The Working Waterfront - Dec 23/Jan 24

News from Maine’s Island and Coastal Communities volume 37, no. 10 n dec 2023 / jan 2024 n free circulation: 50,000

publishedby byisland islandinstitute institute nn workingwaterfront workingwaterfront.com .com published

Blue crabs on the rise in Maine waters

STANDING STRONG—

Growing population raises questions about impacts good and bad BY CLARKE CANFIELD

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lue crabs are expanding their range into the warming waters of the Gulf of Maine, raising questions about their long-term impact on other marine species and whether they could become a commercial fishery in the years or decades ahead. Blue crabs are commonly found in warmer waters south of Cape Cod and are harvested commercially from New Jersey to the Gulf of Mexico. But they have been showing up in salt marshes, in lobster traps, on clam flats, and elsewhere in Maine the past few years from Kittery to as far east as Mount Desert Island— and their numbers are growing. Through late October of this year, people have reported seeing more than 120 blue crabs through an online reporting survey set up by Manomet, a Massachusetts-based conservation and science nonprofit. Manomet has also trapped close to 50 blue crabs this year in Casco Bay’s New Meadows River. At the same time, the Wells National Estuarine Research

The Crowley family of Corea, with the fifth, sixth, and seventh generations of lobster harvesters represented, pose for a series of portraits on fishing families by photographer Cheryl Clegg. “This is our life,” said Bruce Crowley, representing the fifth generation. “This is how we support ourselves and many others—sternmen and family, co-op workers, trap makers, boat builders, car salesmen, bait dealers… the list goes on.” For more of Clegg’s portraits, see pages 12-13.

Reserve has caught more than 220 of the crabs in its traps in salt marshes this year, a sharp increase from the previous few years. Those numbers are small, but they represent only a tiny fraction of the total number of blue crabs now living in the Gulf of Maine as water temperatures continue their upward climb. The warming waters are allowing the crabs to take hold in the Gulf of Maine,

which stretches from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, said Jessie Batchelder, a fisheries project manager with Manomet who works out of the organization’s Maine office in Brunswick. “Warming waters are allowing them to survive further north,” she said. “And we’re starting to see females carrying eggs, we’re seeing blue crabs mating, continued on page 4

New owners for Penobscot Island Air New Hampshire couple relocated to Matinicus BY TOM GROENING

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business providing a vital link to Maine’s offshore islands has new owners. Sean and Andi Creeley, who are based in Portsmouth,

N.H., purchased Penobscot Island Air in November from Terry Waters. In a telephone interview, Sean Creeley said he expects little to change in the operation of the business, which was founded by Kevin

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Waters in 2004. Waters died suddenly music streaming service, in 2021. He three years ago, and his widow, Terry, remains a production director for has been running the business along Spotify, he said. with Ken Carle. Creeley has no prior experience in Creeley said his wife had vacationed aviation, he said, but explained the on Matinicus, one of the purchase came for islands served by PIA, as “somewhat selfish a child, and continued to reasons,” as he and visit as the couple started his wife want to see their own family. They the business continue “ The team at PIA have two young children. to thrive. When the COVID “It’s an unbelievis very good at pandemic hit, the family able resource, and we flying planes.” purchased a house on want to see it be able the island, with Creeley to continue,” he said. acknowledging that they “The team at PIA is were very much part of the very good at flying COVID migrant trend. planes,” he said. Creeley did not disclose the terms “They do this flawlessly.” of the purchase, but credited Camden Islanders and others rely on the air National Bank with providing assistance. service to deliver mail and other freight, Creeley launched two technology take islanders to medical appointments firms, one in 2010, which he sold on the mainland, and to provide transin 2016, and then another in 2018, port when ferries aren’t running. which sold to Spotify, an online continued on page 5

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

TikTok brings Maine fisheries to the world ‘Downeast Cowboy’ and others stream while they work

them, he explains—then shows where fishermen put a “V notch” in the tail to let other fishermen know very morning, thousands of Maine fishermen the female is a breeder. Lastly, he waves a bait fish and harvesters set about their work unobserved, near her claw, saying, “Let’s send her on her way with quietly hauling in the catch from our waters a snack!” She snaps up the fish in one claw, holding it and our mudflats. But a handful of Maine fishermen tightly as she drops back beneath the waves. In other videos, Knowles demonstrates how he are not only observed, but seen by hundreds of removes barnacles from a lobster shell. If left on, thousands around the globe. “We go live every day we go lobstering,” says Kelly in some cases, the barnacles could eventually stop Hinkle of Addison. “Two days ago, we had 800,000 the lobster from shedding its shell or from using its claws. Knowles cracks the barnacles off with some people watching us, between my father and me.” From the F/V Allegiance, Hinkle and his father, pliers, hands the lobster a snack for the road, and Ron Hinkle, livestream their work on TikTok, a sends it on its way. Maine’s sustainability measures regularly surprise social media platform used for sharing short videos on anything from dance moves to food to fitness and, viewers. “Some people are surprised to learn how much as it turns out, fishing. “Yesterday, there was a woman who watched us work fishermen invest in protecting the fishery, so we from 6 a.m. to the end of the day,” Hinkle says. “We enjoy shining a light on sustainability,” says Knowles. went through three batteries, and she watched every “Fishing is our livelihood. We have to care about it.” Gouldsboro clammer and wormer Wayne Bishko trap get hauled that day.” Hinkle’s viewers span the globe with notable has built a TikTok audience of 112,000 by taking numbers in far-flung places in the U.S. like Houston, viewers to work with him onto—and below—Maine’s and around the globe in New Zealand, Malaysia, and mudflats. In addition to softshell clams, Bishko works all year long harvesting bloodIndonesia. worms and sandworms for use Before moving to TikTok, Hinkle as recreational fishing bait. was known for his videos of life in “Guys that haul right “One of the biggest questions rural Maine made under the name I always get is will you eat one?” Downeast Cowboy, and for his beside us, they watch says Bishko, laughing. “No.” Maine-themed children’s books. But us live because they After showing his viewers the things exploded when he started his two fangs on a sandworm and TikTok account and shared a short think we’re comical. four fangs on a venomous video of snow curling and then falling bloodworm, viewers often ask if off his roofline. Now we’re called the it’s safe to walk on the mudflats. “I gained 20,000 followers overTikTok boat.” “I tell them don’t change night,” he recalls. your routine of life just because Since then, Hinkle’s content—and these things are there,” says his following —have expanded. More than 140,000 people follow “The Downeast Cowboy” Bishko. But in his videos, he does advise caution on TikTok, as he streams facets of life in rural Maine, when handling them as bait, because they can bite. “You guys want to be careful,” he says as a bloodincluding working on his woodpile, boats, and even blueberrying. But mostly, he and his father intro- worm writhes attempting to bite his palm. “Those duce their viewers to the inner workings of Maine’s two fangs can definitely do some damage.” And it isn’t only bloodworms and sandworms. lobster fishery, like the cost of bait, how long it takes to be licensed, how they build their traps, and Maine’s Recently, Bishko captured spaghetti worms and a shimmy worm. In other videos, he films the clamincreased whale-protection measures. “Every day we talk about the weak link [in our eating efforts of a milky ribbon worm and its long ropes],” says Hinkle, referring to the breakaway proboscis. The longest worm he’s seen stretched out technology fishermen use to prevent whale entangle- to more than six feet long. ments. “We talk about the traps, pricing, the different parts, and we go live making the traps, that’s a really popular feed. We get a lot of different questions, like, how deep is the water where you’re fishing? How do you have cell service so far out in the ocean? They don’t realize we’re within six miles of the coast.” At first, Hinkle was worried about the reaction of his fellow fishermen, but that fear was unfounded. “Guys that haul right beside us, they watch us live because they think we’re comical,” laughs Hinkle. “Now we’re called the TikTok boat in the harbor.” As social media influencers, Hinkle and his father are in good company at sea and on TikTok. Fellow Maine fisherman Jacob Knowles has a TikTok following of more than 2.5 million and also uses his platform to educate viewers around the world about Maine’s fisheries. His TikTok journey took off with a lighthearted prank, a video showing his sternman, Keith Potter, startling another man with an eel. “And that was the first viral video, with 500,000 views,” recalls Knowles “After that, we started looking more seriously at stuff on the boat to share. I thought maybe people would find the sustainability part of it interesting, what we do to protect the lobsters.” Knowles thought correctly. “One day, I showed a lobster full of eggs. and that was the first multi-million-view video,” he recalls. Those “egger videos” are among his fans’ favorites. In them, he holds up a female lobster whose abdomen is laden with small black eggs—more than 20,000 of BY SARAH CRAIGHEAD DEDMON

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Kelly Hinkle, aka the Downeast Cowboy. PHOTO: CHERYL CLEGG

Watching Bishko, viewers see how much work goes into harvesting softshell clams and marine worms, as he heaves his rake through the ice before pulling a retreating worm quickly from the clay and gravel. “Four or five years ago I would never have thought I’d be doing this. It just started to snowball,” says Bishko. “You’re connecting on a level and showing people something they’ve never seen before. And you’re hoping they’ll continue to follow along on the journey, building that connection with people. That’s kind of what it’s about I guess.”

Hinkle shares photos on his TikTok feed of unusual catches. PHOTOS: COURTESY KELLY HINKLE

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

Collins offers working waterfront bill

GrowSmart Maine wins grant

Working Waterfront Preservation Act would provide funds U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Jack Reed have introduced the Working Waterfront Preservation Act. This bipartisan bill would help preserve access for fishermen and maritime workers to the waterfronts in coastal communities, supporting the commercial fishing, aquaculture, boatbuilding, and for-hire recreational fishing industries that are so vital to the culture, heritage, and economies of seaside towns and cities. “The hard working men and women that make up Maine’s maritime industries continue to lose access to the waterfronts that sustain them. Recent demand for coastal property has only intensified the problem both in Maine and across the nation,” said Collins. “This bipartisan legislation would create a grant program to provide funding for municipal and state governments, nonprofit organizations, and participants in maritime industries to preserve and improve working waterfront property in our coastal states.” Reed added that working waterfronts “face a growing number of competing pressures, from rising sea levels to surging real estate prices and economic development challenges.” According to the most recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), commercial and recreational fisheries are responsible for more than 1.7 million jobs in the U.S., $253 billion in sales, and $117 billion in value-added impacts. The Working Waterfront Preservation Act would establish a $20 million grant program to help municipal and state governments, nonprofit organizations, and participants in maritime industries purchase or improve working waterfront property in coastal states. Grants would be administered by the Economic Development Administration, and

successful applicants would need to be endorsed by state fisheries agencies. In order to be eligible for a grant, recipients would be required to permanently protect an area as working waterfront. Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, expressed gratitude for the proposal. “The working waterfront is our gateway to the amazing seafood we harvest here in Maine and around the country,” he said. “Without it, we lose crucial connectivity within our local food system and significantly reduce the opportunity that seafood represents.” He thanked Collins for “continuing to advocate for Maine’s iconic fishing industry and fighting to bring much-needed resources and attention to our working waterfront communities.” Patrice McCarron, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said that waterfront access is critical to the future of Maine’s lobster industry. “You simply can’t make a living from the sea if you aren’t able to get to it,” she said. Noah Oppenheim, coordinator of the Fishing Communities Coalition observed that “The key to maintaining the vibrant character and economic productivity of any American port is adequate support for its working waterfront,” but that “fishing communities across the country have been struggling to maintain working waterfront access in the face of gentrification, infrastructure issues, sea level rise, and countless additional challenges.” The program would preserve public access to working waterfronts in communities from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, and Southern California to Western Alaska.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King have announced that GrowSmart Maine has been awarded $304,636 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Community Development Initiative grant program. The funding supports GrowSmart’s program training recipients in ten Maine towns on land use planning processes that will address farmland protection and farm viability, affordable housing, and climate change prevention and mitigation. GrowSmart supports communities in managing change and accessing resources by convening diverse stakeholders, including urban planners and developers, real estate and housing developers and financers, and environmental specialists working on conservation and land use. Ten communities have enrolled in the new Building Community Strength program: Calais, Danforth, Enfield, Houlton, Machias, Mexico, Presque Isle, Roque Bluffs, Skowhegan, and Winn. “GrowSmart Maine creates new opportunities for rural communities, revitalizes downtown infrastructure, and promotes job creation,” Sens. Collins and King said. “This investment will support GrowSmart’s important work to provide rural communities with access to the strategic and organizational support needed to flourish now and in the years to come.” RCDI grants are awarded to help non-profit housing and community development organizations, low-income rural communities, and federally recognized tribes support housing, community facilities, and community and economic development projects in rural areas.

Enduring Impact Krista Tripp has been lobstering her whole life. In 2018, by enrolling in Island Institute’s Aquaculture Business Development program, Krista was able to access hands-on training experience that helped her diversify into farming oysters.

“Having an oyster business powered by clean energy has been a dream of mine. Island Institute was with me every step of the way and gave me the tools, knowledge and resources I needed to make it happen.” —KRISTA TRIPP

Today, Krista’s Aphrodite Oysters, grown in the Weskeag River in South Thomaston, are found on the menus of oyster bars all around the state of Maine! This year, Island Institute was able to help Krista secure funding for a solar array, making her business more sustainable and affordable. Investing in people and livelihoods on the coast of Maine is one example of how your gift can make a difference! Please consider supporting Island Institute’s work in your community with a year-end gift today.

3 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY! 1 Online at giving.islandinstitute.org 2 Call the Island Institute office at (207) 747-1180 3 Mail your gift to: Island Institute, PO Box 648, Rockland, ME 04841

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

BLUE CRABS

continued from page 1 there are reports of larval blue crabs. So we know we’re finding all stages of blue crabs at this point.” The crabs started showing up with regularity in 2020 in wire-mesh traps that set by the Wells Reserve to monitor salt water marshes in Southern Maine. For the first three years, between 20 and 50 crabs were caught in the traps each year, from April into November. “Then this year, we blew it out of the park,” said Laura Crane, a research associate at the Wells Reserve. “We’ve caught more than 220 blue crabs and we’re not done trapping.” In the U.S., blue crabs live along the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico and are caught by both commercial and recreational fishermen. Its scientific name—Callinectes sapidus—means “beautiful savory swimmer” in Latin. Prized for its sweet flavor and tender meat, the blue crab is a valuable commercial fishery. In 2022, U.S. fishermen harvested 115 million pounds valued at $220 million, according to NOAA Fisheries. Fishermen in Virginia and Maryland, who catch crabs in Chesapeake Bay, caught 32.6 million pounds, but Louisiana had the biggest harvest at nearly 50 million pounds. In the wild, blue crabs are eaten by large fish, some fish-eating birds, and sea turtles, according to NOAA Fisheries. But it’s what crabs themselves eat that is raising questions in the Gulf of Maine. Blue crabs are major predators of ocean-bottom communities and will eat almost anything, including clams, oysters, mussels, small crustaceans, freshly dead fish, and plants. They’ll also eat smaller and soft-shelled blue crabs. In Maine, one question is whether blue crabs pose a threat to juvenile lobsters that are abundant and serve as the foundation of Maine’s lobster fishery. “Blue crabs are one of the most aggressive crab species and pose predatory and habitat threats to lobsters,” said Aaron Whitman, a senior research associate at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland. Conversely, will they eat invasive green crabs that feast on juvenile clams and have decimated the clam population in some parts of Maine? Blue crabs have

been credited with keeping the green crab population in check in the Chesapeake Bay. Scientists are also watching to see whether the blue crabs will establish themselves and grow to the point where they could become a fishery of their own. But that would likely be far in the future if it were to happen at all. Brandon Henry, a University of Maine doctoral student studying the expanding range of blue crabs in the Gulf of Maine, said blue crabs have appeared in Maine in decades past, only to disappear a few years later. Between 1948 and 1956, for instance, numerous blue crabs were caught in Maine waters, according to an article published in 1960 in the Maine Field Naturalist scientific research journal. The article, written by a marine biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, said lobstermen and lobster dealers reported hundreds of blue crabs showing up yearly, primarily from the Portsmouth, N.H.-Kittery area up to Casco Bay. The reason? Warmer waters.During those years, the water temperatures were far above their average, the journal reported. But when temperatures reverted to their long-time norm, the crabs left. The crabs could be here to stay this time given the steady rise in water temperatures over the past 40 years. The Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest-warming ocean regions on Earth. “We’re unsure of how far up into Maine they’ll expand,” Henry said. “They are salt marsh specialists, that’s the habitat they prefer living in, so we are uncertain if they would be able to go up into the more northern areas of Maine on account of the shores there are more rocky and don’t have the salt marsh environment they live in typically.” In response to the growing blue crab population, Crane last year formed the Gulf of Maine Blue Crab Network to help facilitate collaborative research on blue crabs. Among the 30-40 participants are the Wells Reserve, Manomet, the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire, the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the Gulf Maine Research Institute.

Sammi Smith of the Wells Reserve holds a blue crab with tongs in a saltwater marsh. PHOTO: GORDON SHANNON, WELLS RESERVE

Have you seen a blue crab in the Gulf of Maine? To report a sighting, or see where blue crabs have been found, visit: www.manomet.org/bluecrab/

Gordon Shannon of the Wells Reserve holds a blue crab trapped by the Wells Reserve. PHOTO: LAURA CRANE, WELLS RESERVE

LEFT: After trapping blue crabs in the New Meadows River, Manomet’s Jessie Batchelder tags the crustaceans before releasing them. PHOTO: COURTESY MANOMET

A blue crab. PHOTO: COURTESY MANOMET

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

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PENOBSCOT ISLAND AIR

continued from page 1

The staff is expected to remain in place. Most of the company’s flights are chartered. There are 20-30 employees, Creeley said, peaking in summer when vacationers and seasonal homeowners travel to and from the islands. PIA’s fleet includes eight Cessnas, he said. The company also operates Katahdin Air, which includes float planes that serve Northern Maine. Creeley added that PIA is now actively looking to hire a general manager. He expects to manage advertising, marketing, and technology, while the new GM would handle the day-to-day operations. “The goal is to increase enplanements to Vinalhaven, Islesboro, and Matinicus,” he said. “We want to make it so flying is the preferred choice.” Sean and Andi Creeley. PHOTO: COURTESY SEAN CREELEY

Maritime historian launches online presence Lincoln Paine reviews maritime history books BY CLARKE CANFIELD

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aritime historian and author Lincoln Paine has launched a new online platform and email newsletter that features his take on new books, articles, media, and other works about maritime history, culture, arts, and law. The website, called “A Sea of Words,” is located on the Substack online platform that provides support for subscription newsletters. In his initial entry on Aug. 17, Paine wrote that his postings will fall somewhere between publishers’ book jacket copy and full-blown reviews. The platform and newsletter are free. Paine isn’t aware of any other email newsletter or platform that focuses exclusively on books related to maritime history. He plans to post new reviews at

least once every two weeks. By early November, 200 people had subscribed to his site. Paine was motivated to launch “A Sea of Words” after being elected chair of the John R. Lyman Book Awards Committee of the North American Society for Oceanic History. That position requires him to read a lot of books, and he thought other maritime buffs would also be interested in those same books. He’s identified more than 100 titles being published in 2023. “I’ve always been an evangelist for maritime history,” Paine said. “So if I can get more people excited about it, I’m very happy to do so.” Paine, who lives in Portland, has written three maritime books—Down East: An Illustrated History of Maritime Maine, The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World and Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia.

He’s also written hundreds of articles, reviews, and lectures, and is currently chairman of the board of trustees at Maine Maritime Museum. People might be surprised at the variety and number of maritime-related books that are being published, Paine said. Some of his postings so far have included reviews of books about a U.S. Naval officer; U.S. imperialism and merchant marines; animals at sea; marine artists from Liverpool, England; a history of shipwrecks at the mouth of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest; and even a page-turner about a CIA operation to recover a 2,000-ton section of a Soviet ballistic-missile submarine that sank 16,000 feet down about 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii in 1968. “If you take a look at what’s being published,” he said, “you’ll see how wide people are casting the net.”

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

from the sea up

Ideas are plentiful, but resources scarce Loan funding helps small business dream big BY KIM HAMILTON

A FEW WEEKS AGO, at a small library in South Thomaston, I had the opportunity to sit down with several Maine business owners. We were brought together by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to discuss its new grant to Island Institute for our revolving loan fund. Launched last year, the loan fund is the newest tool in our Tom Glenn Community Impact Fund and will strengthen our efforts to aid small businesses in Maine’s coastal and island communities. The timing could not have been better. With small business Saturday just around the corner, it is a good time to focus attention on the small businesses that drive our coastal economy. Interestingly—and contrary to popular belief—rural, coastal Maine is chock full of small businesses. According to our research, coastal Maine has twice the national average of residents with self-employment income, and, on unbridged islands, the number is even higher. This

The benefits of small business growth, entrepreneurial spirit is deeply embedded in Maine’s island and coastal however, are many. We tend to think of communities and part of what makes jobs as the primary outcome of small Maine tick—from oyster growers, business development in rural commulobstering, and boat yards, to general nities. Yet small businesses help local stores, coffee roasters, breweries, art communities flourish through their indirect impact on other local busigalleries, and more. The USDA’s decision to support nesses and by creating opportunities for Island Institute through its Rural more young people to remain in these Business Development Grant program communities because they have a job. By helping these businesses access the speaks to its understanding of the necessary funding, we can safeguard dynamics along the Maine coast. economic stability and USDA State Director amplify the ripple effect Rhiannon Hampson that benefits not only a emphasized the unique Coastal Maine single business but also challenges faced by an entire community. coastal- and island-based has twice the While we are proud to small businesses and the national average be the first loan fund in rewards that come from several years to receive investing in them. From of residents with a Maine Rural Business the high costs of housing self-employment Development Grant, and transportation to the significance of this the relentless struggle to income… award lies in its potenattract and retain skilled tial to scale the number employees, small business are facing tremendous headwinds. of businesses we can support in years They must adapt to a changing climate to come. Expanding access to patient and navigate the enduring repercussions capital and technical assistance in a community-driven manner is a formula of the pandemic.

for success, and we think it’s the highest and best use of awards like the Rural Business Development Grant. Of course, we all know that many small businesses start with the seed of an idea from a passionate founder. And good ideas aren’t limited by geography. Having additional capital to put to work in these local communities—where ideas are plentiful, but resources are scarce—is exactly what our community investment fund is for. For us, having more capital to fuel this passion, to provide staying power to founders’ dreams, and to provide a place to learn, work, and grow for new generations of people who want to call the Maine coast home goes to the core of our mission. Bring on small business Saturday. We’re ready. Kim Hamilton is president of Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. She may be contacted at khamilton@islandinstitute.org.

rock bound

Columbus, Squanto, and our original sin Holidays should focus us on restoring Native status BY TOM GROENING

THIS, THE DECEMBER/JANUARY issue of The Working Waterfront, prints between a couple of holidays that are sort of related—Indigenous Peoples Day and Thanksgiving. The history embedded in these dates is worth reflection, especially as our understanding of it has evolved in recent years. The 500th anniversary of Columbus arriving in the New World, marked in 1992, triggered a major reconsideration of his status in American culture and history. Back then, now more than 30 years ago, stories that I and others wrote about people who argued that Columbus was no hero to be venerated, may have elicited some eye rolls. Not so much now. He enslaved Native people and reputedly allowed them to be raped and tortured by his crews. Columbus never got beyond the Caribbean in his voyages, but here in New England, patterns of interaction between Europeans and Native peoples were established; some of it morally sound, most of it not. Samoset, for whom a resort in Rockport is named, and Squanto are honored because of the roles they played in helping sustain the Plymouth Colony. Both spoke some English;

Samoset because he interacted with English fishermen in the Gulf of Maine, and Squanto because he was a victim of European abduction. The latter fact alone should stand larger in American history than Columbus’ entrepreneurial and opportunistic voyage, that early European visitors to North America regarded the Native peoples as they did an interesting plant specimen worth plucking and taking home. Squanto was sold in Spain by his English captor, but eventually made it back to New England. Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower is an insightful look at the establishment of the Plymouth Colony and what came to be known as King Philip’s War, in which Native and European people fought, with a third of the colonists dying and the Massachusetts-based tribes decimated. Philbrick concludes that the fragile peace negotiated between colony founder William Bradford and Wampanoag leader Massasoit wasn’t guarded by the generation that followed. Even though “King” Philip—a Native leader who converted to Christianity, hence the name—embraced some European culture, the colonists failed to understand his opposition to their encroachment on the tribe’s land.

I’ve written before in these pages about how settlers in Maine—a century later—were rewarded with payment for killing Native people here. And in my lifetime, the horrors continued: removing children from their family and placing them in foster homes; denying many civil rights, including voting; and one sad fact I recently learned, that Native students were denied housing in University of Maine dorms. So Columbus Day has become Indigenous Peoples Day, at least here in Maine. And celebrating on Thanksgiving the help Native people provided to colonists must be tempered with the knowledge that it was the beginning of the end for a way of life for the tribes. Is there a way forward? A conflict that remains here in Maine is the understanding of tribal sovereignty. After the land claims settlement deal in 1980, Maine’s tribes have asserted that they are a nation within a nation. State officials counter that the tribes—the Wabanaki Alliance, which includes the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Mi’kmaq, and Maliseet— are more like municipalities, with all the home-rule authority that comes with that governance.

Dialogue on those differences has not resulted in resolution. Interestingly, Maine voters approved on Election Day a measure that means treaties with the tribes will be part of the state constitution. A larger, less defined issue is how our Native neighbors can have access to the same economic opportunities most of us enjoy. Economic success is, of course, tied to education, social services, health care, and housing. We as a state can do much more on these issues. Lastly, Native people try to balance maintaining their culture and traditions with access to mainstream amenities. We must be sensitive to and patient with this, and what we hope is the last phase of reconciling with our past sins. When we do, we will truly have something for which to give thanksgiving. Tom Groening is editor of The Working Waterfront. He may be contacted at tgroening@islandinstitute.org.

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

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PORTLAND WEST — This image from the late 1940s or early 1950s shows the Morrill Corner area of Forest Avenue in Portland.

op-ed

Rockweed harvesting is sustainable Story took ‘sour view’ of important industry BY GEORGE SEAVER

CONTRARY TO a recent article in this newspaper (“Illegal rockweed harvesting threatens environment,” November issue), rockweed harvesting is an environmentally sustainable practice that is crucial to the future of Maine’s working waterfront. The article took a surprisingly sour view of the industry, overstating the number of bad actors and instances of illegal harvest while ignoring the science around rockweed and its economic importance to Maine. Rockweed, or Ascophyllum nodosum, is the seaweed that any ocean-goer in Maine knows, one that attaches itself to the rocky intertidal zone along the coast. Its commercial harvest has a long history; a 1907 Boston Herald article tells us that in the early 1900s, farmers were harvesting 5,000 tons of rockweed in Penobscot Bay alone, to use on potato crops and as sheep feed. The latest landing data for all seaweed species in Maine was 7,491 tons in 2021, according to the Department of Marine Resource (DMR). It is estimated that the Gulf of Maine contains over 1 million tons of rockweed, which means less than 1%

Island Institute Board of Trustees

Kristin Howard, Chair Douglas Henderson, Vice Chair Kate Vogt, Treasurer, Finance Chair Carol White, Programs Chair Bryan Lewis, Philanthropy Chair Shey Conover, Secretary, Governance Chair Megan McGinnis Dayton, Ad Hoc Marketing & Communicatins Chair Michael P. Boyd, Clerk Sebastian Belle David Cousens Michael Felton Nathan Johnson Emily Lane Michael Sant Michael Steinharter Donna Wiegle Tom Glenn (honorary) Joe Higdon (honorary) Bobbie Sweet (honorary) John Bird (honorary) Kimberly A. Hamilton, PhD (ex officio)

of Maine’s rockweed was harvested that year. Over 40 years ago, three Maine companies began sustainably harvesting and processing rockweed and continue to operate today. The founders of these three companies were three of the five founding members of the Maine Seaweed Council (MSC), established in 1993 to to strive to protect the ecosystems of Maine’s marine algae and adhere to sustainable cultivation and harvest practices, promote the use of Maine seaweeds, educate the public, regulators, and elected officials, and provide a collaborative forum for its members. Rockweed is an incredibly resilient natural resource and most Mainers who harvest it go to great lengths to ensure that it remains bountiful for future generations. This means complying with all state regulations, always cutting 16 inches or more above the hold-fast (where the seaweed connects to the rock), obtaining a license, of course, and reporting landings by state mandated sectors. The Working Waterfront’s story, produced by the Maine Monitor, implies that industry is trying to loosen these regulations but the exact opposite is true. In fact, it was the MSC

that pushed for adoption of a statewide sector system and continues to push for the adoption of the Rockweed Fisheries Management Plan that DMR published in 2014. Harvesters are not seeking to harvest everywhere. They want to continue to cut in the areas they have harvested for decades. And the implication that a wellmanaged rockweed fishery can only exist if individual landowners own the rockweed is misplaced. We can look to Canada where the rockweed is owned and regulated by the government and is thriving with no difference in biomass, height, or morphology of rockweed after more than 20 years of commercial harvesting. Given this long and positive history, we on the board of the MSC were puzzled by the recent suggestion that the industry is dominated by rogue harvesters operating without licenses, or that the practice is environmentally harmful. Earlier this year, a study from the University of Maine concluded that the speed of biomass recovery in harvested rockweed beds is “quite remarkable” and that “harvesting had less impact than previous studies indicated.” The bottom line from the University of

THE WORKING WATERFRONT

Published by Island Institute, a non-profit organization that works to sustain Maine's island and coastal communities, and exchanges ideas and experiences to further the sustainability of communities here and elsewhere. All members of Island Institute and residents of Maine island communities receive monthly mail delivery of The Working Waterfront. For home delivery: Join Island Institute by calling our office at (207) 594-9209 E-mail us: membership@islandinstitute.org • Visit us online: giving.islandinstitute.org

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Maine is that rockweed regenerates at a rapid rate, fully recovering its biomass within a year of harvest. This abundant natural resource has many commercial uses: garden fertilizer, a nutritional additive in food for pets and livestock, and as a plant biostimulant, which increase crop tolerance to stressors caused by climate change and allows farmers to use fewer petroleum-based fertilizers. In addition to harvesting, the industry creates jobs in trucking, processing, and even scientific research. This impact is all the more important because the harvest occurs largely in rural portions of Maine’s coast, such as Washington County, where economic opportunity is hard to come by. There is a story to tell about rockweed in Maine, just not the one that appeared in the November issue. Rockweed is an important natural resource for our state, one that is sustainable and regenerative and offers economic opportunity. Submitted on behalf of the Maine Seaweed Council board of directors whose members are: Bonnie Tobey, George Seaver, Alison Feibel, Greg Tobey, Shep Erhart, John Grotton, Mitch Lench, Dave Preston, and Jaclyn Robidoux.

Editor: Tom Groening

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8

The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

Domestic abuse—voices and vocabulary found Women’s stories in panel discussion reveal familiar patterns BY TOM GROENING

A

fter their break-up, Sarah noticed her ex-partner seemed to run into her more often than was coincidental. At the gym. At the grocery store. At daycare. It was no coincidence. He wasn’t that good at guessing where she might be. In fact, she learned, he had attached a tracking device to her car. Sarah was one of eight women speaking at a panel discussion program at Damariscotta’s Skidompha Library on Nov. 7, hosted by the Camdenbased nonprofit Finding Our Voices organization, which works to support victims of domestic abuse. Her ex used an app that would show where and when she drove and at what speed. The results were transferred to a spreadsheet, Sarah said. Police confiscated the device and the records. How many pages of spreadsheets did he have? Someone guessed 50. No, there were 1,500 pages covering just a two-month period, she said. Sarah’s story covered what she called “post-separation abuse.” The other women, each victims of domestic abuse, spoke of gradually sinking into an ever-tightening web of control, with violence and threats of violence ever present. The patterns in each story were strikingly similar. Sarah structured her talk on vocabulary needed to understand the pattern, and expressed hope that police, lawyers, district attorneys, and judges would learn about the scourge of abuse. Her goal, she said, is “to break the silence and eliminate the shame.” Is the system broken? No, she said. It’s created and maintained to sustain men’s power over women. The first vocabulary term she recommended was “domestic abuse,” rather than domestic violence, because the term encapsulates a wider range which can include emotional, verbal, financial, and other abuses. After her first marriage ended—an ex-husband with whom she still co-parents and even vacations—she met another man. It began with what she called “love bombing,” her second vocabulary term, characterized by extreme displays of affection. The other women described the early days of their relationships similarly, as they were lavished with flowers, dinners, compliments, favors, and even promises of financial assistance. “It was addictive,” Sarah recalled. She felt loved.

But then, he began commenting with “back-handed compliments,” or gave her “the silent treatment.” Which led to another vocabulary term: “gaslighting,” or convincing someone that it is she who is seeing things all wrong. After particularly abusive behavior, he improved and showed regret. “Things always get better,” Sarah said, but the cycle of abuse would begin again. While some abusers blame their behavior on depression or anxiety, “Mental health is not an excuse for domestic abuse,” she said. She also found herself making excuses for his bad behavior. “He had a tough week at work. He’s not feeling well.” Sarah didn’t plan on having a child with this man, but got pregnant. “He told me he couldn’t have children,” and the resulting pregnancy illustrated another abuse term she introduced—reproductive coercion. When she began breast-feeding the baby, he would discourage it, saying it was selfish. When he arrived home from work, he would take the child into the bedroom and lock the door,

saying he wanted to spend one-on-one time with him. Finally, when the child was just seven months old, he took him to work, leaving him in the car seat or on the floor at construction sites where he worked, she later learned, forcefeeding him formula. Sarah had called and texted him, sick with worry, but got no reply. “That is when I decided to leave,” she said, but “ironically, he left me.” Protection orders, mediation, battles over child-support, “and thousands and thousands of dollars” in legal fees followed. She sold her car and got another one with new plates, hoping he wouldn’t recognize it. Then he begged her to let him return. When she refused, the tracking device seems to have been attached. For his actions, her ex was sentenced to 20 days in jail. Police confiscated his guns, but Sarah said when her son visited the house, he observed guns in a closet. Police told her they couldn’t seize them unless he used them. “Our system is set up to be reactive, not proactive,” she said.

Friends and family members might perceive Sarah as a strong woman who is educated and working in the professional world. “She’s smart. She should’ve known” about how to manage an abusive partner, she said. And that led to the final vocabulary term—victim shaming. The other women told similar stories. One woman, whose husband was an academic, heading up a university department, once punched her in the face while they were driving together when she suggested buying something for their grandchild. As is often the case, she concluded the violence had been her fault. He threatened suicide at one point, and later, so did she, and when she did, he offered to get the gun. She left him at age 65. “No one chose to live with domestic violence,” she said. “I lived 43 years of hell on earth.” Another woman said she was the victim of abuse at the hands of her partner, a woman. She also described the “gaslighting.” Another said her boyfriend would punish her by canceling visits she had planned with friends and family for infractions of his impossible-to-meet code. She also described her boyfriend forcing sex on her. “I had no trace of my personality left,” she said. One victim on the panel remembered a friend gently helping her see the abuse, and she told the group to “Keep the door open, keep the conversation open” for those stuck in abusive relationships. “The basic structure [of abuse] is put together so slowly that you don’t really understand it… until you do,” one of the women said. Patrisha McLean of Camden is the founder and CEO of Finding Our Voices. Her ex-husband, singersongwriter Don McLean, was arrested in 2016 and charged with domestic abuse. Her group has given $70,000 to victims to help with rent, transportation, and other costs associated with escaping. McLean also recruited 25 area dentists who have agreed to provide services to victims who have teeth damaged by abusers, she said. The event was the seventh hosted this year by Finding Our Voices, which ranged from Millinocket to York, McLean said. If you are a victim of domestic abuse, help is available by calling 1-866-834-4357.

www.workingwaterfront.com . April 2020 www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

cRanBeRRy RepoRt Report shows Maine with high lung cancer rates

23 9

Town meeting, painting lines, eating doughnuts, and throwing rocks

American Lung Association calls for more screening

T

he 2023 “State of Lung Cancer” report reveals that Maine ranks 44 out of 48 in the nation for incidence rate of lung cancer, while also ranking in the top five states for the percentage of people to receive By Barbara screening, andFernald receive treatment. This means that Maine has one of the ACTIVITY on the at the end highest numbers of islands, new cases of lung of February and into March, is like cancer per year, in the nation—buta mirror image of the action at the end that it’s also more likely for Mainers at of August into September. Just as the high risk to receive screening and to summertreatment residentspost of diagnosis. the Cranberry receive Isles end their vacations right before The American Lung Association’s fall,annual many report year-round residents 6th highlights the tollend of their winter breaks just before the lung cancer in Maine and examines key spring equinox. indicators including new cases, survival, It’sdiagnosis, time to get backtreatment, to work lack and early surgical reconnect. of treatment, and screening rates. Our annual the town“State meeting takes Nationally, of Lung place on the second Saturday in March. Cancer” report found that lung cancer For selectmen employees, survival rates and are town improving for winter hasincluding been anything a vacaeveryone, people but of color. In tion. They have been working steadily, fact, the five-year lung cancer survival gathering information to write the rate for people of color has increased warrant for town meeting. It’s the time by 17% in the last two years, helping of year comedisparity together gap. as a town to close thewehealth decide on projects and spending and “Thankfully, in Maine, the lung how much money is to be raised by cancer survival rate has improved property taxes. because of increased awareness, Discussion of the school budget improved access to healthcare and alone can take well over an hour. The cutting-edge research into new islands take turns hosting the meeting and the luncheon. This year, town

treatments for the disease,” said Lance Boucher, director of advocacy and division assistant vice president at the American Lung Association. meeting will lung take cancer place onis Islesford. “However, still the What’s for lunch? Homemade leading cause of cancer deathspizzas, here salads, and Lifenation, gets busier in Maine anddesserts. across the and as we volunteer to help prepare the our recent report makes it clear that firsthave community mealto ofdothe we more work to season. reduce Town meeting is a great incidence rates and the overallopportuburden nity to hear about winter from friends of lung cancer.” and neighbors. “How was your trip to ...?” report “Who found knew that grand-parenting was The Maine ranked: so exhausting or that there were so many “Youlung did • 44 incold the germs nation involved?” for rate of new allcancer that painting?” These same quescases at 69.7 per 100,000. The tions couldrate be asked national is 54.6in perSeptember 100,000. at a school board meeting in a large suburb. not during the meet• 19 (Preferably in the nation for survival at ing26.2%. while The someone else has the floor!) national rate of people In January and February, Bruce and alive five years after a lung cancer I got to spend a lot of time with our diagnosis is 26.6%. grandchildren in Southern Maine. Visiting them was for theearly main goal of • 22 in the nation diagnosis most of our winter travel.only We considat 27.1%. Nationally, 26.6% ered trying to paint our kitchen, but of cases are diagnosed at an early westage kept catching odd coughing viruswhen the survival rate is es much and experienced more down time higher. than we wanted, so we never got to it. Maybe it in for May,lung whencancer I can • 5 in I’ll thepaint nation have the windows open. screening at 9.2%. Lung cancer Bruce saw more enough paint, screening with than annual low-dose anyway, this winter. During his “time off” he painted 600 buoys (white and

CT scans for those at high risk can reduce the lung cancer death rate by up to 20%. Nationally, only 4.5% of those at high risk were screened. bright red with a black stripe) and, like every lobsterfor fisherman in23.7%. Maine • 8 inother the nation surgery at this winter, he read about, Lung cancer canabout, oftentalked be treated and experimented with purple paint. with surgery if it is diagnosed at The latest whale regulations require an early stage and has not spread. allNationally, Maine lobster fishermen to use new 20.8% of cases undermarkings on the ropes they attach to went surgery. lobster traps. Depending on how close to they fish,for they willofhave to add • 5shore in the nation lack treatment 2-4at purple on each buoy line. 16.2%. marks Nationally, 20.6% of cases Onreceive warpsno thattreatment. are 100-feet or less there must be one 12-inch purple mark withinThe a few fathoms theLung trap and a 362023 “Stateof of Cancer” inch purple mark within 2 fathoms of report highlights that Maine must do the buoy. If the warp is longer that 100 more to reduce the burden of lung feet, theand requirement is for a 12-inch cancer encourages everyone to purple mark near the trap, a second 12help end lung cancer. Join the Lung inch purple mark halfway to the buoy, Association’s efforts by asking your and a 36-inch mark near the buoy. member of Congress to co-sponsor Bruce figures will be putting 1,500 H.R. 4286, the he Increasing Access to to 1,800 markings on his rope in all; two Lung Cancer Screening Act at Lung. to three weeks of extra work if he does org/SOLC. it without hiring help. A number of fishermen are applying ropes Get involved andpaint help to thetheir mission by resting them in 3-foot long gutters of the American Lung Association. madeTrek fromAcross lengthwise-halved PVC pipe. The Maine is an annual Bruce’s first attempt was for withJune spray paint cycling event, planned 14-16. but hemore soon at moved on to the more effiLearn CycleForAir.org. cient brush and latex paint. Some fishermen will add a 3-foot

As winter winds down, islanders mix prep work and gatherings piece of purple rope to the end of the buoy line or toggle, but all attachments must be made within a splice or a tuck. “Thankfully, Maine, I know it’s a stretch to compare following Mainecancer whale survival rope requirethe lung ments with a plein air workshop, but a person couldimproved return home from eirate has ther and say that they’d been painting in their spare time. If Bruce were because of increased writing an essay on how he spent his winter vacation, painting would be a awareness, improved part of it. Another part would be the description I heard him tell his brother access healthcare and Mark about to walking to get doughnuts, in February, with our son Robin, and research…” ourcutting-edge grandchildren Henry and Cora. I was away with friends in Portland, and —Lance Stephanie wasBoucher away with friends in Florida. Father and son were in charge. “Yeah, we got doughnuts at The Cookie Jar and then walked to the beach for a picnic and to throw rocks.” Eating homemade donuts and throwing rocks at the beach—if that isn’t a mirror image of many childhood summers on Islesford, I don’t know what is. q Barbara Fernald lives on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) with her husband Bruce.

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

www.workingwaterfront.com . April 2020

13

Descendants of the families of the Peterborough settlement pose for a photo. PHOTO: STEPHANIE BOUCHARD

Forgotten community honors its veterans African Americans from Peterborough served their country BY STEPHANIE BOUCHARD

“M

y Lord, what a morning! / My Lord, what a morning! / Oh, my Lord, what a morning, / When the stars begin to fall.” So sang Rev. Bette Bond on the last Saturday of October. With record-breaking warmth, a bluebird sky, and the warm russets and golds of leaves still clasping to trees, it was indeed a beautiful morning for the gathering of around 100 people at a littleknown cemetery in Warren. Those congregated at Peterborough Cemetery were there to celebrate the installation of a memorial stone and to remember and honor the military veterans resting in the burial grounds tucked into tall pines and oaks near South Pond in an area of Warren that once was home to the largest population of African Americans in Maine. “We are on hallowed ground,” Amanda Shelmerdine, Warren’s sexton said in her opening remarks. “Our veterans came from humble beginnings. These men were farmers, mariners, mill workers, a hotelier, a barber, and a cook, born or settled within the Peterborough community. Each of them made an impact and contributed not only here but to our country.” Through months of painstaking research, Shelmerdine identified 22 names of men and boys buried in the cemetery who served in the American Revolutionary War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Those names are carved on the back of a granite memorial stone placed at the entrance to the cemetery. The stone was donated by John Meyn, himself a veteran, enlisted for 20 years in the Air Force, who recently moved from California to Friendship. When Meyn first arrived in Friendship with his wife in 2007, he became active in the local VFW, placing flags at veterans’ graves in Friendship and Cushing. He heard through word of mouth and in derogatory terms that African American veterans were buried in Warren, but couldn’t get much information about the community that once lived there. In 2021, that changed. He saw an article about the Gerald “Punkin” Lemoine Peterborough community in The Working Waterfront

and that set him on a journey that he described in his remarks on Oct. 28 as “likely the best thing I’ve ever done.” After receiving permission from the town of Warren, he arranged, at his own cost, to have sunken stones reseated and flag holders for the specific theaters of war placed at veterans’ graves. But he didn’t think that was enough. He offered to pay for a memorial stone, and the town of Warren accepted. “Here is this group of fundamentally despised Americans who have served their country,” Meyn explained in an interview prior to the ceremony. “Theirs had toJohn be a Martin, significant struggle, and yet, here’s Bud Staples, and Elsie Gillespie chat around the woodstove at the annual town meeting. the offspring of these families who are serving,” from the Civil War through the Korean War, “this country, which fundamentally despises them. And for me, that was mind-boggling.” The Peterborough community was founded by Amos Peters, a Revolutionary War veteran, and his wife, Sarah, a former slave. For reasons unknown today, Revolutionary War general Henry Knox, who owned more than 500,000 acres of land in the region, gave Amos Peters 150 acres near South Pond in the 1780s. There, the couple raised their family, and an interracial community built up around that family for generations until the 1950s when the last members of the Peterborough community left. Today, the only physical reminder of Peterborough This is the back of the memorial stone, listing the names is the cemetery, although Shelmerdine and one of the of the veterans buried at the cemetery. community’s local descendants are searching for the PHOTO: STEPHANIE BOUCHARD foundations of the 1820s schoolhouse that served the community. Shelmerdine also hopes to one day use Before the ceremony ended, a local Girl Scouts troop, ground-penetrating radar to locate more graves that which has for more than a decade placed and retired are known about anecdotally but for which the town American flags at the graves of veterans in the cemedoesn’t have records. tery each spring and fall, placed a wreath at the foot Descendants of the community who live in the area of the memorial stone, and Luis Cordero, a student at and out-of-state gathered for the memorial on Oct. Medomak Valley High School, played “Taps.” 28, some meeting for the first time. Thomas Zeigler, In his closing remarks, Meyn reflected on the a fifth-generation great-grandson of Amos and Sarah racism that the Peterborough community endured, Peters who lives in Texas, spoke for the family. and which he noted still exists today. Peterborough Levi Moulden “I’m amazed,” he said when he took the mic. “It’s “is really something to know about. Certainly, in a amazing. I can speak for my family when I say we society that’s still trying to throw off the shackles of are overwhelmed by this great show of respect for the racism, we’ve still got steps to take, but look at this as Bud Staples contribution of our family.” a positive statement of who we are.”

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11

Island Institute awarded USDA funding Grants help Fellows program and small-businesses

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sland Institute, a Rocklandbased community development organization focused on island and coastal communities, has been awarded two key grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The nonprofit landed a Rural Community Development Initiative grant of $201,000 to support the Island Institute Fellows program. Island Institute Fellows in Brooklin, Tremont, and in Washington County are advancing community goals related to climate change planning, energy efficiency, and community wellness, thanks in part to this funding. Island Institute also was awarded $86,988 for its work through its Tom Glenn Community Impact Fund which provides direct financial assistance to small businesses in Maine’s island and coastal communities. The Glenn Fund was established in 2012. The USDA grant will be added to the Fund’s loan portfolio. “For nearly 25 years, the Island Institute Fellows program has provided critical service to Maine’s island and coastal communities,” said Kim Hamilton, Island Institute’s president. “More than 150 Fellows have had a

lasting impact in the rural communities where they are working. USDA Rural Development’s support for this program is a welcome boost.” To celebrate the award, a group of community members gathered at the Brooklin Town Hall, including Doug Hylan, head of Brooklin’s Climate Response Committee. “Having Grace Carrier as a Fellow is already making a difference in our efforts to improve energy efficiency in our town,” said Hylan. “We are grateful to Island Institute and USDA Rural Development for making this happen.” Island Institute matched the USDA grant, providing further leverage to help fund the Island Institute Fellows program, which spans the Maine coast and is also funded by individual donations, host communities, and private foundations. “The trio of projects this grant will support represents the best of rural community collaboration in Maine,” said Rhiannon Hampson, USDA’s Maine state director. “Small towns are just as committed to climate response and community resiliency as more urban areas, but often don’t have the staff necessary to realize

their goals. Seeing this work in action shows how powerful the combination of diverse local volunteers, town leaders, nonprofits, businesses, and students can be with the added capacity of a Fellow.” In 1999, the Institute established its Island Institute Fellows Program to place recent college graduates in Maine’s coastal and year-round island communities for two-year fellowships. Fellowships provide an opportunity to gain experience helping build sustainability within communities whose way of life face challenges. The grant funding the Institute’s small business assistance work also impacts communities at the grassroots level. “Small businesses along Maine’s coast are the heart of our communities,” Hamilton said. “They provide essential services and good jobs. These critical funds from USDA could not have come at a better time. They are an important expansion of the toolkit of services Island Institute provides to help small businesses thrive on the coast of Maine.” For more than a decade, Island Institute has been a partner of USDA administering funds for a variety of business and community purposes,

such as for aquaculture business expansion, clean energy installations, digital communications, and technical support in low-income communities. “Support from Island Institute and USDA helped me start my aquaculture business and enabled me to power it with solar energy,” said Krista Tripp, owner of Aphrodite Oyster Company in South Thomaston. “This helps reduce my operating costs and reduces CO2 emissions, which is one of the best solutions for our changing climate.” USDA recognizes the challenges facing coastal- and island-based small businesses, Hampson said. “Expanding access to ‘patient’ capital and technical assistance in a way that is community driven—that is the highest and best use of awards like the Rural Business Development Grant.” Because loans are in a revolving fund, the benefit will continue, she added. “These dollars will continue to circulate in Maine’s working waterfront and coastal communities creating a multiplier effect.” Founded in 1983, Island Institute is celebrating its 40th year of working to sustain Maine’s island and coastal communities.

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

Endangered whales, endangered families

Portrait series puts family faces to fishery TEXT AND PHOTO ESSAY BY CHERYL CLEGG

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n September 2022, the non-profit, Monterey Bay Aquarium put lobster on its seafood watch “red list,” telling consumer to avoid buying it. Not because lobster is overfished, but because the fishery’s supposed threat to endangered North Atlantic right whales. As a 30-year visitor to Maine I know fishermen have changed gear to protect whales, and the last entanglement attributed to Maine fishing gear was in 2004. In my series, “The Endangered Lobsterman,” I am showing the human faces at risk of losing their livelihood and way of life. Often, it’s not just one person in the family who fishes; the entire family’s livelihood revolves around the fishery. If you are part of a lobster fishing family, most likely your parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents lobstered. You may have started on the boat as an infant sleeping in a crate, with Mom and Dad pulling their traps. As you got older, you were up before the sun, filling bait bags as the traps were hauled. You learned to fish responsibly, so the population would thrive. You took the apprenticeship classes in high school, got your junior license, saved your earnings and bought your first boat and traps, then worked the nine years to get your full license. The early mornings continued as you started your family and the cycle began again. When the industry is impacted, as it was by the red listing, it is real families, who suffer. See it in their faces. For more about Cheryl Clegg’s photography, see: www.cleggphoto.com The Floyd family, Bunkers Harbor.

The Casey family, Boothbay Harbor

The Faulkingham family, Winter Harbor

Bailey Bridges, Corea

The Betts family, Stonington

Brother and sister Xander and Beatrice Amuso

The Hooper family, Corea

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

The Flubacher family, Winter Harbor

The Rodgers family, Corea

The Torrey family, Stonington

The Lane family, Stonington

The Chipman family, Milbridge

The Snider family, Milbridge

The Barrett family, South Addison

The Colson family, Corea

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

Our Island Communities Chebeague chooses new chaplain Victor Diaz aims for ‘active presence’ in community

or beliefs—to be “inclusive, open and affirming.” “Community is the heart and soul of Chebeague,” explains Diaz, “so it stands to reason that the pastor ate last year, the search began for a new of the church should be available to anyone.” Rochelle Rice, who heads the church council, is pastor to serve the Chebeague Community Church, the island’s historic (and only) confident that Diaz will be a good fit in his new job. “Victor is able to speak to all generations,” she says. church. Islanders had practically written the job description themselves. All that remained was to “I feel like he stands in the middle and can speak to our traditional, older population as well as attract find the right person. In October, Victor Diaz was chosen by the congre- others who are younger, like millennials.” And that, leaders believe, is essential to the survival gation in a joyful investiture ceremony. He plans to assume his new duties in late December, becoming the of the Chebeague Community Church, which, like 92nd leader of the church, which traces its founding by the island population, is aging. Two years ago, the congregation disaffiliated Methodists to 1802. Diaz, 49, might seem an unusual choice. A native from the United Methodist Church, severing ties Texan, he worked for 11 years as a corporate chap- to a denomination that had been a presence on lain at a giant meat-packing plant in Nebraska. He Chebeague since 1802. The vote to leave was in co-owned a fitness center. In 2020 he returned to his protest of the United Methodist Church’s exclusion hometown of El Paso to become an end-of-life coun- of gays and disavowal of same-sex marriage. It was a plucky move for a congregation that counts fewer selor at a hospice. He’d never even been to Maine until this summer, than 60 members. Many islanders, plus those who return each summer, when he visited a friend on Chebeague only to learn had longstanding ties to the Chebeague church and to the church was hiring. That’s not all that sets Diaz apart. He chooses not to Methodism, making the disaffiliation decision even more sensitive. In the end, be called a “minister” or a “pastor.” His the congregation agreed and choice: “chaplain.” But, he quickly adds, rewrote its mission: To become “I’m OK with just being called Victor; I A native Texan, “an inclusive, diverse, and don’t need a title.” he worked for 11 caring Christian community… What is most important to Diaz— reaching out to all people on and to the church leaders who selected years as a corporate the island and beyond.” him—is to become an active presence in chaplain at a giant When Diaz was voted in the community. by the congregation, many “I want to be available to people of meat-packing plant… filling the pews that morning all faiths, to people of no faiths, and to were descendants of church be there for them in times of need, or celebration, without the constraints of religion and leaders whose names are memorialized on the tall stained-glass windows that grace the wood-paneled denomination,” he says. That echoes the criteria of the search committee, sanctuary. The church, built in 1855, has been used which formed upon the resignation of the previous for religious services, concerts and special island minister. The process included an online survey of events ever since. Across the street is the parish hall, home to many islanders. By a wide majority, the respondents ranked island activities, and the parsonage, where Diaz will the church as an integral part of Chebeague life. What did they value most? By large margins, cele- live. His job is part-time, and he intends to spend brations of life (specifically, weddings and funerals), his first year on Chebeague familiarizing himself with the community before undertaking any addiengaging sermons, and pastoral care and outreach. But also important was being a “welcoming” pres- tional responsibilities. Affordable housing is one of ence for everyone, regardless of religious background his interests.

BY SUSAN Q. STRANAHAN

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Victor Diaz is the new chaplain for Chebeague Island’s church.

“Maine wasn’t on my radar at all,” he says of his new post. How he ended up here still amazes him. “The timing of everything was incredible.” During the pandemic, Diaz joined an online Bible study group, one of whose members (he’d later learn) had long family ties to Chebeague. The study group met when they all arrived on the island for an in-person visit this summer. It was then he learned of the pastoral vacancy. “I felt the phone ringing, as they say,” he laughs. He applied and was hired. While Diaz is making a leap of geography, he and Rice both agree the Chebeague community will also be taking its own leap. This won’t be a traditional minister standing in the pulpit on Sundays, Rice acknowledges. “He will be out in the community. He doesn’t want barriers. He wants to be very visible.” Rice is confident Diaz will help achieve the goal set by church members when they voted to become an independent congregation. “This says to me we are a community church.”

Seeing the trees and forest Fox islands tree story progression BY KATE HOTCHKISS TAYLOR

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o understand the heavily forested environments of North Haven and Vinalhaven, you must understand what came before. And what came before was farming. Chuck Gadzik of Vinalhaven, who led a community walk devoted to resilient and diverse forests on the islands earlier this year, explained that when farms stopped operating, a new progression of growth began. “A lot of the agriculture on both islands started to become abandoned in the early 1900s,” he said. What grew in those uncultivated fields was white spruce.

He explained that unused Maine island farm fields create environments in which white spruce stands take root, then collapse 80-100 years later, depending on the quality of soil. “You can define the old agricultural footprint by the white spruce, and what you see along the fringes is the red spruce migrating back in. This is what we call advanced regeneration.” Gadzik added that the more desirable red spruce can live 300 years, usually less on islands due to soil conditions. Giving red spruce space to grow regenerates struggling forests, he said. Helping this tree dominate is a good idea because it is a “master of many

skills,” growing very well when conditions are good, handling drought, and regenerating successfully. He described this Acadian forest native as “patient” and a “marathon runner.” The red spruce can even be dormant for 70-80 years and then start growing again. Gadzik advised that if balsam fir is browning on its lower branches, it is going to die anyway; removing fading balsam fir will help release the red spruce, and so contribute to restoring the forest to a healthier state. Although there is 20% more rainfall this century than in the last, he said, this increased precipitation comes in high impact storms and so does not mitigate reoccurring forest drought stress. During times of drought, continued on next page

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024 continued from bottom of previous page trees go into a standstill with no photosynthesis, a response more troublesome on islands where soil is thinner. “When it’s really dry, like last summer, the soil is like powder.” Gadzik and John Stevens, executive director of North Haven Conservation Partners, also talked about how it is human nature to enjoy neat, manicured property that is aesthetically pleasing, including within forests. But wildlife thrives in more natural “messy” environments. Stevens described how it is best to balance orderly spaces with leaving some areas more natural, while keeping in mind how the forest could become a fire hazard. For example, leaving some downed trees or cutting them up in chunks rather than chipping them provides for natural habitats, including higher quality soil, that support healthy plant and animal biodiversity. One of the two dozen participants in the community walk, Alice Cornwell,

asked Gadzik how a warming climate might affect island forests. It’s unclear how the climate might impact the red spruce given the strength of this tree, he said, adding that a more pressing concern is that a warming climate is more hospitable to invasive species which can then displace more desirable native species. “Extreme wind events are the real threat. Last year there were six storms at 50-plus mile per hour winds. My theory is once we hit a hundred, a lot will go down,” he said. Thinning trees then allows healthy ones to build better root systems that protect them from high winds. Jody Bush reminded participants that forests can be restarted in small patches, so the process is not so overwhelming to property owners. For example, North Haven resident Cindy Page germinated acorns for oak saplings that are now growing well. “I kind of spoiled them,” said Page, describing how she watered them every three days.

Jody Bush leads participants after an instructional trek through John Bush’s adjacent forest. PHOTO: KATE HOTCHKISS TAYLOR

Juliet Lamont explains how fencing out deer until preferred trees have reached a certain height helped her and husband Phil Price regenerate forests with native species. PHOTO: KATE HOTCHKISS TAYLOR

Forest management expert Chuck Gadzik holds witch’s broom, a parasitic plant “sucking the life and energy out of a tree” that is best removed by pruning close to its vulnerable host. PHOTO: KATE HOTCHKISS TAYLOR

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Top Left to Bottom Right: Swans Island, Lisa Gent, Shanna Wheelock, Island Institute, Margaret Olson, Hearth & Harrow, Nancie Morgan, Kelly Luger, Pam Cabanas, Island Institute, Zootility, Kurier

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

book reviews

Lobster lady’s story meets lobster kids New children’s book plays well on Vinalhaven

The Lobster Lady By Alexandra Hinrichs, illustrations by Jamie Hogan Charlesbridge Publishing (2023) REVIEW BY TINA COHEN

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sland Readers & Writers, an organization connecting children and books in communities on Maine’s islands and Washington County, recently sent Alison Johnson, director of its school programs, with author Alexandra Hinrichs, to Vinalhaven to speak to its students in pre-K through fifth grades. Hinrichs, who lives in Bangor, might have guessed she was visiting a lobstering community. But as she shared The Lobster Lady—her newest book, illustrated by Jamie Hogan—she may not have known what that meant about her young audience. The picture book is about Virginia Oliver of Spruce Head. At the age of

I interjected, “But Virginia was hurt. eight, Oliver started piloting a lobster boat while working alongside her Couldn’t that—an attacking crab— father, eventually becoming captain of scare kids?” Three heads shook in disagreement, her own boat. She still—now 103 years old—continues to go out in her boat, saying “There’s much worse that can hurt you than that on a boat.” They hauling traps. As the students asked the author knew; serious injuries do occur. But these students were talking about technical questions, it occurred to me—I was a guest that day observing the picture showing Wright in the doctor’s office afterthe event—that I shouldn’t be wards, her finger now surprised. They were curious They wrapped in a thick about details like the number bandage of white of traps Virginia sets and if particularly gauze. They particushe ever caught a blue lobster. enjoyed larly enjoyed seeing Seeing how the book resonated the doctor scold her, with the children, I decided to seeing the asking why she was ask if some at the Vinalhaven still going out on her School might be willing to talk doctor scold boat (implying she with me and help review the her, asking could retire.) book, and three fifth graders The kids recognized agreed. why she was that tone of voice—a Robbie Brooker, the school still going out “clueless” adult asking librarian, introduced me to a “ridiculous” quesBrady, Gia, and Alice. Each on her boat… tion with an obvious told me they were readers and answer. Those loved books. They thought the students understood author presentation was interesting and appreciated that everybody why Virginia still fished because she in the elementary grades was given a loves it. In the book, that question to Virginia copy of the book. What scene did they like best in The served to provoke some childhood Lobster Lady? When Virginia’s finger memories, portrayed in pages of illuswas injured from a crab pinching her trations. The importance of fishing in her family was obvious. But the history hard while on her boat.

held less interest for these students, and Alice voiced a preference for the present day. The students liked the picture of her boat, the Virginia, and thought its portrayal was very realistic. In the water, pot buoys were seen bobbing, and overhead, gulls watched for food. They thought filling the bait bags deserved more information, including what it is (Virginia used pogies) and that it can stink. Brady talked about whether you catch or buy what’s used for bait. Commenting on a picture with a rosy sunrise as Virginia began her day on the boat, Gia pointed out that the workday starts very early, getting up when still dark. One detail that never came up in our conversation: Did a lobsterman’s gender or age matter? Not to these students, who hadn’t registered either as central to the story. This wasn’t a book primarily about a 103-year old woman who lobsters, but about someone who has done it one’s whole life and still wants to. No surprise to them, that.

Tina Cohen is a Massachusetts-based therapist who spends part of the year on Vinalhaven.

Kozak’s Acadia

Vintage views of Maine’s most popular park

Images of America: Acadia National Park By Anne Kozak with Josh Winer and Sam Putnam Arcadia Publishing (2023) REVIEW BY CARL LITTLE

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he story of Acadia National Park has been told before; the elements of its formation— construction of carriage roads, assembling of parcels of land, building of bridges—presented to readers in various texts. With Images of America: Acadia National Park, Anne Kozak, former director of the writing program at College of the Atlantic and an honored Mount Desert Island journalist, contributes a visual record of the park’s creation using many

heretofore unpublished photographs maneuvers. The project received an award for “outstanding sympathetic accompanied by her lucid prose. The vintage black-and-white images, treatment of historic, cultural, or some from private collections, tell a natural environment” from the Federal tale of an at times heroic venture. In Highway Administration in 1977. Kozak devotes a section to rangers, a chapter devoted to the construction of the Cadillac Mountain road, for naturalists, and park staff—a welcome example, we witness this monumental shout-out to the interpreters and stewproject, completed in the early 1930s, ards of this popular park. She salutes National Park Service Director Arno unfold from base to summit. About 90% of the roadway was Cammerer (1883-1941), who supported blasted, Kozak recounts, which resulted the building of the Cadillac Mountain in at least one casualty: “Dynamite man” road “so that people who could not climb could reach the Dennis Doonan lost summit and admire his life the day after About 90% of the the views” (he also being caught in an tripled U.S. parklands explosion. A photoroadway was blasted, during his tenure). graph of Doonan Kozak recounts, While paying seated atop a drilling tribute to the indiapparatus is at once which resulted in at viduals who created comic and tragic. least one casualty. the park, including Another major George Dorr (1853construction project involved the widening of the Gothic- 1944), considered the “Father of style bridge that separates Route 233 Acadia,” Kozak goes out of her way to from the carriage roads connecting acknowledge some of the women who the Eagle Lake and Witch Hole loops. played pivotal roles in bringing the Instead of disassembling the bridge, park into being. “Some funded memorial paths, Harold MacQuinn and his crew from Hull’s Cove moved the north arch others facilitated Dorr’s acquiring land, using some ingenious engineering and still others donated lands,” she

writes. One example: Eliza Homans (1832-1914) donated 140 acres, including the Beehive and Bowl, so that her grandchildren “would not find ‘a merry-go-round’ built there.” The final chapter, “Experiencing Acadia,” highlights the activities offered by the park, including hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, skate sailing, sledding, and cross-country skiing (there were also rope tows for downhill skiers on McFarland Hill back in the day). A photograph of people swimming at Sargent Mountain Pond prompted personal pleasure: my children and their children make an annual pilgrimage to this gem to take the waters. This is Kozak’s second book for the “Images in America” series; her Wild Gardens of Acadia came out in 2016. Each time she has brought a fresh perspective to what is arguably the jewel in the crown of Maine’s public parks.

Carl Little lives on MDI. His latest book is The Art of Penobscot Bay, forthcoming from Islandport Press.

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

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book reviews

Democracy dormant: How we got here Heather Cox Richardson traces diverging values

two sociopolitical viewpoints: the belief that government should uphold equal rights for all, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and the belief that government should uphold a hierarchical social order in which a small number of men hold all of the power and most of the wealth. In the former, the government fosters the rule of law and economic opportunity for everyone. Richardson identifies Abraham Lincoln as the first Democracy Awakening: forceful proponent of this viewpoint, Notes on the State of America which evolved after the Civil War in By Heather Cox Richardson the labor union movements of the Viking/Random House (2023) late 19th century, the New Deal of the 1930s, and the civil rights movement of REVIEW BY DANA WILDE the 1950s and ’60s. In the latter viewpoint, a small ventually, evil implodes. This might be the only peren- number of white men control governnial history lesson Heather ment and society, fostering their Cox Richardson omits to highlight in own interests through adherence to Democracy Awakening, her new book Christian rules. Everyone occupies an inherent place outlining the social in this order, from and political history ruling families to of the United States. farmers, to slaves, This corollary supposedly ensuring to Martin Luther law and order, the King Jr.’s observadevelopment of high tion that “the arc of culture, and economic the moral universe In Richardson’s opportunity. is long, but it bends reading, American Richardson shows toward justice” may how in this scheme, be missing because history turns on the economic opportunity the best evidence of it tension between seems always to fall on Richardson’s topic upward and blacks, surfaced only after the two sociopolitical women, and poor book was published. people are viewed as In October 2023, the viewpoints… subhuman. Republican Party Richardson’s narrademolished its own tive shows why the Jan. speaker of the House 6 insurrection was not of Representatives a historical anomaly, and for three critical but instead an almost weeks could not agree inevitable outcome of on a replacement. Democracy Awakening came out in the tensions that welled up in the 1840s August, but it provides the history that as states’ rights debates. This led to the Civil War, in which the United States led to that implosion. In Richardson’s reading, American almost imploded over the signature history turns on the tension between issue for both sides—slavery.

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After the war, states’ rights proponents cultivated the myth of the Plains cowboy as the great American hero in contrast to the “socialism” that in their worldview sought to undermine the rugged individual and unjustly transfer wealth from those who deserved it downward to those who had no right to it, especially inimically, to blacks. By the turn of the century, the tensions between government for the people and government by hierarchic privilege led to serious labor turbulences, then to the Great Depression, from which developed the New Deal, in which government set out aggressively to level the economic and social playing fields. After World War II, America made a clear turn to the “liberal consensus.” Such developments as large government investments in infrastructure and the Civil Rights Act exemplified how Lincoln’s vision for a government of, by, and for the people could work to everyone’s benefit. A backlash to this, Richardson explains, took hold in the 1980s, when an upward transfer of wealth began that is today exacerbating social class

stratifications and stoking efforts to dismantle American democracy through lies and corruption. Richardson writes in terms general enough to make the book quick reading, but detailed enough to make the case. Democracy Awakening is based on her popular “Letters from an American” blog, which she began writing in 2019 to help put the troubled Trump years into historical context. “You reap what you sow.” If ever we needed help from a reliable authority to understand how we got from the founding of the United States to the politics that are currently imploding the Republican Party and openly threatening to take the rest of us down with it, it’s now. This book provides it. Richardson is a professor of American history at Boston College and lives in the Midcoast.

Dana Wilde is a former college professor and newspaper editor who lives in Troy.

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

saltwater cure

What the flood took, and what it didn’t Basement mishap stole memories, but refocused priorities BY COURTNEY NALIBOFF

WHEN WE WENT to bed on Saturday night, the only thing on our minds was the leak between the addition and the original part of the house. The northeast wind and driving rain had forced a little trickle of water through the part of the house that had yet to be re-shingled, and we placed a few stainless-steel bowls in the doorway to protect the newly laid maple floor. When Bill woke up early the next morning, the bowls barely held an inch of water each, so his mind was briefly set at ease. When he opened the door to the basement to perform his daily cleaning of the cat boxes, the real catastrophe revealed itself—litter boxes floated by like houseboats, bumping through the water-logged detritus of 16 years of collected tools, treasures, equipment, art, and instruments. Nearly six inches of rain had fallen overnight. Basement floods of every variety were reported all over the island. Water came in through windows,

through floors, through the outflow pipes of drains. Sump pumps and dehumidifiers valiantly soldiered on until they were overwhelmed and drowned. He woke me up and I stumbled out of bed, barely able to comprehend the quantity of water in our home. With water filling my galoshes I waded through a newly born lake, picking up anything I could find to put on the work benches in hope of salvation. We could see the high-water line on a cardboard box—at some point, while we were peacefully sleeping, the water had reached over a foot. We bailed for a minute in a futile bucket brigade, then contacted a neighbor who brought a sump pump. The pets were safe, we were safe, the water didn’t enter the rest of the house. The items we dragged out onto the lawn to assess, maybe dry out, maybe reluctantly throw away, were mostly not those in day-to-day use. Bill’s digital camera, his professional tool and artistic medium, was the most heartbreaking loss. My Farfisa

mini-compact electric organ lives but will someday need a complete overhaul. Most of our instrument cases eventually dried out, but a full truck and trailer load of our former belongings went to the transfer station. The discovery that almost broke my heart was the zippered bag that contained my Haggadahs, menorahs, and the matzoh covering that came to me from my mother. The bag had been completely submerged in water, and I unzipped it with dread. The prayerbook covers were swollen, grey smearing off on my fingertips. The pages stuck together in a solid mass. I could gently pry the cover open, revealing my grandfather’s signature on the first page. I couldn’t call them a loss, not without trying to save them. I stood them up on a tarp-covered pile, cracking them open as best I could to invite air circulation. As the flood waters rose in our basement, and most of the basements on North Haven and Vinalhaven, a disaster of another scale unfolded halfway

across the globe. Death and displacement, terror and loss, irreconcilable ideological schisms, upwelled through a people and a place saturated with injustice, unable to absorb anything more. After ten days of air-drying, the pages of the Haggadahs released from their soggy mass and could once more be thumbed through, ready for next spring’s Seder. That piece of my family’s history, perhaps the strongest artifact connecting me to thousands of years of ancestry, was safe. We had lost so much, but we had lost nothing. How privileged were we, to weather catastrophe and come out unchanged. Courtney Naliboff lives on North Haven where she teaches music, theater, and writing at North Haven Community School. She also performs in the band Bait Bag. She may be contacted at Courtney.Naliboff@gmail.com.

journal of an island kitchen

Comfort me with mac and cheese Talking turkey on cooking and eating sense BY SANDY OLIVER

IF EVER THERE was a time when we all needed comforting, surely it is now. If ever there was a time when comfort food was a good idea, surely it is now. After we have filled our plates with mashed potatoes, tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate pudding, baked beans, shepherd’s pie, and mac and cheese, especially the creamy kind, all the easy-to-eat, unchallenging fare, then we can take a deep breath and face once again all the dilemmas of modern life, perhaps fortified enough to extend a helping hand and understanding to a neighbor. Comfort food raises a question about discomfort food. For me, that would be anything that hurts to cook or swallow. That’s why there is no lobster in the mac and cheese: picking out lobster meat too often results in punctured fingers and even though we know better, all that green goo inside the body is a bit off putting. Removing the channel down the middle of the tail meat reminds us a little too forcibly how lobster is caught; I always think of bait when I take it out. I love onions in my cooking but they always make me cry; I hear that contact lenses are the one true solution. I’ve tried all the others: running water, bread in my mouth, a burning

candle, you name it. Slicing onions our soul’s disquiet, and conducive to on a mandolin or in a food processor what disturbs our lives even today. Squash with brown sugar and butter, merely shortens the misery. I don’t like capsicums. Occasionally or roasted Brussels sprouts, the ubiqI tolerate the faintest whiff of jalapeno uitous green bean casserole, and sweet potatoes baked with or buried deep in beans and without marshmallows corn with enough sweet on top, are wonderfully and sour dressing to take soothing. So are the molded the curse off. A wee hint Let’s ignore salads and cranberry sauce, of chipotle in aioli sauce the rolls with butter. is bearable. Nothing, Thanksgiving Three kinds of pie—apple, please, that leaves my lip fear-mongers. pumpkin, and mincestinging. The absolute last meat—were, historically, thing I want right now is Let’s invite to the requisite dessert. Even for my food to hurt. dinner people though commercial minceThank goodness, then, meat these days has scarcely for Thanksgiving, a grand we love… a molecule of actual meat in wallow in some of the it, most people cheerfully most comforting dishes substitute chocolate pie for we can imagine. Start with it. A pity. turkey which can put you A dedicated locovore might feel to sleep. Stuffing made deeply flavorful with non-disturbing additions like disturbed by the news that most of oysters, or sausage, and seasoned with the pumpkin consumed in pies on robust herbs like sage and rosemary. Thanksgiving is the product of what Soothing gravy made from pan juices usually proves to be unwholesome adorns sliced meat, and stuffing and monoculture and hails from ten counties in Illinois where the Libby’s plant mashed potatoes, too. Ah, mashed potatoes. I’m OK with in Morton produces 80% of canned garlic in them though some of our pumpkin sold in this country. Pardon Yankee forebears would be offended this moment of discomfort. Oddly, though, this comforting with the foreign flavor too much associated with Catholic immigrants. How Thanksgiving meal, one that gives us a useful now it is to remind us that each welcome pause to feel grateful, is annugeneration’s prejudices are a source of ally beset with anxiety. No sooner has

Halloween blown out on cold winter winds then food writers begin their onslaught on our peace of mind with advice on how not to ruin the meal with dry turkey breast or underdone pie crust. Pictures abound for elaborate table arrangement ideas, creating expectations that drove one household I know to set the table with paper plates and napkins. Detailed instructions appear for completely unnecessarily complex side dishes. Help lines are established for nervous cooks to check in for guidance through one of the year’s most significant meals. I understand help lines following mass-shootings. But for turkey? Let’s ignore Thanksgiving fearmongers. Let’s invite to dinner people we love and trust not to dive deeply into divisive politics. Let’s extend the right hand of friendship to a lonely neighbor. Let’s keep our menus simple. If a turkey makes you so nervous that you can’t sleep at night, just make mac and cheese. Sandy Oliver is a good historian who gardens, cooks, and writes on Islesboro. She may be contacted at SandyOliver47@gmail.com.

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

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cr anberry report

Incandescent yellows and shades of brown The season offers a rich, glowing palette… and rest BY BARBARA FERNALD

AT OUR OCTOBER book group meeting, before our discussion of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, one of the members who attended from Pennsylvania via Zoom asked us, “What is the island like right now?” Several people mentioned the rain we’ve had every weekend, and we all compared temperatures from our various locations. I piped up with a detail I would want to hear if I were away: “The birch trees, everywhere, are all yellow!” Throughout my childhood our family visited Little Cranberry Island for a few weeks in June and July. I always wondered how different it was in the fall and winter. In 1976 I moved to the island to find out. I’ve lived here ever since. Over the years I’ve lost some of the thrill I used to feel when I returned to the island each summer, but this time of year is a wonderful compensation for that minor loss. I continue to undergo a slight “pinch me” spark of glee when the days become shorter and I am still on Islesford to experience it.

Mother Nature’s autumnal change of wardrobe captivates me every year. The summer palette of blue, green, and white, with pastel accents, makes a dramatic shift when fall is well underway. Dark island spruce trees, which camouflage the greenery of birches in July and August, provide the perfect backdrop to showcase the golden glow of these trees in the fall. I love looking deep into the woods and seeing their radiance where I didn’t expect it. Even on a gray day the flaxen leaves appear to make their own light. It’s all the more special because it doesn’t last long. Seemingly overnight the leaves turn brown and blow away. Not to be outdone by the birches, the Rosa rugosas make a substantial change as well. A summer walk to the old Coast Guard station or to Maypole Point involves passing between hedgerows of green dotted with pink and white blossoms. By fall the leaves turn bright yellow and the plants are peppered with orange rose hips the size of small crab apples. From winter berries to pumpkins on porches to the blaze orange clothing we wear on our walks during

hunting season, orange is a common accent to the fall palette of the island. No matter where we walk this time of year, especially in the later weeks of fall, the light has a quality that I try, every year, to put into words. It is truly my favorite thing about November on the island. I wish everyone could see it. By late afternoon the light shows through the bare birch trees at an angle almost parallel to the ground. The word metallic comes to mind whenever I try to describe it. It heightens the contrast of my surroundings, creating a keen edge to most any setting. My husband does not share my love of this special light. For him and other fishermen, it translates as an annoying glare that makes it hard for them to see their buoys in the water. In winter and during mud season I am offended by the color brown, but in the late fall I’m enchanted by the variations in shade and location of this rich color. All over the island, ferns, once green and tall, are laying down for a winter’s nap. The tawny brown fronds, with pinnae still intact, crisscross each other in flat mounds resembling a game of oversized toothy pickup-sticks.

The marshy areas, once a variety of greens, are now monochromatic, duplicating the color of Wheat Thins. On my walks I note the dark brown piles of seaweed that stay at the top of the beach after big storms. It’s time to gather up trays of the slimy stuff to feed and protect my garden over the winter. Predictions of an El Niño year mean we will probably see more cold rain than snow in the upcoming months. Colors from that kind of weather are not much to write home about but “tant pis,” as the French say. I’ll be sitting by the cozy wood stove dedicating my whole month of January to reading books. I’ll be exposed to a world of colors and details whenever I want and I won’t even have to go outside to do it. Here’s to healthy and calm holidays for all with hopes for more peace in the new year. Barbara Fernald lives on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island). She may be contacted at Fernald244@gmail.com.

observer

A circuitous Mayflower connection Love and shipmates, a generational story BY PHIL CROSSMAN

THIS IS A remarkably coincidental and clearly destined love story resulting from the very diverse and circuitous travels of nine descendant generations of two Mayflower passengers, emerging, finally, 300 years later, in parallel. The Mayflower arrived in what is now Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod on Nov. 11, 1620. On board were 102 individuals, two-thirds of them men. Among those men were William Brewster and his wife Mary, and Richard Warren who arrived alone, having left his wife Elizabeth in England with a promise she’d join him once established. William Brewster was born in 1567 in Scrooby Manor, England and it was there in Scrooby that the Pilgrims had their beginning. At the time it was treasonous to form a religious assembly outside the Church of England. Nonetheless, in 1606, a group that included William Brewster created a simple church congregation around a covenant that simply gave equal rights to every individual and accepted no authority, ecclesiastical or civil, except that which the congregation adopted by mutual consent. The King was not

The Mayflower sailed to harbor at happy, to such an extent that whatever hostility they might encounter in the what is now Cape Cod on Nov. 11, 1620, and the appeal of simply settling New World seemed worth it. Richard Warren was born in England there instead of moving on to Virginia in 1578. He was not among the Pilgrim as planned was made even more congregation. Rather, he was looking inviting by a shortage of supplies and by the reality of 102 souls having been for adventure and new opportunities. After many delays, real and at sea and too close for comfort for pretended, the Speedwell and its over two months. William and Mary Brewster and companion ship Mayflower finally set sail for America, but the Speedwell Richard Warren each survived that suffered one after another suspect first particularly awful first winter leakages or malfunctions, returning during which over half—52—of those each time for repairs and accompanied who’d made the journey died, a few men but most each time by the Mayflower of them women and its ever more exasperated William and Mary and children. passengers. U l t i m a t e l y, Finally, after it became Brewster and nine generations clear the Speedwell command of William and had, in fact, no interest in Richard Warren Mary’s descenfulfilling its mission, some of each survived that dants traveled its passengers joined others all around North on the Mayflower and on first particularly America and Sept. 6, 1620, the overloaded awful first winter… Canada for the ship finally found herself next 300 years, underway for America. until one sunny The ship was 150 feet long: an allotment, therefore, of one foot, summer day in 1921 when a handsome four and a half inches abeam for each of 17-year-old, then a new steam engineer the 102 individuals and crew on board, on the Governor Baldwell, a steamer for their provisions, nourishment, live- serving the coast, stepped off the boat when it docked in Vinalhaven. stock, furniture, and clothing.

During an hour-long stopover, he got some lunch and wandered through town. At the end of the little but vibrant downtown area, a sidewalk across the street led past a block of apartments uphill toward a stunning old mansion. On that day, a lovely and flirtatious girl was sunning herself on the stone wall surrounding the grand old Moses Webster House. She was the ninth great granddaughter of Richard and Elizabeth Warren and coming up the sidewalk toward her, gnawing on a sandwich he’d picked up in town, came the increasingly intrigued ninth great grandson of William and Mary Brewster. As he got closer, she arranged herself provocatively. It was love at first sight for him and it was reciprocated by her, and not long after, the two were married. Phyllis was 16. Phil Crossman lives on Vinalhaven where he owns the Tidewater Motel. He may be contacted at PhilCrossman.vh@gmail.com.

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

fathoming

Community connects over the internet Making it available to all reaps rich benefits BY AMBER BLUM

“BROADBAND—it’s a fancy way of saying high-speed internet.” That’s what I told friends and family when trying to explain my new job with the broadband team at Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. As a millennial, no one has to explain to me the day-to-day importance of the internet. Still, in the short period of time since working within Maine’s broadband space, I’ve learned a great deal about the web becoming more a utility and less an accessory in our lives. But understanding why some Mainers are able to make use of the newly available high speed internet and why some are not, has been an education. The pandemic revealed the unequal distribution of broadband infrastructure in the U.S. Children couldn’t attend their virtual classes, the elderly couldn’t order prescriptions online, and it felt like at least one person on every Zoom call had to turn off their video to accommodate their unstable connection. Connectivity issues were such that both sides of the aisle in Congress worked together to pass the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD). This bill provided $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access in all 50 states.

It’s not your grandmother simply In Maine, the Maine Connectivity Authority has been charged with knowing how to hop on Facebook granting more than $271 million of to swap recipes, it’s her being able to BEAD funds to community partners create a health profile and schedule her to ensure it’s used effectively. Island COVID vaccines online. Barriers to digital equity include: lack Institute is one of these partners. It may seem incongruent that a community of a device (like a computer or tablet), lack of affordable service development organizaplans, lack of digital literacy tion became enmeshed (understanding how to use with broadband infraThe Maine your device), lack of access structure, but according Connectivity to digital skills training, or to Nick Battista, the ignorance and skepticism of Institute’s chief policy Authority has the benefits of technology. officer, broadband access Those most likely to expeis aligned with commubeen charged rience these barriers are in nity development. with granting low income households, “We didn’t have people older adults, incarcerated or clamoring, saying ‘Better more than formerly incarcerated indiinternet connection.’ We $271 million viduals, veterans, and people had people talking about with disabilities, language all of the things that a to community barriers, members of racial better internet connecand ethnic minorities, and tion would enable for partners… those living in rural areas. their communities, for Digital equity is tied to their families, and for businesses. We sat down and realized community economic development everybody is talking about not having a and quality of life. Many island businesses survived the pandemic by levergood internet connection.” Simply building the infrastructure aging online platforms to communicate doesn’t tell the full story of broadband and distribute their goods and services in Maine. BEAD funding is also used to a wider audience. Yoga studios to achieve digital equity. Digital equity offered classes on Zoom, restaurants means that people have access to and used food delivery apps, and artists sold their work online. knowledge of how to use technology.

After moving to Rockland from Seattle, I went from relying on Google reviews, to asking neighbors what’s actually good in the area. Instead of using Reddit, now I check flyers at coffee shops to find local events. The slower, more interpersonal ways of life played a large part in why I moved here. But I do think connectivity leads to more in-person interactions. I’ve seen the effect equal access can have, from supporting education and forging new business opportunities, to combating social isolation by being able to see a coworker’s smile on a Zoom call. There is human connection, there is an internet connection, and community happens somewhere in the middle.

Amber Blum is a community development officer with Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. She may be contacted at ablum@islandinstitute.org.

reflections

History in the flesh

Interviews with islanders bring the stories Reflections is written by Island Institute Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. BY OLIVIA JOLLEY

THE STEAMBOAT went away during World War II. Randy was five. Now, at 87 years old, he has more than a few stories to share. The Island Institute Fellows program allows me and my colleagues to live and work in communities throughout Maine, gaining valuable personal and professional experience. Recently, the breadth of my work with the Swan’s Island Historical Society has expanded to include conducting oral history interviews. One of my first interviews was with Randy. Going into our conversation, I knew his name, phone number, and that there was a picture in the archives of him playing a saxophone in 1951. Besides that, I didn’t know who was going to walk through the door or what

we would talk about. I had to settle for my list of generic questions and a flicker of optimism that some of them would be relevant to his life. We ended up talking for over three hours that afternoon, with him sharing story after story and me hoping to form the right questions in time to keep him going. Randy had moved to Swan’s Island before he was old enough to remember anything prior to island life. Over the course of the interview, I realized I knew much more about Randy than I thought, but I didn’t have enough details to connect him with island lore I had previously encountered. It felt like a strange déjà vu—I hadn’t heard the stories from his perspective, but somehow I knew what was going to happen next. Only at the end of these stories did I have enough information to put two and two together. His uncle? The man grinning and holding an accordion in almost every photo of him I come across. The same man who used an oxen and a horse to harvest hay. “To team an oxen with a horse was unheard of,” Randy said.

His grandmother? The tenacious woman who always brought her violin with her to church and valued her selfsufficiency. Randy elaborated: “At 80 she was tired of being penned up so she bought herself a motor scooter.” The kick starter gave her trouble, but she did manage to make it from one side of the island to the other to visit her daughter. It’s an intimate experience—a stranger sharing his life with me as if I were a family member or friend. People put an incredible amount of trust in me to preserve and protect their stories when they agree to sit down and be interviewed. They don’t know me well. They’ve got things to do. But they make the time and take the chance. We delve into the good times and bad times life has sent their way. Sometimes there are moments where I don’t feel like I’m in an interview anymore. Recalling the past has brought the interviewee to an entirely different place in time, and because I’m sitting across from them, they’re forced to take me with them with whatever tools they can muster, details they might remember— the Day Glo colors of their father’s

buoys, the pungent smell of duck boiling on their grandmother’s stove, the static drone of a CB radio that never gets shut off. They stare off somewhere distant and I hang on every word. These opportunities to sit down with people and record island history in an islander’s own words and voice are invaluable. While I savor time spent working alone with the archives, piecing together plotlines from old records and family albums, nothing compares to hearing firsthand accounts of how events unfolded, what life was like at a given moment in time. The history a photo holds is finite, but a person can answer questions, share details that don’t exist outside of their memories. Olivia Jolley works with the Swan’s Island Historical Society. Born in North Carolina, she grew up on the coast of Southern California and moved to Maine to attend College of the Atlantic.

www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024

21

in plain sight

Beyond destroyers and Liberty ships Small yards contributed to war effort, too. BY KELLY PAGE

MAINE’S ROLE in the nation’s effort during the World War II is most frequently discussed in terms of destroyers and Liberty ships built, military fortifications sprinkled throughout Casco Bay, and the influx of naval personnel swarming the city of Portland on shore leave from warships patrolling the Atlantic. However, there is another facet to maritime war production that is often overlooked. Beyond the yards building steel vessels for the government—Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, South Portland under several names, and Bath Iron Works—at least 20 small shipyards and boatyards built over 1,100 wooden craft for the government. Prior to the war, these yards mainly produced fishing vessels and pleasure boats while others were established to take advantage of opportunities provided by contracts with the Navy, Maritime Commission, and Army. From Freeport to Southwest Harbor, these yards produced everything from skiffs to transport ships, totaling nearly 30 different boat types serving almost as many functions. The Harry G. Marr yard in Damariscotta, pictured here, was certainly not one of the more productive wooden yards working under government contracts, completing five coastal transports and two coastal minesweepers throughout the war years (the most prolific was Southwest

Harbor’s Henry R. Hinckley yard with 465 boats built for the Army). Because the Navy employed local professional photographers to record progress at certain intervals and milestones of construction, there are scores of images like these in Maine Maritime Museum’s collection, documenting all stages of construction at the Marr yard and many others. In some cases, this photographic documentation continued through sea-trials. Both images here show the minesweeper USS Security (AMc-103), one with its newly laid keel and the other taken five months later at its launch on Sept. 27, 1941. Men can be seen hunching over timbers, using only hand tools to shape the pieces that would eventually form the frames of the vessel—no power tools around—a rare sight in 1941. While vessels are seldom complete at the time of their launch, Security would not be finished in Damariscotta. Marr did not have the equipment to install machinery and so this work was completed in Rockland. After the war, many shipyards reduced operations or just went out of business altogether. This was especially true of those created to obtain wartime contracts. Government work for smaller yards disappeared, while steel yards were able to capitalize on Cold War Naval contracts. Many of the smaller yards were able to go back to building fishing vessels

The Harry G. Marr yard in Damariscotta, which today is home to downtown Damariscotta’s municipal parking lot and boat launch. The work underway is a crew framing the minesweeper USS Security. PHOTO: MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM

and yachts, but not all. Operations at the Marr yard seem to have ceased in 1946 with just one fishing vessel built after completion of wartime work. The site of the Henry G. Marr’s yard is home to downtown Damariscotta’s municipal parking lot and boat launch. Every October, there continue to be launchings here, but of the gourd variety. Spectators gather here to witness the annual Pumpkinfest Regatta, where giant pumpkins are used as boats and race in various themed heats.

Kelly Page is curator of collections at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Explore resources and plan your visit at www.MaineMaritimeMuseum.org

The minesweeper being launched from the Marr yard in 1941. PHOTO: MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM

See you in January!

Last issue of the year for The Working Waterfront This issue marks the last of the year for The Working Waterfront. We return in midJanuary with our February/March edition, and then return to monthly publication in mid-March. As I write this with Thanksgiving a week away, gratitude is the dominant emotion. First and foremost, I’m thankful for all who support Island Institute and make it possible to publish this newspaper, which we hope keeps readers on Maine’s coast and islands informed, engaged, and connected with each other about the assets our region enjoys and the challenges we face. Nonprofit journalism always needs more friends, and if this newspaper has earned a place in your life, please join in supporting it by becoming a member of Island Institute or by donating: Online at giving at islandinstitute.org/ ways-to-give/; call the Island Institute office at (207) 747-1180; mail your gift to Island Institute, PO Box 648, Rockland, ME 04841.

I’m grateful, too, for the advertisers who continue to use our paper to get their message to the thousands of readers who see and read us. We mail over 20,000 copies of each issue, insert almost 20,000 in the Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News for subscribers, and offer 4,000 in Hannaford and Shaw’s stores from Saco to Damariscotta. If we have found favor with readers, it’s because of the quality of our contributors, for whom I am deeply grateful:

•F irst-rate photographers Leslie Bowman, Michele Stapleton, and Kelli Park • Writers Stephanie Bouchard, Clarke Canfield, Sarah Craighead Dedmon, Kelli Park, Stephen Rappaport and others • Copy editor Lynne Henry who provides my safety net • Our stellar page designer, Sharon Pieniak, who takes the jumble of words and pictures and packages it attractively and clearly.

• Island columnists Phil Crossman, Barbara Fernald, Courtney Naliboff, and Sandy Oliver • Carl Little writing about art and Kelly Page of the Maine Maritime Museum and Kevin Johnson of the Penobscot Marine Museum writing about history • Island Institute staff who write three columns in each issue • Faithful book reviewers Tina Cohen, Carl Little, Dana Wilde, and Tom Walsh

If we’re doing our jobs well, we should be reflecting in these pages the rich, colorful, sometimes quirky, always fascinating nature of life here on Maine’s coast and islands. You know it—we have something special here. And we want to keep it. To do so, it’s essential that we stay informed about what might challenge the good life that’s here. So keep reading, and let us know how we’re doing. I’m at tgroening@islandinstitute. —Tom Groening, editor

The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

22

art of the waterfront

Tom Glover’s gear and pier Elements of working waterfronts inspire painter BY CARL LITTLE

T

he paintings on Tom Glover’s website are divided into eight categories. Some are broad, like “Seascapes” and “Abstracts,” others very specific: “Italy” and “Fenway” (he’s a big-time Red Sox fan). And then there is “Docks.” There you’ll find semiabstract images of wharves bedecked with ropes, lobster traps, buoys—even personal flotation devices. And fish: mackerel and the like appear from time to time representing the bounty of the sea. A mess of fish is featured in “Edge of Blue Sea,” their twisting bodies filling a basket. The painting, Glover notes, was originally going to be a “totem” of gear he saw on a wharf in Portland, but he kept removing the shackles, lines, and floats until the canvas became “a blue plane with only tiny remnants of the gear and pier.” CHASLE21.PLT 2/10/2021 2:43:50 PM “Edge of Blue Sea” highlights Glover’s penchant for melding abstract and realistic imagery. He worked from a couple of “stock” photos taken over the years, picking out the elements to create a composite waterfront image alive in line, color, shape, and shadow. Glover traces this “combinatory method” to his mentor, the celebrated painter John Laurent (1921-2005). Laurent, who nurtured generations of painters during his 30-year tenure at the University of New Hampshire, compared working realistically to a golf game, working abstractly to

Scale: 1:12.83 H: 36.252 L: 96.247 in

Tom Glover’s “Edge of Blue Sea” (2023), oil and acrylic on canvas (27 by 40 inches).

tennis—“golf being more plodding and predictable,” Glover notes, “tennis, reactionary and unpredictable.”

On occasion, Glover will turn to the fluorescent paint lobstermen use on their buoys as part of his mission to capture “the ruggedness and rawness

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www.workingwaterfront.com . december 2023 / january 2024 For several years Glover lectured at the University of the ocean edge and the grind of fishing the sea.” Laurent warned him not to overdo the buoy paint, of Connecticut to science education graduate feeling it might come off as gimmicky, so Glover students on “The Landscape, Mythology, and the Artist.” He also taught painting employs it “very judiciously.” at the UNH Department of Laurent remained a mentor after Continuing Education and now Glover graduated from UNH. teaches at Sanctuary Arts in Eliot. “I continued to bring work to him A resident of Rollinsford, N.H., for critiques and we became friends,” Glover maintained a studio in the he writes. The older painter took Rollinsford Mills building for 21 him on what turned out to be his years. Today, he has a new home last trip to his fishing camp on Lake On occasion, studio where he works “almost Kennebago and showed him “the Glover will turn every day.” secret fishing pools and told stories And he is lover of islands, be it about fish he had caught.” Laurent to the fluorescent Great Spruce Head, Block Island, was too unsteady to climb into the paint lobstermen Deer Isle, or the Isles of Shoals where canoe, Glover recalls, “but insisted he has taught workshops. Over the that I go out early in the morning to use on their years Glover has painted a number experience the lake.” of working waterfronts: Portland, Laurent shared stories of his life buoys… Kittery, and Portsmouth. in art, including studying with his His favorite working wharf, he father, famed French-born sculptor states, is “the next one that excites Robert Laurent (1890-1970), who me.” He visits as many marinas and co-founded the Ogunquit Summer fishing docks as he can, “anywhere School of Graphic Arts with his there might be activity with boats, mentor, Hamilton Easter Field. He fishing gear, mooring balls, etc.” He also encouraged Glover to start looking at great art, which led him to Europe and loves the edge of the ocean “where we embark to elsewhere to study old and modern masters. After venture out on the sea.” Laurent died, his sons gave Glover their father’s easel, which he uses to this day. Born in Keene, N.H., Glover graduated from UNH with a BFA degree in 1984, after which he moved to Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. He worked briefly at the Glover shows at a number of Maine and New Metropolitan Museum of Art before taking a job as Hampshire galleries. For a full list, visit www. a picture framer. A year or so later he returned to tpgloverart.com. Several of his Fenway paintings New Hampshire and worked at Great Bay Marine in appear in “In the Moment,” an exhibition of sportsNewington, N.H., starting in the yard painting and related art curated by Wes LaFountain and Bob Keyes repairing boats, then moving into the chandlery. at Cove Street Arts in Portland (through Dec. 2). He handled boat and outboard motor sales before becoming the purchasing agent for the marina. Carl Little lives and writes on Mount Desert Island.

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letter to the editor A common mistake To the editor: While I always enjoy reading The Working Waterfront and Tom Groening’s Rock Bound column, the one in the October issue has an error that I couldn’t let pass. The praise of Belfast Summer Nights is certainly justified; however the name of the “flat expanse of grass along the waterfront” is not “Belfast Commons.” The name of that park is Steamboat Landing Park. The park above Steamboat Landing on the hillside between Front Street and Union Street is called Belfast Common (no “s”). Even though the Belfast mayor and an occasional city councilor will make this mistake, we usually try to pass along the proper names of these parks which are clearly identified on park signage. Sending thanks to you for your work and hoping you enjoy some more leisure fun before tackling that living room! —Carol Good Belfast

The Working Waterfront welcomes letters to the editor, which should be sent to Tom Groening at tgroening@islandinstitute.org with “LTE” in the subject line. Longer opinion pieces are also considered, but should first be cleared with the editor.

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The Working Waterfront . december 2023 / january 2024

Sustaining

Maine’s Island and Coastal Communities

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