Wow. Another year has gone by already, with some interesting events and changes here at aroundmaine.com. Among those changes was the announcement last April that the company had decided to suspend work on aroundmaine.com — and then the reversal of that decision a couple of months later. The editorial staff was caught by complete surprise by the reversal, but we, and we hope the many readers we heard from at the time, were grateful for the reprieve.

That wasn't the only change during the year, our editor lineup underwent a change too; when the amazingly talented Scott Baker leapt at an excellent opportunity, with our best wishes, but leaving a hole that was devilishly tough to fill. I think we've done an excellent job. Adam Cutter's byline can be seen on a number of our top stories this year.

These are the stories that, for whatever reason, got the most clicks from you, our readers, over the last 12 months.

20 "So," I thought to myself, "I know that that piece of junk car I just traded in is going to some kind of auto auction, but how does that work?" That thought began a process of investigation that led to the fascinating business run by Copart - a national company that has a division in the woods off Rt 111 in Lyman. It was one of those great, "Behind the Curtain" things that, if you thought about it, you'd know it had to exist, but you'd never thought about it.

19 Our friends over at Portland Magazine, kindly have agreed to share some of the stories from their magazine with you online. Their stories are among our most popular. While they didn't take the top spot this year, like they did last year, they did put eight stories into our top 20 including this interview with Patrick Dempsey, of the TV Show Grey's Anatomy. I'm not qualified to judge but I've been reliably told that Dempsey, originally from Harpswell, is "Dishy".

18 Early on in the year, Scott Baker returned to a formula that has proved popular in the past with his January 1905 feature, wherein we learned that the battleship Maine (a replacement for the one destroyed in Cuba) was here for a visit, Portland was hit by "A good old-fashioned blizzard," and that tens of thousands of cattle and sheep were shipped out of Portland in the prior year.

17 After driving by the new Ciancette Scouting Center just across the road from our office everyday, we were pretty eager to check out the inside and find out what it was all about. I wasn't expecting the weird feeling of nostalgia that I attach to merit badges and skill awards.

16 I'm actually surprised how many people were interested in our story about Chaffin Pond in Windham. The Portland Water District is making some previously closed land available for some recreational uses, including the Windham Pond.

15 This one is still on our home page today (December 16), so it is possible it might rank higher by January 31. The Victoria Mansion is an amazing place, and it becomes even more amazing for Christmas. We spoke with an old friend there, Julia Kirby, about the mansion and the holiday season, and included some video that doesn't do the real thing justice. Watch the video and then go to the museum.

14 Portland Magazine strikes again with their annual Maine's Most Intriguing feature. Once again they left me off the list, but there's a lot to read here, which probably explains why people kept going back.

13 John O'Hurley is another celebrity with Maine ties. He was most famous as J. Peterman from the Seinfeld show, until he started "Dancing with the Stars." Portland Magazine got the interview last summer.

12 Portland Magazine strikes again! This time it is with Lindsay Sterling's story on the growing trend of Condominium Conversions in Portland and the implications that has for property values and the availability of housing, both affordable and otherwise.

11 In October, just like every other October, Haunted Hayrides sets up shop in the fields and woods around Scarborough Downs. This year we went to talk to some of the people involved in the production to fine out what sort of creature haunts Scarborough and maybe learn some behind the scenes secrets.

10 Portland Magazine scores again with another topical story by Robert Blechl. They revisit the people affected by a hunting tragedy in 1988 and discusses the long-term effects on lives on all sides.

9 In March, Scott Baker interviewed Chris Dingwell of Sanctuary Tattoo about why people get tattoos, and watched the tattoo artist in action.

8 Sure we'd all like our own island, and Portland Magazine provided a list of some that were for sale, but you'll have to rob quite a few banks to come up with the scratch to make the down payment on most.

7 My daily commute takes me right through the Maine Mall area, which has some of the worst traffic congestion in Maine, but steps are being taken to alleviate that and some have already been finished. In June, we went to find out what all the work was about.

6 Portland Magazine has some kind of secret line to celebrities, and this time its one of my all-time favorites, Alan Alda. He became famous playing a character from Maine based on a book from a guy from Maine, and in the movie "The Aviator" He plays another character from Maine. That's connection enough for me!

5 Rapid Ray's has been serving up hot dogs and hamburgers for longer than McDonalds, but unlike McDonalds, Rapid Ray's has been on the same street corner in Saco for all that time.

4 Portland Magazine's annual lists of waterfront properties for sale, some for the fabulously wealthy and some you just might be able to afford without being fabulously wealthy, (unless you pay for the gas required to reach them.)

3 A Spooky Sea Tale from John M Todd. John M Todd was a barber in Portland for most of the nineteenth century, As such, he knew everyone, and everyone knew him. Portland was, after all, a much smaller city in those days. This story of Todd's like comes from his book, which he wrote a few years before he died. The story is from before his barbering days when he went to sea.

2 When at least four people came to us to tell us about the Extreme Home Makeover project in Wells, we figured we had to do something about it. Adam headed out to see what he could learn. He didn't talk to any really famous people, but he did get a behind the scenes look at the legion of volunteers that made it possible.

1 And our number one story of 2005 was Scott Baker's collection of 20 Wacky Web sites. Between the first time this ran in the spring and the second time around Thanksgiving it had shrunk to 18 Wacky Web sites as a couple disappeared, as web sites sometimes do.

That's this years list. You can see the rest of our 2005 stuff in the archives. I hope you'll be back next year to see which ideas clicked and were clicked on in 2006. Happy New Year!

aroundmaine.com by Chad Gilley with Scott Baker and Adam Cutter and Portland Magazine (and various other partners, collaborators, and contributors) December 16, 2005

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The Top 20 of 2004
The Top 20 of 2003
The Top 20 of 2002