Two dozen from Michigan stop in D-F for a taste of Maine

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A couple formerly from the area who have resided in Michigan since 1991 decided to do something a bit different for their annual trip back to Maine. Dawn and Paul Finnemore decided to bring two dozen of their closest friends along on a motorcycle ride from the midwest to the northeast for a seven-day tour across the state. After much of the group rode up to Moosehead Lake on July 19, the contingent stopped at Pat’s Pizza for dinner and the opportunity for the Finnemores to see other family and friends.

Dawn Finnemore said her husband Paul was born and raised in Dover-Foxcroft, graduating from Foxcroft Academy in 1981. “There is 26 people and 18 bikes, all Harley Davidsons,” she said, shortly before the riders arrived in Dover-Foxcroft from Greenville.

“We traveled all the way from Michigan,” Finnemore said. “Paul’s a great tour guide, he is so proud of his home state and is showing them all around Moosehead Lake.”

She said most of their friends have not been to Maine previously and those that had only visited some of the more nationally well-known travel destinations.

“They know we are originally from Maine and come to visit every year,” Finnemore said. “So we set up a trip, it took about a year to plan.”

She said the distance from Michigan and Maine is about 1,000 miles, and the group stopped at Niagara Falls on the ride east. “We spent two days in Portland and drove up to Madawaska, there is a bike park up there — Four Corners Park.”

“We are spending three nights in Bangor,” Finnemore said. She said after spending July 19 in Piscataquis County the motorcyclists would be traveling south to Bar Harbor the next day, and will end the week in Maine with a miniature bike rally a friend’s home in Hancock.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
RIDING FROM MICHIGAN AND ALL ACROSS MAINE — Dawn and Paul Finnemore, center, were joined by two dozen friends for their annual trip back to Maine as the group of 26 rode 18 motorcycles from Michigan to spend seven days touring the state. On July 19 much of the group toured Greenville before everyone met for dinner at Pat’s Pizza in Dover-Foxcroft.