Working Waterfront

Confessions of a coastal upbringing

By Cortney Simmons Between my pointer finger and thumb I can feel the dark green cloth of the sofa as I gently rub it against itself. I gaze out three great windows overlooking a spectacular, coastal view. As warm beams of light drape a dreamy haze on a sunny… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lubec man’s war experiences, philosophy drive memoir

As I approach 60, I’ve adopted a new understanding of memory. As a younger man, I believed memories were accessed by traveling back along a road—to get to those teen years, I had to travel the distance through my 20s. Today, I am convinced that memories are spokes on a… SEE MORE

The church on Isle au Haut as seen across the thoroughfare.

Working Waterfront

Isle au Haut church faces crossroads

By Bob Gerber Isle au Haut’s Union Congregational Church occupies a prominent hilltop overlooking the thoroughfare between Kimball Island and the village at the island’s north end. It was built in 1857 at a cost of $1,649 during a period of fervent evangelistic efforts to bring organized religion to island community… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘We Belong Here’ a gift to North Haven

WILLIAM TREVASKIS Charlie Pingree Twenty-three year old Leta Hallowell has been a North Havener since birth. She graduated from North Haven Community School in 2012, studied at Duke University, and taught English in France before returning to her island home. “It’s given me so much, my education, so much of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The cold comfort of summer food

It’s hot and I think differently about cooking and food when the weather turns stuffy and warm. I want cold comfort. Oddly, lately, I have thought about childhood summers and the food we ate and cold things we drank. Like potato salad, just bite-sized bits of boiled potato with bits… SEE MORE

Edward French at the offices of The Quoddy Tides.

Working Waterfront

Living in, and telling a community’s story

We journalists are supposed to be objective, but really, the objectivity exists in the work we produce, not in our hearts. The truth is that we tend to be an opinionated bunch. I will admit there are places on the Maine coast I love more than others. One of those… SEE MORE

Bruce Fernald prepares to unload his boat

Working Waterfront

When chefs and lobstermen meet, live

Anyone around Little Cranberry Island would say my husband Bruce, a lobster fisherman, has a knack for getting involved in some very interesting media situations. (See “One lobsterman’s 15 minutes of fame” at workingwaterfrontarchives.org.) Friends joke that he likes attention from the press, but lately most of the situations have revolved… SEE MORE

Students from the Blueberry Harvest School learn about sustainable fisheries during an August 2014 trip in Frenchman Bay.

Working Waterfront

How Trump administration’s immigration policies are hurting Maine

By Julia Brown Maine recently hosted statewide “Families Belong Together” rallies protesting the administration’s so-called “zero tolerance” policy. While the unprecedented policy of separating and detaining asylum seekers has rightfully taken center stage, this administration is applying its anti-immigrant agenda to all facets of immigration law. This indiscriminate attack on… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islands in the woods, islands in the water

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront “An Island Fellow? Well, then how did you end up here in Millinocket?” I hear this question less frequently now… SEE MORE

Diane Blanchette takes the first charge from Ellsworth’s new electric vehicle charger

Working Waterfront

Electric vehicle charging stations added to key corridors

On June 26, Ellsworth City Council Chairman Marc Blanchette backed up his plug-in hybrid electric car to the city’s first publically available Level 2 electric vehicle charging station, located under a shady copse at Merrill Park on Water Street. Blanchette’s wife, Diane, had the honor of taking the first plug-in… SEE MORE