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

Music is community… again

The dilemma of the music teacher is that sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day for the music teacher to also play music. Of course, it’s what we love to do. Music teachers began as music students, playing in recitals and sighing our way through Hanon exercises and scales… SEE MORE

Fuel tanks sit close to the water during a high-tide event in Lincolnville Beach.

Working Waterfront

Mounting weather disaster costs make case for preparation

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. There were 16 separate weather and climate disaster events topping $1 billion in recovery costs in the U.S. in 2017, with a cumulative cost exceeding $300 billion. It clear that it’s cheaper to prepare and minimize the clean-up rather than… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering the ‘improbable’ Harbor Gawker

On Oct. 1 of last year, a man with no legs and just a few fingers put together one of several final meals at one of coastal Maine’s iconic—and most improbable—seafood restaurants. It was a haddock and havarti sandwich, which I enjoyed and with a gusto that I’d reserved over the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Clean energy from a meeting of Iceland and Maine

By Cameron G. Brien What is the single largest commodity the nation of Iceland produces in a single year? Is it fish? Banking? The attractive, blonde descendants of Viking shield-maidens? It is, in fact, something much more abstract than any of those things. What Iceland produces more of than anything… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Art, a lawnmower, and the pursuit of fulfillment

Buying a painting is like buying a new lawnmower. Or at least that’s what John Ames once told me. When it comes to explaining art, John is one of the most articulate people I’ve ever met. Back in the mid-1980s through mid-1990s, he ran Gallery 68 in Belfast. The gallery… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Expanding economy forces the question: Who do we want to be?

In September, we’ll mark the ten-year anniversary of a frightening moment in our country’s history. Just weeks before the presidential election that saw Barack Obama defeat John McCain, George W. Bush’s treasury secretary reported that the U.S. banking system was on the brink of collapse. A bail-out was approved by… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Phil’s road trip, part II

In the last issue, I wrote affectionately about my first Volkswagen camper, a 1966, and I ended that column with a reference to the 2002 Eurovan my wife and I now own and to the beginnings of our most recent road trip, which began on Sept. 29 of last year.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In praise of pollock

Recently, I learned that pollock is underappreciated in Maine, and probably elsewhere, too. Poor old pollock; that has been its life story. The main problem with pollock is and has been that it is not cod, haddock, or salmon, and it’s a tad gray or blueish, and not pure white.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fall’s harvest on the islands is self-serve

Two of the things I really appreciate about the island this year are the plentitude of apples everywhere and the fact that my own garden still has a few things to offer. My cherry tomatoes are ripening on cue and my larger tomato plants still show some promise. There are plenty… SEE MORE