This spring the students in Anne Merkel's 7th and 8th grade writing class at Edgecomb's Center for Teaching and Learning went out into their communities to meet local working women and learn about their lives. They learned reportage, data-gathering, and interviewing techniques, and they experienced the process of making sense of data and crafting it as literature. Their goals were to learn how to conduct original, first-hand research and to make women's work and experiences more visible in their communities.

Many people know Cape Newagen for its Seaside Inn, weddings, and trails. Something that truly adds to the area’s greatness is the Cape Newagen Alpaca Farm.

Anne Gobes, elected president of the Maine Alpaca Association earlier this year, is the owner of the farm, along with her husband, Mike. When a visitor arrives on the farm, the alpacas peek at the intruder from around the corner, and then go about their daily business. Gobes can be usually found working outside, but on Thursdays she might be inside drinking tea and coffee with her friends while knitting alpaca fiber into yarn, socks, toys, and other accessories, all of which can be bought at the farm. When the farm is open, visitors are always welcome, and the local children love to visit.

Gobes was born in Connecticut and moved to Maine full time in 2010. “When I knew we were moving to Maine, I knew I wanted to do something outside with animals or nature,” she remarks. When asked about how she began working with alpacas, Gobes states “Mike and I looked at the possibilities, and found a class about owning alpacas, called Alpacas 101. We spent the day there, and we realized we could do this.”

Since purchasing their first alpaca, Miss America, in 2011, the farm has had an addition of ten more girls, six boys, and twenty chickens. The newest addition to the herd, Winterberry, was born last spring. As fun as taking care of alpacas may sound, it’s a lot of work. But Gobes and her husband are up to the task.

One of the challenges Gobes faces is how much wool she can spin. Seventeen alpacas produce a lot of wool, and some of it must be sent to a mill in order for all of it to be processed. Another difficulty is that the nearest alpaca vet is ninety miles away. Still, a catalogue of health records and advice over the phone is enough to keep the alpacas healthy.

As an experienced former teacher, Gobes loves to educate others about raising alpacas, which made the interview very easy for this reporter. Whether educating children, feeding chickens, shaving alpacas, knitting, or shoveling manure, Anne Gobes can do it all – and she does it right here on Southport.