Working Waterfront

Calm reflection on Hurricane Island

Between the end of the school year and the needle drop on summer, I found myself on a very fast boat headed to Hurricane Island. The boat was piloted by a guy I’ve known, through various cosmic-level coincidences, since he was 8-years old, and who’s now the facilities manager for… SEE MORE

A sailboat approaches Portland's waterfront.

Working Waterfront

Island students learn by serving other Mainers

For some island kids, overnight trips to the mainland are no big deal. For others, a night or two in a strange place, especially with teacher chaperones and not parents, is a truly daunting prospect. For that reason, we try to regularly build overnight off-island experiences into the North Haven… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fresh recruits take on first-responder charge

On an island with a more-or-less fixed population of fewer that 400 people, burn-out is an all-too-common phenomenon. After so many years on a board or in a volunteer position, enthusiasm wanes and performance slips. The flip side is the narrowing perspective that can come from one person occupying a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island life spiced up by dining opportunities

April’s issue of the North Haven News, our monthly island newspaper, came with a delightful surprise announcement: Cooper’s Landing would be re-opening for the season on April 17. The Landing has been an on-and-off North Haven institution. The slate blue building just across the street from the ferry terminal has… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The renewal of trust reminds me why I am here

I had a rough winter. A few unrelated events made me question, for the first time in a long time, my comfort level in the community I've called home for over a decade. The political climate didn't help. Things calmed down after a while, and the winter routine of blizzards,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The play’s the thing

One of the purposes for which I was hired to come teach on North Haven, nigh on 12 years ago, was to direct plays. The theater program, formalized by the school's relationship with John Wulp, had achieved some renown through original programming and attention paid to contemporary classics by Brecht… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Navigating the joyous holiday season as a religious minority

I love Christmas on North Haven. Colored lights criss-cross Main Street, the community gathers at Waterman's for hot chocolate, cookies and carols before a tree lighting, and we usually have at least a dusting of snow. Paradoxically, perhaps, for a Jewish person, I look forward to the church service the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cultural close encounter delights island students

A concern that we sometimes have as educators on a fairly isolated island in Penobscot Bay is how our students will react and behave when suddenly confronted with a new group of people. This could be a group of people from as nearby as Vinalhaven or Rockland—our students are sometimes… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Sometimes, the gulf left by loss must remain

Much has been written about the way loss resonates in small communities. The way grief echoes in the empty space where a friend once was. How not one person is unaffected by the lack of balance. North Haven experienced such a loss at the end of the summer. Greg Quinn,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The end of an era, the beginning of another

The end of this summer marks the end of an era. After five years, Bill Trevaskis is stepping down from the position of programs director at Waterman’s Community Center. Bill, who also happens to be my husband, moved with me to North Haven when we were callow 24-year-olds. We’d been… SEE MORE