By the time this paper hits the streets, the Island Institute will have begun its new fiscal year – our 20th for those who might be counting. Our cherished bean counters have put their eyeshades on and are tallying up exactly how we ended the year. With a staff of 30, another 12 Island Fellows
“Freshly cooked” is a new option at Gilmore’s in Bath
Gilmore’s Seafoods of Bath is reaching out in a new direction, with a small addition to house a take-out window for cooked seafood. Ben and Kevin Gilmore, owners of the market, say the expansion was inspired by frequent inquiries over the past few years from customers who are looking for a place to buy some
Fried clams don’t have to cost $1.27 each
You can smell fried clams at the summertime ferry line in Lincolnville if the breeze isn’t out of the southwest. Or if it is, but someone upwind in a car with open windows is happily devouring a pint of them. I suppose it is all those lobster pounds and small seafood take-outs along the coast
Castine lighting exhibit
The first moveable lighting device was probably a burning stick pulled out of a fire. Thousands of years later, people were still using the same method: a Medieval woodcut shows a man and a woman going about their chores, holding foot-or more-long torches in their mouths. American Indians and Puritan settlers used torches of pitch
Sea Change: Pew Commission attacks “antiquated” policies
On June 4, the Pew Oceans Commission released its three-year report, “America’s Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change.” The 18-member bipartisan commission included representatives from fishing, government, science, conservation, education, business and philanthropy, including Governors Tony Knowles of Alaska and George Pataki of New York. Leon Panetta, White House chief of staff under
Attempt to change lobster limits fail
Near the end of April, a bill in the Maine legislature threatened to undo nearly 20 years of struggle toward agreement on limited entry into the lobster industry by amending license eligibility requirements to allow a small number of state residents to bypass a mandated two-year apprenticeship program. The bill, “An Act to Amend the
Portland firm transforms retired sails into tote bags
All tote bags are not created equal. Just ask anyone who’s ever purchased a handcrafted, sturdy carryall from Hannah Kubiac. Kubiac owns Sea Bags, a one-of-a-kind shop in Portland’s Custom House Wharf area. Sea Bags produces tote bags made from old, retired sails. The bags can be trusted to lug around a hundred pounds of
In brief …
The Sailing Misadventures of Two Innocents at Sea, by James A. McCracken (Custom Communications, 2003): experiences afloat of Betty and Jim McCracken, a New York couple who later retired to Damariscotta. The author is familiar with adventure writing, having produced about 600 radio scripts for Boston Blackie and The Cisco Kid. He was also a
Wiscasset’s famous wrecks become a work of art
Nine years ago, after closing a successful, six-month exhibit of his ship models at the Maine Maritime Museum, in Bath, artist and modelmaker John P. Gardner and his wife, Elaine, were having lunch at Le Garage, in Wiscasset. As they gazed out at the two abandoned schooners rotting in the mud, Elaine said, “Why don’t
Island middle schoolers to go to sea
On July 31, a group of island middle school students will board the schooner HARVEY GAMAGE at Islesboro for a nine-day sailing voyage under the auspices of The Maine Island Youth Program offered by the Ocean Classroom Foundation, Inc. In 10 years, over 200 students from Maine island communities have participated in this sailing adventure.