Ashley Stevenson hands a quart of strawberries to customer during the annual Strawberry Festival Saturday, July 9, in Wayne village. In addition to fresh berries the Stevenson Strawberries booth was also selling strawberry shortcakes. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Willa Framesmith, 5, right, skips as her brother Linus, 8, scales cargo containers at their family’s Monmouth organic dairy farm at sunset on Monday, Oct. 3. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Sierra Brock wades through a skiff of alewives as the silvery fish swarms under the surface of the water on the Sebasticook River at the base of the Benton Falls Dam in Benton on Wednesday, May 18. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Drummer Nell Parker leads the Garden Parade during the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity on Sunday, Sept. 25. There were 90 costumed participants in the parade which wound through the fairgrounds. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Chipotle workers hug after Brandi McNeas, far right, dropped off a letter about starting a union Wednesday, June 22, outside the Chipotle Mexican Grill in the Marketplace at Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The afternoon sky is eclipsed by smoke as firefighters take cover Thursday, Sept. 29, as a log cabin explodes in West Gardiner. The occupant of the cabin died in the blaze. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Nokomis High School’s Cooper Flagg (32) dunks the ball against Cony High School in the Class A North semifinals basketball game at the Augusta Civic Center on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Teamster Alyssa Norton, 14, drives her team of oxen through the Litchfield Plains Cemetery while they pull the flagged draped coffin of Sonny Black, escorted by friends and family, on Sunday, Nov. 6. Wilton “Sonny” A. Black, 88, was a native of Litchfield and operated a livestock business from 1957 until he died Nov. 2 from his farm on Hallowell-Litchfield Road. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Speaker of the House Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, speaks to lawmakers Wednesday, Dec. 7, on the first day of the 131st Legislature. She became Maine’s first Black House speaker. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Peter Gregory, 58, harvests un-ripened tomatoes while working inside a handmade enclosure at his home in Waterville on Thursday, Nov. 10. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Dirigo sophomore goalie Keydaliz Rivera (40), left, screams when her name is called to go up and get a Class C North field hockey championship medal Wednesday, Nov. 2, on Hoch Field in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Gardiner Area High School’s Nat Fossett checks Brunswick High School’s Alexa Scott during a lacrosse game on Thursday, April 21, in Gardiner. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

A kayaker paddles through the river foam on the deeper flows of the Kennebec River in Waterville on Monday, July 4. The foam is the product of decaying organic matter under the water’s surface that bubbles up in the form of gassy foam. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Stained glass that survived a December 2020 fire is shown above Bill Russell, a trustee at the Unity Union Church in Unity, on Tuesday, June 7. The glass is original to the 1841 church, according to Russell, who stood in the sanctuary that was lighted, painted and furnished before it reopened. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Wearing her Lady Liberty costume, Nancy Jacob waves to spectators from the back of VW Bug during the Old Hallowell Day parade Saturday, July 16, on Water Street in Hallowell. Jacob said that she’d been wearing version of the red, white and blue costume in parades for 40 years. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

A driver leaps from a car engulfed in flames during a consolation race ahead of the Boss Hogg 150 on Sunday, Sept. 4, at the Wiscasset Speedway. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Stanley Yocz of South China pulls a rubber band out his beard before completing a 6-mile hike across the frozen China Lake in China on Sunday, Feb. 27. Yocz, who began growing the beard eight years ago, hiked from his cabin in South China to the Circle K/Irving store in China. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Working in cherry picker basket high above Lincoln School, a worker trims brown tail moth nests Thursday, April 7, in Augusta. Community Services Director Earl Kingsbury said that Augusta hired Brownie’s Landscape Service to clip trees in the city’s parks, playgrounds, schools, and city properties. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Owen Libby, 8, rides the mechanical bull at the Skowhegan State Fair in Skowhegan on Friday, Aug. 19. Libby made it eight seconds before leaving the bull on his own terms. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Teachers and staff applaud Pat Goggin as she walks through a salute on the final day of school at the Helen Thompson School in West Gardiner on Thursday, June 16. Goggin worked in a variety of capacities through the MSAD 11 district before retiring from her job as the school secretary in West Gardiner after 40 years of service. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Waterville Police Officer Ryan Dinsmore is pictured with his K9 Riggs, a 13-month-old German shepherd, at the Waterville Police Department in Waterville on Thursday, Feb. 24. The pair were starting a 14-week training program at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Snow frames a set of colorful stairs as person head up them Tuesday, Feb. 8, in downtown Augusta. The quote was painted there in 2020 and is from Stephen King’s “The Shawshank Redemption.” From bottom to top, it reads, “Remember hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Truman Hillier, 7, right, and his first cousin, Everett Howard, 5, warm up Sunday, May 1, after a May Day sprint through the sprinkler’s at Hillier’s home in Monmouth. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Robert Neal Sr, of Winslow, looks up from his smartphone while sitting with “Mr. Bones” at the home of Neal’s grandkids in Waterville on Monday, July 11. Neal said the grandkids decorate the life-sized skeleton decoration, for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter and St. Patrick’s Day. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Quarry Hill ski club’s Zachary Ross, (245), left, Gould’s Eli Shifrin and Quarry Hill’s Luke Streinz race over fast terrain during Maranacook Waves nordic ski race Saturday, Jan. 22, in Readfield. There was a steep downhill followed immediately by a steep uphill and several skiers wiped out around there. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Ryan Sirois, 28, wades through the flood water from the Kennebec River with his sole possessions in a tent on the Kennebec Trail in the South End in Waterville on Saturday, Oct. 15. Heavy rain from the storm flooded the homeless encampment he’s been living in on the Kennebec Trail on the island below the Hathaway Center periodically over the past few months. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Sammy Wilson drives a flock of fowl out of the road with her son, Kevin, at their farm in Jefferson on Wednesday, Feb. 2. The seven-month-old also helped his mother feed grain to the chickens in the barn. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Clouds billow behind Mike Weston of Williams Roofing as he carries tools while walking across the gymnasium roof at Lawrence High School in Fairfield on Thursday, Sept. 15. Weston said workers were replacing 53-foot-long panels on the roof and attaching new ice breaker to the roof. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Tourists Tim Thiele, bottom left, Lilly Theile, bottom right, Sheryl Thiele, Trena Boyd, and Dean Corbit watch the morning session from the fourth floor gallery Wednesday, April 13, at the Maine State House in Augusta. Tim Thiele said that he and Sheryl and Lilly, all from Henderson Nevada, have visited 16 state capitol buildings over the years and want to make it to all 50. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Wynn Trainor, 7, left, boxes Wednesday, Aug. 24, with his brother, Haven, 10, in the driveway of their Vassalboro home. The cardboard pugilist prevailed over the lifejacket bantamweight in a match officiated by the family dog. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

The setting sun lights up fall foliage Thursday, Oct. 20, as people walk past on the Kennebec River Rail Trail in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The Waterville football team practices in fading daylight Wednesday, Nov. 9, at Colby College in Waterville. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Alison Small and daughter Elora, 3, of Waterville, share a tender moment while dining during at the Stone Soup Café in Winslow’s Congregational Church on Monday, April 4. Volunteers served baked ham, scalloped potatoes and other foods during the café’s first meal. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

An Eastern Bluebird alights with a berry while feeding with a flock in Richmond on Sunday, Feb. 13. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Dan Crum and Kelly Tomzick fish for trout on Lake George in Canaan on Saturday, Jan. 1. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Chris Roy of Auburn is served chili Sunday, Feb. 6, as he portrays a knight from the year 1000 while suited in chain mail and armor during the Maine Sci-fi & Fantasy Nerd Fest at The Olde Mile Place in Vassalboro. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The Parade of Lights cruises down Main Street as seen from the roof of the Lockwood Hotel in downtown Waterville on Saturday, Nov. 26. It was the first parade since the pandemic and the newly redesigned downtown with traffic changed from one-way to two-way with widened sidewalks to accommodate the new arts center on Main Street. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel