Before we start off this new year, we have a bit of old business to take care of. There are some people who are waiting for our traditional top 20 year-end list. This year we changed the way we construct some of our pieces — making it hard to judge exactly what our most clicked-on things were. If a photo feature totals fifty thousand hits total on all the images versus a straight 1-page article that gets five thousand on the text, how do you rank those against each other? I don't really know, but looking at the totality of the numbers, you can work out what seemed to interest folks the most. So, with the disclaimer that our data might be open to interpretation, here is the year's top stories, this year in chronological(ish) order.

Back in January, Editor Adam Cutter braved the chill to head up to Wiscassett to see the Musical Wonder House, home to more than five thousand music boxes.

Also in January, Portland Magazine writer Amy Barnett profiled television star Anna Belknap. The CSI: NY actress is from Damariscotta, Maine. Portland Magazine's articles on Maine-connected celebrities scored all year long, as we shall soon see.

February supplied some nice days, including the day we got out to take some pictures for our gallery at the Sebago Lake Derby Fest. If we get back there in 2008, I'm wearing boots. My nice office shoes were never the same after that.

Adam visited with animal psychic Louise Poppema in February. By the comments the article received, there are a number of both believers and skeptics out there.

Portland Magazine was back with another celebrity in February, when they talked to actor Kurt Russell about his connections in Rangely and "His Secret Life in Maine." I hope the secrets not out.

On to March, where one top story was an update on the 2006 Eagle-cam story. The nest is still active apparently, so maybe we'll check in again in the spring this year to see what's up with the Bio-Diversity Institute's extremely successful program.

Every year in March we go take pictures at The Portland Flower Show. 2007 was no exception. I think we're getting the hang of this one.

In April we completed our video about the Portland Freedom Trail. This fascinating set of historical markers remind us of a divisive and pivotal time in the history of both Portland and the nation. This video is also available on Time Warner Cable New England on Demand.

The very late snow dump we got in April got a lot of people taking pictures. Some kind folks sent us some pictures. The snow was easier to endure when you knew it would be gone in a week or two, unlike the December/January snows.

One thing people trapped inside their houses can do is play games on the Internet, and we rounded up a nice collection of web games you can check out in our April article. Personally I've wasted a bunch of time on Double Wires and Desktop Tower Defender, which some hail as one of the great computer games of the year.

In May, we visited the Bangor Humane Society. They joined us as one of the contributors to our popular "Pets of the Week" pages and they applied and were selected for the TWCares program. If you work with a non-profit group, you might want to look into it.

The Yarmouth Clam Festival is always a July highlight and our friend Michael Leonard is one of the official photographers. Mike usually allows us to share his wonderful images of the celebration, and folks eagerly look at them.

August was a particularly busy month, accounting for a quarter of the Top 20. Portland Magazine's Colin Sargent did a piece on singer Daryl Hall, who bought Maine's oldest house in York. That got fans of old houses and old rock stars clicking on it.

Adam actually got up, up,and away to get some great pictures in this year's Great Falls Balloonfest Gallery. it wasn't perhaps as exciting as his air-to-air filming in an open biplane in 2006s Owl's Head Museum Video, but it was literally a high point.

Also in August we took pictures at Rockland's Lobsterfest.

The York Decorator Show House got the full video treatment in August. The coverage of the annual fund-raiser for The old York Historical Society was my second-favorite piece we did in '07 and the favorite on the top 20 list.

August was the month I was ready to proclaim my love for my motor scooter, a blue Yamaha Vino 125 which I rode everywhere all through the summer and into the late fall. People kept asking me questions, so I figured people were interested. I guess they were. Right now it's under a tarp under about two feet of snow.

In September we went to the Cumberland Fair and took pictures.

In October, cable TV historian Bill DesRochers took a look at some of the old cable boxes we all remember having in our homes at one time or another.

Portland Magazine was back with a story on television's Joan Lunden, and her husband who is from Maine.

Finally in November, we collected some of the really nice pictures we got of the interior of Portland's Fort Gorges into an interactive gallery.

There you have it, the Aroundmaine.com pieces you clicked on most in 2007. We don't have much time to dwell on this though. we've got work to do to get a head start on our 2008. If your favorite isn't on this list, you might check the Aroundmaine.com archive, but I will admit we're just a little behind in there right now. That's high on our list for 2008 projects. Thanks to everyone who has clicked on one of our links. If you'd like to tell us what you've particularly enjoyed or what you'd like to see more of, drop us a line at content@maine.rr.com or put stuff in this form.

Previous Years

The Top 20 of 2006
The Top 20 of 2005
The Top 20 of 2004
The Top 20 of 2003
The Top 20 of 2002