This week the Buzz is building, buying, eating and skiing — basically starting the holiday weekend right now.

After operating both spots for almost 25 years, Carter’s XC Ski Center has expanded its Bethel location and closed its shop in Oxford. 

Cross-country skiing fans, though, have no fear: You can still ski at both.

Anne Carter said that after losing her husband four years ago, it’s been tough to keep both shops going. She sold the Oxford building but maintained a right of way to the woods and trails. She anticipates the building’s new owners will eventually oversee rentals there.

“We’ve got easy-to-expert trails here in Bethel, we have it all in Bethel: We have lodging and we have cabins and we have the ski shop, it just became easier for me to concentrate on one place,” Carter said.

So far, so busy.

“The early snow really helps a lot, it pushes it into gear,” she said.

Shovel ready

Auburn’s permit office? Rocking last month with more than $13.8 million in new commercial projects.

Among them:

• A $225,000 standalone eight-unit expansion at the Riverside Motel on Washington Street N;

• A $475,000 complete renovation at the Maine Family Federal Credit Union on Minot Avenue; 

• An $860,000 remodel at the Auburn Mall for 12,000 square feet, turning space into a new home for Payroll Management, an $860,000 project; and

• A $12 million memory care and assisted living facility  at Schooner Estates next to its facilities on Stetson Road.

Owner John Orestis said the Schooner project started site work about three weeks ago. “We expect to be pouring concrete the first week of December,” he said.

He’s looking to have residents start moving into the 60 new units in October 2019. Orestis said he anticipates creating about 45 new positions with the project, from cooks and maintenance workers to health aides.

Ready, set, SHOP

We’re of course days away from Black Friday and its infamous stand-in-line-at-midnight sales tradition, but that also means we’re days away-plus one to Small Business Saturday, Shop Local Saturday or, as its known in Lewiston, the sixth annual Crafts & Crafts Holiday Indie Pop-up.

This year, it’s at the new Baxter Brewing Co. pub from noon to 4 p.m.

Organizer Sheri Withers Hollenbeck said she expects more than 25 talented local artists and artisans such as Ramble Row with its jewelry, books and gifts from Quiet City and custom glassware from Stop Trying To Make Etch Happen.*

* Which may be a reference to “Mean Girls”? Why not go and find out.

Krispy update

President and CEO Cort Mendez of NH Glazed LLC said it might be another 10 days before Krispy Kreme reopens on Center Street in Auburn. On Tuesday, he was waiting for the all-clear from an insurance adjuster to address equipment that needed to be repaired after a small electrical fire closed the new doughnut shop two weeks ago.

“I’m hoping (customers) haven’t given up on us,” Mendez said.

Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.

An aerial view of the work on the new Schooner Estates’ $12 million, 60-unit project on Stetson Road in Auburn from earlier this month. It’s expected to open in fall 2019. (Submitted photo)