The hands of Skip Collins at Spartan Marine.

Working Waterfront

Spartan Marine, stuck in the Bronze Age

Skip Collins in the Spartan Marine shop. Story//Photos by Kelli Park In a world churning with change, there is a workshop in a cove in Georgetown where the strength of bronze has withstood the test of time. Spartan Marine makes the case that there are some things better left unchanged.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine must do better at welcoming diversity

By Rob Snyder You’ve heard it said many times: “Maine is a white state,” or maybe even, “Maine is the whitest state.” Actually, Maine is not a white state. Some 74,000 Mainers are people of color. When Mainers assert that our population includes a majority of white people, whether through statistical… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Voter support sought on broadband investment

By Tom Groening Yes, we have internet, but… That’s the response from business owners, healthcare professionals, educators, and more, with the “but” being that speeds fail to keep up with demand. And that gap is why the state should help build a broadband network, say proponents of a July 14… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine has an official merchant mariner flag

By Tom Groening As the state celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, Mainers are reflecting on their history. And John Worth of Belfast, who has spent his life on the water, is investigating and highlighting the maritime part of that history. Some years ago, Worth learned that Maine is one… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How the next generation is building a better climate

By Kate Tagai Youth leadership. It is the next generation’s world to inherit, and it is they who will need resilient leadership, compassion, and strength to adapt and thrive in a changing climate, so why not start now? It can be as simple as an adult asking the question, “What… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The wonder of getting along with my neighbors

By Phil Crossman Given the same wildly divergent opinions that exist elsewhere, and are unmistakably present here as well, I’m impressed at how well we on the island mostly get along. Many of the people with whom I once shared childhoods and then adolescence and then the rest of our… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island education: more than picturesque schools

Growing up in a small town in Western Maine, I’ve known the feeling of community my whole life, where Hannaford grocery aisles are meeting places and hot dogs are shared at Friday night football games. But I came to know community in a different way when I moved to an… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Spring comes, regardless of the state of humans

By Courtney Naliboff Remember last month’s column, when I was so excited about my staycation? And then exactly a month later we all found ourselves on an indefinite staycation? Except during this staycation I’m teaching a full remote-course load while helping my kindergartener with her remote learning and also attempting… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Mythic story-poems of spirit and survival

Review by Carl Little In a documentary about his life and work, award-winning Native-American writer N. Scott Momaday stated, “There is no such thing as poetry in Indian traditions.” Interviewing him in March, NPR reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked him to explain. “It’s a storytelling tradition,” Momaday said, “so you have… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Keep doing art… every one of us

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. By Mark Macey Originally, this column was going to be about Dear Elizabeth, a play I directed for Stage East, here… SEE MORE