Parker Rowe was one of the finest mechanics Southport Island had ever seen. He could fix outboards, cars, trucks, lobster boat engines. If it had a motor and it didn’t run, Parker was your man. He was a solitary fellow and looking back on it now, I suppose I was a pest, a ten-year-old boy,
Wish List
To complete the sloop project, the Vinalhaven High School marine technology class still needs numerous items: · 8-18hp marine diesel engine · new batteries · a shaft · a propeller · a stuffing box · a circuit board · 2 manual bilge pumps · 1 electric bilge pump · a sink · galley pumps ·
You Never Lost Your Pride, Grandmother
In 1999, four years after Dorothy Pendleton’s death, her granddaughter Robin wrote this poem: Grandmother, I remember when we visited you in that nursing home and you combed your hair and made your bed. You proudly showed us the new curtains around the woman with an oxygen tank and drooling old men doing religious paint-by-numbers.
Preserving Coast-al Businesses
To the editor: Several years ago, New Jersey was concerned about its farmers’ ability to pay rising property taxes, and the resulting loss of farming as an occupation because of high taxes. To solve this problem, they developed a separate category for taxing farm property that was lower than the standard rates. It has been
Small but Vital
To the editor: I write to express how grateful I, and other Matinicus residents, are that our Rockland “landing” problem is being aired to the public [WWF Oct. 2004]. Your recent Working Waterfront article was well written and expressed our concerns. It is imperative that our transportation vessels (state ferry excluded) have a space that
Home on the Web
To the editor: I’m at college in Costa Rica right now and I just wanted to let you all know how much I love being able to check up on the Working Waterfront from all over the world. I just found my mom’s article [Karen Roberts Jackson on Vinalhaven’s old fire hall, Oct. 2004] and
Museum reflects an island’s quirky persona
You might think you’re entering an austere space as you approach the front door to the Vinalhaven Historical Society on High Street. After all, the building served as a church when it was built in 1838 in Rockland. The building was transported in 1875 to Vinalhaven, and islanders converted it to a multitude of secular
New management structure empowers Vinalhaven’s teachers
For 20 years the door to the principal’s office at Vinalhaven School has been a revolving one. This year however, students, parents and staff alike began the 2004-05 school year with a great feeling of hope that the revolving door will be stopped once and for all. The school staff is trying out a new
The Barberry Coast
Rick Dyer takes Japanese barberries personally. As a professional forester he has seen the barberry scourge invade Eastern woodlands and he has witnessed the startling robustness of the aggressive, non-native import on coastal islands such as Monhegan. Two years ago, when he was studying for a master’s degree in Forestry at the University of Maine,
Berries Out to Sea
Mainland berry growers experienced a poor harvest this year. Out on Vinalhaven, though, despite a cold winter and foggy, wet summer, the wild berries seemed plentiful whenever I went out with bowl in hand. Perhaps island berries are unfazed by weather. I do like to think that island berries are special. Berries out to sea