Islesford School students took their annual ski trip to Sugarloaf on March 24 and 25. Seven students and 5 adults enjoyed some great spring skiing conditions. This year, plans were also made for those students who did not care to ski. Gail Grandgent organized a museum day on Mount Desert Island with visits to the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor and the Dorr Museum at College of the Atlantic. Though the Wendell Gilley Museum was not yet open for the season, Gail made special arrangements for a private tour of the wonderful bird carvings there.
This year, the end of winter in the Town of Cranberry Isles actually corresponded with the arrival of spring on the calendar. Instead of snow we had an incredible amount of rain. Most people with cellars experienced varying degrees of flooding. Caretakers were extra busy but some pumps could not keep up with the rising tide of ground water. Eric Sandberg received a call from Paul Fernald to tell him, “I have bad news and worse news. The bad news is your skiff has a leak. The worse news is that I found out, when I used it to check out the 18 inches of water in your cellar!”
On the last day of March, the Islesford Sand Beach resembled a summer day. Calm water, no wind, and eight people in bathing suits for a Dip-of-the-Month Club meeting. Cindy Thomas, Joy Sprague, Stefanie Alley, Jesse Minor, Lindsay Eysnogle, Jason Pickering, Kelly Fernald and yours truly took to the water simultaneously. The water had warmed up to 37, two degrees warmer than the last day of February. Amy, Abe and Peter Philbrook, Nick and Cote Hadlock, and Ashley Alley watched from the beach as we talked ourselves into going back in the water for a double dip. The third dip was taken in Stefanie’s wood heated hot tub in her back yard.
Ron Rowland of Swan’s Island came to Islesford on April 6 to teach a HazMat Awareness class to the volunteer firefighters. He arrived on the last boat, at low tide, and was impressed by our system of unloading the mail boat. It is not as common in summer when the floats and ramps are in, but during the rest of the year the system just falls into place. People who are waiting to go off on the last boat, and those who are arriving, make a human chain up the steps to hand packages off the boat, up the stairs, and onto the dock. While others are efficiently emptying the boat, mothers are able to hold the tiny hands of children returning from nursery school and others offer a hand to those who find the steps a little steep. It is the same on Great Cranberry. Simple kindness and a helping hand are a large part of maintaining a healthy year-round island community.
Specific people come to mind when we think of who we would call in a crisis. Their selfless availability is a step above what many of us are willing to do. Whether trained and licensed, or good Samaritans, the people who first respond to an emergency are angels in any community. The ways they help are obvious and we can not thank them enough for their time, effort and knowledge.
Any gaps in community service have a way of filling in on a more subtle level. When eight people on Islesford gave up their weekends to take the 60-hour first responder course, another citizen organized meals for the group. People willingly took turns to provide nine days of lunches, dinners, beverages and clean up for the students and instructors. No one was hired to cater the meals – it was just something they were willing to do to help.
Community suppers on either island boast incredible cooks and the familiar faces of people who organize, those who set up tables, and those who are always in the kitchen helping with cleanup. Over a cup of tea with Lillian Alley and Ann and Warren Fernald, I asked who were some of the people they remembered for their helpful ways in the past.
Warren’s grandfather, Bert Spurling, gave a few fishermen their start in the business by buying boats and letting them pay him back over time. Cora Spurling had tea parties as a treat for Eleanor and Vivian Young. As an adult, Eleanor was always baking things to give to others. Her daughter Lil carries on the tradition. Chummy Spurling repaired many wooden items for people. Lee Ham took kids on his boat to the movies in the summer time. Wilfred Bunker ran boats between the two islands at night, without charging, for Grange meetings and card parties. Natalie Beal just made everyone feel special, whether you were stopping by for tea in the winter or coming back to pick up your mail for the fist time in the summer. Emerson Ham was often at the dock in his truck, waiting to see if anyone needed a ride with their groceries or freight. His wife, Hildegarde, gave plenty of good cooking advice, showed Ann and Karen Fernald how to drive, and taught many girls how to knit and sew.
Our town is like a crazy quilt; made up of random pieces in a variety of colors and textures. The joy we find in island life is our common thread. The way we help each other out, from picking up someone’s mail to making an emergency trip at midnight in a lobster boat; is the variety of the embroidery stitches that serve to connect the pieces. Some are long, some are short, some are fancy, some are plain, but they all combine to hold the quilt together and make it stronger.
Islesford, April 15, 2005