These are lean times in Maine. Economic recession, high municipal taxes and gas prices have combined to batter our paychecks and lay siege on a person’s ability to go out and spend a day on the town.

With that in mind, the staff at Mainely Media has created this six part series where our intrepid reporters head into our towns armed with only a $20 bill and a fierce desire to get the most bang for our bucks.

We’ve found with a little planning and some knowledge of the local scene, $20 can buy a whole lot more fun than people may imagine.

Last week, Cliff White took us on a 12-hour tour of his beat through Gorham, Buxton, Hollis, Limington and Standish. This week Renee Worthing spends a Saturday spinning through Sanford and Springvale.

Story and photos by Renee Worthing

Staff Writer

9:05 a.m. – I was a little on the grumpy side not having had a good night’s sleep in about three days, but the clear blue sky buoyed my spirits.

With a crisp $20 bill tucked in the right pocket of my jeans, my daughter Chelsea and I headed out the door Saturday morning, intent on entertaining ourselves for the day. Actually, the deal was I was going to entertain myself and she was going to serve as the photographer, chronicling events along the way.

My first order of business was breakfast. It seemed like a good day to head to the Cockpit Café at the Sanford Regional Airport. With nary a cloud in the sky, it was a perfect day for pilots to take to the skies. I thought we could watch planes take off and land while we had breakfast.

I had not been to the Cockpit Café in years and was surprised to find myself in a line nearly out the door. Rather than waiting in the long line (a good indication of good food at a fair price), we seated ourselves at the counter.

Cockpit Café Owner Rene Bernier, working behind the counter, took my order of one scrambled egg with toast. It came with a choice of beans or home fries. There are only two things I will not eat and beans are one of them so I opted for the home fries. I also ordered a cup of coffee.

While waiting for breakfast, we watched employees at the airport tow planes by hand to the front of the restaurant windows where they scrubbed them from propeller to rudder.

Off in the distance, a small blue helicopter bobbed up and down. The pilot was obviously a student practicing hovering and landing.

There was also a plethora of airplane and aircraft memorabilia inside the restaurant.

My egg was cooked to perfection and the rest of the meal was good, as well.

Bernier greeted many of her customers by name and children of her regular customers felt comfortable enough to walk behind the counter to ask for whipped cream for their waffles.

Total spent at this activity: $4.57

Total spent for the day: $4.57

Money left: $15.43

10:30 a.m. – At the other end of town, I was thrilled to find the Sanford/Springvale Historical Society open. The building itself is gorgeous, but the treasures it holds are priceless.

After taking my photo next to a portrait of Thomas Goodall, founder of the Goodall Mills, my daughter pulled out a chair and occupied herself with old editions of the Sanford High School yearbook, “Distaff.’

She cracked up seeing teachers, administrators and students with the “big hair” of the 1980s.

I pulled out a bound set of newspapers dating back to 1967, the year I was born. Advertisements in the paper announced the price of three pounds of butter for 99 cents. Lettuce was 17 cents a head and fryer chicken cost a whopping 27 cents per pound. Sampson’s Market offered T-bone steaks for 79 cents per pound and bananas for 9 cents per pound.

In the first issue of the newspaper in 1967, a special town meeting was slated for Jan. 30. The town was hoping to raise funds not exceeding $2.8 million for a new high school. Of those funds,  $200,000 was to be used to remodel the existing high school (which is now Willard School). I found out in later editions of the paper, all seven wards in Sanford/Springvale voted it down.

On April 27, 1967, exactly 41 years and one day ago, the newspaper announced a soldier from Lebanon was killed in Vietnam when his helicopter came under enemy attack.

“As much as things change, they stay the same,” I thought to myself.

Another story from that day featured proposed changes at the Sanford Police Department, including dropping the age limit for patrolman from 24 to 45 years old to 21 to 30 years old. Patrolmen no longer had to be three-year residents of the town, but were required to establish residency at the end of their six-month probationary period. The retirement age was also lowered from 60-years-old to 55, “in keeping with the Maine State Retirement System.”

In thumbing through another paper, I found my son’s birth announcement in the October 1992 edition.

The Sanford/Springvale Historical Society keeps copies of all the current newspapers. Funny to think that someday, maybe 41 years from now, a reporter on assignment will open an old edition of the Sanford Register. They may open the brittle yellow pages to this very story.

Total spent at this activity: $0.00

Total spent for the day: $4.57

Money left: $15.43

Noon – I thought about playing miniature golf, but then I remembered how it always turns into a fiasco. Instead, as I passed “Get Fired Up,” a paint your own ceramics studio across from Movie Gallery, I made a sudden turn into the parking lot.

I’m not artistic, but after talking to Get Fired Up Owner Helen Hajny, I decided to try my hand painting a small ceramic dragonfly. I chose my paints and sat down at a table with a palette, a placemat, two caddies of paintbrushes and began to paint my dragonfly.

“Light colors first,” I kept repeating, as I brushed yellow, blue and purple paint onto the white ceramic. 

I never imagined I would have so much fun or that I would become so absorbed in painting my creation just right.

Chelsea and I were also each given a tile to paint. Hajny originally added painted tiles to the counters, but she had collected so many, she decided to tile the restroom with them. What a cool restroom! Intricately detailed tiles that must have taken hours to paint abutted others that were created quickly. Some had sayings on them while others were ornate. Each had character and said a lot about the artist. I won’t tell you what my tile looks like, you’ll have to go to Get Fired Up and find it yourself. While you’re there, paint something.  Have fun, (that’s the No. 1 rule at Get Fired Up), be creative and take a friend.

My little dragonfly will go into the kiln and will later be ready for pickup. I plan on going back again to paint something a little larger that will allow for more creativity.

I was surprised to learn it was nearly 2 p.m.

Total spent at this activity: $9.00

Total spent for the day: $13.57

Money left: $6.43

2 p.m. – With $6.43 left in my pocket, I knew lunch would have to be inexpensive. We went to Subway where a foot-long sub can be bought for $5 plus tax. There is no way I could eat a 12-inch sandwich, but I bought one anyway and split it with my daughter.

We drove to the picnic benches at Number One Pond. The breeze was a little on the chilly side so we tried to find a table in the sun. The sun filtering through the tree branches was not enough to keep us warm so we gobbled down our sandwich. I wanted to take a leisurely stroll along Mousam Way Trail, but it was getting colder and I was getting more tired. We dashed back to the car and turned on the heat for a few minutes.

Total spent at this activity: $5.35

Total spent for the day: $18.92

Money left: $1.08

3 p.m. – There isn’t much one can do with $1.08, but I still had plenty of gasoline. We took a spin through Shapleigh and talked about all the other things that could be done in town for less than $20. If I had a fishing license, I could have fished my way from Shapleigh to south Sanford.

Total spent at this activity: Some gas

Total spent for the day: $18.92

Money left: $1.08

To be determined – As we headed home I couldn’t help but wonder what I might have done differently. There is almost always something going on at Memorial Gym and there are often guest speakers at the Sanford/Springvale Historical Society. The Little Theatre at Nasson Community Center will open soon with all sorts of entertainment. I could have tossed a Frisbee at Gowen Park or taken in a Sanford Mainers baseball game at Goodall Park. Smitty’s Cinema offers the “Mommy and Me” program – G-rated movies where admission for children under 5 is free and parents get in for $5 although Chelsea’s a bit old to even try to fudge that. Times are lean for everyone, but with a little forethought, $20 can stretch a long way.