The Wooden Nickel

Boston: Little, Brown and Company 346 pp., hardback $23.95. A world of questionable coastal transactions The cover of William Carpenter’s second novel is a bit deceptive. In one of photographer Peter Ralston’s signature Maine coast seascapes, a lobsterboat motors across flat water, trailing a wake of seagulls. It’s a finest kind of day, the sky,

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The all-island dinner

Mussels, new potatoes, green salad and a bowl of blueberries and raspberries – that was the first all Islesboro-grown meal we ate. That happened 14 years ago during the first July we lived here. No one heard much about “locally grown” then, except in special circles like the organic farmers organization or among die-hard back-to-the-landers.

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Emily Muir

At 98 years of age, Emily Muir, the artist, architect, activist, environmentalist and eminence grise of Stonington/Deer Isle, has earned the right to speak her mind. Her life, which spans nearly the entire 20th century, is the subject of a new memoir, The Time of My Life, recently published by the Institute and the Farnsworth

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Ships made of trees

Several thousand visitors toured exhibits and watched demonstrations during July’s WoodenBoat Show in Rockland Harbor. Organizers combined forces with Rockland-based Atlantic Challenge, whose international teams mounted tests of skill in traditional wooden pulling boats.

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Islesboro’s July Fourth parade

Islesboro’s annual fourth of July parade, sponsored by the island’s volunteer fire department, began at 10 am on July 4th, starting at Rabbit Corner and winding its way up-island to the Historical Society building. Paraders rode and marched the parade mile in the blazing sun to an enthusiastic and appreciative response from the assembled crowd

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Peaks holds first annual fest

Peaks Island residents kicked off their first annual PeaksFest June 21 with a clever “Images of Peaks Island” event calling for families to bring in old photos, postcards and drawings of the island to share and “rekindle the community heritage of Peaks Island.” A night of Jazz by Julie Goell and food from Happy Cooking

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Treasures for the finding

The Islesboro Second Baptist Church annual mid-July rummage sale kicked off at 9 a.m. on July 17 at the town’s Masonic Hall, when the rope dropped and multitudes of shoppers stormed in with sticky pads in hand to mark the best items “sold.” After a half-hour of frantic pile-sifting, attendees relaxed enough to socialize a

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Vinalhaven holds a four-hour town meeting

Twenty-five of 48 articles warranted some discussion at Vinalhaven’s June 24 Town Meeting, which lasted for nearly four hours. At the meeting residents approved, in separate articles, money to help pay for an island-wide property reassessment, and the construction of a police holding cell. Voters also defeated an article to enact a moratorium on rock

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Frenchboro elects officials, accepts grant

At Frenchboro’s July 1 Town Meeting, voters elected two new selectmen, approved the acceptance of a grant with local match for work on the inner harbor, and authorized the purchase and installation of an electric hoist near the ferry landing in the outer harbor. This year’s town meeting also represented something of a changing of

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Peaks Island’s new newspaper

The first issue of The Island Times is on the streets. The monthly community newspaper covers Peaks Island news and issues that affect Casco Bay. Five thousand copies will be distributed every month to businesses on Peaks Island and in the Old Port part of Portland. The newspaper is free on newsstands and will be

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