|
ELLSWORTH —
Bill Reeve has opened a used and antique
bookstore, Apple Tree Books, behind the
Riverside Café.
Reeve has
been buying and selling books for eight years,
with sales on the Internet and with a booth at
J&B Atlantic.
But books
have been overtaking the Reeve household on
Deane Street. Bill’s wife Barbara (a city
councilor) suggested it might be time for a
storefront.
Apple Tree
Books carries Maine books as well as stacks of
general nonfiction and fiction. Children’s books
are available as well.
“Maine books
are my specialty,” Reeve said.
Indeed, the
Maine section has a wide selection of May Sarton
titles as well as books by Stephen King,
Elisabeth Ogilvie, Henry David Thoreau and of
course, E.B. White, just to name a few.
The books
found in the general section are equally
diverse. This week, one could find “The Diary of
Anais Nin,” “The Hundred Best English Essays” by
the Earl of Birkenhead and Arthur Beisner’s “The
Proper Yacht.”
“I select
them pretty carefully,” Reeve said.
The Reeves
moved to Ellsworth in 1991 from Baltimore, Md., where Bill had been an
electrical engineer for Westinghouse.
The couple
moved because Barbara had gotten a job offer to
be medical director of Acadia
Hospital. She now has a private practice on
Main Street.
Reeve said
they have enjoyed Ellsworth because both have
been able to be more active in the community.
“We’re both
activists by nature,” he said.
Bill is
active in the Democratic party. He is on the
board of the James Russell Wiggins Down East
Family YMCA, where he used to teach swimming.
Both Reeves
are on the Frenchman Bay Conservancy board.
Bill has
agreed to serve on a newly formed committee to
re-develop the Morrison Chevrolet property on
the Union River.
The shop has
a sitting area where patrons can take time to
inspect a book. It also has antiques and
glassware for sale that Reeve finds at auctions
while hunting for books.
The shop’s
entrance is off Franklin Street. It is located
in Ron Fortier’s former electrical shop.
Hours are
Tuesday through Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reeve
said he is willing to be open later a few
evenings a week once he hears from people which
evenings would be best.
Apple Tree
Books’ phone number is 667-7999. |
