Kevin Schneider is Acadia National Park’s superintendent.

Working Waterfront

On the record with… Acadia National Park’s Kevin Schneider

By Laurie Schreiber Due to its popularity and accessibility to large population centers, Acadia National Park visitation continues to grow (although more slowly—1 percent in 2018, compared with 7 percent in 2017). Park officials are grappling with challenges that include summertime congestion and workforce housing, plus the federal government’s partial… SEE MORE

North Haven Community School from the air.

Working Waterfront

North Haven school gets personal with students

By Courtney Naliboff High school students at Maine’s smallest K-12 public school will start the 2019-2020 school year with something new: a personal learning plan. North Haven Community School staff have worked with Rural Aspirations this year to design a system that enables each high school student to have a… SEE MORE

A dramatic image of a shipwreck from the Ed Coffin collection of photographs

Working Waterfront

From ‘cradle’ to ‘grave’: Mining the Ed Coffin Collection

One doesn’t have to be from Maine to become smitten with its maritime history. Ed Coffin’s collection of more than 2,500 photographs, compiled over a period of more than 60 years, is a testament to that. Coffin donated his photographic archive to the Penobscot Marine Museum in 2013 and it… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The merits of living on Vinalhaven when illness strikes

By Phil Crossman Late last year I began to experience a pronounced discomfort in my abdomen and, towards the end of the year, on several occasions, it became much more than simply discomfort. I was sent to the Penobscot Bay Medical Center’s emergency room in Rockport for tests. Thus began… SEE MORE

The Machigonne II underway for Peaks Island.

Working Waterfront

New Peaks Island ferry stirs stormy waters

By William Hall The trip from the Portland waterfront to Peaks Island is short—less than three miles due east. The Machigonne II, a 399-passenger ferry operated by Casco Bay Lines, makes the 17-minute crossing over a dozen times a day. But plans to replace that vessel are following a more tortuous… SEE MORE

Donna Wiegle poses with Island Institute president Rob Snyder

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island’s Wiegle honored at Waypoints Forum

By Tom Groening Donna Wiegle turns the concept of time on its head. Many of us would demur if asked to serve on a committee or take on a volunteer project, saying we’re too busy. Wiegle, seemingly, says yes to every opportunity. The Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, awarded her… SEE MORE

Tom Werner and his children on the Peaks Island shore

Working Waterfront

Fishing, islander family takes helm of Peaks restaurant

KELLI PARK Tom and Katie Werner and their children on the deck of what will be their new business on Peaks Island, the Island Lobster Company. Story and Photos by Kelli Park When it came time to sell their Peaks Island House Restaurant, Joe and Nancy Wright knew the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Wyeth’s Rockland work jogs memories

By Nancy Griffin The late Andrew Wyeth, one of America’s most famous artists, is well-known for his Maine paintings of people and scenes from Port Clyde to Cushing. He is less known for Rockland paintings, but they exist and are on display through February at the Farnsworth Art Museum. A… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

John Zavodny named president of Maine Seacoast Mission

The Maine Seacoast Mission has announced that John Zavodny, Ph.D., will be its new president beginning on Feb. 19. "During our interviews with him, his excitement and compassion for the work of the Mission and an understanding of life in rural Maine were evident," said Stacy Smith, the board chairwoman. "He… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In Eastport, a poet of the edges

By Dana Wilde Long ago, when I was a kid growing up in Southern Maine, we made road trips to Massachusetts to visit my father’s family. This was the late 1950s and early ’60s. Route 1 from about New Hampshire turned into a reeling commotion of cars and trucks, diesel… SEE MORE