Bake Maine Pottery Cafe, 118 Washington Avenue, Portland, fed a Record Number of Customers Today Because of the Power Outage Due to the Ice Storm That Hit the Portland Ares Starting Yesterday Afternoon.

A Tree That Succumbed to the Ice Storm on the Eastern Promenade Near Walnut Street.

“There was a long line outside the building waiting  to get in for breakfast when we opened this morning,” said an employee of Bake Maine just after noon today.  The owners of the fourteen month old Cafe also own a bakery in Wells. This employee said that business at the 118 Washington Avenue venue on Munjoy Hill set a record for customers served combining both the Wells venue with this east end venue today. “Everyone’s power is out from the ice storm and so they came here for breakfast and lunch,” he said,  A west end resident who lives near Maine Medical Center,  his power did not go out.  Other residents of the west end, reported they had not lost their power – presumably because they are on the MMC Grid.  At noon, business was almost as brisk as earlier in the day.

Shane Cynewski, a Bayside resident who works in downtown Portland, said:  “A friend of mine who lives on the west end said he heard about 8 transfomers blow last night.  He heard that after 8:00 pm.  I’m guessing it was because of the weight of the ice on the powerlines,” Shane said.  “Since we are on the Maine Medical Center grid, I’m assuming we didn’t loose our power.”

Residents of southern Maine  packed Bake Maine up until its closing hour at 3:00 pm.  Hungry patrons came from as far away as Freeport, Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, South Portland and Scarborough to eat because they couldn’t cook at home due to power loss.  However, Nathan Galan, a documentary film maker who lives on Munjoy Hill, said he did not loose his power during the ice storm.  Many others living on the HIll reported that they did not loose their power, including this blogger.

Country music singer Joel Thetford, a west end resident, was enjoying lunch with friends at Bake Maine this afternoon. although he like many other residents of the west end did not loose his power.    He has sung in most of Portland’s venues, and has twelve albums that can be purchased at Bull Moose Music.

Catching many Portlanders by surprise because a rain storm was expected here,  the ice storm hit the city hard.  The snow storm hit the northern part of the state as expected.  There are reports that power might not be restored to parts of Portland until Tuesday evening or possibly even into Wednesday morning.  CMP has informed customers that it has encountered “severe damage” in coastal counties including:  Cumberland, York, Lincoln, Waldo, Knox and Sagadahoc,

For more background information on the Bake Maine Pottery Cafe, please visit post herein dated January 19, 2023.