Remembering Ellie

 

The Magpies are remembering Ellie Fellers who passed away February 19 at her home in New Gloucester, Maine.   Here is her obituary. 

We had a Zoom call with her earlier in the month.  She was weak but very alert.  We are so glad that we got to say goodbye.

I met Ellie in the late 1980's when I worked at the Auburn (ME) Public Library.    She was the New Gloucester reporter for the Lewiston Sun-Journal, covering town, school, and library board meetings. She also edited a feature called SunSpots where people could write in to promote events or to request or offer things to swap.  (I once asked for leftover latch hook yarn, canvas, and hooks for a library program. The response was nearly overwhelming.  People responded SunSpots!)  

However, I didn't get to know her well until she accompanied her cousin Celia Brown to the  Deep Dish Pie Fest in Chicago in 2010.   She was delighted to join the Magpie nest.  She was the hostess with the mostest for the 2018 Pine Tree Pie Fest.  We enjoyed a cookout at her summer cottage on the shore of Sabbathday Lake

Carolyn and Ellie at the cottage

Ellie discovered quilt making about 20 years ago.  She liked bright, ethnic prints and modern design.  The Lewiston Public Library hosted an exhibit of her work.  She also made quilts sold by the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community.  Her involvement with the Shakers was long-term -- see below for their lovely tribute.  

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Betty and Ellie, 2010

Celia, Stevens, and Ellie 2018

TexFest Dos, 2020

This tribute was posted on the Sabbathday Lake Shakers' FB page: Sadly, I’m writing to announce the passing of a long-time friend and neighbor, advocate, defender, and promoter of the Shakers and Shaker Village, Ellie Fellers. For each of us, personally, Ellie was a true friend, always concerned for our welfare and success, and above all else quick to share in a laugh together. She celebrated our victories and mourned our losses.   

In recent decades, many of you have come to know Shaker Village’s programs like the Maine Festival of American Music, Open Farm Day, the Maine Native American Summer Market, Harvest Festival, and the Christmas Fair. Did you know that it was Ellie who made these programs so successful by generating our audiences? As a writer for the Lewiston Sun Journal, Ellie created the buzz and sizzle to a daily newspaper circulation of 20,000 of some our nearest neighbors and participants. We worked with her throughout the season to create the latest story to pitch to her editor. They were always ready to pick-up her stories. She loved knowing that her talents as a writer influenced the turnout at some of our most important cultural arts programs. There has been no other newspaper correspondent in Shaker history to cover so many stories about the Shakers through a career that spanned more than three decades. Ellie always had the scoop on the Shakers.   

(c) Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village

In recent years, Ellie was also part of Creative New Gloucester, a group of talented local artists whose wares are sold through the Shaker Store. If you’ve been to the Shaker Store, you’ve likely seen her gorgeous quilts hanging for sale. She was so excited, honored, and motivated to be a vendor. We could always count on her to come right over with new stock as soon as one of her quilts sold.

Before her passing, Brother Arnold, Lenny, Jamie, and I were fortunate to pay one last visit to her. She was spirited, resolved, and planning what was ahead for herself and her family. With all that she and her family were processing, Ellie wanted to talk about the Herb House and how excited she was to see the  plans for revitalization at Shaker Village coming to reality, “at a time when people need the Shakers more than ever,” said she. She wanted us to know that she wrote her obituary to direct any donations in her memory to the Shaker Herb House Campaign.

To our dear friend, our lady of Sabbathday Lake, we say goodbye for now, and thank you for truly putting your hands to work and giving your heart to God. She’s left her mark on our community, for the better, written in the indelible ink of love, friendship, and family.

 Nearly every day Ellie posted a photo of the sunset, whether from her winter home or the lake cottage.  Ellie, you've gone to that sunset. We bid you a good journey.  We are grateful to have known and loved you.

Posted by Ellie, 2/6/23