Name: Travis Dow

Age: 32

Hometown: Auburn

Married: Yes, wife Kathy Dow

Wife’s favorite name for you? Well, I don’t think profanity should be printed in the paper, so I’ll give you her second favorite name for me: Honey.

Right now, we know you’re very busy putting the Maine Home Show together, which is coming up April 27 and 28 at the Colisee in Lewiston. This is year #3 for you. What can visitors look forward to, and are there going to be some “wow” exhibits? There will be even more catching and stunning displays than the first two years. Homeowners looking to get design ideas will find this a great show to get inspiration at. For the first time at The Maine Home Show there will be a whole modular home, set up and furnished for tours right outside of the Colisee, by Maine Source Home of Auburn. There will also be a couple great hardscape displays from companies like Carrier Landscape, supplier/designers Gagne & Son, as well as the largest display we’ve had in the show’s history, a nearly 900-square-foot land/hardscape display by G&G Landscape, ABC Pool and NuImage Awning. This will help people get into the spring and summer mode.

You take pride in this being a mostly local show, don’t you? Absolutely. This show was started to stimulate the local economy and provide a place for local exhibitors to connect with local potential clients. Our show is roughly 85 percent locally owned companies, and the majority of the remaining 15 percent from other areas of Maine & New England. We feel strongly that local small businesses are the backbone of our community and we work hard to have those types of companies represented at the show whenever possible.

You are also known as the MenusInLA Guy. Briefly, what’s that about and what inspired you? Yes! MenusInLA.com is a site I launched back in August of 2012 with the goal of becoming the local guide to dining in Lewiston Auburn. The site is set up alphabetically so users can quickly find the restaurant they’re looking for and view their menu specials, videos, read reviews and more. If diners aren’t sure where they want to eat, they can also browse the site by category. For example, if you want to go somewhere that has outdoor seating, we have a category for that, so only places to eat that have outdoor seating will show up to browse. We have over 30 categories for diners to browse, to help drill down to the dining experience or food type they want, whether it be pizza, breakfast, Chinese food, etc. The site now has 54-plus restaurants on it from the L/A area.

Those people who follow you on your website (MenusInLA.com), your Facebook page, Pinterest (search MenusInLA.com), Twitter and Instagram (@MenusInLA) have got to be wondering how you put up a new food photo from an area restaurant almost every day. What’s your secret to not weighing 800 pounds? Haha great question. It’s not exercise, because I can’t seem to make time for any of that lately. The semi-secret is that not every pic I put on of food is actually my food. Often, when I’m out dining with others, I’ll snap pics of their food too, to use at a later time. But, honestly, a lot of the food is mine because I love eating out. That’s part of why I started the site. You hear people say “Do something you love” — well I’m loving doing this! The pics are really helping drive people to our restaurants too, making people have that “I’ve got to have that” thought.

What’s one or two surprising things you’ve discovered in your visits to area restaurants? Before launching the site I would often eat the same one or two meals at the restaurants I would go to. Now, I’m going to a lot of new places and the owners are often having me try different things too, so I’m realizing there’s a lot of different things I really like to eat. I’ve also come to realize more how many great restaurant spots we truly have around the area.

Do you have a favorite you’d care to tell us about? There’s so many right up there it’s hard to single one out since they all have their own unique qualities. I’d suggest everyone go out and try new places, try different dishes at you regular places and really experience the food in the L/A area and make there own opinion. Then go write a review about it on our website.

When you’re not organizing the annual Home Show, running MenusInLA.com and visiting area restaurants (for professional reasons of course), you’re also an account executive at Uncle Andy’s Digest. Confidentially, are you the funniest guy there? Truth is I’m either the funniest guy there or the biggest joke, it depends who you ask! All kidding aside, Uncle Andy’s Digest has been a part of my life since the magazine started back in 1996 when my father Gary “Big Gare” Dow and Uncle Andy Marsh started the company, and it has continued to be so on through the transition to new ownership and their selling the company to Jim Marston, the current owner. On an employee level I’ve been there for over nine-and-a-half years, during which I’ve been able to meet and form relationships with so many great people, and it feels like I have my finger on the pulse of the business community as a result of the work we do at UAD.

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