In January of 2000, a group of Islesboro residents formed a nonprofit organization to create an island Community Center. Over 140 volunteers worked to make this plan a reality by establishing goals, surveying townspeople, promoting community events and looking for a building. Richard Gilder, an island summer resident, donated his up-island barn and property for
Little Ray never even got his feet wet
By the afternoon of May 11 the weather had warmed up to 70 degrees, and the leaves we’d been waiting so long to see finally popped out on the trees. Our postmaster, Joy Sprague, took advantage of the warm afternoon to set her lobster traps in the harbor for the first time this year. Joy
On the qui vive
To the editor: Watch out for pita bread, tabbouili, baba ganoush, hummus, tahini and baklava. And algebra. And chess. I hope this is of some assistance to those who are bewildered by the injunction to be on the alert, but are not quite sure what they need to be watching for. I myself am on
Creativity, voluntarism make island fire departments work
The eastern islands of the Maine coast are some of the smallest and most remote towns in the state of Maine. The residents of these islands are used to making do and scrambling for new ways of accomplishing tasks. This resourcefulness is reflected in the region’s fire departments, which have developed new and innovative ways
Sick Humor
To the editor: According to your published “Sounding Off” section on page 9 of your June, 2004, edition, you state, “libelous or slanderous material will not be published.” Obviously, your have changed this policy as evidenced by your publication of Phil Crossman’s article entitled “Mainland Security.” His tasteless, arrogant and prejudicial abasement of “people from
Two-Way Teaching: On Cliff Island, college students and island kids teach each other
What does it mean to be an islander? What defines island culture, community, and interpersonal experiences? How do island students learn about their culture, and how can they pass on their knowledge to outsiders? Moreover, what happens when college students attending a prominent liberal arts institution enter in collaboration with elementary students attending a one-room
New Yorker humor
To the editor: I think you should send the back page – “Mainland Security” – in the June issue to The New Yorker. I can see it as their inside back page humor section. Obviously, I enjoyed it – written, no doubt, by a Vinalhaven person. Cecily Clark Ossipee, New Hampshire
Vinalhaven dedicates its new performance space
Partners in Island Education (PIE) paid tribute to Vinalhaven’s long-standing performing tradition last month as it dedicated the new school auditorium, Smith Hokanson Memorial Hall. The auditorium is named for native island musicians Kilton Vinal Smith and Leonard Hokanson, as well as the island’s previous performance space, Memorial Hall (1895-1973.) Both Smith and Hokanson began
Honoring the Veterans of World War II
On May 29, 117,000 ticket-holding veterans and their families gathered under sunny skies on the Mall in Washington, D.C. to witness the dedication of the long awaited National World War II Memorial. Over a five-year period I interviewed over 600 World War II veterans and their families on the Boothbay peninsula for my books Southport:
Dyed gulls: an old story
To the editor: After reading articles by Carol Thompson and Wing Goodale (WWF June 04) about coloring of seagulls, here is my 1936-1937 story involving the same. Joel Marsh, Karl Jacobson and I were the first three wildlife students at the University of Maine led by Professors Aldous and Swanson who were wildlife professors at