The inevitable question asked of islanders in the summertime is, “What do you do all winter?” For many folks in the Cranberry Isles, winter is the slow time we wait for all year. A number of people plan their travel for the winter months. Sue and Richard Hill are away for a few months to work on a house renovation in North Carolina and to spend some time in Mexico. Erin and Aaron Gray took a belated honeymoon trip to Hawaii. (As far as islands go, Erin says she prefers it right here on Islesford!) Dan and Cynthia Lief are visiting their sons, Matt and Jake, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Shorter trips to Portland, Boston and New York are also part of the routine to break up winter. Our postmaster, Joy Sprague, and her friend Stefanie Alley flew to New York City from Bangor to visit museums, take in the sights, and see some shows. Joy’s pictures at the post office indicate that they had quite a time.
Many of the lobster traps are out of the water as fishermen use the extra winter time to repair old and build new traps and to paint buoys. Both Rick Alley and Dan Fernald also have studios in close proximity to their workshops, where they paint in oils and pastels. The beautiful results of their work are shown in the Islesford Artists’ Gallery in the summer. Sue Hill collects the work of many island craftspeople to show in her store, appropriately named, “Winter’s Work.”
Walking, cross-country skiing, skating and photography are just a few of the activities available to those who want to spend time outdoors. What we lack in entertainment and restaurant opportunities we make up for with an abundance of beauty and quiet.
The teal blue of the winter ocean is a color few summer folk get to see. It provides an incredible backdrop for snow on the spruce trees and rocky beaches. Even the bad weather is dangerously exquisite with the wind, ice and vapor, though we must prepare for power outages and be careful to avoid medical emergencies, if possible.
During the 1950s and 60s, when Wilfred Bunker ran the mailboat between the islands, there were weekly card parties with participants from both Islesford and Great Cranberry. They met at either the Islesford School or the Longfellow School for games of Whist on Friday nights. Lil Alley remembers earlier times when there were fudge-making parties, and members of the Rockbound Grange met every Wednesday at the Grange Hall, now called the Neighborhood House. “We had a lot of belly laughs,” said Lil, about the skits put on by Ida Spurling and Annie Spurling. They could improvise all kinds of scenarios. Uncle Archie Spurling and Frank Bartlett often sang. Someone was always willing to put on a little program every week. When I asked my mother-in-law, Ann Fernald, what she remembers about winters when her children were little she immediately said, “Endless laundry! Our front porch was alive with clotheslines.” Joy Sprague remembers many Monopoly games and lots of cribbage games among school friends. Before culverts were installed at the Maypole, natural flooding of the marsh provided a great spot for skating. Teddy Spurling and others whipped along on their skates with the help of sails made from bed sheets or cardboard.
Television, computers, videos and DVDs have drastically changed winter entertainment on the islands, but some things remain the same. Children still skate at the gravel pit and next to Frances Bartlett’s house. They go sliding on the ledges behind the church, and build snow forts when there is enough snow to be plowed.
People get together for dinner and new recipes are tested. For Ann Fernald’s January birthday her son, Bruce, whipped up a great batch of butternut and spinach risotto to go with some baked salmon. We weren’t sure how his father, Warren, would like it since he’s not a great fan of the “herby derbs,” but he ate two helpings. On Great Cranberry, members of the Ladies Aid met to discuss the menu for the luncheon to be served on March 14, Town Meeting Day. Planning for this annual meal has alternated between the islands for years, and it always takes place during the winter.
One island activity has prevailed through decades of winters, an interest commonly shared among young and old, though not necessarily specific to islanders. Most of us are just lucky to have a slower pace of life, at this time of year, to indulge in our love of reading. Our two island libraries boast some of the highest per capita circulation numbers in the state of Maine. An informal book club has met to discuss The Kite Runner and My Sister’s Keeper so far. Warren Fernald has read more than two dozen books in less than two months. If we could ask one question, at this time of year, from the multitudes of summer visitors, it might just be, “What are you reading?”
— Barbara Fernald, Islesford
Feb. 15, 2005