Working Waterfront

Shiver me timbers! It’s a pirate wedding!

PHOTOS BY PEACH FREDERICK Two members of The Dark Rose, a pirate club of sorts, which participates in pirate-themed events in places like Damariscotta, Eastport and Fort Knox in Prospect, tied the knot (forgive the pun) on June 30 in Rockport. The groom is Darren Lowe, who goes by “Rigs”… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A new setting gives this parent fresh eyes

By Courtney Naliboff It’s July, and I’m in a hot tub in Sedona, looking at red rocks in the distance, lit by a dry desert sun. My five-year-old daughter is on the steps of the adjacent swimming pool, blue goggles pushed up on her hair, wrapped in a blue foam… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island-bound on a rainy day, not a bad fate

By Larry McIntosh I wonder if the old adage, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, it’ll change,” works the other way too. If you do like the weather, will it also change? Unfortunately, it did. Even though the forecast was for partly to mostly cloudy, and 60… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A commissioner for changing times

By Rob Snyder When Patrick Keliher assumes his place at the front of the room, he does so humbly. His smile projects calm, his eyes look knowingly from behind wire rimmed glasses, and his jeans and flannel shirt are unassuming. He has the perfect presence to serve as Maine’s commissioner… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The ‘mostly’ universal allure of water

By Phil Crossman My mother was possessed of a resolute conviction that people were good. Certainly, in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary, she felt my three younger brothers and I were clear examples, obedient youngsters whose first concern was to behave ourselves and do nothing that would meet with… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island Lighthouse gets TLC

By Jennifer Helman Photos by Dale Joyce After withstanding coastal Maine weather for almost 150 years, the Swan’s Island Lighthouse is getting a much-needed facelift. The rehabilitation project consists of three phases: bricks, mortar and metal; foundation and drainage; and catwalk restoration. Tito’s Masonry of Portland is doing the first… SEE MORE

Jeri D.W. Spurling at her Islesford home.

Working Waterfront

Big hearts build tiny house for veteran

By Jacqueline Weaver “Housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing. Without stable shelter, it all falls apart.” —Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond Architect Jeri D. W. Spurling has dedicated her professional life to serving those in need. In fact, the motto of Spurling Design, based in her home on Islesford in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island life still holds capacity for surprise

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 Maria Keeler Seated in my office in early June, I am surrounded by layers of evidence that I both work… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Who says there’s nothing to do?

By Courtney Naliboff I’m writing this from a point in time two weeks before the end of the school year, one day before the spring concert, and just over a week before my daughter’s preschool graduation. I’m doubled up on meetings more days than not, staring down the barrel of… SEE MORE

he first Model T to arrive on Monhegan was documented by Edward Knowlton.

Working Waterfront

Getting to know the Knowltons

By Carl Little Painter Maud Briggs Knowlton (1870-1956) and her husband, photographer Edward Knowlton (1860-1964), first set foot on Monhegan Island sometime in the 1890s. Traveling from their home in industrial Manchester, N.H., the couple was smitten by this remote, quiet, and picturesque island. Returning every summer thereafter for… SEE MORE