The Bollard Bulletin for January 15, 2025
Ways to stay warm, and maybe shake a little ass too
What the Hell Happened
He works nights at a bar in downtown Portland, this friend of mine. I saw him the other day, and maybe the subject of the cold came up in conversation, because he brought up this homeless woman who’s been coming into his workplace this winter. If it’s not too busy and there’s a seat in the back, he lets her sit there and nurse a PBR until last call to stay warm. If it’s busy, or gets busy, she understands and goes elsewhere, somewhere. She has “hiding spots,” he tells me, and she won’t tell him or anyone else where they are, because while she must hide from the Portland police every night for fear of arrest or harassment, she must also beware of those more desperate that she is. She did tell him about one good spot, a utility box shielded by shrubbery. She likes that its steady hum lulls her to sleep.
If she can stay at my buddy’s bar until 1 a.m., her chances of surviving the night improve considerably. She told him it’s just that four-hour gap between 1 and 5 a.m. during which she has no warm place to go.
This past Christmas, we posted about a citizens’ petition urging city leaders to seek state or federal funding for expanded emergency warming shelter hours. At present, the one public indoor space for people to survive the cold (the First Parish Church at 425 Congress St.) only opens when the temperature drops below 15 degrees or when more than 10 inches of snow drop from the sky. Tonight is such a deadly cold night, so the church will shelter people starting at 7 p.m. Tomorrow at 7 a.m., this shelter will close. In its Winter Warming Plan, the city advises people without shelter to use their Wi-Fi–connected cell phones or computers to check the homepage of the city’s website or its social media accounts, or to call 211, to find out if a warm space will be available on any given night.
As the Portland Press Herald reported a couple days after Christmas, Mayor Mark Dion is “super frustrated” about this. And by this, I mean the petitioners begging the city to do more to stop people from freezing to death on our sidewalks and in our parks and in all those secret, hidden places. “The city runs three shelters with 600 beds and we can barely staff what we have now,” Dion told the paper. “I get super frustrated at people who just assume we’re not doing what we should do; we’re doing everything we can.”
Dion said he agrees with petitioners that other governments should be helping Portland pay the costs of providing emergency shelter, but those elected leaders won’t listen to him, either. “I keep calling for the cavalry, but nothing is coming over the hill,” he told the Herald. “I’d like those petition signers to give that some thought and see if they can come up with anything. Maybe they should send that petition to the governor or to other municipalities.”
Portland City Hall is flat broke and out of ideas. Its police are powerless to do anything but harm. The government we’ve created claims it cannot keep cold weather from killing its own people — a problem humans first solved when we learned to control fire inside a pit or a cave. Perhaps there’s an idea there. Until they get it figured out, I’m glad my buddy lets that poor lady milk a weak beer till closing time. When it’s not too busy.
Music
Andy’s Old Port Pub
Custom House Gang (blues, roots)
7 p.m., free (all ages)
Blue Portland Maine
Bess Jacques and The Strays (jazz)
7 p.m., free (21+)
Jazz Sesh hosted by Robben Harris
9 p.m., free (21+)
Byrnes Irish Pub (Bath)
Irish Session (open jam)
6 p.m., free (all ages)
Flask Lounge
“Orbit: Onesie Wednesday” feat. DJs Dave Bregoli, Dewdrops, Psy-Wren and Housefinch
9 p.m., $5 (21+)
Lenny’s Pub
Dock & Dave Jazz Trio
6:30 p.m., free (all ages)
Three Dollar Deweys
Barney Martin
6 p.m., free (all ages)
club guide
Performing Arts
Poet Hannah Bonner reads from her collection, Another Woman, at Longfellow Books (1 Monument Way, Portland) at 6 p.m. Free. 772-4045. longfellowbooks.com.
Happenings
Screening of Theater of Thought, Werner Herzog’s documentary about the study of consciousness, at SPACE (538 Congress St., Portland) at 7 p.m. Tix: $10. 828-5600. space538.org.
Author Abbie Kiefer discusses her book, Certain Shelter, with Maine writer Gibson Fay-Leblanc at Print (273 Congress St., Portland) at 7 p.m. Free. 536-4778. printbookstore.com.