The June issue of Working Waterfront featured a brief article about my work on “exceptional experiences” among fishermen. Several readers saw the article and followed up, which I greatly appreciate. I promised to keep editor Tom Groening up to date on my progress. Here’s the first installment. Seven fishermen have shared their stories. Each experience
Searsport’s Mack Point is pivot in Maine’s port strategy
SEARSPORT — In a large warehouse at the Mack Point port facility, hundreds of bags of seaweed the size of desks are stacked on pallets. The warehouse’s translucent roof gives off a soft, yellow light, which seems out of place in this setting. Paul Barrigan, who manages the Sprague portion of the Searsport shipping terminal,
Mowing the old-fashioned way
Five years ago, Jim Kovaleski bought a scythe from Scythe Supply in Perry and it has transformed the way he farms, he said. Living six months a year on Ellen Johnson’s farm on the St Croix River in Robbinston, Kovaleski manages the acreage once extensively farmed by Johnson’s father. Kovaleski is an ardent permaculturist, carefully
Photo trove illuminates coastal community history
SOUTHWEST HARBOR — An extensive collection of images, snapped in Southwest Harbor by resident photographer Willis Humphreys Ballard from 1934 to 1977, has opened a window on the area’s life and times. Ballard’s 3,500 prints and negatives are a major part of the Southwest Harbor Public Library’s overall holdings of around 10,000 historic photographs dating
Difficult duty: Recovering those who have been lost at sea
Closure can be hard to come by when a loved one dies at sea. Sometimes a boat is found the next day. Other times, the weather conditions make an immediate search impossible. Families sometimes must hold funeral services that can feel incomplete, and seafront communities create memorials to bring a sense of finality. In Maine,
Machias train station restoration on track
MACHIAS — The restoration of a venerable train depot here, known as Station 98 and listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, is steaming down the track and into the heart of the community. The Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is spearheading the effort to restore a depot that is in “the most
Nova Scotia ferry service may resume between Yarmouth and Portland
PORTLAND — Nova Scotia officials announced in early September that an agreement has been reached with the Maine company STM Quest Inc. to operate a cruise ferry between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Portland. In a written statement, Economic and Rural Development and Tourism Minister Graham Steele said that Quest plans to put a cruise ferry in the
Doggedly focused on a ‘forever’ fishing future
STONINGTON — It’s not pie-in-the-sky optimism that drives Robin Alden. It’s fish-in-the-sea facts. Alden, executive director of the Penobscot East Resource Center, a non-profit organization she formed in 2003, believes passionately and rationally in PERC’s slogan, “Fish Forever.” Focusing geographically on the region of eastern Penobscot Bay, including the Fox Islands, eastward to the Canadian
Commercial use of recreational boat facilities questioned in Lubec
LUBEC — Despite its historic ties to the sea, there are limited docking facilities in this Passamaquoddy Bay town. So limited, in fact, that commercial and recreational use has sparked some conflict. Many commercial fishermen use the state-owned and maintained public landing, but that facility is designated for recreational use. Typically, conflicts between recreational and
Troubled teen the subject of teacher’s novel
Classroom bullies are familiar to students and teachers alike. For Margaret Milardo, an educator and author of a new novel, Brandi, both warranted further exploration. Throughout her extensive teaching career, Milardo encountered many student bullies, as well as other troubled adolescents who ran away from home or got into trouble. Once she got to know