With a target open day of December 10, the good folks of Turner are about to get a new medical dispensary run by some folks with deep history in growing and horticulture. Matterhorn Apothecary will be right on Route 4, in what is becoming an intriguing cluster of medical dispensaries, right alongside High Tide and Blazing Jane. 

“We helped to write the ordinance here,” says Ronnie Horne, who with her husband Matt moved to Turner in 2015, “but we’re one of the last to open our store.” Already, they’re in the marketplace with their Herban Legends flower, with a grow site that’s also in Turner, and they’ve taken their time in sourcing what else they’d like to retail in their space, from edibles to CBD. “We’re handcarving our signs right now,” Horne says. “The dispensary itself just took us time. We’re investing in us, making it really homey and farm-like and built by hand.” 

The Hornes previously ran a gardening center in upstate New York, high school sweethearts who got into teaching (Ronnie) and landscape architecture (Matt) before deciding to open their own business. Working the Hudson Valley, they found themselves doing flower shows with Macy’s and landscaping across the state until the recession of 2007/2008 told them it was time to pack it in. 

“We had a wonderful ride and a great time,” Horne says, “and then we found ourselves getting called in to consult on medical grows all over the country.” Finding themselves in Turner, looking out over the water like it was the Hudson River, “Matt said, ‘We’ve grown things all our lives. What do you think about growing again?’”

Now, opening the retail location, “I love the fact that we can work with other caregivers,” she says, and they’re hoping to keep cultivating their Turner community. “Matterhorn was a destination back in the day,” she says. “We want people to be able to come in and relax in the same way.”

Of course, they’re not the only new storefront to open lately across the state. Hardly. On October 23, Bangor saw another adult-use retail operation open up with Cannabis Cured, their third adult-use facility, joining locations in Portland and Thomaston that are also relatively brand-new. They have a veteran’s discount and a loyalty program across all three spots and feature their own brand of edibles — Mainely Baked — as well as their own concentrates, processed via their Full Spectrum Solutions processing operation. 

And some folks might get a little nostalgic when they walk into the Portland storefront that Caniba plans to open up — because it’s located in the old Rickey’s Tavern, where any number of Portland gadabouts certainly spent a pint or two. As we went to press, the folks who run Caniba Naturals, the medical dispensary in downtown Farmington, said opening day was a lock before the end of the year.

Or, perhaps, a scone. 

This year, the Maine Chapter of the American Institute of Architects received 56 submissions for their annual design awards, which recognize their members’ work all around the country for excellent design and (starting this year) sustainable practices. In awarding 15 excellence awards, a jury of their peers from Austin, Texas, focused on the quality of the submissions in terms of design for integration, for equitable communities, for ecology, for water, for economy, for energy, for wellness, for resources, for change, and for discovery.

The only project to take home two excellence awards? SeaWeed’s South Portland location, designed by Patrick Boothe at Caleb Johnson Studio, with awards for interior design and landscape design. 

“A new retail experience within SeaWeed is elevated to a modern standard,” the jury wrote. “It was refreshing to see restraint as well as an architecture that moves beyond the old days of dispensary experiences. The jury felt that the project hit it out of the park on all design disciplines.”

We’re not sure how folks in Austin are already tired of the old dispensary experience, given possessing weed there still is likely to put you in handcuffs, but we generally agree.

While Sebago Brewing Company has locations in Portland, Kennebunk, Gorham, and Scarborough, the tasting room at the brewery in Gorham is obviously the most focused on the beer. Sure, you can still get a full meal there, but it’s a spot where you can see how everything is made and get that behind-the-scenes experience. 

Plus, there may be a beer there waiting for you. With their new “Beer It Forward” program, you can buy a round for a friend, hang it up on the line, and then let your pal come and collect it, any time. But make sure you tell your friends about it when you do it! We’ve got reports that the free beers are piling up.

With the addition of the medical grow of Riptide Cannabis in Gorham, the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association now has 20 participants in its Clean Cannabis program, which essentially verifies that cannabis is grown in organic fashion (“organic” is FDA-controlled, so they can’t call it exactly that). 

Sweet Dirt, however, remains the only adult-use grow operation to be certified. The 19 others are all medical grows.