By the afternoon of May 11 the weather had warmed up to 70 degrees, and the leaves we’d been waiting so long to see finally popped out on the trees. Our postmaster, Joy Sprague, took advantage of the warm afternoon to set her lobster traps in the harbor for the first time this year. Joy holds a recreational lobster license, and she is allowed a maximum of five traps, which she hauls from a skiff. While she is not able to legally sell her catch, she may keep the legal lobsters that she catches.
After another spell of cold rainy weather, it was a treat to see so many two-year-olds and adults using the playground at the Islesford School on a sunny Monday. Lesley Horvath had come over to Islesford with her daughters Nellie and Mary Bridget to play with Louise Chaplin. Angie and John Dwelley were there with Ray; Amy Philbrook was enjoying the sunny day with Nathanael and Isaac; and Margaret was there with Oliver. Much to the delight of the younger ones, the school kids came out for their recess to play with them. Lesley noted that there were more toddlers on the playground than there would be students in the whole school next year. The anticipated school population in September is 6.
May 20 was a clear, warm day for the Inter Island Event, as the SUNBEAM docked at Islesford to pick up school children for the trip to Isle au Haut. Islands take turns hosting the annual meeting of outer island schools that was started 17 years ago. Games, island exploring and a community dinner were just a few of this year’s highlights. Another gathering of island children will take place on July 18 at the Seacoast Mission in Bar Harbor. “Sing to the Sun,” a collection of poems written by Ashley Bryan and developed into a chamber work composed by Alvin Singleton, will be performed at 7 p.m. Ashley will narrate several poems while he is accompanied by a five-piece chamber group and 75 children selected from 11 islands including Islesford, Great Cranberry, Swans, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, Islesboro, Vinalhaven, North Haven, Monhegan, Matinicus and Mount Desert.
By the end of May, a lot of activity had taken place on Islesford and Great Cranberry. Nine people successfully completed a six-hour CPR course at the firehouse on Cranberry; Kenneth Whitney and Malcolm Donald were the delegate and alternate to the Maine Democratic convention; Dip of the Month Club found a relatively warm day to meet and Islesford acquired a new fire truck and fire fighting clothes. The volunteer municipal fire departments on both islands continue to pursue further training in many areas of fire fighting. The boat crews from Beal and Bunker and Cranberry Cove Boating got quite a workout when people arrived at the end of May to open up houses. For many, Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff for the summer season on the islands. “How was your winter?” was the question most frequently asked as a number of people saw each other again for the first time since last summer or fall. As most of the crowd left on Monday, Kate and Courtney Chaplin were just arriving back on Islesford with their new twins, Susannah and Whitaker, born May 26. Islesford’s oldest resident, Phyllis Colson, also came home after spending the winter in Bangor.
The beginning of June was marked by a variety of graduations and a close call. When the brakes failed on the car she was using to help her husband launch a boat, Angie Dwelley’s calm thinking allowed her to swiftly remove her little son, Ray, from his car seat. As water poured in through the windows of the rapidly sinking vehicle, she handed Ray out to her husband, John, who had climbed onto the car’s roof, and then swam out through the window herself. By the time the whole family was safe on shore, the vehicle was totally submerged, but little Ray never even got his feet wet.
Christina Blank, daughter of Edgar and Margaret Blank, graduated from the Islesford School on Friday, June 11. Our island graduations celebrate more than just successful completion of the eighth grade. The move to high school involves leaving a community that has truly become an extended family. Former teachers, friends and family packed the Neighborhood house on Friday night for a potluck supper followed by a wonderful ceremony. Many people wished her well and spoke of the influence Christina had on their lives, but it was Christina’s speech that reminded us all of why we choose to live here and why everyone does what they can to help raise the island children. Christina spoke of a close community that provided both security and support and how this gave her a freedom on the island that most children on the mainland never experience. She then gave examples of how the Islesford School gives its students a chance to “get to know yourself, get to be yourself, and start to figure out who you want to be.” Her love of sailing provided a metaphor for what it feels like for her to leave the island. Christina will be a freshman next year at the White Mountain School in New Hampshire.
The end of the school year means a new beginning not only for Christina, but for her teachers and some friends as well. Jenny Johnson will be moving to Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Rebecca Beal and her children, Zoe and Merrick Swaffar, will be moving to Durham, Maine. It is also a new beginning for the lobster larvae that arrived on Islesford on April 27. Having successfully reached stage four, 10 of the half-inch creatures were released at low tide on the last day of school. The school project, sponsored by the Lobster Conservancy, was introduced into several schools by Linda Archambault. From 50 original larvae, these 10 babies represent the best success rate for this kind of school project so far. We look forward to meeting a new teacher at the Islesford School in the fall, but first, may we all have a glorious summer!
– Barbara Fernald, Islesford