06.14.10 On Wednesday, June 9, 2010 the Maine State K-6 Chess Champion Deer Isle-Stonington Mariners visited the State House in Augusta at the invitation of the Speaker of the House, the Honorable Hannah Pingree.

Thanks to Dick Powell for contributing to this report.

Since the legislature wasn't in session the team got to go into the House chambers and sit at the desks of state representatives. Ms. Pingree suggested that someone bring up a "bill" to be discussed and voted upon. Since on our way to Augusta there had been two sides to the issue of whether the bus windows should be open or closed a young chess player, Noah Davis, submitted the bill about the window's status to be discussed. After lengthy back & forth among the yeahs and nays the vote was taken by pressing a green button for yes and a red one for no. The "open window" group prevailed and the result was on the wall board for all to see.

Next, sixth grader Isaac Vaughn proposed a bill to "abolish the corn subsidy." First some clarification was in order (most knew what "abolish" meant but "subsidy" had to be explained). Vaughn's proposal eventually won by a handy margin as did a final motion to hold BP responsible for paying for the Gulf oil spill clean up.

The highly successfully civics lesson finished with a tour the Senate Chambers and a visit to Rep. Pingree's office to receive a packet of government information and a "sentiment" recognizing Deer Isle-Stonington's chess success. Then on to Governor Baldacci's office to be greeted again (Deer Isle-Stonington chess teams have been there 7 of his 8 years as governor) and have photos taken. The big hit was not our state's highest official, but the bat that he had received as gift from Red Sox star David Ortiz! A DIS chess shirt was added to the Governor's collection and after farewells the team was on its way back to Deer Isle with a healthy respect for the legislative process and for the Governor's Red Sox souvenirs.

Chess can take you places. In this case, right to the Governor's desk!

The Honorable Hannah Pingree coordinated the Mariners' visit to the State House.

The 2010 Maine State K-6 Chess Champion Deer Isle-Stonington Mariners with Governor Baldacci and Representative Pingree.

The Governor shows off one of his prized possessions--Big Papi's bat!

The Governor chats with students and their entourage.