Working Waterfront

Frenchboro school sends students home to garden

When I moved to Maine four years ago, I quickly observed that Mainers are resourceful, creative problem-solvers. I have noticed this is particularly true of islanders, who, by necessity, take extra care to think about resources available on-island and how and when they come and go. When COVID-19 made its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island images demand answers to deeper questions

Reflections is written by Island 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. On a foggy morning in June, a friend and I were down at the dock loading up his lobster boat to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Dealing with those not-so-new pests

A side effect of working from home from March through the end of May was that I became an even more obsessive gardener. We’ve been in our home, purchased through North Haven Sustainable Housing, since 2008, and I have three pretty well-established vegetable gardens around the house. I’ve managed to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Column raises important question for schools

Thank you for the Field Notes column by Rob Snyder (sent via email on June 5 and included in this issue of the newspaper, on page 20) about Maine and diversity. But I was surprised by this line: “But what if one of the underlying issues in a community is… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Gardening is a balm for worldly worries

Like many of my friends, this spring, I have found great solace in my garden. Whenever I feel pandemic depression take hold, I try to get outside. The minute I connect my hands with the earth I feel better. I’ve weeded grass from places I’d ignored for years and my… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lubec, Campobello suffer from border closure

Six months of very limited access to and from Campobello Island in New Brunswick and Lubec in Maine are having real impacts on real people on both sides of the FDR Bridge. “In the beginning, it was really hard for me emotionally, and I was really depressed. Not going crazy,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Leadership means having the seat with the view

The Passamaquoddy word for leadership is nihkanke. The literal translation of that word is “the one who paddles in the front of the canoe.” I clearly remember when I first heard this word and learned its cultural context. I was at a leadership seminar for island leaders, sponsored by the Island Institute. Linda Cross Godfrey, founder… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Kevin Waters, beloved pilot, dies suddenly

When ferries and private boats fail to deliver, islanders turned to Kevin Waters and his company Penobscot Island Air to get to the mainland or back home. And after Waters’ untimely death of a heart attack at age 62 on July 5, islanders turned to each other to share their… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Portland: Why ‘no one goes there any more’

Editor’s note: This is another response to the Rock Bound column in the April issue, “Will Portland choke on its success?” “No one goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.” As someone who has lived on the coast of Maine most of my life, including living on Peaks Island as a child,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Now, everyone’s an islander

Well, it’s May as I’m writing this, and we’re still staying at home. I’ve got deer fences up around the vegetable gardens for the first time and a greenhouse on the way, and classes are ending a little early for students. Nebo and Calderwood are doing takeout occasionally. So it’s… SEE MORE