Midcoast Maine has one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, but within the beauty are hazards that can quickly ruin your day on the water. Geography, tides and weather can combine to make even the most experienced mariner opt to stay ashore. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 2-5, located in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, offers an introduction to navigation course that can help recreational boaters cruise the area. The basics of coastal navigation are covered using the chart of the Boothbay area. What we cover applies to all National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) navigation charts.

“Navigating Mid Coast Maine” is a 5 evening, 10-hour course offered through the Wiscasset Yacht Club. It covers the basics of navigation and trip planning while taking you to the far corners of the local “Cape Small to Pemaquid” #13293 chart. Our experienced instructors have hundreds of hours cruising the waters covered in this course as recreational boaters and on the water conducting Coast Guard Auxiliary patrols. They are certified CG Auxiliary Small Boat Coxswains and Boat Crew members as well as local residents.

Topics include basic navigation using both traditional paper charts and various electronic chart formats, understanding navigational aids, and buoy systems. Problem sets will help you understand the building blocks of course planning including exercises on tides; time, speed, distance; and course layout and labeling.

Course dates: Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. each night at the American Legion Hall, 25 Industrial Park Drive, Boothbay. Cost is $30.

To take the course you need either a printed chart or access to an electronic chart of the Boothbay Harbor area. Paper Chart Option: We recommend charts printed on quality paper so you can draw (and erase) course lines using a pencil and add information easily. The NOAA chart of the area is The Three Rivers Chart (#13293). Marinas, boat supply outlets, and many bookstores sell the cart. If you are in the Boothbay region and want a NOAA paper chart, we have them available at a cost of $28. Along with a paper chart you should have two navigational tools. One is a divider (compass) cost: $10. The other is a roller plotter or parallel rule cost $30. We also have them.

Electronic Chart Option: There are several chart plotter apps that can be used for coastal navigation, as well as GPS chartplotters. Each has its own set of menus to access various charting functions. You should have some basic familiarity your program’s menus in order to follow along in class and to complete the exercises.

Registration: Contact David Eastwood at 207-633-4748 (cell: 865-603-5106) or davidbeastwood@gmail.com. Registrations must be received by July 28.

All proceeds support the activities of the all-volunteer USGC Auxiliary.

Westport Island’s conservation commission got selectmen’s support July 3 to apply for funds commission member and treasurer Dennis Dunbar said would be used to review the impact of sea level rise and storm surge on critical infrastructure in the decades ahead. The grant would be through the Community Resilience Partnership (CRP), in connection with Gov. Janet Mill’s “Maine Won’t Wait” initiative, Dunbar said.

“So we’d have some funds to do some pre-design work at our most vulnerable tidal inlet crossings as well as look at our whole 36-mile coastline to see what properties, what parcels, what roads, private and public, might be subject to inundation,” he said in the meeting at the town office and over Zoom.

In a phone interview July 4, Dunbar said the grant round will be very competitive, with preference going to towns that have not yet received one of the grants. Westport Island has: Last fall, the town got a $43,000 one to look at groundwater and local wells’ ability to handle the changing environment, including potential saltwater intrusion from sea level rise, he said.

Property owners’ participation in the study has been “quite good, but we’d like more,” Dunbar said. Get the survey at westportisland.us or at the town office.

Having gotten that grant “puts us a little further down on the probability list” for this round, Dunbar said. He expected to apply July 7 and hear back by September. 

People from near and far gathered in Maine’s Prettiest Village Tuesday morning, July 4 to celebrate America’s 247th birthday with a colorful parade under a sunny sky. The predicted rain showers held off  just long enough for members of the American Legion to raise Old Glory at the waterfront and for the judges to award the blue ribbons for the best parade floats. Then the clouds rolled in and raindrops began falling and continued on an off for the rest of the day.

Among this year’s parade participants were Wiscasset’s Wally Roby, 96, a World War II U.S. Army veteran. Roby was in high spirits for the parade greeting everyone with a warm smile and friendly wave. Riding with him was Tim Flanagan, a fellow Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War era. A math teacher at Wiscasset High School for many years before retiring, Flanagan was recognized by many of his former students who returned home to watch the parade.

Wiscasset Selectboard Chairman Sarah Whitfield served as a parade judge. She was joined on the lawn in front of the landmark Octagon House on Federal Street by Wiscasset’s new School Superintendent and past selectman Kim Andersson. The third judge was Desiree Bailey, a member of the School Committee and the owner of Possibilities Salon & Spa on Gardiner Road.

Parade participants began gathering at 9:30 on Churchill Street for their march to the waterfront. Larry Hesseltine, Wiscasset police chief, blew his cruiser siren signaling the parade’s start  at 10 a.m. sharp. The parade was led by the color guard from Bradford-Sortwell-Wright Post 54 of the American Legion. After crossing Gardiner Road, the procession proceeded down Hooper to Federal Street past the judges’ table then turned left onto Main Street passing hundreds of people who gathered along the sidewalks to watch.

As in years past a good crowd was on hand at the waterfront for the traditional flag raising ceremony and the firing of a salute by Legion and the playing of “Taps.” Across the parking lot business was brisk at Wiscasset Yacht Club where members were selling strawberry shortcake.

Judging of the parade entries was based on creativity, originality and patriotic spirit. Among the blue ribbon winners were Linda Verney of Alna. She was driving the Woodfield Farm wagon pulled by her handsome horses, “Mike” and “Ace.” Other blue ribbon winners were Bob and Linda Marcus for best auto; The Barnhouse Grill & Pub, Route 1, Wiscasset for best business float; The Freedom Fellowship Church, Route 1, Wiscasset for best of the nonprofit floats. Kenzie MacLaren, clad in red, white and blue and driving an ATV, won the blue ribbon for best youth entry. Honorable mentions went to Frank Jr. & Sons Trucking, Wiscasset; St. Philip’s Episcopal Church Kazoo Band; and to the Wiscasset Recreation kids’ float.

From the seaside field of Boothbay Region Land Trust’s Oak Point Farm, witness art in the making Friday, July 21 to Sunday, July 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.  The talented stone sculptors of the Maine Stoneworkers Guild will inspire onlookers as they transform blocks of stone into works of art over the course of 10 days.

Participating sculptors include John Catizone, Joseph DiMauro, Sam Finkelstein, Isabel Catherine Kelley, Dan Ucci and Andreas von Huene. The public is invited to visit and interact with the artists on site at Oak Point Farm, 60 Samoset Road in Boothbay Harbor.

All sculptures created during the Stone Symposium will be auctioned during Boothbay Region Land Trust’s ticketed Art Auction on Aug. 4. The Stone Symposium is free and open to the public. For more information visit bbrlt.org.

Registration is open for Midcoast Conservancy’s 12th annual Race Through the Woods trail race, sponsored by Lamey-Wellehan on Saturday, Sept. 30, at Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson.

Racers will have two course options to choose from: a 13.1 mile half-marathon or a 5.5 mile race. This single-loop course brings runners over steep hills, through the woods, past beautiful ponds and has about 1,000 feet elevation with lots of technical single-track. 

All proceeds from the race are directly donated to Midcoast Conservancy to support their mission of protecting vital lands and waters on a scale that matters and to inspire wonder and action on behalf of all species and the earth.

Race fees are $40 for the half marathon, and $30 for the 5.5 miler. This race is currently capped at 125 entrants, with a waitlist. Long sleeve technical shirts will be available for purchase with registration, with a limited number available for purchase the day of. Prizes will be given to first place finishers (men and women) and in age categories. Prizes will include gift certificates donated by sponsors and PIE!

We will be pouring beer from Sheepscot Brewing and cider from Tin Top and plan on having some snack food for sale.

To ensure the safety of all volunteers, racers and spectators, there will be two start times: half-marathon racers will start at 9 a.m., and 5-milers will start at 10 a.m.

Attendees can purchase beer from Sheepscot Brewing and cider from Tin Top Cider, along with snack food, during the event. A limited number of long-sleeve technical shirts will be available for purchase when checking in on race day. To learn more and to register, go to https://www.midcoastconservancy.org/events-list/race-through-the-woods.

Changes are coming to Wiscasset Middle High School’s athletic programs. Cameron Bishop, athletic director and assistant principal, told the school committee Tuesday, July 11, the Wolverine basketball program has moved to Class D for the 2023-2024 season.

“Because we’ve won less than 25% of our games the last four years, the MPA (Maine Principals Association) has allowed us to drop down from Class C to D,” said Bishop, adding WMHS has left the Mountain Valley Conference and joined the East /West Conference. Vinalhaven, Searsport, Islesboro, Buckfield, Richmond, Greenville, Carrabec and Rangeley are other high schools making up the conference, along with Valley in Bingham, Temple Academy in Waterville and Forest Hills in Jackman. Bishop said the Wolverines could have remained in the MVC as a Class D school. “That would have meant we would have had to play against primarily Class C high schools. Moving to the East/West Conference will allow us to play against schools with student enrollments closer to ours and hopefully make the games more competitive,” he explained. The Wolverines ended their season with a win over Vinalhaven last year ending a losing streak that stretched back to 2019.

Bishop attended the meeting by ZOOM. In a telephone interview with Wiscasset Newspaper afterwards, he said this fall the Wolverine soccer teams are moving to eight-player competition. Teams play on a smaller field with eight players instead of the traditional 11. Although there is no MPA conference, Bishop said 13 or 14 other high schools are also moving to eight-player soccer due to declining student numbers. Bishop added he is still looking for a high school boys’ soccer coach and also wants to hear from students interested in playing soccer this fall. On a related note, the high school’s new soccer scoreboard was set to be installed July 19 by Neokraft Signs, Inc. of Lewiston. The installation was postponed due to the recent wet weather.

The Wiscasset school system is losing one of its longest tenured teachers. Chris Hammond recently announced he was leaving. He taught at Wiscasset schools for over 20 years. The committee accepted Hammond’s resignation “with regret” and wished him well.

Committee member Desiree Bailey recalled she was a senior at the high school when Hammond first began teaching there. Before that, Hammond taught at the former Wiscasset Middle School on Federal Street, now the elementary school. For several seasons, Hammond coached the high school girls’ soccer team and also the tennis teams.

Gina Stevens, WMHS principal, told the committee summer school got off to a good start and had a combined 24 middle and high school students attending. She said she still needed to fill two teaching jobs for math and science. If the jobs have not been filled before the start of the school year,  Stevens said she would rely on qualified substitutes until they were filled. New window coverings have been installed in the high school library and classrooms as part of the school system’s recommended safety protocols, added Stevens.

Amy Bayha, the new elementary school principal, announced the hiring of Kim Green as the new kindergarten teacher. Green previously taught in the Lisbon area. Bayha noted work would begin soon on the installation of an elevator. Andrea Lovell, special education director, said her team was minus just one teacher and now included an in-house social worker.

At the start of the meeting, the committee re-elected Jason Putnam chairman and Desiree Bailey vice chair. Putnam introduced new Superintendent of Schools Kim Andersson and newly elected school committee member Victoria Hugo-Vidal. “We’re all excited about the coming school year and moving forward together with a lot of positivity,” said Putnam.

What’s your next challenge?

If you’ve been boating for a while and just going out for an afternoon driving around isn’t as much fun as it once was, you may need a new challenge that will put your boating skills both to work and to the test.

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the civilian volunteer branch of the U.S. Coast Guard and, to many people’s surprise, volunteers may train to fulfill almost any mission assigned to the active-duty Coast Guard that doesn’t involve law enforcement or combat. The most public and best-known activities of the CG Auxiliary are Vessel Safety Checks (VSC’s), Public Education classes, and on-the-water patrols. What most people aren’t aware of is what’s on the long list of Coast Guard/Coast Guard Auxiliary activities that members may train for and perform.

The Operations Branch is the on-the-water contingent you may have seen while out boating or attending a marine event like a lobster boat race. If “boat rides” are losing a bit of their allure but boating is still a passion, training to become a CG Auxiliary Coxswain or Boat Crew member may rekindle that enthusiasm as you work through the crew or coxswain qualification process under the guidance of very experienced local members, many with decades of underway time, much of it on Maine’s less than hospitable waters.

Boat Crew is the basic operations level and qualifies you to participate in on-the-water activities under the guidance of a Coxswain who has more extensive knowledge and training. A new area for C. G. Auxiliary surface operations is the rapid expansion of Paddle Craft activity which brings a whole new boating segment out on the water. The Aux offers training in Paddlecraft Safety Instruction as well as a Paddlecraft Operators qualification.

If you enjoy cooking, assisting a local CG station, larger regional base, or deploying aboard a cutter, may be of interest. Members qualified in the AUX Chef program are in high demand and are greatly appreciated by the service members they feed.

If you’re a pilot with an ownership interest in, or personal ownership of a plane, AUXAIR pilot operations may be for you. Flight missions paid for by the Coast Guard cover the entire US coastline and inland federally controlled waterways and the Great Lakes, and may engage in Search and Rescue, pollution response, and logistics support depending on your flight experience and aircraft. Not a current pilot or have never been a pilot but interested in being Air Crew or Air Observer, you can train to fly “right seat” and handle comms with the Coast Guard, photo reconnaissance, and assist with Search and Rescue operations. Flight ops opportunities may be relatively rare, but depending on the geographic area in which you want to participate, things may be more easily accessed.

An area of special interest to the active-duty Coast Guard is Auxiliary assistance in their recruiting efforts through outreach at various venues, job fairs, high school and college career days. Once qualified, you could work alongside the recruiters in their pursuit of the outstanding applicants they need to keep the ranks at full strength and readiness.

There are over 50 qualification/tasking areas Auxiliary members may train to perform. To be clear, every qualification is not available in every flotilla location, but even fairly small flotillas can offer a range of service/training areas that may be of interest.

The C.G. Auxiliary is not a boat club or specifically a social organization in terms of its goals and structure, it is a branch of the Coast Guard and is based on the same principles of professionalism, skill, and performance that’s expected of the active duty. “Honor, Respect, Devotion to Duty” aren’t just words on a wall. Those guiding principles are central to everything the Auxiliary does, but they definitely don’t mean you won’t have fun and make friends should you join the ranks of the Auxiliary, just the opposite is the case.

Full disclosure must include that there are regulations which can be frustrating at times, and procedures that seem designed to confound rather than assist members in getting things done, but even taking those issues into account, there’s a huge “net positive” to be had by becoming an active member. And like we’ve been told by teachers, coaches, and parents since the dawn of time: you get out of it what you put into it.

I’ve put just shy of 20,000 hours “into it” since 2004 and have learned much more than I would have expected about things nautical I’d been doing for 30+ years and thought I was pretty good at already. I’ve met and worked with scores of truly outstanding people. There’s also pride in serving my country and community. The C.G. Auxiliary isn’t “pretend Coast Guard”, our respective roles are well defined and our role doesn’t include having to go out when it’s blowing 40 knots or in subfreezing temperatures, but we work in a complementary manner while sharing a common goal.

There are always unknowns, like: did our teaching impart a skill that helped save a life or avert danger by simply having a better understanding of voyage planning, reading the tides and weather; did spotting the “dead” fire extinguisher or expired flares during a Vessel Safety Check keep a subsequent scary incident from becoming a tragic one; and did that long list of newly acquired boating safety knowledge lead you to the decision to declare: it looks OK now, but the marine weather and tides forecast means a scary wet ride by mid afternoon, so let’s leave the boat ride for another day and go grab lunch in the car today instead .”

For information on joining the USCG Auxiliary, please visit: https://join.cgaux.org/index.php or flotilla25.org

About the author: Ted Chatham, a retired commercial designer, and metal fabricator, has been a Maine resident since 2003 after moving from Atlanta. He currently lives in East Boothbay. Aux Chatham joined C.G. Auxiliary Flotilla 2-5 in Boothbay Harbor in 2004. Since his arrival in Maine, Aux member Chatham also served 10 years as a rural volunteer firefighter in Whitefield, eight years in the Civil Air Patrol, and was a private pilot. Aux Chatham holds numerous CG Auxiliary qualifications and offices in local, regional and national directorates. He’s a Boat Crew Coxswain and former AUXAIR Air Crew with over 4000 hours. of combined surface and air operations. Aux Chatham is a C.G. Auxiliary certified Risk Management/Crew Coordination training facilitator and area training supervisor, as well as a Search and Rescue instructor who’s participated in 40+ SAR cases, both surface and air.

The final Blistered Fingers summer event is Thursday, Aug. 24 - Sunday Aug. 27 at the Litchfield Fairgrounds, 30 Plains Road, Litchfield.

The lineup/schedule for our 59th year: Thursday: Katahdin Valley Boys (ME), Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass (PA), Blistered Fingers (ME); Friday: Beartracks (NY), Back Woods Road (ME), Larry Efaw & The Bluegrass Mountaineers (OH), Deeper Shade of Blue (NC), Nothin’ Fancy (VA); Saturday: Larry Efaw & The Bluegrass Mountaineers, Back Woods Road, Nothin’ Fancy, The Kody Norris Show (TN), Dave Atkins Band (KY); Sunday’s the traditional Gospel Sing & Jam with Mike & Mary (MA).

Pets welcome as long as they are always leashed and cleaned up after. 

The deadline for $95/person 4-day advance weekend tickets is Aug. 1 before midnight. The tickets will be $100/person at the gate. You can place your order online with your credit card or you can send a check by mail with a self-addressed envelope post office dated no later than Aug. 1. For camping, tickets, information about the bands, directions and more visit www.blisteredfingers.com.

Asked if a currently smaller group of lifeguards at Wiscasset Community Center has forced pool or program shutdowns, Parks and Recreation Director Duane Goud told Wiscasset Newspaper July 12, except for an occasional pool closing when it looked like a shift would go unfilled, “Not yet. But we’re close. And we’re hoping we don’t get to that point.”

Poolside July 13 as early morning WCC users swam, Aquatics Specialist Nori Lund of Dresden said she has lifeguarded at the center since 2005. She explained, members of the department’s swim team can become lifeguards at 15. The Wiscasset-raised Lund did, has stuck with it and would recommend it. The best part is “the people of the community. It really is a great group of people who come in here,” she said. 

Goud said longtime Aquatics Director Lori LaPointe retires July 31 and he hopes to move Lund into that job and get her an assistant. “So I’m hoping that we can get that filled up in a reasonable time period.”

Both jobs include taking some lifeguard shifts; he counted four or five active part-time lifeguards right now, including college students home for the summer.

Goud is concerned about the rest summer and about fall. “There’s just not as many people around that want to do it,” even though pay has risen the last couple years “and I think we’re pretty competitive if not better because we’re more of a family atmosphere” than some places, he said. Some would-be workers are getting more hours than they anticipated at other jobs, he said as part of the reason the roster is “down a little.”

The problem could impact programs or force the department to close the pool certain hours, he said. “There’s lots of programs that could be affected if we don’t get a couple people on board. And one of them definitely would be full-time, if I can find the right person,” he added.

Goud is not seeing a shortage of other WCC workers except custodial and he expects that will be resolved due to the start of the new budget year this month. 

Ahoy Sailors! Great racing begins July 22 with the 49th annual BHYC Regatta and Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge to be held July 22 and 23. Large colorful sails will be seen in the outer harbor on both days.

Race Committee members have been busy organizing the most premier racing event on the Maine coast. Several local boats will be among the fleet of 60-70 boats expected.

Several classic day sailors will be racing along with a complement of Boothbay Harbor One Designs, a handful of schooners, several spirit of tradition and vintage classics vessels.

Local boats include Gleam, a former Americas Cup trail horse, Marilee, 1926 Herreshoff NY40, Black Watch and Polly, all part of the Vintage Classics category.

New this year is a fleet of sport boats, Vipers, who will be racing against each other off Spruce Point. The PHRF (Performance Handicap Racing formula) boat fleet has over twenty boats registered and is comprised of many locally owned vessels.

There are two separate racecourses, the first between Spruce Point and Squirrel Island and the second is a longer course for the larger yachts outside of Squirrel Island. Excellent viewing from either Ocean Point, Spruce Point or Southport should afford spectacular sights of sailboats under colorful spinnakers.

Sunday, July 23 at 10 a.m. will be “Parade of Sail” through the inner harbor. Each vessel will be introduced from Whale Park and can also be heard over Ch. 72 marine band radio.

The two day regatta is also the first race of the season on the Maine coast for the Classics Challenge trophy which is sponsored by the Classic Yacht Association and is a season long series of events including the Camden Classic and Eggemogin Regattas.

The Shipyard Cup trophy is the premier award for the best performing Classic Yacht in the BHYC Regatta. This trophy is awarded to the “best of the best” classic yachts.

Our Admiral Level sponsors are Hodgdon Yachts, Bristol Marine at Boothbay Shipyard and The First Bank, along with our many other sponsors to make this event happen.

Complete information can be found on the regatta website at www.BoothbayRegatta.com.

Wiscasset Parks and Recreation and Partners in Education (PIE) are partnering July 28 for a family fun night at the community playground opposite Wiscasset Community Center on Gardiner Road. The event is part of WCC’s 25th anniversary year.

The games and social time start at 4 p.m. and lead up to a movie, Parks and Recreation Director Duane Goud said July 12. “I would encourage people to come out and enjoy a night out.”

Look for cornhole, a cookout, playground use and other activities. For more information, visit wiscassetme.myrec.com or call 882-8230.

“As long as the weather holds out I think it’ll be a great night,” Goud said. If the weather does not cooperate, he said the movie might be moved inside to WCC and the rest of the event might need to be canceled or postponed. 

PIE Chair Lucy Oyster Ackerman said July 16, PIE is “very excited to continue partnering with WCC, especially at such an important milestone. We welcome all families to stick around after the Rec's birthday party to enjoy our Free Movie In The Park. Concessions start at 7 p.m. and our movie, “Inside Out,” starts at 8 p.m.

“This is one of our give back events so the movie, popcorn and waters are free! We are really hoping that not only our Wiscasset residents but surrounding communities come out to celebrate with us,” Ackerman added.

Goud said more anniversary activities are still to come, including honoring volunteers and sponsors, probably in the fall. 

All skill levels are welcome at the Pemaquid Beach Triathlon, taking place this year on Aug. 27. 

Advertised as “Maine’s most beautiful triathlon,” the Pemaquid Beach Tri is a sprint triathlon, which is the shortest category in the sport. It includes a 400-yard ocean swim off of Pemaquid Beach, a 17-mile bike ride around the scenic Pemaquid peninsula, and a 3-mile out-and-back run along Pemaquid Trail, a quiet residential street with views of Johns Bay. 

The Pemaquid Beach Tri is also a fun community event, with meat and vegetarian burgers available to buy from Mimi’s on the Beach after the event, t-shirts and other race swag for sale, and prizes donated by local businesses. 

Participants may compete as individuals or create a relay team. Early-bird registration, available through July 31, is $85 for individuals and $90 for a relay team of up to three people. Starting August 1, prices increase to $95 for individuals and $100 for relay teams. Registration is through RunSignUp at runsignup.com/Race/ME/NewHarbor/PemaquidBeachSprintTriathlon.

Volunteers are needed to help with the triathlon: on the beach, in transition areas, and along the bike and running routes. Anyone interested in being a part of this fun community event is encouraged to email Hannah McGhee at hmcghee@coastalrivers.org. Volunteers will receive a free event t-shirt.

The event is hosted by Bristol Parks and Recreation along with lead sponsor and race organizer Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust. Generous sponsorship is also provided by the Central Lincoln County YMCA, the Ehrenfeld/McKay Family, Maine Kayak, Pedego Electric Bikes Boothbay Harbor, and the Contented Sole.

Bristol Parks and Recreation is a department of the Town of Bristol, responsible for the management of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park, Pemaquid Beach Park, Ellingwood Information Center, and a number of other properties including a swimming hole and boat launches. For more information, email bristolparks@tidewater.net or visit bristolmaine.org/parks-recreation. 

For more information, email info@coastalrivers.org or visit coastalrivers.org. 

The “Parade of Sail” through the inner harbor at 10 a.m. on Sunday, July 23, showcases the fleet of racing sailboats participating in the Boothbay Yacht Club Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge. Each boat will be announced on VHF Ch. 72, as they proceed past Whale park in the inner harbor.

Wishing Star, an 84-foot restored Trumpy yacht will lead the parade. This stately yacht was the envy of high society back in the ’60s. Wishing Star takes us back in time with this classic 1965 Trumpy Motor Yacht.

During the Second World War, Norwegian-born naval architect John Trumpy became owner of Mathis Yacht Building Company, which he had joined in 1903, renaming it John Trumpy & Sons. Trumpy yachts established a reputation for elegant designs, top-notch fittings, and superlative finishes. The arrival of a Trumpy in the harbor would cause no less of a stir than a royal princess crashing a picnic; conversation stops, jaws drop to the ground, and everyone gawks in silent awe as beauty glides into view.

Trumpy yachts were for 50 years, from the 1920s until the 1970s, built with regularity and put out to the various waters of the world. With their sleek nature with a pristine white hull, complete with a polished wood finish, the Trumpy range of motor yachts exhibited beauty, desire, and appeal all within one stunning piece of framework. Around four hundred in total were put together, but each Trumpy was built with the dedication that one would expect of a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. It is one of the main reasons why Trumpy has become such a major part of the history of the boating industry.

A 104-foot Trumpy served as the U.S. presidential yacht from the 1930s through 1977. That vessel, the USS Sequoia, was reportedly where President Roosevelt and General Eisenhower planned elements of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, where JFK celebrated his last birthday, and where Richard Nixon told his family he would resign. She is being restored to her former beauty in Belfast, ME currently.

The History of the Trumpy

Boats often come with a rich and endearing history, and Trumpy is no different. The name itself comes from John Trumpy Sr, a popular Norwegian-born naval architect. He worked in Gloucester, New Jersey, but soon moved into shipbuilding in Annapolis, Maryland, as part of the Trumpy & Sons business. When Trumpy Sr passed on in 1963, his son, John Jr, took on the mantle. Sadly, in 1974, the Trumpy empire ceased to be: rising costs, the recurring labor strikes, and the build-up of the use of fiberglass put an end to a boating dynasty that, for many, was the perfect example of what a motor yacht should be.

Wishing Star ... The scrollwork on the bow of Wishing Star means one thing: She’s a Trumpy. And her pedigree might be as distinctive as that gold insignia. Built in 1963, Wishing Star is the only 84-foot cruiser the legendary Trumpy yard produced.

Her new owner is Andy Tyska, who owns and operates Bristol Marine at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, and has plans to lovingly maintain her in original Bristol condition.

For more information about the 49th running of the BHYC Regatta and Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge see www.BoothbayRegatta.com

There will not be varsity boys’ soccer games to watch this fall at Wiscasset Middle High School. Cameron Bishop, athletic director/vice principal cancelled the program for the second season in a row due to a lack of players. Boys who want to work on their soccer skills will be permitted to practice with the Wolverine girls’ varsity team, the same as last season, said Bishop.

Bishop told Wiscasset Newspaper the numbers of boys expressing an interest in playing soccer did not warrant going forward with a team. “Even playing eight-man soccer we needed at least 13 players to comfortably form a team. This past spring when we did a head count we only had six or seven guys willing to make a commitment to playing,” he said.

Had enough boys signed up, he continued, the Wolverines would have played in a newly formed eight-player league sanctioned by Maine Principals Association. The league was formed last year for high schools like WMHS experiencing declining enrollment and lack of students interested in playing soccer. Like WMHS, five other Mountain Valley Conference high school members had decided to play eight-player soccer in the fall. They include Dirigo, Telstar, Spruce Mountain, Lisbon and Madison. The other high schools making up the league are Vinalhaven, Temple Academy, Rangely, Pine Tree Academy, Dexter and Carrabec in Anson which recently announced it was leaving the MVC to join the East/West Conference. WMHS will play its varsity 2023-24 basketball season in the East/West Conference.

“Some of the high schools mentioned are just playing eight-player girls’ soccer; others are doing it for both their boys’ and girls’ programs like we had hoped to do,” explained Bishop. “There’s currently no playoff or post season in this league and teams have the option of playing on either a regulation size soccer field or a smaller field, better suited to fewer players.”

The last season the Wolverines had a boys’ varsity soccer team was in 2021 when they struggled through a 14-game MVC schedule. Their final game on Oct. 22 ended in an 8-0 post season loss to Lisbon. Wiscasset High started its boys’ soccer program in the 1970s and for many years had enough players for both varsity and junior varsity teams.

This changed after the high school’s enrollment began dropping 10 years ago, a trend that has continued systemwide. Around 2019, WMHS opened its soccer program to Boothbay-area students after Boothbay Region High School curtailed its girls’ soccer program. The program was open to boys as well but few Boothbay students have participated. “I reached out to their athletic director and he told me there weren’t any boys interested in playing soccer this year,” said Bishop.

Wiscasset ended its boys’ summer soccer program two years ago. A girls’ summer soccer program was offered this year but was cancelled for lack of interest.

Bishop said the player numbers look better for the Wolverine girls’ varsity soccer program; about 13 or 14 players plan to play this fall. Keara Hunter will coach this year’s team in place of Chelsea Taylor who will be on maternity leave. Hunter coached WMHS’s girls’ soccer team last year. “I’d like to hire a coach to work with Keara to help with any boys that want to work on their soccer skills and hopefully begin rebuilding the program.” Bishop said interested candidates could contact him at WMHS. Online registration is underway for WMHS students planning to play sports in the fall.

WMS returning to Co-ed soccer

Declining enrollment and lack of student interest has resulted in Wiscasset Middle School combining its boys’ and girls’ soccer players into one co-ed team for the forthcoming season. This was last done in 2021 during the pandemic. Bishop said WMS will leave the Busline League and play against junior high schools with student enrollments similar to Wiscasset’s. The schedule includes playing co-ed junior high teams from Hope, Jefferson, Appleton, Lincolnville, Nobleboro, South Bristol, Islesboro, Bristol, Vinalhaven and Boothbay. WMS rejoined the Busline League for the 2022 soccer season after a two-year absence, the boys’ soccer program having been suspended due to a lack of student interest. There was enough interest last year to field both boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. The boys’ team roster was helped by the addition of three home-schooled players.

Boothbay Region High School boys varsity basketball coach Dan Hallinan will be holding his annual summer basketball camp for boys and girls in grades 3 through 9 at the Boothbay Region YMCA Aug. 7 through 11. The camp will be held from noon to 3 p.m. each day.

Camp objectives include: skills and drills (dribbling, shooting, rebounding, passing, early offensive and defensive procedures). There will be competitions, games and controlled scrimmages.

For more information and to register, contact Hallinan at 207-380-5933. Fee is $125 per player.

Registration is still open for the 18th annual Westport Island Shore Run 10K Road Race that will take place Sunday, Aug. 20 on bridge-accessible Westport Island, Maine.  The race will start at 9 a.m.; the 3.5 mile "Fun Walk" will start at 8:30 a.m. 

This exciting 10K road race on Westport Island takes place on a USATF-certified beautiful course that winds through scenic pine and fir tree forests and over two bridges spanning inlets to Heal Cove and Montsweag Bay.  The Lincoln County News has called our race "Maine's Best Little 10K Road Race!"  Sign up before Aug. 8 to guarantee getting a race T-shirt!

Here is a link to an article about last year's race in the Boothbay Register, which includes last year's race results: https://www.boothbayregister.com/article/westport-island-race-gets-great-weather/164484.

Join Midcoast Conservancy for a guided hike at Maguire Preserve on Wednesday, Aug. 9 from 10 a.m. to noon. Maguire Preserve is a 78-acre preserve stretching from Heath Road to Weary Pond in Whitefield, providing the first public access trail to Weary Pond. The Maguire family dreamed of creating a water trail from Weary Pond to the Sheepscot River, via Carlton Brook, the Dyer Ponds and the Dyer River.

On the preserve, the current 3.3-mile out and back trail was completed in 2019 by the Whitefield Trails Committee. The western portion of the preserve is broken up by a dramatic hemlock ravine with Carlton Brook flowing through it. Carlton Brook is a perennial stream which flows north and then south to the Sheepscot River. The eastern portion of the trail passes over mossy ledges and around bogs and vernal pools before arriving at Weary Pond. It is a beautiful place to take a dip along the cat-tailed lined shore. If you walk quietly you can find mink playing in the stream, or hear chickadees and woodpeckers in the trees.

Before becoming a preserve, the land was sustainably harvested by a logger named Frank Small. Small was careful to selectively harvest pines, oaks, and hemlock using a tractor, creating small openings in the canopy that actually promoted the biodiversity of the landscape. Woody early successional habitats found on the preserve provide important bird nesting habitat and browse for deer, moose and hare.

The Maguire Preserve trailhead is on the eastern side of Heath Road in Whitefield, just past Kings Mills. There is a small parking lot at the trailhead. We’ll be gathering by the kiosk before heading down the trail. Please note that there are no restrooms at the preserve. The hike will be approximately two and a half miles, with some rolling hills, uneven terrain with rocks and roots, and a few muddy patches. If you have any questions about the hike or about Midcoast Conservancy’s recreational programming, you can email landmcc@midcoastconservancy.org. See you on the trail!

Calling all "person-powered" watercraft to this year’s Rowgatta which will return to the Barters Island location. The event features a fun 7-mile paddle around beautiful Barters Island with a nice easy place to “put-in” and “take-out” at the Knickercane Boat Landing!

The event benefits the YMCA’s Aquatics and Healthy Living programs including the free 2nd grade learn to swim program where all 2nd grade students in the Boothbay region, learn to swim for free, in partnership with local elementary schools.

Registration and information is available at the Y and on the website at www.boothbayregionymca.org. Individuals or teams are welcome to register a dingy, rowboat, canoe, kayak, stand-up board or any other seaworthy craft. There is a $50 fee for each participant who registers by 5 p.m. on Friday, August 4, and a $65 fee per participant the day of registration on Aug. 12. The Saturday registration and check-in at Knickercane Landing begins at 8 a.m., with a Rowgatta start time of 9 a.m.

Don’t have a kayak and all the gear? No problem thanks to Tidal Transit Kayak Rentals in Boothbay Harbor who will drop off and pick up your kayak right at Knickercane Landing for a reasonable ½ day rental rate.

Additional thanks goes to our many wonderful volunteers for providing patrol boat crew coverage as well as safety pit-stops along the way!

Please consider joining this special event during this special year. Register this week at the Y or just meet us Aug. 12 at Knickercane Landing – just past the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

For more information and to register, contact the YMCA at 633-2855.

Following an unfortunate rainout the week prior, Wiscasset Speedway successfully hosted a full Group 2 program on Saturday, Aug. 5. The agenda included the Wood Pellet Warehouse Late Models, Kennebec Equipment Rental Outlaw Minis, Portland Glass Strictly Streets, T&L Automotive Modifieds and the flex Chestnut Auto Roadrunners division.

The night kicked off with a 50-lap spotlight race for the Late Models. Alex Waltz pulled to the early lead in the feature as Frank Moulton lingered closely behind. The two drivers went head-to-head for the top spot on lap 7. While battling it out, Waltz took a spin in turn 4, resulting in a caution.

Brett Osmond gave Frank Moulton a run for his money on the restart and remained persistent in the laps following, taking over the top spot on lap 26. By this point, Tiger Colby had climbed the leader board and began chasing down Will Collins for the runner-up spot. He took over the position on lap 35 and moved onto Osmond for the lead. Colby reached his door on lap 40 and made quick work of his challenger, taking over the top spot. He sailed off into the sunset, picking up his second win of the season in the division. Will Collins and Brett Osmond rounded out the top 3. Results from this division remain unofficial. 

Kyle Willette powered into the early lead over Zach Audet in the 25-lap Outlaw Mini feature. Audet made his move on lap 11, pulling to Willette’s outside door to challenge. The two drivers battled it out for a dozen laps, but Audet was unable to capitalize on the opportunity as Willette took home the victory. Jeff Farrington rounded out the top 3. 

Kyle Enman pulled ahead with the early advantage over Noah McGrath in the 20-lap Roadrunners feature. McGrath made his way to Enman’s door on lap 6 and the two drivers battled it out for a couple of laps before McGrath took over the top spot on lap 9. He took off from there, picking up his first victory of the season as Chip Farrington and Kyle Enman rounded out the top 3.

Zach Emerson claimed the early lead in the 25-lap Strictly Street feature. Chaos ensued on lap 4 as Chuck Wagstaff went around in turn 3, collecting Dan McKeage Jr. This led to a string of cautions that collected multiple drivers. Emerson maintained his advantage once the field settled, but Ashton Burgess was coming through the field, taking over the runner-up spot on lap 10. A mid-race caution brought the field back together and Burgess got the upper hand, taking over the top spot on lap 18. Burgess capitalized on the opportunity, picking up his first career victory in the division. Josh St. Clair and Kurt Hewins rounded out the top 3. 

The night concluded with a 30-lap Modified feature. Scott Trask held the early advantage, but Ryan Ripley was quickly making his way through the field, challenging for the top spot on lap 10. He remained persistent, stealing the lead away on lap 17 as Adam Chadbourne followed in succession. Chadbourne was all over Ripley’s back bumper with ten to go. He quickly pulled to Ripley’s door and the two drivers battled relentlessly. Coming into turn 1, Ripley shot across the track and took a spin, resulting in a caution. Chaos ensued from there, resulting in single-wide restarts for the remainder of the race. Adam Chadbourne took off on the restart, successfully fending off a hard-charging Ryan Ripley. Connor Wenners rounded out the podium.

Saturday night brought plenty of red-hot racing action, but there is still more to come! Group 1 returns on Saturday, Aug. 12 with the marquee Ward & Sons 100 Super Street race, 4-Cylinder Pros, Pro Stocks, Thunder 4 Minis and the visiting S.T.A.R Tour. Saturday’s racing action will be followed up by the track’s annual Summerfest on Sunday, benefiting the Maine Vintage Race Car Association.

The green flag flies at 5 p.m. on Saturday and the gate opens at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

For the official track schedule, race results and more, please visit http://www.wiscassetspeedway.com. 

The Coast Guard Station at Boothbay Harbor will be temporarily operating at reduced capacity for several weeks in August and September according to Ryan Smith, officer-in-charge at the station. In an email to selectmen, Smith said the station will be on a 28-day Not Mission Capable status in response to workforce issues, limiting search and rescue operations.

The change will be in effect Aug. 16-Sept. 15, except for Labor Day weekend, Sept. 1-4.

Fully normal coverage will resume Sept. 16.

During the limited coverage, Coast Guard officials said they will continue to meet designated search and rescue response times with a layered approach that includes adjacent Coast Guard resources. This includes leveraging stations in South Portland and Rockland with support from Northern New England sectors and other surface and air assets.

According to Smith, the change was necessary due to personnel issues. He said the adjustments will support readiness efforts by enabling crew to address personnel requirements and train and qualify new crew members to sustain future mission capabilities.

The boating public’s communications with the Coast Guard will remain unchanged. Any mariner or boater in distress should use VHF Channel 16 or call the relevant sector command center.

Sunny skies and a cool coastal breeze made for the perfect race day on Saturday, Aug. 19 at Wiscasset Speedway. Over 60 drivers came out to compete in five different divisions as the program included the Portland Glass Strictly Streets, T&L Automotive Modifieds, Wood Pellet Warehouse Late Models, Kennebec Equipment Rental Outlaw Minis and the flex Chestnut Auto Roadrunners.

The spotlight event of the night was a 35-lap feature race for the Strictly Streets. Dan McKeage, Jr. powered to the early lead over Landon Tapley, who scored his first career heat race win earlier in the evening. McKeage held the upper hand for the first half of the race, but his longtime friend and competitor Wade Kennedy was quickly coming through the field after starting back in 12th place. The two drivers squared up following a late-race restart on lap 22 and Kennedy took control of the lead as McKeage fell back a handful of spots. Wade Kennedy maintained command through multiple cautions in the closing laps of the race, picking up his second win of the season. Alex Cromwell (first career podium) and Calab Emerson-Mains rounded out the top 3.

Steve Reno held the early advantage over his son Nick Reno in the 30-lap Modified feature. The father-son duo battled it out at the front of the field as multi-time winner Ryan Ripley made his way through the pack. An unfortunate racing incident on lap 10 resulted in Steve Reno and Ryan Ripley making hard contact in turn 3. This resulted in a red flag and neither driver was able to return to the track. Nick Reno pulled away on the restart and never looked back, securing the win and taking over the points lead in the division. Adam Chadbourne and Bobby Mesimer rounded out the podium.

Logan Odone led the field to green in the 20-lap Roadrunners feature but Chip Farrington was making quick work of the field, taking over the lead early. Noah McGrath followed suit, clearing Odone for the runner-up spot on lap 7. Farrington held off the competition for the remainder of the feature, picking up the race win as Noah McGrath and Ken Turner followed. Following the completion of post-race inspection, both Chip Farrington and Noah McGrath were disqualified and Ken Turner was deemed the official race winner.

Brent Roy took early command in the 40-lap Late Model feature, but 13-year-old Sylas Ripley remained glued to him, overtaking the top spot on lap 8. Ripley began to pull away but Tiger Colby was swiftly moving through the field, breaking the top 3 by lap 25 after starting back in 15th place. Tiger Colby made quick work of Sylas Ripley on lap 28, taking over the top spot. He sailed into the sunset from there, picking up his third win in the last four races. Sylas Ripley and Brett Osmond followed, completing the top 3.

The night concluded with a 20-lap feature for the Outlaw Minis. Jason Kimball got the early jump over Jeff Farrington and it was no-contest from there as the field spread out fairly quickly and Kimball maintained a healthy lead. He picked up the victory, which was his first of the season, as Jeff Farrington and Kyle Willette rounded out the top 3.

Although the race season at Wiscasset Speedway is beginning to wind down, there is still plenty more racing action to come! All weekly Group #1 divisions and the flex Enduro division will return to the track on Saturday, Aug. 26 for Hancock Lumber night. As always, admission is just $5 and the green flag flies at 5 p.m.

For the official race results, track schedule and more, please visit http://www.wiscassetspeedway.com. 

Registration for the second annual Boothbay Harbor Tuna Challenge sold out by March. Now, 75 teams are weeks away from a potential $35,000 first place prize for the event to be held Sept. 3 to 9. 

"Everybody was just really excited to come back so we wanted to continue keeping everybody happy, supporting the working waterfront and just making sure this tournament grows,” said Jax van der Veen, chair of the tuna challenge committee. “We have really big hopes for the tournament to grow every year. We hope that there is always going to be that positivity around it.” 

This year, the number of competitors was raised to 75, and there was already a waiting list for 2024 by March. According to the challenge’s Facebook page, registration opened Feb. 1 and reached the boat limit in a little over a month.  

Fishing starts Sept. 3 and concludes Sept. 7, with a break Sept. 5 due to National Marine Fisheries Service’s shutdown day. Tournament scales will close at 11:30 p.m. Sept. 7, and all vessels with fish to be weighed must be tied to the scales dock at Carousel Marina by then. Second place winners will receive $17,500, third place $9,500, fourth place $3,500, and fifth place $1,500. This year there will also be a cumulative weight category with a $5,000 prize. 

In addition, there will be a mackerel fishing tournament, Mackerel Mania, for children and teens. Tickets for the mackerel fishing are not required ahead of the event. There is a 10-fish limit per boat. 

Carousal Marina will host a lobster bake and awards ceremony Sept. 9. Tickets are available online or at the door. 

The Boothbay Harbor Tuna Challenge will again donate a portion of the proceeds to the Fishermen's Memorial Fund. As reported in the Register, the group gave $30,000 last year. The fund was established to raise the needed funds to construct and maintain the memorial and the committee also offers a scholarship to students who study marine-related fields.  

According to van der Veen, funds for the prizes and donations are raised from the $750 registration fee, community sponsors, a raffle and the lobster bake. 

Van der Veen said part of what makes the event so special is the community. She said people tell her how different this tournament is. She thinks it is due to how involved the community is, especially in supporting the region’s fishermen. She said every competing boat last year was part of the working waterfront; there were no sport fishing boats.  

“I think that says a lot about the tournament that we put on and the cause that we give to,” she said. “It's for the fishermen, we donate to the Fishermen's Memorial. So, I think that that theme isn't lost on anyone, and that really plays a big part in it as well.” 

Tuesday, Sept. 5: Home vs. Madison, 3:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 8: At Pine Tree Academy, 2 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 13: Home vs. Vinalhaven, 1:45 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 18: At Lisbon, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 20: At Dirigo, 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 23: At Carrabec, 1 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 27: Home vs. Pine Tree Academy, 3:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 29: Home vs. Telstar, 3:30 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 6: At Vinalhaven, 2:45 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 7: Homecoming vs. Dirigo, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 10: At Telstar, 3:30 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 16: Home vs. Lisbon, 3:30 p.m.

Cross Country

Thursday, Sept. 14: At Lincolnville, girls 4 p.m., boys 4:45 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 21: At Great Salt Bay, boys 4 p.m., girls 4:45 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 28: At Belfast, girls 4 p.m., boys 4:45 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 5: At Searsport, boys 4 p.m., girls 4:45 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 12: At Boothbay, girls 4 p.m., boys 4:45 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 19: Busline League championship at Great Salt Bay, boys 3:45 p.m., girls 4:30 p.m.

Co-ed Soccer

Wednesday, Sept. 6: At Nobleboro, 3:45 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 8: At Chelsea (non-league), 3:45 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 11: Home vs. Bristol, 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 13: At Bristol, 3:45 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 18: Home vs. Jefferson, 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 20: Home vs. Nobleboro, 3:45 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 25: Home vs. Boothbay, 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 27: Home vs. Vinalhaven, 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 4: At Jefferson, 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 11: At Vinalhaven, 2:45 p.m.

Postseason playoff dates: Oct. 14, Oct. 16, Oct. 18 and Oct. 21

If Alna removes the rocks placed last spring at Pinkham Pond and subsoil gets into the pond, “according to (Maine Department of Environmental Protection), you will have a problem,” roads committee member Jeff Averill told selectmen Aug. 30. “(They were) very satisfied with the way things are right now. All you have to do is get a permit by rule, it’s all done, forget it.”

The rocks are “just fine,” he recalled of DEP’s site visit. Averill said the rocks are starting to soak in and will continue to.

DEP “also said it would be perfectly fine to take them out,” and the area would then be monitored, First Selectman Ed Pentaleri said.

Residents were sharing their thoughts on the months-old spread of rocks Second Selectman Steve Graham called a mistake.

In the meeting at the town office and over Zoom, Averill, Graham and Pentaleri recalled the site visit, and Graham recalled other contact with DEP. Graham said anything the town does will need DEP’s nod and the planning board’s. He added, DEP said whatever is done cannot destabilize the area; if the rocks are removed, monitoring would be needed, Graham said.

The spot is no longer convenient to walk over, Graham said. A resident concurred, saying it is especially hard for small children and older people, and people are asking for the rocks to come out. 

Past planning board chair Jeff Spinney asked, why field ideas when the selectboard does not know yet what will meet town rules? Selectmen said their decision will meet both state and town rules. People have all kinds of creative ideas, and the board can hear them all, Third Selectman Coreysha Stone said. “There might be a solution bore out that’s a beautiful compromise, that nobody has thought of. So we’re just going to keep an open mind.”

The board had put off the matter Aug. 24. And for about the first 20 minutes Aug. 30, selectmen mulled whether to put it off again due to when a Zoom link was announced. Pentaleri said some people interested in attending did not. He apologized for not getting the Zoom link out sooner and said legal counsel advised putting off the pond item until the next regular board meeting. 

The 50th anniversary of Project Puffin has just ended, with researchers fully realizing how their quest has morphed from saving one bird to playing a part in saving the planet.

Its purpose in 1973 was simply to return puffins to islands off the coast of Maine, where hunters had killed them off by the late 1800s. Led by Steve Kress, then an Audubon camp bird instructor in his late 20s, the project moved puffin chicks here from Newfoundland. 

The effort became the world’s first successful seabird restoration of its kind. There are now more than 1,300 breeding pairs of puffins across several Maine islands. The irony is that a bird that gives us a sense of the watery riches of Maine in the 19^th century today warns us how we are impoverishing our oceans. 

The warning zoomed past me while I sat in bird blinds. 

It was early July on Eastern Egg Rock, a seven-acre island six miles off Pemaquid Point and the original site of the project. Puffins began breeding anew here in 1981, and the population reached a record high of 188 breeding pairs in 2019. 

Early July is the time of summer when scores of puffin chicks hatch in burrows under the boulders of the island, triggering one of nature’s most amazing sights. At dawn, parents pop out of the dark of burrow openings one by one, surveying their surroundings in the yawning manner of humans rubbing their eyes as they rise from bed. They then take off and fly out of sight over the Gulf of Maine. 

About 45 minutes later, an aerial parade of parents return with glistening, silver beak loads of fish in their mouths. Some zip over the boulders from the right, others from the left. Some come straight at me to burrow directly in front of my blind. Some arrivals are so simultaneous, I can’t keep track. They all plunge back into burrows with breakfast for chicks.

The parade was among the most memorable in the project’s history because of the species of fish that nearly every puffin parent and many terns brought back:

Sand lance. 

Small in size and obscure in direct value to humans, you will not see this fish on ice at the seafood counter. But many of the fish we prize in the pan or sizzle on the grill are there because of sand lance.

They are eel-like, which makes them as easy to swallow as spaghetti, 4 to 8 inches long as adults, and high in fats. That makes sand lance royalty in the realm of “forage fish,” a banquet for much larger creatures.  

According to a 2020 study by two dozen government, university and marine institute scientists, 72 animal species eat sand lance in Atlantic waters from North Carolina to Greenland.

The fish include cod, bluefin tuna, haddock, flounder, striped bass, herring and bluefish. The mammals include whales and seals, and the seabirds include gannets, endangered roseate terns and yes, puffins.

Sand lance is not normally the top food for puffins in the Gulf of Maine; it historically is a supplement to other cold-water fish. In the early decades of Project Puffin, hake and herring were the top choices.

Hake became the dominant fish as herring declined from multiple impacts. Herring is also overfished, and a major 2021 study said its decline is also consistent with climate disruptions in the marine food web.

In more recent years, haddock has sometimes been a major supplement, as species rebounded with federal and state management. Citing 2017 data, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries website says, “haddock are currently experiencing a record abundance in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank.”

(But in yet another example of how humans so quickly alter the oceans, a 2022 federal stock assessment says there is new evidence that haddock in the Gulf of Maine are suffering from a new round of overfishing).   

Add in the altered weather patterns brought by human-made climate change and puffins no longer know from year to year what they can find.

The Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest-warming swaths of ocean in the world, with frequent marine heat waves that drive cold-water species too deep or too far out to sea for puffins to catch. Often taking their place are more southerly fish too oval for small chicks to eat, such as butterfish. 

But just when you think this chaos is all bad news for the seabirds, the new mélange of ocean conditions for the second straight year delivered jaw-dropping feasts to puffins.

Last year, puffin parents flew onto the islands with unprecedented levels of elongated Atlantic saury, dramatically dangling a half foot or more from their beaks to feed chicks.

No one knows why this forage fish appeared. Saury are highly mobile, with little data connecting its movements to climate change. 

This year it was sand lance. The only other year over the last quarter-century that sand lance was so abundant was 2015. It is not clear why because not only is it a cold-water species, but its presence is highly tied to what it eats, the zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus, which itself is projected to dramatically decline with warming waters. But in that blind on Eastern Egg Rock, in early July, I observed 61 feedings in a morning, 60 of them sand lance.

There were similar sights elsewhere in the Gulf of Maine. On Seal Island, 32 miles to the east, one researcher wrote in the island journal, “I tried to keep up with the astonishing number of puffins circling the blind, bills heavy with sand lance. I got more feedings than I ever have before, and about twice as many as in a normal stint!”

Then, in mid-July, as if a switch flipped in the ocean, the sand lance disappeared. For the most part, the puffins did not miss a beat. On some islands, puffins swapped it out for mostly haddock. On others, parents switched to more of a smorgasbord of haddock, hake and redfish.

By July 22, when I stayed on Seal Island, the feedings were vastly of haddock, with some hake. This also amazed Don Lyons, director of conservation science for Project Puffin, formerly known as National Audubon’s Seabird Institute. 

“I can’t offhand recall such a seamless transition from one fish to another,” Lyons said. “It tells you a lot about the resourcefulness of puffins and at the same time, it’s a reminder of how much we still don’t know of when and where food is for seabirds, and how fast that all can change.” 

For Tracey Faber, the supervisor of Matinicus Rock and a longtime Project Puffin research assistant, both the sand lance and sudden shift to haddock was cause for nuanced celebration. She said while it was important that haddock helped puffins fledge chicks through later July, haddock also are significantly less fatty than sand lance, hake or herring, providing less nutrition. 

She said she worries about puffins hitting a threshold, because of climate change, of being able to change their foraging habits from “boom and bust” fish such as saury and sand lance to other species.

Arctic terns, for instance, had much more trouble finding food on Matinicus Rock and Seal Island when the sand lance disappeared, sadly settling for tiny crustaceans.

On Seal Island, the crew, supervised by Faber’s sister Coco, noted how several terns that fledged with some of the highest weights recorded in recent years, came back to plots to die. 

“Without consistently available species that can be provisioned throughout the entire chick-rearing process, productivity in any given year will be far more dependent on these unpredictable fish species,” Tracey Faber said. 

That makes you wonder what the summer would have been like without sand lance at all, because it was otherwise difficult for seabirds in the Gulf of Maine. Two years ago, record water warmth and record rain resulted in catastrophic nesting failure. Last year, with calmer weather, seabirds rebounded beautifully. 

This year was marked with more above-average heavy rains and more continuous days of soaking fog than veteran researchers could remember. Tern nests were flooded to the point where eggs floated in them, and a significant number of hatched chicks soaked to death. 

Puffins on Seal Island and Matinicus Rock were hit hard. Seal Island had the lowest puffin egg hatching rates in five years and chick survival rates just above the disastrous levels of 2021. Matinicus Rock had the lowest puffin hatch success in a decade. Petit Manan also lost puffin nests due to storms. 

For puffins that did hatch, many chicks grew to nice weights on some islands, fortified by the sand lance. On Petit Manan, the early banquet of sand lance might have given chicks critical sustenance; two heat waves in July drove away supplemental prey to the extent that the chicks rapidly dropped weight. Cooler waters mercifully returned, and the chicks started gaining weight again.

Tasha Gownaris, a Gettysburg College environmental studies professor whose lab conducts research on Petit Manan, said the heat waves “likely exceeded the thermal tolerance limit of herring and hake. Scary stuff.” 

The fog and rain also sometimes made it impossible for researchers to locate and deal with predators. Several islands were plagued with mink, owls, peregrine falcons or black crowned night herons that tore through tern colonies. On Eastern Egg Rock, some voracious gulls used the fog as cover to prey on tern chicks. 

Matinicus Rock had to contend with clever ravens that last year killed nearly 50 puffins, and a ruddy turnstone that this summer wiped out at least 50 Arctic and common tern nests. Petit Manan saw a significant amount of tern nest abandonment, probably because a peregrine falcon took advantage of the fog to terrorize the colonies.   

“Even when you knew a predator was out there, the fog made it so you couldn’t even leave the cabin,” said Meg Getzinger, an Eastern Egg Rock research assistant. “It was sometimes so wet, you didn’t want to walk out there and kick up the tern colony, because the parents were working so hard to cover up their chicks. If we stirred them up, that would expose the chicks to yet more water.”

This summer also brought more sobering evidence of what the whole world is exposing seabirds to, when the whole world is their ecosystem. Keenan Yakola, a 10-year veteran of Project Puffin and a doctoral student at Oregon State, noted how many Arctic terns arrived to Gulf of Maine islands with poor weight; possibly their winter food supply in the Antarctic was disrupted by the same record low levels of sea ice that is causing total nesting failures for emperor penguins.

On Petit Manan, Gownaris and Linda Welch, biologist for the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, also noted how Arctic terns arrived this spring lighter in weight. 

Yakola and partners such as Welch are making other connections with modern technology to remind people of the vital importance of waters far from where Maine’s summer tourists might see a puffin.

For instance, GPS tagging on Matinicus Rock of another species, Leach’s storm petrels, have shown for two straight years that the bird flies down to the latitude of Philadelphia to forage for chicks in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument. Puffins also feed in the monument during the winter.

Other joint tracking projects between the Maine Coastal Islands refuge and Project Puffin have detailed the incredible migration of Arctic terns. Some Gulf of Maine terns wind all the way around South Africa into the Indian Ocean before wintering along the Antarctic ice pack.

“There are so many greater connections that we don’t pay attention to,” said Yakola, who hopes that research leads to a broader public concept of what an “ecosystem” is, and informs efforts in other nations to protect migrating birds wherever they are vulnerable. “It’s important to keep talking about how the Gulf of Maine is heating up,” Yakola said. “But the birds leave the Gulf for seven or eight months, most of the year. We must keep making connections.”

Tens of thousands of seabirds did successfully fledge chicks in the Gulf of Maine this summer. Overall bird populations on many islands remained strong. In mid-August, at the season-ending conference of the Gulf of Maine Seabird Working Group, several islands in the Cape Cod region reported increases in various tern populations. 

The White and Seavey Islands off New Hampshire reported a record number of nests for the federally endangered roseate tern. Pond Island had a record number of common tern nests. Among islands managed by the Maine Coastal Islands refuge, terns on Metinic and Ship did well while making a successful transition from sand lance to herring or hake. 

The longevity of seabirds also cheered researchers. On Eastern Egg Rock, the crew welcomed back a 28-year-old puffin. On Matinicus Rock, research assistant Ali Ballard led me to a burrow and joyfully pulled out the chick of a 34-year-old puffin, tying the record for the oldest bird ever reared in Project Puffin.

The senior bird is one of the last surviving from Kress’ original project. It was brought down as a chick from Newfoundland in 1989 and raised on Seal Island. The oldest known puffin was a Norwegian bird that made it to 41. 

The bird is older than nearly all the researchers, reminding them of all the ocean changes it must have seen. It also makes them more determined to demand we stop putting puffins through so much with climate change.

“I tell people what I do and many of them say, ‘You’re saving the birds,’ ” said Coco Faber. “I say, no, we’re not saving them. Mostly they’re saving themselves from us.” 

The Boothbay Region High School and Wiscasset High School combined cross-country team had its first regular season meet of the year Sept. 1 at Brunswick. The girls team took third place against 56 competitors and the boys took fifth against 63.

The Boothbay Region boys team had 139 points and an average time of 22:43 minutes, and the girls had 78 points with a 24:15-minute average. Brunswick took first place in both races with 21 points and an average time of 17:08 minutes for the boys, and 54 points and an average of 22:57 minutes for the girls. Messalonskee High School, Morse High School, Mt. Ararat High School and Oceanside High School also competed.

Coach Nick Scott said Cleyton Splaine, Laura Chapman, Ross Gaffney, Maddie Andreason and Chase Mansfield set new personal records: Andreason and Mansfield were more than three and four minutes faster than their previous best. In addition, Scott said the race was the first high school 5k for some of his team members.

Chapman led the girls in fifth place in 22:02.60 minutes. Other results were: Julie Truesdell, 12th, 23:49.00; Maddie Orchard, 15th, 24:31.30; Emily Gilliam, 18th, 24:56.50; Sophia Mansfield, 28th, 26:00.40; Kate Campbell, 39th, 28:28.10; Andreasen, 40th, 28:29.20; and Makayla Hodson, 45th, 30:13.50.

Austin Trask placed 21st for the boys, finishing in 19:32.80 minutes. Other results were: Splaine, 22nd, 19:49.80; AJ Crocker, 28th, 20:17.60; Gaffney, 53rd, 24:57.60; Chase Mansfield, 57th, 29:01.70; and Neal Baldwin, 62nd, 31.01.60.

The team’s next scheduled race is Sept. 8 at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.

The 30th annual Dolphin Mini Golf Open, Hardwick Road, Boothbay, will be played Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 9 and 10. Pro registration is $50 per entry; 10 rounds played over two days. Amateur and kids, $10 for two rounds Saturday.

Poker run 1-3 p.m. Sunday. $5 per game, all ages, with many wonderful prizes from area businesses

Proceeds will go to the Lee B. Stoddard Scholarship Fund for area students attending trade school.

FMI contact Nancy@dolphinminigolf  or 633-4828

For the 16th year, The Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame has selected 10 finalists for the 2023 Student Athlete of the Year Award.

Among the male and female finalists are Wiscasset’s Emily Gilliam and Boothbay’s Kayden Ames.

The finalists are chosen from nominations (two boys and two girls from each school) requested from from the athletic directors in the following Midcoast schools  - Camden Hills, Oceanside, Medomak Valley, Lincoln Academy, Boothbay,  Wiscasset, Islesboro, North Haven, and Vinalhaven.

The athletes must have had an outstanding year of accomplishments in their sport(s) and have also shown all of the attributes of a student athlete who is a person of high integrity, who demonstrates  leadership, and who is respected by their peers as well as their coaches and fans. The nominees are requested to send in additional information to the committee about their athletic accomplishments, involvement in their communities, and their reflections on the importance of sports in their lives.

All the finalists are invited to attend the annual Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame Banquet, Oct. 21 at the Rockland Elks Club, at which time, along with the adult inductees, they will receive recognition and the winners will be announced. Banquet tickets can be purchased through any Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame director or by contacting Dave Ames at damesref@tidewater.net. Tickets are $30 per person, with children 12 or young $20.

It is important to remember that all these athlete lives were greatly impacted and interrupted by COVID-19 restrictions for more than three years of their careers. Yet, they prevailed and participated where they could and continued to be involved in the sports that they loved. Congratulations to them all!

The 5 female finalists for 2023 are Emily Gilliam  (Wiscasset), Amelia Johnson (Camden Hills), Natalie Kaler (Lincoln Academy), Audrey Mackie (Oceanside), and Maddie Ripley (Oceanside). The five male Finalists for 2023 are Marshall Addy (Medomak Valley), Kayden Ames (Boothbay Region), Julian Henderson (Camden Hills), Gavin Ripley (Oceanside) and Isaac Simmons (Medomak Valley) These athletes have all excelled in a variety of sports including basketball, field hockey, sailing, softball, tennis, soccer, wrestling, football, cross country, track & field, and baseball.

Gilliam is an accomplished athlete in three sports - cross-country running, swimming, and track & field. In cross-country, Emily was part of the Wiscasset team the won the 2022 Mountain Valley Conference Championship, and she went on to qualify to run in the state meet in 2022. In swimming, Emily qualified for the state meet the last two years, competing in 200 medley, 100 backstroke, and  50 freestyle. In track & field , she competed in the Mountain Valley Conference Championships in 300 meter hurdles (6th place), 4 x 800 relay, 4 x4 00 relay, and 4 x 800 relay (first place). Emily qualified for states in these three relays with the 4 x 800 relay coming in 4th. At Wiscasset High School as a senior, Emily is a member of Student Council, is president of the National Honor Society, and represented Wiscasset at Dirigo State.

Ames is a second time finalist for this award and was an outstanding athlete in football, basketball, and track & field at Boothbay Region High School. In football, Kayden was Rookie of the Year for the Seahawks his freshman year, Offensive Player of the Year his junior year as well as being named to the Campbell Conference All-Conference Team. During his senior year, he was named MVP and Second Team All Star. Kayden played quarterback, running back, linebacker, and kicker. In basketball, Kayden was part of the team that won the Mountain Valley Conference Championship, and, in his junior year, he received an All-Conference MVC Honorable Mention and was the Seahawks Co-Captain. As a senior, Kayden was MVC Academic All Star, in the MVC Senior Game, co-MVP of his team, and finished second in the conference in assists per game for the season. In track and field, Kayden excelled in discus, placing 6th in the Class C State meet as a freshman, and as a junior Kayden was MVC Champion, 1st Team All-Star, and Class C State Champion. In shot put, he placed 3rd in the State as a freshman and was named to the MVC 2nd Team All-Star. As a senior, Kayden was MVC and Class C State Champion in Shot Put and in Discus, in which he broke a 20+ year old school record and recorded the 2nd farthest throw in the state. He is passionate about physical fitness and weight lifting, works at Hodgdon’s Boatyard, and volunteers at the Midcoast Animal Thrift Shop as well as officiating youth league basketball games, youth basketball camps, youth football games, and middle school track meets.

The Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting two Boothbay Region High School alumni during the annual banquet on Oct. 21 at the Rockland Elks Lodge. The two inductees are David Gaw (Class of 1959) and Melissa “Missy” Williams (Class of 1989). Alumni Kayden Ames and current Boothbay/Wiscasset athlete Emily Gilliam are also finalists for the Midcoast Student Athlete of the year award.

The Hall of Fame is seeking advertisement purchases from local individuals and businesses. In addition to an advertisement in the induction ceremony program, your ad will also be shown on several TV screens throughout the Elks Club, one after another, and run constantly at five second intervals throughout the registration, the meet and greet period, and the dinner prior to the induction ceremony.

If you would like to purchase an ad or have any questions, please contact Allan Crocker at allancrocker@aos98schools.org. Please include the name of you and/or your business, mailing address, contact person, telephone number and email address. Payments can be delivered to Boothbay Region High School or can be picked up from you directly. Checks can be written to the Midcoast Hall of Fame. Ads are due Sept. 18.

The advertisement options are:

$75 Eighth of Page (Business Card Size) 1.5X3.5 inch

$125 Quarter Page Horizontal 2.5X7.5 inch

$200 Half Page 4.5X7.5 inch

$300 Full Page 7.5X10 inch

$400 Full Page Ad plus business sign on Hors D’oeuvre or Food Table (4 available)

$400 Full Page Ad plus business sign on Inductee table (8 available)

$400 Full Page Ad plus business sign on Legends table (4 available)

$400 Full Page Ad plus business sign on Student table (5 available)

Programs will also be distributed throughout the community so your ad can be seen beyond Oct. 21.

Past Boothbay Region inductees/honorees are: IJ Pinkham (Hall of Fame Class of 2017), Faith Blethen (2019 Midcoast Athlete of the Year), Jaelyn Crocker (2022 Midcoast Athlete of the Year), 2001 and 2002 BRHS state champion Football Teams (Outstanding Teams).

The American Legion Junior Shooting Sports Program is a 3-Position Air Rifle gun safety education and marksmanship program that encompasses the basic elements of safety, education, enjoyment and competition. The Boothbay American Legion program will start Wednesday Sept. 20, 5-7 p.m. All interested youth under the age of 18 are welcome. Contact Robin Ford at commander@post36maine.org of 207-607-2965 for more information.

It was hot and humid on Saturday night, Sept. 9 up the coast of Maine, but that didn’t stop Wiscasset Speedway as they hosted an action-packed Group 1 racing program. The night featured the Brackett’s Market 4-Cylinder Pros, Norm’s Used Cars Pro Stocks, Sweatt’s Concrete Thunder 4 Minis and double features for the Gosline Insurance Super Streets.

Keith Drost took the early lead in the first of two 30-lap features for the Strictly Streets. Trouble was brewing behind the leader on lap 16 as Michael Harrison took it 3-wide for position, causing James Osmond to spin. This resulted in a chain reaction and the first caution of the night. David Greenleaf gave Keith Drost a run for his money on the restart, but Drost broke free on lap 20. As the laps began to wind down, David Greenleaf and his good friend Nick Morton battled it out for the runner-up spot. Morton pulled ahead with three laps to go but was unable to catch up to Keith Drost, who took home his first career win in the division.

Jack McKee led the field to green in the 25-Lap 4-Cylinder Pro feature. Taylor Lane and Chassidy Shorty both took spins on lap 5, resulting in a caution. Reed Reno took over on the restart as Ben Burgess and Josh Hall filed in behind him. Reed Reno remained calm and consistent for the remainder of the feature as he fought off both Burgess and Hall to pick up his first career feature victory at Wiscasset Speedway at the young age of 13. Reed, a fourth-generation driver, celebrated with his father Nick and great-grandfather Lawrence (a Hall of Fame driver himself) in Victory Lane.

The 40-lap Pro Stock feature got off to a chaotic start with a caution on lap 1 followed by a botched restart by the two leaders. The top 2 rows were swapped following this, which made Jamie Wright the race leader. Wright pulled away on the restart, but Josh St. Clair was quickly coming through the field, breaking the top 3 on lap 5 after starting back in 9th. Josh St. Clair tracked down Jamie Wright for the lead by lap 13, swiftly taking over the top spot as Kevin Douglass followed in succession. Douglass began to cut into St. Clair’s lead lap by lap, meeting him at his door on lap 32. St. Clair bobbled shortly thereafter, nearly losing it in turn 4. This catapulted Kevin Douglass into the lead as Josh St. Clair fell to third behind Jamie Wright. Douglass picked up the win, celebrating with his friends and family in Victory Lane. 

Gunnar Josselyn took off with a sizable early lead in the 25-lap Thunder 4 Mini feature. A pile-up at the back of the pack on lap 8 brought the field back together and both Shane Webber and Zach Audet were both on Josselyn’s toes. Shane Webber catapulted to the lead following a late-race restart and never looked back, securing the victory over Gunnar Josselyn and Zach Audet.

The night concluded with a final 30-lap feature for the Super Streets. Kevin Sherman took off with the early lead, but both Mike Harrison and Mark Lucas fell victim to the turn 3 wall in the opening laps of the race. Once the field was settled, Maurice Young became the new race leader. He maintained his lead through another caution on lap 11, but Brett Osmond was hungry for the top spot. While battling for position, Young and Osmond collided on lap 20, collecting David Greenleaf and others. Both drivers were forced to restart at the tail-end of the field, which catapulted Noah Haggett into the lead. Haggett held off a late-race charge by Bubba Pelton to pick up his second win in 3 weeks in the division. Kenny Harrison rounded out the podium.

The 2023 race season at Wiscasset Speedway is beginning to wind down, but there is still more fun to come! All Group #2 divisions plus the Roadrunners and Mainely Karting Senior Champ Karts will hit the track on Saturday, Sept. 16 for Group #2 Fan Night, sponsored by Bozzutto’s Inc. and Mainely Motorsports. The driver autograph session will begin at 4 p.m., followed by kids’ bike races. As always, admission is just $5!

For the official track schedule, race results and more, please visit http://www.wiscassetspeedway.com.

Despite what its coach dubbed “oppressive heat,” the combined Boothbay Region High School and Wiscasset High School girls' cross-country team took second place in the Sept. 8 meet at Belfast. The Brunswick high school girls took first place out of the five teams and 50 athletes who participated.

Coach Nick Scott said the girls’ performance was “an impressive feat in most meets, but especially notable because it was a KVAC (Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference) meet filled with class A and B schools.”

The girls team had 56 points with an average time of 26:18. Brunswick had 44 points and an average time of 25:14 minutes. Medomak Valley, Nokomis and Mt. Ararat also competed in the girls’ race.

Laura Chapman led the Seawolves with a fourth place finish in 23:44.27. Other results were: Julie Truesdell, ninth, 24:48.93; Maddie Orchard, 19th, 27:36.23; Sophia Mansfield, 20th, 27:37.90; Emily Gilliam, 21st, 27:44.93; Bella Orr, 30th, 30:04.55; Makayla Hodson, 32nd; 31:07.82; and Maddie Andreasen, 39th, 34:42.46.

The boys' team finished in sixth place out of six teams with 135 points and a 21:48-minute average. Brunswick won the boys’ event with 29 points and an 18:25-minute average. Messalonskee, Mt Ararat, Cony and Nokomis also competed.

Rodi Mayne led the Boothbay Region boys with 17th place out of 71 in 20:02.15 minutes. Other results were: AJ Croker, 27th; 21:37.18; Cleyton Splaine, 31st, 21:56.86; Austin Trask, 32nd, 21:57.24; Dominick Dow, 46th, 23:29.01; Alton King, 58th, 26:02.51; Ross Gaffney, 60th; 26:48.42; Chase Mansfield, 65th, 31:13.36; and Neal Baldwin, 71st, 35:01.11.

The next meet of the season is scheduled at Boothbay Region High School on Sept. 15.

Sunday, Sept. 17 was a picture perfect day for a Memorial Boat Parade in honor of longtime lobsterman and fisherman Thurlow “Butch” Brewer, who died Dec. 29, 2022.

Forty boats captained by family – both blood and fellow lobstermen – friends and neighbors followed Brewer’s grandson, Capt. Nicholas Morley, aboard his seiner Steadfast with most of the family aboard.

Spectators watched from the Boothbay Harbor Town Landing, Fishermen’s Memorial Park, Harbor Bait and other locations.

Following the boat parade, a Tall Tales event, to feature anecdotes about the beloved brother, uncle, father and grandfather, was held at Whale’s Tale in Boothbay Harbor.

The 1990-91 Wiscasset High School Boys’ Basketball State Class C Champions will be honored as an “Outstanding Team” at the Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame banquet on Oct. 21. The event will be held at the Rockland Elks Lodge.

Wiscasset went 17-1 in the regular season. In Augusta, they beat Jay High School, Dirigo High School and Falmouth High School for the Western Maine title. They then beat Calais High School, in the state game 76-73 for a final record of 21-1. This was the only State Championship in boys basketball in the history of Wiscasset High School.

Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children under 12. Tickets can be purchased through Dave Ames. Email is damesref@tidewater.net. Eight inductees, four Legends, and the student athletes of the year will also be honored. If you have questions you can contact Tom Mellor at 691-2770 or ttmellor@gmail.com

Show up for Midcoast kids to send a message that youth mental health matters to all of us. Because it does. “Nearly every family in our state is affected by mental health issues,” says Shannon M. Parker of Hearty Roots, “and while we’re all still learning the necessary tools to navigate open, honest conversations about intensely personal health issues, we’re well-versed in the dire social impact we collectively absorb when mental wellness isn’t supported.”

Hearty Roots serves Midcoast youth with a mission to “get kids off the grid and into their hearts” and they’ve chosen the Harbor Theater as the place to shed light on the connection between mental wellness and screens. The collaborative, exploratory evening will highlight screen addiction, social media use, and social media abuse. Hearty Roots will discuss how a mindful, supported approach to getting kids off screens and back to nature can help youth get rooted in positive childhood experiences.

Whether conversations about youth mental wellness are new ones for you, or you’re professionally immersed in the field, Hearty Roots and Boothbay Theater invite you to join teens and adults for a powerful evening that will include three major components. One, a viewing of the Childhood 2.0 documentary. Two, a conversation with a panel of local teens who will candidly share their challenges, needs, fears and aspirations around mental wellness and a positive future. Three, resources provided for all participants to help engage and inspire teens beyond the noise and distraction of social media and other everyday challenges.

Hearty Roots is proud to partner with Harbor Theatre for an event sponsored by Tyler Tibbetts Realty. The evening of authentic conversation will center around how we each hold the power to make a difference with each other, for each other. “It’s well documented that kids in Maine struggle with mental health issues at a higher rate than kids nationally— one in four to be exact. Nationally, it’s 1 in 6,” Parker continued. “Both are harrowing statistics and generally accepted as being lower than the actual number of kids in need. Maine has a catastrophic lack of Maine providers and years-long waitlist--all making it hard to access support. Yet right here in the midcoast, we have ways of reaching kids now. Meeting youths and their immediate needs now. When it matters,” Parker said. “Hearty Roots welcomes the community to turn out for this event. A standing-room-only crowd demonstrates to teens that our community is here. Our community is listening. And we are proactively meeting the needs of youth and those they love.”

Admission to the 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 24 event is free, with a suggested $20 donation. All proceeds support our scholarship fund, making mental health support and outdoor adventure accessible to all.

Laura Chapman led the combined Boothbay Region High School and Wiscasset High School girls team with a first-place win in the cross-country race Sept. 15 at Boothbay Harbor. The “Seawolves” defended their home course with a first-place win for the girls’ team and second place for the boys against athletes from Richmond, Dirigo, Hall-Dale and Spruce Mountain.  

The rocky walk-in to Pinkham Pond remained an issue at the close of Alna selectmen’s Sept. 21 meeting after partly contentious talks continued among selectmen and between selectmen and the public. Second Selectman Steve Graham and Third Selectman Coreysha Stone again urged First Selectman Ed Pentaleri to focus his comments on a solution and not preface his proposal with theories on the matter’s origins. Eventually, Pentaleri agreed to stop that part of his comments.

He said the board’s opposition to those comments was ridiculous, he had a right to speak and has received local praise for points he has made and tried to make in recent meetings, and he was stopping under protest.

Stone supported Pentaleri providing context except when it may not be proven or might do more harm than good. She also said his using his seat as a public forum could look like a power imbalance over others. Graham brought up the board’s ethics policy and said some of Pentaleri’s comments were not needed. The board censured Pentaleri this year over the possible appearance of bias in the town’s litigation with resident Jeff Spinney.

Resident Ralph Hilton said Pentaleri and Stone “ramrodded” a shoreland violation at the pond by being in on the talks that preceded the rock-laying, so they should go with Graham’s proposal. Graham suggested leaving the rocks where they are and covering them with an undetermined material to control erosion and make the walk-in suitable again for walking and maybe sitting. Stone’s and Pentaleri’s proposals each included removing a lot of the rocks. Spinney, a past planning board chair, advised the selectboard this would, by town rules, be excavation and require other materials to be put in. So, he said, removal would be “insane.”

Stone challenged Hilton’s statement about the matter’s origins and said “We’re all in this together.” An email she presented from soil specialist David Roque, based on his review of photos, said the material placed over the entry helped stop erosion, but “there may have been a less disruptive way.”

Ideas continued to form and selectmen decided 2-1, Pentaleri dissenting, to hire Roque to study the matter further and make a recommendation. It should cost $200 or so, Stone said.

The board named Caroline Long health officer; reappointed David Abbott to the appeals board until April 2026; Mary Bowers, until April 2025; and Alex Pugh, until April 2024; and named Scott Budde, Erin Clifford, Heather Dubina, Les Fossel, Beth Foye, Jon Luoma, Chris Kenoyer, Sherry Lyons, Al Monaco and Karen Rose to the climate action committee.

The board made George Turnbull local plumbing inspector (LPI). He did not agree to be code enforcement officer so that job remained unfilled. Mike Trask suggested Spinney, who said he would consider it. And past Alna CEO Tom McKenzie said that when he resigned to do other work, he offered to help if the board got into dire straights for code enforcement. He just wanted to make that offer again, he told the board. 

Mine Oyster hosted the 20th anniversary celebration of the Pemaquid Oyster Festival in Boothbay Harbor Sept. 24, after tropical storm Lee postponed the event one week. An enormous crowd enjoyed oysters from the Damariscotta River region. Farmers included Glidden Point Oyster Farm, Mook Sea Farm, Norumbega Oysters, Muscongus Bay Aquaculture, Pleasant Cove Oysters, Blackstone Point Oysters, Heron Island Oysters and Pemaquid Oyster Company.

“It was a matter of pride to me – to bring the festival to Boothbay Harbor,” said Chef Ralph Smith of Mine Oyster. “I’ve worshiped going every year when it was in Damariscotta, and it’s an honor to have it here.”

Event organizers timed and judged eight contestants in an oyster shucking contest: Smith, Dan Flach, Alp Kilic, Brendan Parson, Norm Staunton, Chad Egeland, Joel Spinney and William Lightfoot. Each contestant chose 14 oysters and shucked a dozen on the clock. The two contestants with the best times,  Egeland and Kilic, then faced off in one final round with Egeland winning the competition and $500 and entry into the National Oyster Shucking Competition in Maryland the third weekend in October.

“This will be my fourth year competing in Maryland,” said Egeland, of Portland. “I get a little better each time.”

Vendors and educational booths set up under tents on Pier One, and festival ticket holders wandered through Mine Oyster eating oysters and listening to bands; David Gagne kicked off the event, followed by The Oystermen, Blue Flames, Darlin’ Corey, Paul Mellyn & Denny Breau, and King Memphis.

Mine Oyster offered a special menu featuring oysters in every imaginable way to prepare them. The “Pemaquid Oyster Special” – a smoked oyster flatbread, received rave reviews.

All proceeds from Mine Oyster food sales during the event were donated to the festival, and all proceeds from the festival are donated to local nonprofits that share the vision of Edward A. Myers, a Damariscotta River aquaculture pioneer who dedicated his life to preserving marine ecology along Maine’s Midcoast. Since the festival began in 2003, it has awarded over $175,000 to local nonprofits.  

Boothbay Cornhole Classic (BCC) raised $60,000 for Special Olympics Maine (SOM) on Sunday, Sept. 24, after the tournament had been delayed for a week due to tropical storm Lee. Seventy-two teams from all over the state participated in the competition to raise funds and awareness for Special Olympics athletes and the communities that support them.

Val Giles gave opening remarks. “What I like most about Special Olympics is I get to make new friends – and let me remind you, I’m quite popular over here,” she laughed.

This was the third year of the cornhole tournament, but 32 years of giving to SOM. The previous incarnation was a golf tournament than ran for 30 years as the Boothbay Charities Classic. The money raised this year is up $10,000 from the amount raised last year. “I hope we keep this going for another 32 years so we can raise even more for Special Olympics,” said event co-chair Tony Krason.

Indeed, the cornhole tournament is growing each year, said Brenda Blackman, event co-chair. The event’s website says BCC has raised over $1 million for SOM since it began, but with Sunday’s totals Blackman said they are very close to the $2 million mark.

“This is the Boothbay event,” said Krason. This year, BCC had 154 local sponsors, many with custom-designed boards. The event also offered food, beverages and 10 live auction items ranging in value from $400 to $1,500, including several sports-themed experiences including ski trips, autographed memorabilia, and Celtics and Patriots tickets.

Cornhole Director Ken Williamson emceed as teams competed through a four-game round robin format. Corn-themed team names like Mazed & Confused, The Great Cornholio, and The Cobs kept onlookers amused.

Zack Roy and Rocky Sam won the competition’s grand prize, $1,000. Second place finishers Joel Small and George Cavo won $600. And third place finishers Michael Bolduc and William Smith won $400.

“The athletes are special – just like us they are talented and smart,” said Blackman. The event concluded with an emotional cluster of SOM and BCC board members gathering around the large $60,000 check. “It’s important to show our athletes from the community that we support them,” said Krason.

For over 50 years, SOM has strived to create continuing opportunities and hope for people with intellectual disabilities from ages 2-100 years old. Using sports as a foundation for change, they work to create a world of inclusion, where every person is accepted and welcome regardless of ability or disability.