June is one of our favorite months at Greater Portland Landmarks. As we start to get a glimpse of the weather that reminds us why we live here in Maine, Greater Portland Landmarks holds two events every year that remind us why we do the work we do here in the greater Portland area.

Click on the picture for more photos of the event by Arthur Fink

First, on June 10, we spent an evening transported to another era at our Puttin' on the Ritz Historic House Gala held at the West Mansion. Antique cars parked out front, costumes galore, and champagne bubbling away, all helped set the scene at our annual fundraiser. We are so grateful to our corporate sponsors, benefactors, hosts, and all of our attendees – thanks to you, we raised over $55,000 to support Landmarks’ education program for children and adults. Click here for a photo gallery of the evening, and stay tuned for details about our 2017 event!

Only a few days later, June 14, we had our 17th annual Flag Day celebration at the Portland Observatory. Flag Day honors the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as our national flag by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. We followed the example of the Federal Government and kept our American and State of Maine flags at half-mast out of respect for recent events in Florida. We are grateful to the many docents who volunteered to welcome almost 300 visitors in a single day. Adults and kids alike decorated paper binoculars to extend their view and Spirits Alive gave tours of Eastern Cemetery down the hill. The signal flags that lined the Observatory tower wildly whipped around in the day's strong winds but that didn't stop us from enjoying David Peloquin's music. He even had a group of recent University of Maine graduates spontaneously join him. We affectionately nicknamed them, David Peloquin and the Lantern Tops.