Working Waterfront

Creativity thrives in salty, island environments

The sun is sinking and fills the kitchen with an orange glow, signaling the end of a long week. Lobster traps hauled and stacked, gear shifted from one spot in the ocean to another. Lunches made in the dark and fishing boots brought in to dry. Nights of nodding off… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Port Clyde’s loss is seared in pain

We can watch live satellite images of a typhoon on the other side of the planet. We can record thousands of photographs in a device not much bigger than a deck of playing cards. We can inject a genetic replica of a virus to boost immunity. But something as elemental… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Character matters—Don Carrigan’s 50 years of storytelling

Don Carrigan of WCSH-TV is considered by many to be one of Maine's most trusted journalists and broadcasters. His 50-year career in Maine news has taken him from Portland to Bangor and everywhere in between. In 2016, Carrigan was inducted into the Maine Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Carrigan… SEE MORE

People

Newschäfer at Lyman-Morse boatyard in Thomaston in September 2020. PHOTO: ROBERT MITCHELL

Working Waterfront

Solo sail around the world—for the win

On a solo round-the-world sailing race, Kirsten Neuschäfer had a teammate—her boat the Minnehaha. More than a tool, her boat was a partner in a race that takes incredible skill, determination, and a large dose of luck, she explained. It’s dubbed a race for “those who dare.” Neuschäfer dared and… SEE MORE

Patty Zimmerman of Peaks Island transports three children from the Mabuie of Mozambique. Several Peaks Island families have taken young people who are recent immigrants from African countries, now living in Portland, into their homes for short- and long-term visits.

Working Waterfront

Peaks Island families welcome New Mainers

[caption id="attachment_38497" align="alignnone" width="700"] From left, Edlazio Antonio, Rita Mena, and Isaac Rodriguez.[/caption] Islanders are no strangers to helping their neighbors. But residents of one Casco Bay island have been going above and beyond by opening their doors to newcomers. Families on Peaks Island have been welcoming New Mainers—recent immigrants—into… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Monhegan school reunion

[caption id="attachment_38468" align="alignnone" width="780"] Monhegan School, 1972[/caption] In 1972, the student body of the Monhegan School posed for a photograph. In that image (above) are, from left: Ruth Ives (standing); back row from left: Kelani Cundy (seated), Lisa Dickson, Louisa Boehmer (Wickerd), Donna Cundy, Kris Boehmer, and Zoe Zanadakis (seated);… SEE MORE

Diana Young’s "Boom Island," (2023) tempera, 16 by 20 inches. PHOTO: MICHAEL HALLAHAN

Working Waterfront

Diana Young’s Penobscot River view

In the half century Diana Young has lived in Bangor—she and husband Jim moved there in 1973—she has painted all over the Queen City, so many different scenes she should be declared painter laureate. Her views are always animated, full of a kind of motion that often compels one to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When teens can say ‘I know Maine’

In 7th grade Gavin Bradstreet looked like a choir-boy angel with a moon-shaped face and round glasses, but looks were deceptive and the school found him “a handful.” Now he is on his way to college, with greater aspirations than he or his family could have imagined seven years ago.… SEE MORE

Strike at Bath Iron Works, July 1, 1985. PHOTO: GEN WILLMAN

Working Waterfront

Shipbuilding legacy strengthened by unions

Maine’s proficient, hardworking, and regionally low-paid laborers helped to secure a competitive edge in the shipbuilding industry of the 19th century, contributing to the state’s significance as a center of American shipbuilding and fleet ownership. Like many historic narratives, this shipbuilding prominence has often been examined through the lens of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An island musical legacy

On a Tuesday evening earlier this summer, representatives of the Jeff Tolman Music Award, a 501(c)3, presented themselves at a select board meeting to make an unreasonable request: that they might close and be given free rein of the only—and very busy—town parking lot, from noon and through the evening,… SEE MORE