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AUGUST 2017 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR
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.
R
EMODELING
D
ECKS
Fully Insured
Charles W. Hal l
R
ENOVATIONS
W
INDOWS &
D
OORS
Builder
charleshall@chebeague.net
Sweating the details
since 1999
207-210-4982
Property Maintenance
Call
Nathan Doughty
712-4017 or
846-4133
Lawn Mowing,
Bush Hogging,
Wood Chipping,
Stump Grinding,
Brush Removal, Rototilling,
Driveway Grading,
Snow Removal,
and more...