On Vinalhaven, asking if the Wind is out yet, or if you’ve seen it, might not be a reference to the weather, but rather the island’s weekly newsletter. Its title, appropriately, implies strength and presence; something that could touch all of us hunkered down on the island we share in Penobscot Bay. Free copies are available in town each Thursday. Its size varies; it could be 10 pages, or more. The contents are a hodgepodge of focus and style, distinctly different pieces coexisting gracefully together. There is cohesiveness, if only by virtue of shared space. Maybe that is apt, a description of both the paper’s contents and island’s residents. Distinctions and differences exist, yet commonality too.
Although Wind readers eagerly consume each issue and keep it on-hand for the week of its currency, few probably think about the effort involved in its creation. The printing is done professionally in Rockland, but every other aspect of this publication is handled by island volunteers. The staff of ten or so gathers every Tuesday. Editor Caroline Bridges gets to the “newsroom” first. She has coffee on in the kitchen of the church by 7:30 AM. Her station is a small table placed front and center in the building’s vestry, a big open room. The rest of the group arrives not long after and sets up their workspace, two long tables flanking Caroline. Townspeople will come by over the next two hours to drop off submissions at her desk. While she finesses the business details — what size an ad or message will be, how many issues it will run, and how much that will cost — typists at one table work on laptops, translating into printed copy the handwritten notes. On the other table, as if jigsaw puzzles were being assembled, each volunteer there is responsible for how their several pages will shape up as they fill with submissions.
There are some loose dictates guiding the arrangement. The front page bears the most important items. This can be because of timeliness or significance. Here is the heart of what matters most on the island: events in the lives of the community. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, births, graduations and deaths are noted, usually with a heartfelt tribute by family members. There are welcome-back and moving-away messages and congratulations for school, athletic and career achievements. There are thank yous for help with situations like family crises, medical emergencies, or the recovery of lost items. You won’t read a reporter’s account of any of those events, but you will know what’s happening on the island.
Ads and regular features fill the other pages. There’s news every week from the library, school, town offices, historical society, Calderwood Homestead (senior housing and programs), and the column “Nature Notes.” A calendar of community events is posted. There might be announcements from the medical center, land trust, garden club, Lions Club and other civic organizations. Church services are listed. The offerings of island restaurants and realtors are detailed. Anybody selling, providing, renting, looking for, or giving away anything advertises it here. As well as informative, contributions are sometimes humorous. Local pundit Phil Crossman, for example, who used to write a regular Wind column about island life, now writes ad copy for his gourmet shop. In doing so, he has critiqued his competitor’s inventory and epicurean philosophy, impugning, among other things, Ripple, Bud Lite, wine in a box, and Velveeta cheese. When the competition counters, readers are left with unanswered questions from the exchange of insinuations. Does Phil’s wife covertly buy wine in boxes? Is the corkscrew a tool of the effete? And who on the island might have pinot envy?
The Town Manager, Marjorie Stratton, writes a weekly column combining both current civic concerns and personal observations, and always ends with the impassioned pitch, “Thank you for your support and remember, be kind to one another!” She and the Wind staffers are in agreement on emphasizing that message. Of no small coincidence, many of these volunteers previously worked as teachers, the majority with young children. Remember what some of the most important lessons are at that age? Play nice, be good. Show respect to each other. Take turns. Demonstrate kindness and support. Be good citizens in the classroom and community. And one might ask about those actions and attitudes: do we ever really outgrow their importance?
When the articles and ads have finally filled the pages, some touches of artwork are added. Then, with a flourish of ceremonial ritual, the final inspection is initiated. Everyone in the room seems to hold their breath. Is everything there, and on straight? Marcia Davis, retired kindergarten teacher, artist and “Nature Notes” columnist, holds the honor of, and official ruler for, checking. With a collective exhale at its successful completion, the pages are gently lifted and packed in a satchel. The new Wind is ready to be transported via ferry to the printer. When the copies return, they will be folded by a fodder of other volunteers and distributed around town. Hundreds of paid subscription issues will get addressed and mailed, sent to destinations around the world.
Four days later, the process begins again. As with so many other impressive island endeavors, Wind volunteers work hard and uncomplainingly, behind the scenes. The paper is part of what knits the community together. Communicating and sharing life’s events, large and small, help keep Vinalhaveners on the same page.
Tina Cohen, a regular contributor to Working Waterfront, spends much of the year on Vinalhaven.