5131-R1_CIC_August2017_Calendar_Web

Marty’s Memories: Getting to Chebeague by Marty Trower

The best part about going to and being on Chebeague is boats and, of course, the water. Yet after twice spotting a small helicopter parked on the lawn of the inn this summer, I couldn’t help but feel a huge loss of our way of life on the island. My memories go back to the 1950s when the Nellie G the third took us over, leaving from Handy Boat Service on Falmouth Foreside and stopping at Cousins and Littlejohn islands. There was enough parking at Handy Boat for all, and you could get a ride into Portland in a bus driven by Jimmy Millinger, who was also a deckhand. Handy Boat was abuzz with boats of all kinds and talk about boats, but my focus was on the tiny restaurant at the end of the dock where the most wonderful butterscotch brownies awaited me under a clear dome cover. At the Stone Pier, my best friend, Maggie, would meet me, her hair in pigtails and her bare feet already toughened up. Clyde and Geneva Bowen would be there in their taxi to take the family and our stuff to our cottage on Hamilton Beach. I would opt to run up the hill with my exuberant friend, who would make me remove my shoes immediately. She’d have to throw me onto her back, though, when she’d insist on running through their fields of thorny vegetation. We were heartbroken when Casco Bay Lines replaced the Nellie G , but we were rescued by Jasper (Smitty) Smith’s starting a water taxi service with his lobster boat the Polly-Lin . An entirely different flavor

of camaraderie developed as we negotiated this new, unscheduled trip passage over. Smitty was devoted and accommodating to us all. I remember agonizing about how to get to and from my first summer job in Portland when I had to work past the time when Smitty would do his trips. He offered to lend me his punt with a small outboard motor to get over and back! That was the kindest gesture, but oh, I had an awful time at first with the outboard. Every time I touched the handle of it, I got an electric shock! I must’ve looked silly, zigzagging across the water. Who knew I was merely trying to avoid the painful zapping that traveled up my arm to my teeth! Now, we have the Islander and a hardworking company that strives to meet all our transportation and parking needs. In the off season, we pass through crazy weather insults just to board the boat, but that topic becomes the start of all sorts of fun conversations with fellow travelers who in turn become friends. For all of us, whether summer people or year-rounders, the island and all it takes to make it our home is the common denominator. Lately though, with masses of strangers filling the parking lots to overflowing, the ferry jammed with luggage and other “necessities,” new homeowners putting up their own piers, and helicopters bringing guests to the inn, I fear we are losing a way of life that is unique and compelling. But perhaps that cannot really happen if we maintain that loving relationship with each other, our boats, and the sea. Lawn Mowing, Bush Hogging, Wood Chipping, Stump Grinding, Brush Removal, Rototilling, Driveway Grading, Snow Removal, and more... Property Maintenance

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AUGUST 2017 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR