Not Just Any Guitars, Not Just Any Chess Moves, Not Just Any Kids . . .

Students and teachers combine to make learning hands on and fun

Jan 28, 2025

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Bank.

SOUTHWEST HARBOR AND ELLSWORTH—Child psychologist Kevin Heath said, “In the end, kids won’t remember that fancy toy or game you bought for them, they will remember the time you spent with them.”

This past week, and in the week’s leading up to it, students at Pemetic Elementary and chess players from all around the Mount Desert Island spent a lot of time with each other and with their teachers and mentors as they prepared for and made memories at two separate events.

That time will likely be remembered for years to come. Who can forget when you place in a chess tournament or a guitar you made and designed with your own hands ends up on the wall for exhibit. That sort of coolness is hard to forget.

GUITAR EXHIBITION AT VINYL VOGUE

At Vinyl Vogue in Ellsworth this weekend, guitars lined the walls.

But these weren’t just any guitars.

These guitars were designed by Pemetic Elementary School’s seventh and eighth-grade students. It was the culmination of their cross-curricular electric guitar project.

Art teacher Emily Michaud, music teacher Michael Milazzo, and technology teacher Michael Brzezowski guided the students as they designed, built, and decorated their own electric guitars.

“Oh, this is cool …” one woman enthused as she stared at the guitars, Saturday afternoon.

“So cool,” the man next to her said, “right?”

In front of them Brzezowski snapped photo after photo of the guitars, which not only featured the students’ artwork, but the stories behind them.

Jolene, one student, wrote, “I thought a dragonfly would look pretty on the bottom of the guitar and I made dots going from the dragonfly up to the top of the guitar so it looks like the dragonfly left a trail of dots.”

Nick B. likes simple things so he chose a simple design. “It looks like a valentine’s present. Another thing is because it just felt right to me.”

That’s how art is sometimes. Music, too. It just feels right.

Lillian L.’s guitar held a message of poignancy.

“I chose this design,” Lillian explained, “because I had three cats and a dog. Now, I have one cat and a dog. I put angel halos over the two cats to represent this. I chose blue, green and brown for the side because those are their eye colors.”

She wrote in French on the guitar that there is only one happiness in life: to love and to be loved.

She agrees.

The project mixes technology, art, and music. Students used laser engravers and Cricut stencils, and hand-painting.

“The artistry and craftsmanship were enhanced through a unique partnership with Hinckley Yacht Company. Hinckley Yacht experts guided students in sanding and finishing their guitars, utilizing the same primer and facilities employed in the production of luxury yachts,” said a press release sent out by Brzezowski.

Vinyl Vogue, a local music shop specializing in vinyl records, guitar strings, and supplies, hosted the event and the guitars.

“We’re thrilled to support these young creators and celebrate their hard work,” said owner Matt Manry in that earlier press release.

Those guitars won’t just stay on the walls. Next the students will use them to develop their musical skills, explore music theory, and continue to learn from things they created themselves.

“NO SCHOOL WEDNESDAY” CHESS TOURNAMENT A SUCCESS

via press release from MDI Chess

And in Southwest Harbor as the temperature struggled to climb above single digits last Wednesday morning, students from across Mount Desert Island donned their jackets, grabbed their lunchboxes, and headed out the door. But unlike a normal Wednesday, they weren’t bound for school. Instead, due to a teacher's professional development day, school was out and these kids were off to the Southwest Harbor Public Library to compete in the No School Wednesday MDI Kids Chess Tournament.

Two coaches and ten students aged four to 13, from as far away as Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Tremont, and Trenton, met up early at the library to set up the tables, chairs, chess boards, and clocks. The event was a six-round, scholastic Swiss-style tournament open to pre-K to 12th grade students. On the line were some friendly bragging rights and the chance to win one of six shiny gold or silver chess trophies.

The kids laughed, shared stories, and ate snacks while practicing some of their favorite chess moves on each other. As the clock struck 10 o’clock, however, the tournament director instructed the players to shake hands and start their chess clocks. Then they got down to business.

“For the first round, students are paired up according to their general ability or rating,” said Tournament Director Daniel Monahan. “Then, the players who won the previous round play each other, and the players who lost in the previous round play each other. It continues like that until 6 rounds are over.”

As the rounds began, so did the tactics! One student tried to execute the scholar’s mate, the infamous game-over-in-four-moves checkmate maneuver, but it was caught in time and successfully repelled by their opponent. Others used moves like forks and pins to force their opponents to make difficult decisions. Some captured lots of their opponents' pieces only to wind up chasing the king across the 64 squares ending in a stalemate or draw, which is like a tie.

“I’m proud of these kids,” Monahan added. “Most of them just played in their first tournament or are relatively new to chess. They all played well and showed great sportsmanship.”

In the end, James Freudig of Tremont was victorious, winning all six of his games and securing the first place trophy. Coming in second and third place, respectively, were Oren Nobel Brown and Shane Mourino of Trenton, each with an impressive four wins. And with a close fourth place finish, with three wins and one draw, was Chirp Corrin of Mount Desert. Awards were also given to the top two students who had never played in a US Chess rated tournament before. Those awards went to Oliver and Delfina Presa-Guzman of Bar Harbor, who came in sixth and seventh place overall, respectively.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE AND THANKS

For full tournament results, see: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202501226802

A special thanks goes to the Southwest Harbor Public Library and staff for being excellent hosts and for supporting youth chess on MDI.

For more information, or to get involved, contact Daniel Monahan at mdichess1@gmail.com.

The guitars will be on display at Vinyl Vogue, located inside the Black Moon Restaurant at 142 Main Street, Suite A, Ellsworth, ME 04605.

Guitar event photos: Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story

Chess photos and press release: Courtesy Dan Monahan and MDI Chess

CORRECTION: FAMILIES WITH UNIQUE NEEDS!

There was an error in the listing for this event in our Things to Do. We’ve corrected that, but we also want to make sure that everyone sees the corrected version. For that reason, we’re copying it into the end of this story.

Parent support group for parents and guardians of people with ID/D and Autism at St. Saviour's Rectory library.

This group meets every other Thursday and meets this Thursday January 30 at 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.