Working Waterfront

Where ideas are plentiful, but resources scarce

A few weeks ago, at a small library in South Thomaston, I had the opportunity to sit down with several Maine business owners. We were brought together by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to discuss its new grant to Island Institute for our revolving loan fund. Launched last year,… SEE MORE

A residential area on North Haven. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

GrowSmart Maine wins grant

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King have announced that GrowSmart Maine has been awarded $304,636 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Community Development Initiative grant program. The funding supports GrowSmart’s program training recipients in ten Maine towns on land use planning processes that will address farmland protection and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Collins offers working waterfront bill

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Jack Reed have introduced the Working Waterfront Preservation Act. This bipartisan bill would help preserve access for fishermen and maritime workers to the waterfronts in coastal communities, supporting the commercial fishing, aquaculture, boatbuilding, and for-hire recreational fishing industries that are so vital to the culture,… SEE MORE

Sean and Andi Creeley. PHOTO: COURTESY SEAN CREELEY

Working Waterfront

New owners for Penobscot Island Air

A business providing a vital link to Maine’s offshore islands has new owners. Sean and Andi Creeley, who are based in Portsmouth, N.H., purchased Penobscot Island Air in November from Terry Waters. In a telephone interview, Sean Creeley said he expects little to change in the operation of the business,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Kozak’s Acadia

[caption id="attachment_38924" align="alignnone" width="650"] One of the many boat trip tours led by ANP ranger-naturalist Maurice Sullivan in the 1930s. Some of them featured singalongs. PHOTO: COURTESY ACADIA NATIONAL PARK[/caption] Images of America: Acadia National Park By Anne Kozak with Josh Winer and Sam Putnam, Arcadia Publishing (2023) The story… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Columbus, Squanto, and our original sin

This, the December/January issue of The Working Waterfront, prints between a couple of holidays that are sort of related—Indigenous Peoples Day and Thanksgiving. The history embedded in these dates is worth reflection, especially as our understanding of it has evolved in recent years. The 500th anniversary of Columbus arriving in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On the lee side of Lee

On a sunny September Sunday, Hurricane Lee was still six days away. The spaghetti lines of possible storm paths did not bode well for the Cranberry Isles. We knew we’d feel an impact from the storm but the severity was still anyone’s guess. Earlier in the day, Jeremy, the Islesford… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The horror, the horror…

Over the years I’ve made the most of Halloween. It came naturally because haunts and hauntings were a part of the lives of my three younger brothers and me. I and then the others, as they put in their respective appearances, bounced around the island, from one rent to another… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A room of one’s own

Whatever the subject matter of my column is, the overarching theme is always life on North Haven. As Bill and I enter our 19th year on this little unbridged slice of heaven (most of the time), I’ve had occasion to think about the number one, bottom line condition that makes… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The late Ted Hoskins understood fishermen

The following is an edited version of remarks by Robin Alden about Rev. Ted Hoskins’ work in fisheries in Maine and across the globe, spoken at his memorial service on Sept. 10 in Blue Hill. After years leading churches and social justice efforts in Connecticut, Hoskins was minister on the… SEE MORE