The counter at Calderwood Hall. PHOTO: COURTESY CALDERWOOD HALL

Working Waterfront

North Haven’s Calderwood Hall evolves

It started with an email with the subject line, “This is a crazy idea.” Fortunately, Liz Lovell, the 38-year-old manager of the North Haven Brewing Company, likes crazy. Lovell and brewers Ben Lovell, her brother, and Jesse Davisson will be leasing and operating the first-floor restaurant space of North Haven’s… SEE MORE

The late Capt. David Allen photographed aboard the Sunbeam at Northeast Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Remembering Capt. David Allen

Starting in 1971, Capt. David Allen made thousands of trips visiting islands along the Maine coast, first aboard the Maine Seacoast Mission’s Sunbeam IV and later the Sunbeam V. David and his wife Betty, who joined him aboard the Sunbeam as the steward in 1978, were the personification of the… SEE MORE

Workers on Stonington’s Crotch Island in the early 20th century. PHOTO: COURTESY DEER ISLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Working Waterfront

Stonington’s past carved in granite

When Frank and Denie Weil first visited Stonington by sailboat in the mid-1960s, they fell in love with the place and were particularly fascinated by the granite quarries on nearby Crotch Island. As the decades passed, the Weils watched as the remnants of those once-booming quarries—the derricks, the power plant… SEE MORE

Ralph Stanley, as photographed by Peggy McKenna. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

One photograph, two stories

Maine boat building icon Ralph Stanley looks directly into the camera in his boat shop in Southwest Harbor. He sports a soft natural smile and his eyes still have a spark despite his 77 years. His working days were not done at this time though his boatbuilding days were mostly… SEE MORE

Crustacean off Great Cranberry Isle. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Trends emerge on communities reliant on lobster

The value of Maine’s 2022 lobster fishery was $388 million, a decline of over $353 million compared to 2021. While this is a significant number, the total value of Maine’s lobster landings didn’t exceed $350 million until 2013. In addition, we know that the value of these landings is not… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Farnsworth marks 75th, announces exhibits

The Farnsworth Art Museum has announced its 2023 schedule of major exhibitions in celebration of the museum’s 75th anniversary. From Feb. 11 through June 17 the museum will open a series of important shows that will transform every gallery and feature beloved favorites, as well as dozens of new acquisitions… SEE MORE

Alison Hill, “Coiling the Ropes,” 2015, oil on canvas, 24 by 30 inches.

Working Waterfront

Down at the Monhegan Dock with Alison Hill

The dock on Monhegan is the center of that far-out-at-sea island’s universe. “It’s our lifeline,” writes painter Alison Hill. “It’s the first thing we see when we arrive,” she notes, “and the last thing we see when we leave.” For Hill, who moved to Monhegan in May 2002, the setting… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

More hands on the wheel for young adults

In the weeks before Christmas, two tragedies hit close to home. Four Maine Maritime Academy students were killed in a vehicle crash while returning to the Castine campus in the early morning hours, and a University of Maine at Presque Isle student’s body was discovered on the shore of Sears… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ferry hurdles don’t stop island competitors

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. Over the course of three months, I worked with nine elementary/middle school students to build and program a LEGO robot… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Building community by starting small

The music blasting from the preschool alternated between the Islands and Mamma Mia! soundtracks. The cast of Little Women, our fall show, sang along as they got into costume, makeup, and hair in the Waterman’s preschool, our de facto green room. There were 13 of them, plus a handful of… SEE MORE