Working Waterfront

Considering Frenchboro’s always-open library

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 Natalie Hyde-Petersen I love libraries. The whole idea of making knowledge available for free makes the ideal of equality feel… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On land and sea, Swan’s Island entrepreneurs find their niche

By Jennifer Helman//Photos by Dale Joyce Living on an island requires resilience, patience, creativity, and an entrepreneurial spirit. But some islanders take that to a whole new level. Gary Rainford, owner of Coffee Love, explains the mindset perfectly: “When you live in a place like this and there is something you need… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When small island nations speak, we should listen

By Kate Tagai Fourteen island states gathered in the Maldives in November 1989 for the Small States Conference on Sea Level Rise. Jack Hopa, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries for the island nation of Vanuatu (in the Coral Sea, east of Australia) asserted: “On the issue of sea level… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Coyotes on Chebeague worry islanders

By Donna Miller Damon It wasn’t interest in the workings of local government that drew nearly a hundred Chebeague islanders to a select board meeting. It was interest in the newest island inhabitant, the non-native Eastern coyote The meeting featured a presentation by Scott Lindsay, regional wildlife biologist for the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Nothing I’d rather be doing

By Courtney Naliboff It was a warm September day, and the horses had congregated in Fiona’s back yard. Not horses of the real, equine variety, but a bunch of women and one little girl, gamely wearing silicon horse and unicorn masks in the service of another Bait Bag music video.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fabric, fiber, and food

By Sandy Oliver The Sewing Circle cooks. There is a whole lot of sewing, knitting, crocheting, needlework, and weaving going on, but can we ever cook! The food and fiber connection is a strong one, reinforced by an island-wide lack of fast food options despite the small rotisserie chickens one… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New collection splits open from-away, native identities

North by Northeast: New Short Fiction by Writers from Maine and New England Agnes Bushell, editor/Littoral Books, Portland, 2019 Review by Dana Wilde In the 1980s, a minor civil war was waged in Maine’s literary subculture over who, exactly, was eligible for the label “Maine writer.” As I recall there… SEE MORE

Ryan Murphy hands out cards explaining how to turn on the Libby Island fog horn.

Working Waterfront

Libby Island a little too quiet for comfort

By Tom Groening Even with the ubiquity of radar and GPS, navigating the waters off the Washington County coast can be treacherous. The bays and estuaries are often foggy, and the region sees the most dramatic tidal range on the Maine coast. So when the fog horn on Libby Island… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The latent image of Millinocket

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. Column and photos by Diana Furukawa A year ago, I took an afternoon walk down my street, following it across Millinocket… SEE MORE

Mount Desert Island High School's Eco Team includes: Winslow Jeffery

Working Waterfront

On the record with… MDI High School’s Korstanje and Dowling

By Laurie Schreiber A group of Mount Desert Island High School students, with faculty advisor Ruth Poland, are tackling climate change and sustainability issues as the school’s Eco Team. Among many projects, the group helped organize and participated in climate strikes and assisted plans for the school’s solarization. Ongoing initiatives… SEE MORE