The Doughnut People

By Melanie Brooks

In April, Bangor Metro ran a story on my dad, Brian Brooks, and his delicious homemade doughnuts. It catapulted him into stardom (obviously) and he started getting recognized all over UMaine's campus, where he works in facilities management, and around Orono where he lives. Most of his friends and family didn't even know he made doughnuts and after the article was published everyone wanted some.

But it wasn't until he got a call out of the blue from Marie McHenan that his family knew he'd really hit the big time. See, Marie is known as "The Doughnut Lady" from Stonington. She had read the article, found my father in the phone book, and left a lovely message on my parents' answering machine. Fortunately my parents were planning a week-long vacation in Stonington in July and I urged my dad, "The Doughnut Guy", to meet "The Doughnut Lady."

And he did!


Marie wasn't hard to find. Everyone in Deer Isle/Stonington knows about her. She doesn't make doughnuts anymore but for good reason...they're too popular! Marie used to make 480 doughnuts a day, which meant she had to get up and get started at 4:30 am. By 2:30 pm she would have them all packaged and delivered to several area stores. It makes me tired just thinking about it! Marie, 73, is a legend. She's been the grand marshal in a couple of parades and had a Deer Isle/Stonington high school yearbook dedicated to her.

These days she spends a lot of time with her children and grandchildren. I was hoping "The Doughnut Guy" and "The Doughnut Lady" would swap some tips, tricks, and recipes but they were tight-lipped about their delicacies. For good reason I suppose...if you're as popular as The Doughnut People you don't want to share all your secrets, especially with the competition.