Can An Out-Of-Stater Ever Become An Official Mainer?

A Redditor is asking a question: Can she ever become a Mainer?

It is understood you can only be an official Mainer if you are born in the state of Maine. That is just how it goes.

But, there are those that want to be included as "a Mainer" that fights this social boundary of never getting the chance, simply because some were not born in "the right place."

What does it take to become an official Mainer if you were not bestowed with the birthright?

Here's the Reddit post from the r/Maine:

Maine apprentice program? What do you think? Suggested criterion ? from r/Maine

She makes it clear that she married a Mainer and would like to be considered a full-fledged Mainer.

She is aware that a Mainer is one that is born in Maine and that no other criteria can be met in order to call one's self a "Mainer":

I can never be a Mainer because of this accident if birth. I admire and have a great deal of respect for mainers and the people that live in Maine that are "from away'.

She is putting a suggestion out there to the 'Official Mainers' if it is possible to have an apprenticeship program to give some official status to those not gifted with regional birthrights:

I think there should be a maine apprenticeship program with very rigorous set of criterion, to allow Non-Mainers to assimilate into Maine life.

For people like myself that would eventually like to live in Maine but can never never never be Mainers.

What are her suggestions as to the actions to take to become a full-fledged Mainer without the official birthright?

1)go Fiddle head-hunting

2)Berry picking

3)Heat your house for the winter with wood

4)Visit lighthouses

5)use the word "Upta" in a sentence correctly.

6) go for a Jeep ride. Off road.

7) Ride shotgun with someone that is plowing snow with a truck. Bonus if you run the plow controls

8) Hike to certain elevation (TBD) anywhere in Maine.

9) Visit Baxter state park

10) Hike to chimney pond

11) Gut a deer

12) Drive a snow machine. That's a snowmobile for you folks from away.

13) Try Dr. McGillicuddy's, Allen's coffee Brandy, fireball or Screwball peanut butter whiskey

14) grow a beard. This is primarily for men but not exclusively.

15) you must live in the state of Maine for at least 10 years. 12 years if you move from Massachusetts. 8 years if you move from Texas or Alaska.

16). You must be recommended & vouched for, by a Mainer

17) something with chainsaws. evidently Stihl and Husqvarna are the Maine chainsaws of choice. Be safe

18) go to mardens. Many times

Some responded with more suggestions to be added to her initial list including:

• buying something from Uncle Henry's
• learning and relaying information about studded tire laws
• "taking an ad in the paper that details for the entire town you live in the lives/relationships/f***ups of you, your siblings, parents, and your grandparents. Maybe even cousins."
• partying in gravel pits with adult beverages
• manage doing multiple activities while drinking... adult beverages (boating, fishing, clamming)
• tap maple trees
• "Take out an ad in the pennysaver congratulating your 13 year old on bagging their first deer"
• "Take out an ad in the pennysaver announcing your daughter is now 18, and here's her senior picture."
• "Use "stove up" in a grammatically correct sentence.

One suggested included having a "true Mainer" vouch for a "non-Mainer."

See the full Reddit post here to add your ideas to the list.