LA Metro Magazine Spring Issue Preview!

March 19, 2026·39 min·2 clips

The spring issue features a cover story on a woman starting her own kitchen and bath remodel business after 25 years.

1. Lydia's Lunch Bunch is a Lewiston-Auburn community morning show, and this episode features publisher Pam Ashby previewing the spring issue of LA Metro Magazine. 2. Pam Ashby owns Lydia Media, which produces Lydia's Lunch Bunch, Uncle Andy's Digest, and LA Metro Magazine; she appears as a guest because she now co-hosts the show less frequently due to her workload. 3. The episode's core purpose is to build awareness for the spring issue of LA Metro Magazine, available the following week, and the March 31st launch party at 2 Great Falls Plaza in Auburn. 4. Pam calls the spring issue a 'tough issue' and announces a community roundtable directly after the launch party to crowdsource story ideas from readers and community members for future issues. 5. The spring issue's home and garden theme includes a cover story on a woman who has done kitchen and bath remodels for over 25 years and recently started her own business, including reader tips on how to approach a remodel. 6. Three pool companies are profiled, representing different specializations: in-ground pools, maintenance, and swim spas — Pam describes a swim spa as 'between a pool and a hot tub.' 7. A professional organizer is featured, with the article broken down by home zone: mudroom, garage, and seasonal clothing and outdoor furniture. 8. A home maintenance checklist covers appliance inspections, heat pump cleanings, ice dam aftermath, mole detection (identified by small mounds of displaced earth), and leaks from winter ice. 9. A water quality article covers wells, septic systems, and city water, explaining when and how to test and noting that problems do not always have visible symptoms. 10. Mark covers Central Maine Carnage, a travel softball organization that started with three teams six years ago and has grown to ten, offering competitive play from 8U through 18U age groups at Ingersoll Sports Center in Auburn. 11. Artist Jim Nutting of Main Art Glass is profiled for his stained glass work; Mark notes stained glass is an art form rarely covered and that Nutting also teaches classes. 12. A local 80-year-old musician named Chuck D. — not the founding member of Public Enemy — is featured; he performs at Olive Pit Brewing and the Great Falls Comedy Club and tells humorous stories between songs. 13. The issue closes with a historical piece on Bates Mills, noting the mill made blankets for Union soldiers during the Civil War. 14. Bruce Willis, 71, is the lead Famous People Birthday; Mark notes he retired from acting in 2022 due to aphasia — the inability to communicate caused by stroke or brain injury — and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023. 15. OTDs note Michael Jordan's 1995 comeback from baseball wearing number 45 because the Bulls had retired his number 23, and Randy Rhoads' 1982 death at 25 when a plane buzzed Ozzy Osbourne's tour bus and crashed. 16. In Three Random Questions, all three hosts identify as introverts: Sarah says she is 'really good at pretending to be extroverted'; Pam describes her social life inverting as professional obligations grew; Mark says 'the older I get, the more protective I am of my peace.' 17. In the cartoon character segment, Pam chooses She-Ra, Mark chooses Foghorn Leghorn for his relentless cockiness, and Sarah chooses Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes for the freedom to do anything — or Garfield if sleeping and eating lasagna without consequence is an option. 18. Pam and Mark announce a future podcast partnership with Gipper's restaurant, featuring local figure Bim Gibson, to be recorded live at the venue with an audience. 19. Local community members, home improvement enthusiasts, and readers of LA Metro Magazine in the Lewiston-Auburn area will find this episode most useful. 20. Listeners outside central Maine or without interest in local print media will find the content too geographically specific.

As heard by us

A grounded preview of the spring LA Metro Magazine issue that keeps its local, home improvement focus.

Pam Ashby walks through the spring LA Metro Magazine issue and the work around it. The home and garden angle gives the conversation a practical shape, moving from a kitchen and bath remodeler striking out on her own to a look at pools in Maine.

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You want a first look at the spring issue of LA Metro Magazine.

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