When Britt Crossman graduated from college last spring she had no idea what her future held. Her plan was to return home to Vinalhaven for the summer, and hope that something presented itself. By mid-summer, it had. Crossman has incorporated her dreams of travel and desire to volunteer into a compelling job: she is currently
Opening notes on Long Island
For the past year, Long Island resident Katie Norton has been teaching students traditional fiddle music. A musician for 20 years and a teacher for 10, Norton said she started lessons on the island with just one student and now has a dozen. And, thanks to the town’s Recreation Department, that number will continue to
Maritime books for the midwinter
Several people who either write for, read, or have been the subject of stories in the Working Waterfront have shared some of their favorite maritime books, both fiction and non-fiction, to read in the midwinter. A combination of recently published books (a few already reviewed in Working Waterfront) and those that have withstood the test of time,
Morgan Witham connects with the seasons of life on Isle au Haut
This is Morgan Witham’s second year as the Island Institute’s Willoughby I. Stuart Fellow on Isle au Haut. She knew that things were going to be different this year. She had been told when she came to the island that the first year on an island is the all about the romance, the second year
Vinalhaven backs revisions to wind power rules
Changes to the rules governing wind power sites were overwhelmingly approved at a Vinalhaven Special Town Meeting held on December 15. The revisions defined small, medium and large wind power projects and set up different engineering reporting requirements based on the size of the project, according to Marjorie Stratton, Vinalhaven town manager. Modifications were also
Three Penobscot Bay island towns weathering economic storm
How has the economic downturn affected the municipal budgets of three Penobscot Bay island communities? So far, not badly, say town managers in Vinalhaven, North Haven, and Islesboro. Housing starts, excise taxes, property tax payment, appeals for general assistance, and local business activity are all indicators of economic weakness, and so far, nothing dramatic has
Lobster licenses key to survival of Maine’s year-round islands
Column: Parallel 44
Destroying the candidates’ paper trail Ever wonder if your local elected official is being influenced by contributions from special interests? I do. But then, I live in Portland, where the governor’s brother, Bob Baldacci, and his fellow real estate developers helped defeat the mayor (who was opposed to their $100-plus million project to “rescue” a
Maine coast loses two independent bookstores
For the past 16 years, Port In A Storm bookstore was a literary fixture in the Mount Desert Island village of Sommesville. Housed in a building once used to re-supply Atlantic sailing cargo ships, it sat across the dam from the Sommesville Library; the two buildings served as literary bookends in the heart of the
Andrew Wyeth 1917–2009
(Andrew Wyeth died quietly at his home in Chadds Ford, Penn. January 16, 2009) Andrew Wyeth, along with his wife Betsy, were the very first founding members of the Island Institute. Their vision, which they never stopped supporting, respected the islands as traditional outposts of a self-sufficient way of life, even as Maine’s islands began