mountain is Sugarloaf. Why not? It's so far away. It's in the spring, you know, or whatever. So we went. A couple months later, he reminded me that I had this binding contract. So I went down and we just started sailing. It was kind of. You just kind of like jump in, you know, and. And figure it out. But we did. And this will be the fifth season we race out of Portland Yacht Club. And it's on Wednesday nights is the J24 regatta. There's probably, I don't know, 14 to 18 boats in the regatta. So it's. It's good. It's a great crew. A lot of fantastic people. I think you certainly meet just very interesting people from every aspect, but mostly downtown Portland professionals. And that's really kind of been a cool part of it. So Wednesday nights we race out of there. They also do a Thursday night series as well. So. So that was really it. So it was by invitation and then just getting immediately hooked.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Two brothers, so one older and one younger. So I have the middle child syndrome.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Middle child and a girl and the girl. That's actually really interesting. So did you have to kind of keep up with them in any way or.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yeah, I think that's also part of being so physical. My brothers played sports, so I played sports. I mean, that was just kind of what everyone did in the household. So there wasn't really any doll time. You know, it was more baseball mitts.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And where did you go to high school?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

So I went to Lewiston High School. Well, back up. I Was born in Portland. My father's in Portland. My mother remarried and moved to Lewiston. So I was kind of back and forth, but Lewiston.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you definitely have the sort of. You have the lakes and then you have the interior Maine, but then you also have the coastal main. You really have gotten to know the waterways and lots of different.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Right. The house I was born in is on Baxter Boulevard. So I think I always kind of had it. I mean, I remember learning how to ride my bike, which was a strawberry shortcake Big wheel on the. On the Baxter Boulevard. I just have these very vivid memories of it. So.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I'm thinking about my own experiences with big wheels. And I would imagine that if you're a small child and there's this enormous body of water and you're thinking, wow, it's exactly right. It's mine. And you probably figured like, this belonged to you and it belonged to your family, right?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Absolutely.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell me about this J24 regatta. As I'm only barely a sailor, I mean, I've only been in a few Sunfish Widgeon, you know, a few people sailed me around. So what are the J24s?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

So that is the style of boat, a J boat. It refers to the style of the hull. And so, and there's, there's J 70s, there's, you know, there's different Js. So this. On Wednesday night, specifically, in order to be in this regatta, you have to have a J24. It just kind of keeps it a. It's just a style of racing. Whereas Thursday night you can maybe mix it up with a few other different. A little less rigid there. So. So, yeah, so it's J24. It's just a very popular, very sleek, very fast sailboat.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

If it takes five people to race this boat, what does each of you have a specific job that you're doing or is this organized?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Right. So everyone has their role. There is so much going on. It's really fast paced. You know, you're changing direction, you're changing, you know, everything, you know, depending on the wind. And if you could imagine how quickly the wind changes and how sensitive these boats are, you know, everything's moving, it's all moving parts. And to have five people on a fairly tight boat, you certainly need to know not only your job, but what everyone else is doing so you're out of their way. And I mean, that's not only to be smooth and get a better time, but also not to fall off the boat and not to get hurt. I mean, you know, so it's, it is really fast paced. So with five of us, everyone has a very specific job and you have to be efficient at it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What was your job?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

So it changes depending on the day. But I am mostly in the front of the boat, so dealing with the jib, which is the sheet in the front. And you more stand on the bow. You're the closest to the bow.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So the other people I'm imagining there, there's also another larger sale that's behind the jib. So other people are doing.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Sale is the big one and then the jib sheet is in the front. So, you know, there's every, every person, like I said, has their own role, but one of the biggest roles is at the helm and meaning you're steering, you're at the back and you're steering because you're paying attention to what everyone else is doing. That's kind of the managerial position, if you will. So you're there, you're at the helm and you are, you know, dictating the direction. But also you're realizing that something up on the jib sheet in the front of the bow needs to be adjusted. So you tell me that or you know, things like that. So it's, that's probably the, the biggest role, the most important role. But like I said, they're all pretty important.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it's a little bit like the quarterback of the sailing crew.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yeah, I would say that the quarterback. But there's a lot of receivers out there too.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Okay, so then we can only go this far with sports and outer chance when it comes to football, because that's about all I know. But the. So if you do these every Wednesday night between May and October, then how far are you racing? And you're racing out of the Portland Yacht Club. So that's right in Casco Bay. Where, where do you go?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

So it depends on where the wind is coming in, which is the cool thing. So, but I mean, you're looking out into Casco Bay, which is essentially your backyard, and you can pick either between like the hussey sound in between clapboard and Long island, or if the wind was coming in, you know, from a different direction, you would go more towards the brothers or, you know, in between diamond and the brothers, you know, so you just have to see where the wind is coming in off of the ocean. So you go out and. God, I mean, it's not. I mean, it's a couple miles, you know, but it's close enough that you can usually get about two races in sometimes three, hopefully three. Between the hours of five, 30 and eight, you know, so it's you. You get in as many races as you can before the daylight leaves. That's basically it. You kind of go by Mother Nature. She tells you when you're. When you're done with your race or sometimes the wind will just stop. And so we're all sitting in the middle of the Casco Bay saying, okay, this is gonna be a slow race. Maybe we'll only get one in today. You know, so that's. That's also the cool part of it, is you never know. Every day is different.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And is this something where I'm just trying to picture this? Because I. This is so foreign to me, and I'm trying to get a sense for it. So if you're racing, does somebody go out and say, okay, race up to here and then race over here? So somebody goes out with their boat, and you race to that point, and then do they time it or how is this done?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yep, it's race committee. And, of course, sailing has been around for, you know, so many years. It's such a beautiful sport. There's a lot of, you know, a lot of rules, a lot of. I don't know, there's just. There's just silent rules that you just need to know. The race committee is what it's called. And so it's a boat that goes out and drops the buoys, which are blown up, large orange buoys that you kind of go and you. And you race around. So when you are on course, you can look, you know, a mile ahead or a mile and a half ahead, and you see this big orange floating, you know, beacon. So you. That's your windward point. You go up, you go around, you know, so it's so someone. Every day, as we said, it changes according to the wind. Every day. The course is set by race committee, and that is changed all the time.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And do the sailboats go out at the same time, or do you.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Okay, yep. And so it is certainly timed. So there is a starting line, and there is a gun that goes off, and everyone crosses over the starting line, hopefully at the same time. And, you know, so that's really the fun part is in the beginning because everyone's. You know, when you have, like I said, 14, 15, 16 boats crossing the same finish line, it gets really intense. And essentially, you're fighting for air because there's the wind coming, and if a boat cuts in front of you, then they take your air. Now there's, you know, it's just, it's kind of an element of it is scientific as well, you know, that you just have to see how things are coming and feel and read the wind. But it's certainly timed. It's definite finish line at the end. Same thing when you cross over the horn sounds and they write down your time. And so it's definitely timed. And there's fouls, you can't hit other boats, you can't hit the markers themselves. So. And the fun thing is a lot of times if you do, for lack of a better word, foul, then you have to do a turn. So your boat, you have to do a 7:20 turn and then keep going again. So it's fun. I mean, you definitely get penalties. And when you get into it, there's certainly a lot to it that keeps you more competitive than just a breezy sail through the ocean.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And they're keeping track of this throughout the season. So by the end of the season, does somebody win every week? And then at the end of the season, are you like bigger winners or.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Right. Well, at the end of every week, you know, we all come in and we put our boats away and then we have a bite to eat and shake hands and tell war stories and we give away prizes and, you know, which are always very fun and some silly, you know, but yeah, so it's good. It's good camaraderie.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You work a lot in your job with the Swan Agency, with waterfront property. So you work a lot with the islands. Do you have some favorite islands that you work with?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Well, yeah. So I've been with the Swan Agency, Sotheby's for. I've been with Sotheby's for seven years and with Kim Swan for four years. She's based out of Bar harbor and so very coastal there, which is why it works for me when we decided to team up to do the Portland version of the coastal real estate focus. And so in focusing on a lot of coastal Casco Bay properties, some that I did that were most interesting, I think, is Clapboard Island East. We sold that to Main Island Heritage Trust. And that was just a really good feel good piece because it was 17 acres and it was going from private sale and the owners had been in the family since 1898. So I mean, it was. It wasn't public, you know, and there were. The trails were beautiful, but no one could really experiencing them, experience them other than the family. So that was really a feel good. And I remember at the closing, one of the brokers said to me that they were. They went out and the coolest feeling was taking down the sign that said no trespassing. You know, private no trespassing. And, you know, basically saying, welcome, come, enjoy. And, you know, there's. There's eagle's nests, there's osprey nests. I mean, there's just. It's really neat. There's five different beaches that you can now kayak to and go and take a walk. And so that was really a fun one that I think that my business, my real estate influence on Casco Bay did make a difference. And so that kind of helps you make you love your job, you know, even more. We currently have a property on Sturdyman island for sale. I sold some property on Peaks island. And that's just fun to say that you're going to a building inspection and I'm gonna take my whaler and I'll meet you there. You know, something like that. It's really, really neat. And then just coastal properties immediately. Chandler's Wharf, for instance. I do a lot of sales there in condos, but also boat slips. So it's real estate really works for me because there is just a lot you can do on Casco Bay, you know, a lot of different ways, whether it be downtown Portland, condo or 17 acres of trails.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Do you also like the aspect of the historical value of the house or the renovation of the house? It sounds like you did quite a lot of work on your own house, the one that you just moved into.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yes. So 1903, captain's home. So very cool. You know, high ceilings, you know, Great porthole type window. It's kind of this octagon. Big, but it looks like a porthole window. You just feel captain. You feel nautical when you're in it. And when I was doing the building inspection, I had my building inspector put a ladder up so I could go up onto the roof, which at the time was an unfinished roof. And I was wearing heels, so he said, I don't know, that I should. You know. Okay, whatever, Bree. Go ahead. You know, so. Because I demanded, I was like, I have to see what it will look like up there. And it was amazing. And, of course, we ended up putting a roof deck on, so it kind of looks like. But it looks like it was there all along. You know, very appropriate, kind of a widow's walk scenario area to a captain's home. So it was a big renovation, but it was certainly worth it. It's, you know, you walk in now, and we kept everything to period, I think, very tastefully so. But it's also brand new, you know, so that's the nice piece to it is, you know, it's bright and it's sunny, and it's, you know, everything that it should be as far as modern amenities. But we kept the marble, and we kept the stairwell, and, you know, we kept the doors and the hardware on the doors and the molding. You know, we didn't keep the original, but we replaced it with something very similar, too. And so it was. It was a really fun renovation.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And did you come about knowing that this property was on the market because of the work that you do?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yes. Yep. I approached it. We put an offer in, and then came back again. Almost six months later, it was still on the market. And that's because I was watching it and seeing what it was doing, and to have that ability to kind of keep your finger on that pulse was helpful. And so we. We got it, you know, six months later, which was neat. It was kind of one of those. It was meant to be as well. You know, you feel like, all right, now we can really take it and feel good about it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Did you work with a local interior designer to create the. To do the renovation, or did you do a lot of it yourself?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

No. So my husband, Alex Fisher, really did a lot of the interior design. He is, in himself, a fantastic interior designer. He's done projects like El Rayo Portland, El Rayo Scarborough. He and his partner started Portland Lobster company. So you still see a lot of that element that he put in place. And, of course, Planet Dog. So the retail store in town but also in all the labels and in the design of those products. So anyway, he really, he uses a lot of friends and a lot of artists and a lot of vendors. But ultimately it's his vision that is the interior design of these places.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

His house having been to El Rayo and Planet Dog and some of Portland Lobster Co. There's something really fun about the design. There's something very light hearted, but also artistic. It's really wonderful that he's able to kind of combine all of those elements. And I'm imagining that that works really well for your stepdaughter. You have an eight year old stepdaughter?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yes, I think she has the coolest room in the world. You know, she has a swing in the middle of her room. And that's because, you know, dad thought it would be cool, so he did it, you know, so it does help because it's very modern and it's very tasteful and artistic, but it's also, as you said, just so whimsical and young and that it certainly works for an eight year old.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Now, does Alex share your love of the water?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yes, we own a few boats. One of them is a lobster picnic boat. It's a Weber Cove. And we are out on that boat 50% of the nights in the summer, you know, because it's, it's a sleeper. We have a bathroom and a bed and, you know, we prefer to be out there and so do our dogs. I mean, we're just, we're on the water all the time and most of the time we're trying to catch fish, which is more fishing than catching, for sure. But that's just something that we love to do. We both love to do it. And that helps. It's. It's a release for both of us. So after a busy day, you know, after a big meeting or just all the stimulus that you have in your daily life, it's really nice to have a partner that has that same outlet. You know, grab a book, grab a towel and head down to the dock and then you can fully release. So because of that, that helps our compatibility, I think a lot is that we both have the same hammock, if you will.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

When we asked you in our questionnaire coming in today what place in Maine you love first, you mentioned Casca Bay, out on the water. That makes sense. But then you also said, or on the front porch of the Shebego Island Inn.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What's so special about that place?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

I don't know. I think they're just a cool Energy, if you are ever out, and I'm sure, you know, I know that you are. It's probably close to your new house, right?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. The house we live on. We actually look at it.

Aaron Frederick:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I thought you must be close. It's a great place.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

It's fantastic. And so the porch. I mean, the building itself is just so epic, you know, and so historical. I don't know what year it was built, but you can just. You walk in and just the bones feel like they've been there for. I mean, they have been there for hundreds of years. So when you go out onto the porch and the sun sets, there's just this energy that kind of just Zens me out. At least, you know, it's that or the martini, but one of the two. When I'm sitting on the porch, I'm like, this is amazing. It's just one of those places that if you live in Maine, you should do it. And you can. There's a ferry, so even if you're not a boater or even if you feel that it might be out of your price range, it's not. You can get on a ferry. I believe it leaves out of Yarmouth and go over and it's a restaurant. That's a fantastic restaurant. I mean, anyone can go and show up and go and sit on that porch. I mean, I just think it's a really quintessential main. But specifically Casco Bay, beautiful experience that's available to everyone. So I think I. I'm giving them the shout out, but everyone should do it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I agree. I agree. And my daughter and many of her friends actually work there, and they enjoy working there. So go see Abby Tipwell. Tip well. Exactly. Exactly. You know, it really strikes me that you are living a life that you love, that you have a job that you love, that you have pastimes that you love with a partner that you love. And it seems to me that you've somehow managed to surround yourself with people who do have this great energy that you referred to. Having met Kim Swan and hung out with her several times. I mean, she just. There's something about her.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

She's a hot ticket.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

She really is a hot ticket. Yeah. And I think that that that just kind of makes it possible to just really be happy in your life. So is this intentional on your part? Are you seeking out all these happy energy people, or do you feel lucky? Or how did that happen?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Maybe it's 50. 50. I think that I'm certainly lucky. I feel very blessed all the time. In fact, I Mean, most of my quiet times or any meditation, I'm just thinking about being grateful and gratitude and things like that, because so much of it just seems to have fallen, you know, in your lap, so to speak. But the other 50% is because I am grateful and I do take the time to think about it. I think that you are making a conscious choice to be around people that feed your soul, don't take away from your soul. So I think that they are all kind of.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Some of it is luck, maybe, but most of it, I think, is just when you're a positive person, as you know, you want to surround yourself with positive people. And when you're in tune with your body, you know, when energy is draining you. And that's something that you don't know until later on in life. But I certainly have learned it somewhere along the line and continue to learn more about it and just go with that gut instinct that we all have. You know, you have this basic, you know, instinct inside of you. If you just probably listen a little more than not, then life becomes a little less hard and a little more copacetic.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Wise words.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I agree. For people who are interested in learning about sailing, do you have any suggestions?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yes. Sail Main is an amazing organization. And they were down in the East End, but now they're being moved, I believe, over to the west end underneath the bridge on Commercial Street. Anyway, Salemaine, you can go call, check out the website. They. They give lessons. You know, you can buy a gift certificate for, you know, your friend who's always wanted to but hasn't quite, you know, done it. Then just get them a gift certificate, make them go down and check it out. They have a youth program. A lot of times, if you look out on Casco Bay and you'll see, you know, seems like 15 to 20 little boats going around. And those are the. The youth programs and some adults as well. But it's just. It's a really cool, again, very attainable way of getting on Ticasko Bay and learning how to sail Sail Main. I would check them out.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Brianne, how can people find out about the work that you do with the Swan Agency?

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Well, you know, I think we advertise in Maine Magazine and things of that sort of. Sotheby's has an amazing marketing outreach just with Sotheby Corporate. You know, it's literally an international outreach. And so I think a lot of awareness of the Swan Agency. Our group is socially and locally, but a large majority is also online through Sotheby's International Realty. I mean, that's been, it's a huge, brilliant company to be with for sure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And they have a website, I'm sure.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Oh, yeah. And it's, it's, I say the creme de la creme. I mean, they have very high standards, which is nice. And it holds everyone to it. So it's a consistent high standard. And, you know, so goes their magazines, Reside magazine and, and some of their more global magazines. It all, it all is just a really nice package that's very easily accessible to the consumer, for sure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We've been speaking with Brianne o' Donnell Fisher, who is a realtor with the Swan Agency and an avid boater. You'll also be able to read about Brianne in Old Port magazine coming up. I really appreciate your coming in and inspiring me to get out on the water and do some sailing. It's really fun. Thank you.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Good. Well, maybe I'll see you at Chevik.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Maybe you will.

Aaron Frederick:

Good.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a physician and small business owner, I rely on Marcy Booth from Booth, Maine to help me with my own business and to help me live my own life fully. Here are a few thoughts from Marcy.

[Unidentified voice]:

When was the last time you took a break from what you were doing, from the work that was piled up on your desk and just looked up? I know that during the course of my days, I often forget to take a moment or two to just breathe, look up at the sky and dream. Terrible that I have to remind myself to breathe. But when I do, I feel energized. Because in those moments, I'm able to let go of the daily grind and think more about what I want to accomplish, how I want my business to grow. Sometimes those are the aha moments. If we all took a few moments out each day to stop what we were doing and dream a little about our business futures, not only would we feel a great sense of calm, but we may come to realize that these dreams can, in fact, come true. I'm Marcie Booth. Let's talk about the changes you need. Boothmaine.com

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I always really enjoy writing a piece for Old Port magazine called Active Life, where I talk to people who are actively engaged in living their lives fully and not just in a physical way, but, but intellectual, emotional, social, the individual I'm going to interview next is Erin Frederick, who will be featured in our upcoming Active Life for Oldport. Aaron is the co founder and former director of Ripple effect and spent 10 years establishing a 26 acre campus and island school promoting leadership and community development through learning adventures. His most recent venture is Heroes of Events, set in a variety of urban, suburban and wilderness areas and which combines disciplines of multiple sports participants can run for whatever charity they choose to. He was also recently hired as the executive director of Friends of Prasumscott River. You have a lot of things that you've been working on and are still doing. Thanks so much for coming in.

Aaron Frederick:

Thanks for having me, Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Talk about an active life. Wow. You're out there, you're doing things and convincing other people to do things and getting people excited about really engaging in the main environment. So it's good stuff.

Aaron Frederick:

Well, it's easy to. It feels contagious. Once you get infected with a passion for being outside, especially in the May to October window, it's easy to spread the love. I'm also a very active person in the winter, but those transition seasons are rough for all of us.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I think that's very true. And last winter being so rough, I think all of us are just so happy whenever the things change and we get warm weather and breathing a big sigh.

Aaron Frederick:

Collective sigh of relief indeed. Yeah. Leaves. In the last two weeks, our property has exploded. We're on the north side of a hill, so it takes a while. We're a little bit of a lag between here and Gorham, where we live.

Brianne O'Donnell Fisher:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's actually really great. I was noticing when we were flying back in that the trees have started to kind of perk up a little bit. And then when you get on the ground, you can actually see that there's green. Yeah. And we were in Savannah, so down there everything's green.

Aaron Frederick:

Oh gosh.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Enormous leaves. And spring's been there for a really long time. But we love, we love Maine here and that's why we're here. We're going to talk about what you've been doing with what you are doing with Friends of Prasumscot river and why you thought Ripple Effect was the first place to direct your energies. Tell me about Ripple Effect. We.

Aaron Frederick:

I'm one of the co founders of the organization. Ted Regan was my partner and he and a small team of five others gathered in Portland, where Ted was located. He started to convene this group to join him on an AIDS awareness expedition in 1999. And just getting out of USM with an art degree, I knew that I wanted to go out and seek my fortune in some way, shape or form. And Ted's invitation to a group of middle school students that I was working with was to get out there and go seek adventure, set healthy goals in your life and avoid some of the pitfalls that he was seeing with his friends. He had lost five friends to AIDS in the 80s and even early 90s. And so at the end of his presentation at Wyndham Middle School, he said, you know, I'm looking for anyone who might want to join the trip. If you know of anyone, please let me know. So I immediately knew that this was intriguing and I was likely to do something with him and called him the next day. And the short story is that for the next 10 years, I helped build an organization back here in Portland. Our original expedition was from the Canadian border at Lubeck all the way down to Key West, Florida. And So it was 212 days of paddling. The team was together until New York City. We did a lot of fundraising events and raised about $40,000 for AIDS awareness organizations and treatment facilities between here and Philadelphia. And then when we got back, we were really re evaluating the mission. And it was because the AIDS epidemic was certainly not wrapping up, but it was cooling slightly. And we realized that the best way to engage youth was to really connect them with the outdoors, give them a clear sense of place. Unlike the Outward Bound or Knowles trip where you would take a student, bring them to, say, from Chicago out into the Rocky Mountains, introduce them to this extraordinary, we called it the pink cloud location, where they would find themselves, they would find connection with place, then they go back to wherever they live. And what I was seeing in my work as an experiential educator is that students are having a really hard time embodying the change that they experienced in the field. And so my passion became trying to find ways to do that, to connect youth to the environment in their home place and within themselves, so that there was a more lasting impact. Cow island went up for sale a year after we started. And so the journey shifted from let's work with these social service agencies to holy smokes, let's set up an eco campus on a 26 acre island that was a military installation 100 years ago. And that was a daunting task. So we were raising about a half a million dollars a year to cover our programs and then an additional half a million to try and build a school. And I use that term intentionally, our core goal was to build something that was more than a summer camp. It was impacting. Not that summer camps are not deeply impacting for young people, but we wanted to go even deeper into this sort of developmental work as opposed to just educational work. And. Yeah. So 10 years later, every year or so, I said, okay, maybe one more year I'll give to this organization. And the years kept ticking by. So goals toward education, goals toward World Travel 2009. I really felt that the board was strong enough to survive the founders, both founders leaving. Ted had left a couple years prior. And so I left the organization in great hands. And they've done an incredible job in growing the organization from that place to what it is today. Which last year they were the beneficiary of the beach to Beacon. And I was just so proud and excited for the organization.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And now you're working with the Friends of Przomscott river as the executive director.

Aaron Frederick:

I am, I am. That's a new gig as of April 1 and five years out of the nonprofit space, working as a consultant and in grad school, I ultimately did go back to school. I'm so happy to be working with a nonprofit again, especially one with such an incredibly deeply rooted mission. I grew up in South Portland. I graduated from Windham High School. And the Prazomscott river flows from Sebago Basin in Windom all the way down through Standish and Gorham and Westbrook Falmouth into Portland harbor and ultimately out past Portland Headlight and through South Portland. So it feels like a river that I have strong connections with. And it's been hard used for almost 280 years. It was one of the first dammed rivers in the US it is one of the most heavily dammed rivers in the US And a lot of the ground fishery challenges we're seeing out in the Gulf of Maine can be traced back to the herring, those river fish that swim up the river every year and then ultimately provide the food source for, for cod and haddock and those things that we love to eat. So going to sleep at night with this clear mission that I'm trying to create an active lifestyle for young people in my past nonprofit work and create a more active lifestyle for a bunch of fish in this current incarnation. It's been exciting. And the group of people, the working board that has been carrying the organization for almost 23 years is just an incredible team. Four of them have been there 20 plus years. A lot of the rest of the board members, I've been there more than five. So yeah, great group. And hopefully the listening audience will be hearing more from us. They've been a fairly closed and private entity because of the nature of the work, a lot of legal advocacy and that kind of thing. So really hoping to create a, draw a bigger circle and start educating these surrounding communities, the river communities, about this resource that they have in their backyard. So excited.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And what about Heroes of Humanity?

Aaron Frederick:

Heroes of Humanity? Heroes of Humanity is the real life video game that a partner and I created before taking the job at Friends of the Prazomscott. I thought actually I should backtrack and say at ripple effect. I looked out at the chart of Casco Bay and I saw these islands. You know, they used to call it the Calendar islands. So it was hundreds of islands, one for every day of the year out in the bay. And the history of pirates and treasure. It's hard to run a marine based youth development organization and not get pulled in by pirate mythology. And so treasure is a huge part of that. And you go out to these old bunkers and forts. And I always thought that the combination of geocaching, which is using a GPS device to go and find a cache, you know, a hidden box, and an actual treasure hunt, would be a really fun project. So I built a course for Ripple effect students and hid the directions to those boxes out on Cow Island. And a handful of those boxes are in place. And I know that some students have gone out and actually found those. There's one on Jewel island, there's one on Little diamond island, and there's one on Cow Island. I got talking about a year and a half ago with a friend of mine who was very successful in the commercial solar space. And he was at a pretty young age, quasi retired and said, you know, I'm thinking of doing something fun, you know what? Have you heard of hidden cash? And have you heard of hidden cash?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I have not.

Aaron Frederick:

So it is a wealthy philanthropist in California who's hiding wads of cash under mailboxes and under bridges and in strange places and then tweeting directions to the treasure. And so he got excited about that. I was still on my island based treasure hunt kick. So we combine these notions and Heroes of Humanity is the result. So it's a geocaching treasure hunt for charity. It allows all the participants to pick their beneficiary, their non profit of choice, and they go out either solo or in teams and run around the landscape looking for what we call gates. And those are just checkpoints in the field. So you might be, it might be a foot race. It might be a combination of running and mountain biking or it might be like the event we have July 18th in Portland where you have a short course or a long course. So for those who just want to run around, we're actually partnering with the Tall Ships. So there'll be 14 tall ships in Portland harbor and there will be treasure stashed on the Tall Ships. And if they're if you're more interested in kind of the adventure race multi sport angle, there will be a paddle bike run component to the thing as well. So it really is, as you were saying, a chance for people to get out, to get off their butts in a new way, hopefully a fun way. And to give nonprofits which having been involved and struggling to pay the bills all the time, not every organization can afford to host their own athletic event, benefit or benefit event. So being the event producer and giving them the opportunity to raise some funds as a recruiter and then also win a match gift to anything that their heroes win seemed like a potential win win model. So it's an experiment. We are in the very early stages of this thing, so it remains to be seen how well it will work. But that's the theory There was a

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

how old are you Aaron?

Aaron Frederick:

I'm 41 now. Why do you ask?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I was expecting when I saw this. Well, first of all, people who are listening. If you're listening, you don't know this person who's sitting across from me who looks so youthful and when I looked at all the things that you have done, I was expecting a much older person at 41. You have done so much and so much for it sounds like fishes and people and hopefully yourself to keep yourself healthy. Tell me about growing up. What was it in your sort of in your tender years? How did you end up being the person that got so motivated to do all these things at such a young age?

Aaron Frederick:

The quick answer would be my dad and mom. They are incredible people. My father was an adventurer turned armchair adventurer when his second, third and fourth children were born. I think the demands of being a dad pulled him from his exploits in the field to fostering the exploits of his children. And yet that passion for adventure lived on in him and lived in all the books around our house and all the magazine, Outside magazine, was a standard presence in our. Our place. So we did a lot of hiking. We spent a lot of time outside. We lived in a kind of an amazing place for my high school years in Windham, right on the Pleasant river, which flows into the main tributary of the Prazomscott River. And so there was a lot of space. South Portland. We had the forest behind the Calvary Cemetery and used to go out and cause trouble back there. The shift to Wyndham at 12, 13 years old was a pivot point for me from a suburban life to a much more kind of woodsy oriented upbringing. And my parents homeschooled my siblings. I was not homeschooled, but a lot of my three, my three younger siblings were. So I got to experience a bit of a bubble in our home and in the space around us that allowed me time to connect with land and. And that's carried on for me. I really feel a very strong connection to the geography of Maine, to the waters of Maine. And that sounds kind of corny, but it's, it's a daily dose and I need that to stay healthy. I've battled, as I'm sure most people who live in Maine have some form of depression or another, trying to weather the dark cold. And that connection with the outside is the thing that really pushes me and pulls me through. So hence wanting to foster that for others, that there are a lot of ills in the world right now and the opportunity to kind of be in your metabolism is usually the thing that can bring you back to center. We just have seemingly fewer and fewer opportunities to do that. So you really have to kind of elbow the space out in a life for that health and for the active, the inactive life, as your column is called, I guess. But yeah, so my mom spent a lot of years in a very spiritual space and ultimately found the practice of homeopathic care and treatment. And so for 25 years she's been practicing homeopathy and her commitment to health and her ability to dig so much deeper than most Western medicine, medical practitioners can or have the time to dig in. Her relationship with her patients gave me an eye toward how I view my own health and my own sense of equilibrium. So those were hugely formative influences for me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Describe a typical day as you're trying to elbow out the space for your own wellness. What does it look like and how do you get in this? I know you're out on the water quite a lot, so how do you fit that all in?

Aaron Frederick:

That's tricky. Being on the water is difficult. I have a 15 month old son. He's named after Thoreau's wilderness guide. When Thoreau came to Maine to write the Maine Woods. Adyen is his name, which is a Penobscot name. So Adyen is my current connection to the outdoors, walking three times a day to take a nap. But I still run a guide, a main sea kayak guide. And so there is a bit of time there with the friends of the Prazumpskot relationship. I paddled the full length of the Prazumpscott river, but I'm not much of a recreator. And so my relationship with physical activity is also a direct connection to work. And So I live 11 miles from Portland in Gorham and I commute by bicycle to Portland and then home and sometimes one way, depending on if I can catch a lift. But that, you know, the bike commuting, my. We heat our home with wood. And so there's some wood splitting in there that gets done regularly. But on top of that I have a standard weight regimen that I do to try to keep, you know, the synovial fluid moving through my joints. And have a yoga practice at Lila East End Yoga that I try to keep up with, you know, so the throwing elbows, I guess is the appropriate term. It really is about what I call the snack workout, where when you have that 20 minute to half an hour window, it's enough. You really are. It's about bringing my metabolism to a place where I feel invigorated and alive. And that's about what I can squeeze in these days. Maine summer is still Maine summer. And we work very hard, my wife and I, to create space to be on the water, to be with friends at the beach. We have a home in Castine that we rent out for much of the year. And, you know, we carve out Some time up there to just stop.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And what about your wife? What does she do?

Aaron Frederick:

Amelia. Amelia Dahlin is a singer songwriter. She has been a touring professional musician for 15 years now. She is a regional representative as well for Columbia College Chicago and spends about four months a year as a road warrior driving throughout the Northeast representing an incredible school. They really. It's the largest private art school in the country and almost everyone that works in the admission department is a working artist as well. So she has this family of people who really understand where she's at and that there's a balancing act between the identity of the artist and the identity of the employee or, you know, the doing the daily grind. So they, they're a good surrogate family for her. And she's today teaching 450 students at Ocean Ave Elementary School here in Portland how to write songs. And she does that through the main academy of Modern Music. I think this is the third or fourth year running. So she keeps. Keeps herself busy and is still writing and creating. She dropped her guitar the other day and we're hoping that's not some sort of omen or sign about the creative summer she's about to have. So we're not reading too much into it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you also have a brother who is participating very actively in the main and national music scene as a bassist for the Jason Spoon Band.

Aaron Frederick:

That's true. That's true. And Adam was. Jason may be surprised to hear this, maybe not. But Amelia and Jason, Jason Spooner were neck and neck musicians being born out of the Portland creative scene 15 years ago. And Emilia for, I think partly because of our relationship and our travels and a number of things we, we were doing, she stopped touring to the degree that she had been touring. And I may have to take some responsibility for that. But Jason turned up the volume and he really started to put himself out there. So Amelia would hear Jason's name. Oh, the other important component is that Adam, my brother, was bassist for both Jason and Amelia. And so there was this, you know, tug of war trying to yank Adam back and forth. So he really is a creative powerhouse and he and Katie, my sister in law, are a great team. So they're now heading to Montana, I believe, to play some tunes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

There are lots of things that people who are listening will want to know about. One of them will be ripple effects. I would direct them to that website. How can people find out about the Friends of Prasumskit River?

Aaron Frederick:

That is presumpscottriver.org P R E S U M P S c o t presumpscottriver.org that's the website which we're in the midst of redoing. Yeah. That's probably the best resource for the

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

organization and Heroes of Humanity and Heroes

Aaron Frederick:

of humanity is weareheroesnow.com and you can also find us on Facebook. Both both those organizations are on Facebook as well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We've been speaking with Aaron Frederick, who is the co founder and former Director of Ripple Effect, now the Executive Director of Friends of the Prasumska river. Also father to a 15 month old. Congratulations. Husband to Amelia Dahl and Sigur and artist. Thanks so much for all that you do and for being willing to come on the show and talk to how you talk about how you incorporate all this into your very active life.

Aaron Frederick:

Thank you Lisa. It's been great to be here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been listening to Love Maine radio show number 195, Wellness on the Water. Our guests have included Erin Frederick and Brianne o' Donnell Fisher. Love Maine Radio is downloadable for free on itunes. Follow me on Twitter as DrLisa and see my running travel, food and wellness photos as bountiful1 on Instagram. We love to hear from you, so please let us know what you think of lovemain Radio. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring Love Maine Radio to you each week. Hi, this is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our Wellness on the Water show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.