Working Waterfront

Missing islander ripples worry, hope through community

By Barbara Fernald In October, many of us in the Cranberry Isles were badly shaken by the untimely death of Courtney Chaplin, an Islesford community member. When he didn’t show up at home, after a day of work on the island, his wife Kate made some phone calls and a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering Kristin Rohrbach-Westra

Editor’s note: Kristin Rohrbach-Westra, who had taught at the Chebeague Island School, died Oct. 1. Police reported it was a suicide. The following remembrance was written by Ruth Kermish-Allen, executive director of the Maine Math and Science Alliance and a former education director at the Island Institute, publisher of The Working… SEE MORE

Carley Mayhew and Mott Feibusch of Monhegan Coffee Roasters.

Working Waterfront

The Monhegan trifecta: beer, coffee, chocolate

KELLI PARK Dylan and Mandy Metrano, owners of La Nef Chocolate. KELLI PARK Matt Weber of Monhegan Brewing Company. Story and Photos by Kelli Park What’s the word on Monhegan? The answer, offered this summer by an island businesswoman, was to the point—beer, coffee, and chocolate. In recent months, an… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Thoughts about leaving… way before it’s time

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. ByStevie Kowalczyk My first draft of this piece was terrible. I wrote a nondescript, short essay about projects I was working… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Tom Moore and the Midcoast school of wheelbarrow poetry

By Dana Wilde Every Tuesday morning, Belfast’s poet laureate makes his way to the Belfast Free Library, where he holds “office hours.” He doesn’t like the phrase “office hours.” Sounds suspiciously like lectures might be involved. He’s stuck with it, though. Anyway, a group of poets, of all shapes, sizes,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In ‘Searching for Stars,’ physicist tackles perennial problems

Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine,by Alan Lightman; Pantheon Books, New York, 2018 Review by Dana Wilde More than 60 years ago, the British physicist and novelist C.P. Snow stirred up an intellectual hornets nest in a magazine article, “The Two Cultures.” Science and the humanities, he said,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In praise of hearing aids

Usually, I write about food, and hearing aids have nothing and everything to do with the kitchen, the garden, cooking, and eating because no matter what I am doing, I want to hear. I have hearing aids in both ears, and yes, they were costly (about $3,200—I’ve paid less for… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Road-trip characters are part of the fun

This is our third trip in Poppy, our 2003 VW Eurovan Camper, a marvelously engineered 18-foot marital and domestic testing ground. During the first trip two people who spent over a month in such close proximity that if one burped the other asked to be excused, made 42-inches by 72-inches… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A busy time, as island season changes

Columbus Day is the season opener for a very active time of year. A number of people who leave the islands in August return for this long weekend to do a final check on their homes. Steps to prepare for winter, on an island, vary depending on whether you live… SEE MORE

Ken Spinney is the new principal at North Haven Community School.

Working Waterfront

North Haven principal has small-town Maine background

By Courtney Naliboff North Haven Community School’s new principal, Ken Spinney, brings with him a lifetime of leadership experience and a love of small town life. A lifetime Mainer, Spinney grew up in Bangor and moved to Skowhegan with his mother for high school. “I was highly into athletics. I… SEE MORE