Welcome to West Coast Maine

Photo: John Governale

WEST COAST, MAINE — Sam, Bruce, and Adrienne Little are the core staff of a new magazine, West Coast Maine, that will begin publication in May.

WESTERN MAINE — Up until now, if someone said, "We're going to spend the day at the coast," there was no doubt which direction they were headed.

That's about to change.

In May, a new magazine, West Coast Maine, will hit the stands. It will celebrate the allure of Maine's western borderland, its "west coast."

Bruce Little, of Norway, is publisher of the magazine.

"West Coast Maine is a full-color publication," he said, "that will cover the area from Rangeley in the north to Sebago Lake in the south, and from Farmington, Livermore, and the Oxford Hills in the east, to Maine's western border, and all the towns in between."

Little said that the magazine will be of use to visitors to Maine and to residents as well.

"Our articles will include information about the arts and cultural events, along with history and scenic tour drives. You'll read about hiking, shopping, dining, antiquing, scenic beaches, and recreation areas. All the popular activities that people inquire about when considering a visit to our state."

And if 40,000 copies of a free, 72-page magazine are not enough to alert people to the beauty, history, and fun of Maine's western region, a website is planned--westcoastmaine.com--that will mirror the print version's content and provide a roster of the advertisers who bought print ads.

Bruce and his wife, Adrienne, own Frost Farm Gallery in Norway. Adrienne said that the idea for the magazine came about as they were considering their 2011 advertising budget. What they wanted was to advertise in a full-color publication that would blanket not just the Oxford Hills, but a wider western region of the state, and would also be available on the internet. Because they couldn't find such a publication, they decided to start one.

"We want more of those folks who said, 'We saw your ad in Yankee [Magazine]' and came from the coast to visit our gallery. We've had a few of those and we want more. We want people to come, not just to our gallery, but to the Oxford Hills. We want people who have traveled, say, from Arizona to Maine, to know that western Maine is full of the wonderful things they came all that way to see and experience. We want those people to come to Maine's west coast," Adrienne said.

Bruce and Adrienne have hired their son, Sam, to design the magazine's website. Sam Little is a 2002 graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School and has a long resume of web design and web maintenance work. Among those he has designed for are Grass Roots Graphics, The Oxford Group, and Moose Pond Arts.

"I think this will be a good project, providing both print and web together," Sam said.

According to Bruce Little, there are eleven or so Chambers of Commerce in the magazine's content area, and West Coast Maine is going to provide them with free services.

"What we are offering to the chambers is to publish a calendar of all their events for free and give them each an ad for free. Also, we'll publish all their events on the website, free."

Added to that, the magazine will have major articles, covering everything from shopping and antiquing to history of the area to arts and entertainment.

"We've managed to get some of the most respected writers and photographers in the area to do pieces for us, including David Sanderson, of Waterford; Adelyn Connelly, of Southern Maine; Scott Vlaun, of Otisfield; Toni Seger, of Lovell, Ben Tucker III, of Norway; and Mark Brandhorst, of South Paris," Bruce said.

For more information regarding advertising details, or writing and photographing for the publication, contact the West Coast Maine office at 272 Pikes Hill in Norway by phone, 207-743-8616, or by email, info@WestCoastMaine.com.