When White’s Island, an idyllic retreat in the heart of Wiscasset, came up for sale, Bill Phinney, who lives up the street, snapped it up. He wanted to ensure that the island, long a refuge for Wiscasset residents and visitors, would remain wild and free. Phinney even placed some lawn chairs around the area to provide a little extra comfort for folks who wanted to sit and enjoy the Sheepscot River views and breezes.
Then, never one to do things halfway, he had another idea to increase the bucolic ambience. Why not allow his three pet sheep, N2, N6 and N8, named for the Department of Transportation alternatives for a Wiscasset by-pass, to roam on the island and mingle with visitors? The next day he walked over the causeway and bridge to the island with the lambs and installed a gate that would keep them from returning home on their own.
The arrangement worked well (aside from when some kids sprang the sheep and took them downtown one night, and another occasion, when N2 was sprayed with green paint), and the sheep and visitors enjoyed each other. Then the town code enforcement officer heard of the arrangement. He informed Phinney that having the sheep on the island violated a town ordinance – their droppings might pollute the water – and that they had to be removed.
Phinney is a law abiding citizen, and he was willing to comply. But, again, not one to do things halfway, he did arrange for an elaborate send-off: a lemonade social on a Sunday afternoon complete with two fiddlers and a flutist to lead the sheep home.
“About 200 people came,” he says. “I saw friends I hadn’t seen in years.” The sheep, he adds, thought it was a bit much to have their space invaded by so many visitors at once, so they hid under the bridge. After Phinney coaxed them out, they took their cues and hustled across the bridge and causeway, up the road and into the pasture behind his house. “I could hardly keep up with them,” says Phinney.
But all is not lost. Phinney discovered, upon closely reading the town ordinance, that it applies only to animals intended for sale or lease, not pets. On Sept. 12, he applied to the town appeals board to have the code enforcement officer’s decision reversed.
Recently N2, N6 and N8 were waiting for a date to state their case before the board. If all goes as one would think it might in a reasonable world, by the time this paper is printed, N2, N6 and N8 should be welcoming visitors to White’s Island again.