Working Waterfront

Church and community have become intertwined

By Phil Crossman When I was a teenager, I lived in the Moses Webster House on Vinalhaven, a wonderfully impractical six-bedroom Victorian Mansard next door to another, equally beautiful Victorian structure. Impracticality aside, it was the first time that I and my three young brothers each had a bedroom of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A whole lot of canning going on

By Sandy Oliver There is a whole lot of canning going on out on Islesboro. Probably no one in Maine with a garden or access to plentiful vegetables is exempt from pickling, canning, freezing, drying, storing away. It is September, which is “Putting Food By” month… well, not officially, merely… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The embrace of island life is like no other

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. By Stevie Kowalczyk Sometimes I hate living on Swan’s Island. Really hate it. The island can be nosey. Everyone knows everything… SEE MORE

One-room school teachers who participate in the Teaching and Learning Collaborative: from left

Working Waterfront

One- and two-room schools celebrate ten years of collaboration

By Yvonne Thomas What has allowed the Outer Islands Teaching and Learning Collaborative, or TLC, to survive and thrive? For 10 years, the one- and two-room schools on Cliff Island, the Cranberry Isles, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, Matinicus, and Monhegan have banded together through this network, creating, according to its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island institutions find mutual support

Story by Jennifer Helman//Photos by Dale Joyce A landmark building from the 1890s and a historical society in need of a new home found each other on Swan’s Island. The Swan’s Island Historical Society, established in 1972 as part of the Swan’s Island Educational Society, has had its ups and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Women on the working waterfront, and on our pages

By Tom Groening If newspaper readers could be proverbial flies on the wall during meetings at which editors plan news coverage, most conspiracy theories about bias and political agendas would fade away. I’m reminded (yet again) of a Jerry Seinfeld comedy bit, in which he notes, “It's amazing that the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An eye that sees an island sharply, wryly

As the Crow Flies By Phil Crossman Review by Tina Cohen A new collection of essays by Vinalhaven’s Phil Crossman features on its cover a bird’s eye view of the island’s Carver’s Harbor, with a bird whose eye is appropriately airborne. That bird is a crow, and not incidentally, the nickname… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Second-hand stores helping keep older islanders at home

By Susan Q. Stranahan On a Saturday morning in late summer, the Red Studio at Chebeague Island’s Island Commons is crowded. A customer requests dimensions of the oriental rug displayed outside. Grandmother and grandson sort through boxes of used kids' books and games. Teenagers examine vintage jewelry, and there are… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

My summer of trying new things

By Courtney Naliboff At 38, it’s easy to get into a comfortable routine. Work, music, parenting, swimming, gardening, writing—these are all solidly in my comfort zone, and completely enjoyable. Not that they’re always easy or straightforward, but I can confront those challenges without anxiety because they’re well known to me.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Summer on a Maine island creates ‘fomo’

By Barbara Fernald It is 10 a.m. on Aug. 1. The temperature is 78 degrees with 54 percent humidity. A gorgeous summer day on the coast of Maine. No wonder people want to be here. I hear it’s crowded in Acadia and I see that’s true by the many cars… SEE MORE