Looking Back

May 7 2024

“It is now part of the nearby town of Kennebunkport but it must be difficult for one who visits the ‘Port’ with its hotels crowded by summer visitors and the general atmosphere of activity, to realize that the tranquil village of Cape Porpoise was once the original and only inhabited place in the neighborhood and was actually a flourishing community long before the present towns of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport were in existence.”  .”  Herbert G. Jones in “The King’s Highway from Portland to Kittery” c. 1953

April 30 2024

The first thing many people think of when they hear May Day is the Maypole. Originally, the Maypole was a living tree brought in from the woods with much merrymaking. Ancient Celts danced around the tree, praying for good crops and fertility. In the Middle Ages, all villages had Maypoles with towns competing to see who had the tallest Maypole. The other popular tradition associated with May Day is the making and delivering of May Baskets. People would leave a paper basket or cone with spring flowers and sweets on each other’s doorsteps, usually anonymously. This tradition was popular through the 19th and into the early 20th century, when people would hang the May Basket on the doors of friends, neighbors and loved ones.

Leanne Hayden, Brick Store Museum

April 23 2024

“I am glad, in late March or early April, when the first thunderheads of the year roll up over the long blue coast line of Wells, and the rumble of distant thunder comes to us from the towering masses of silver-edged clouds.  We know then that within the week the last of the drifts and the slabs of ancient ice must vanish from the easterly side of ledges; that the salmon are in the rivers; that mayflowers will soon lie hid among their rough leaves at the edges of clearings; that before we know it the baby frogs will set up their pipings in the roadside pools.”  Kenneth Roberts in “Arundel”

April 16 2024

“’It’s been a good life for me—I’ve really enjoyed meeting all the people,’ said Leighton Perry with a ready smile, recalling the past 21 years he has spent as the owner of the Texaco station on Ocean Avenue in Kennebunkport. During Perry’s tenure, which ended Friday, the price of regular gasoline went from a low of 22 cents to a high of $1.29 a gallon and supply went from bountiful plenty to scarcity, resulting in gasoline lines which stretched over the length of Ocean Avenue to the Colony Hotel in one direction and up Route 9 toward Cape Porpoise in another during the summer of 1979. Through it all, Perry has taken events in stride, never losing his sense of priority. Asked whether he had a celebration planned for Friday night, he replied good-naturedly, ‘No, tonight’s my bowling night; I don’t have time to fool around.’ To Perry’s left is Earl Beauchemin, who took over the operation of the station Saturday.” York County Coast Start, 5-11-1980

April 9 2024

“there were eight shipyards between our house and the new toll bridge, all busily engaged in turning out the schooners, sloops and brigs that made our town of Arundel the busiest and the wealthiest in the province of Maine, next to Portland.” Kenneth Roberts in “The Lively Lady”

April 2 2024

“Once was the time when Charles would haste

Down to the Shore Line Pier,

In quest of livers, if by chance

A vessel should appear.

Afraid was he some man had brought

Ere he the vessel struck;

But when he heard; ‘They’re all for you,’

He said, ‘That’s just my luck.’. . .

Our stalwart Oilman started home

But icy was the way;

His load of livers overturned

And on the beach rocks lay.

In sudden wrath he quickly threw

His pitchfork in the sea;

Then tossed his mittens after it—

An angry Charles was he.

With empty sled he reached his home,

But soon a step he heard;

There at the door a small by stood,

Nor for a moment stirred.

‘I’ve brought your livers up, he said,

‘And chased away a duck;

And here’s the mitten and the fork’-

Said Charles; ‘That’s just my luck.’. . . .

Tried was his patience oftentimes

For sometimes checks were slow;

The Postmaster could give no hope,

Where ’twas he didn’t know.

‘O what a life, O what a life.’

You’d often hear him say,

What was the use to work at all,

You couldn’t get your pay.’

‘The money’s gone,’ he said. ‘Tis gone,

The oil and money, too.

That’s just the luck I always have

In everything I do.

Just thirty dollars that was worth

If I’d a market struck.’

But when the check came forty-five

He said; ‘That’s just my luck.”

Helen Ward Nunan in ‘In Other Days”

March 26 2024

“Easter was almost always in April and came when it was really getting warm. Then we could shed winter underwear and don a few spring clothes. We always had an Easter concert at the church in which each one of us ‘spoke a piece’ or sang a song. My mother worked several weeks ahead that we might each wear something new on Easter: for the girls a dress, a coat, or a hat and for the boys a shirt, a jacket, new trousers or shoes. The significance of Easter was emphasized in our church classes, and to us it was the glorious awakening of new life and a beautiful season.” Francis Landry in her “thoughts about our family”

March 18 2024

“Soon (in the 1950’s) millions of people were caught in a spiral in which they worked harder and harder to buy labor-saving devices that they wouldn’t have needed if they hadn’t been working so hard in the first place.” Bill Bryson in “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir”

March 12 2024

“By good fortune the next day was one of those fine unseasonable March days especially made for the loosening of the bands of ice that bind our Maine fields and streams. There was a sweet, warm, smoky breeze out of the northwest, a breeze that flattened the ocean near to shore, so that the waves were small and weak, dropping wearily on the sand as though they lacked the strength to press onward to the high-tide mark.” Kenneth Roberts in “The Lively Lady”

February 27,2024

“At town meeting in 1895 old issues remained, new issues were raised, and change was the constant. Money was spent to repair roads, bridges, and all twelve of the now town-owned schoolhouses. George Wildes was paid for providing food and lodging for 257 tramps. The Superintending School Committee was renamed the School Board, and Charles H. Pope and then George B. Carll were elected to the post of superintendent. The board of health dealt with four cases of typhoid (one fatal), four of scarlet fever, five of diphtheria, and one of measles. The selectmen tried to get the voters to agree to a new real estate valuation and failed.” Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, the Evolution of an American Town”

February 20, 2024

“A favorite upriver excursion was a picnic at the Picnic Rocks, which always included a large box of homemade potato chips from Benson’s in Dock Square and chocolate brownies form the Women’s Exchange. There were also picnics at The Point (although poison ivy along the path to the rocky shore was a hazard) or at Cleaves Cove.” Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, The Evolution of an American Town”

February 13, 2024

“During our growing-up years at the Cape, we got our mail at the Cape Porpoise post office, a small building opposite Arthur Nunan’s store (and the Church on the Cape), and still in existence though not in use at the present time. Frank Nunan was postmaster for many years, and later, Florence Nunan, Postmistress, until the building was closed and our post office made a branch of the Kennebunkport Post Office with a small office in Bradbury’s store.  We all remember when the mail came on the trolley cars and was picked up by a little man named Winnie Baston, who carried the mail in a wheelbarrow from the trolley stop to the post office, and always boasted about his “government job”. Francis Landry in her “thoughts about our family”

February 6, 2024

“Some winter nights we skated on the pond.
The milky way above, the ice its own
kind of milky mass below our blades.
Our hands and feet got cold, then colder.
Cloudy angels flew from our mouths.
Stars haloed everyone.
Sometimes we shouted and played red rover
or found an old shoe or a hockey puck
to play a cobbled game. Sometimes we circled
without a word, listening to the quiet
frosty darkness. Now and then
there was a thunderous crack from somewhere
far below and you couldn’t but quake
and wonder at the deep on either side.”

“Skating” by Kate Sorba

January 30, 2024

“Since 1751 the Perkins grist mill has been a landmark in Kennebunkport. It was built by Thomas Perkins and his sons, Eliphalet and Abner, on Long Creek, an estuary of the Kennebunk River. Eliphalet was the first miller. Eliphalet and Abner, and their brother James, who acquired part ownership of the mill, eventually deeded their shares to their sons, beginning a progression of ownership that kept the mill in the hands of their descendants for over 100 years. Fathers deed to sons, uncles to nephews, cousins to cousins, brother to brother until 1862 when a great-great-grandson of Eliphalet sold the mill to Simon Nowell Perkins, who was not a relation, but was descended from a Perkins family that owned land at Cape Porpoise since 1719. Simon and his son, James D. Perkins, and his grandson, James C., or ‘Mr. Jim’ as he was called by his neighbors, kept the mill in operation until 1939 when illness caused Mr. Jim to end its 188-year history as a functioning grist mill. In 1940 it was opened by his daughter and her husband as ‘The Olde Grist Mill,” a restaurant, which it still is today.” Joyce Butler in “A Kennebunkport Album” 1984

January 23, 2024

“We walk in the shadows of all those who came before. We witness daily the glorious reminders of what they accomplished and are respectful of the traditions that have been handed down. Though many generations have come and gone, the places that touched their lives remain, reminding us of each of their unique stories. The roads they walked, the fields they worked, the homes in which they lived and loved, the landscapes they held dear, the islands and beaches on which they played, all are now ours to enjoy. We are now the stewards of this beautiful place. What will be passed on to those who will follow is now in our hands.” Tom Bradbury 

January 16, 2024

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And Miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” 1923

January 9, 2024

It was while living and working here in her hometown of Kennebunkport in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, that she (Dorcas Zeiner) connected with a group of like-minded individuals who loved the natural beauty of the area and realized the benefits of preserving places which could be open for all to share and enjoy, always. She and a handful of others who shared this belief and passion began a grass roots effort to form what would become the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. . . Close to a half century later, Dorcas is still involved, interested, and continues to support the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. She said her favorite Trust property is Vaughn’s Island. ‘It will always be my favorite spot. Even before the Trust acquired the property, we had picnics and cook-outs there. It was a sea glass hot spot too.’” Shelley Wigglesworth in “Trust in our Town”

January 2, 2024

KCT Looking Back: “Coasting was a winter activity enjoyed by young and old at the Cape (Cape Porpoise). We small children in the family loved to slide on our hand-made sleds on the little hills around our house and in the lane and, when the top of the snow was frozen and glittery, we enjoyed the crust-sliding. As we got older we were allowed to slide on graveyard hill (on the Wildes District Road near Paddy’s Creek) with many other young folks—in the daytime, but not at night. The teen-age and young married folks went coasting on Crow Hill at night on long bobsleds. They could coast in the middle of the road, since there were no cars, the few cars in the Cape having been put up for the winter. They tell of coasting from the top of Crow Hill through the village to Pinkham’s store, and sometimes around the head of the cove. We younger folks could hear the shouting and laughing as we lay in bed on a cold winter’s night.” Francis Landry in her “thoughts about our family”

December 19,2023

“We did not have a Christmas tree until we were pretty well grown up. Few people in the Cape (Cape Porpoise) did. The night before Christmas we each chose a special chair or stool in the living room over which we hung one of our long black stockings. Then we went to bed leaving mother to be Santa. We were awake a very long time, or so it seemed, but Christmas morning came early, about five o’clock, when we all got up. We had to wash up and eat some breakfast before we could have our gifts and then—what excitement! Mr. Frank Hutchins said he could hear us from his house.”  Francis Landry in her “thoughts about our family”

December 5, 2023

“'Twas the week before Christmas in 1929, float plane pilot Bill Wincapaw was lost at nightfall in a major Nor'easter. He was returning to his home base, the Rockland, Maine airport, after spending the day delivering supplies and mail in the Penobscot Bay area. He was flying in a white out, with freak winds. The plane was icing up and running low on fuel. Captain Wincapaw realized the seriousness of his predicament. Bringing his plane lower and lower he spotted through the murk a blinking light. Banking around and dropping even lower, he spotted the light of the Dyce Head Lighthouse at Castine, Maine. With this as his landmark, he was able to set a safe course for home using the beacons of six other lighthouses. Just before that Christmas, he loaded his plane with carefully wrapped gifts, and with his son, Bill Jr., retraced his route back to the Dyce Head Light, dropping the gifts onto the lawns of the lighthouse keepers who had saved his life. Thus a tradition (the Flying Santa) was born.” “Boothbay Register” Dec. 24, 1998

November 28, 2023

“The (Kennebunkport) playhouse was the brainchild of a man named Bob Currier who had graduated from the New England Conservatory and formed a repertory group in Newton, Massachusetts, called the Garrick Players. During a summer visit to Kennebunkport, Bob met Booth Tarkington, who at the time was already a Broadway playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner. Tarkington was impressed with young Currier and became a sponsor of the Garrick Players. . . During the 1950s, the playhouse also hosted distinguished singers in musical productions. One favorite singer of the day was Bob’s younger sister, Jane Morgan. Jane had established her singing career in Paris, Rome, London and other foreign cities. She first appeared in Kennebunkport with actor Russell Nype in Cole Porter’s Paris. It was a complete sellout! After that, Jane would return each season for at least one performance. By this time, the company had ceased to use the name Garrick Players. Kathleen Ostrander in “Remembering the Kennebunks”

November 21, 2023

”Make us ready for the great adventure of living.  We do not pray for immunity from risks; we pray for courage to face risks.  We do not ask to be saved out of the world; we ask for strength to ally ourselves with the savior of the world.  Among the immediate and incidental problems of personal life, give us the courage to face the facts which confront us without evasions or self-deceptions; to atone for our blunders, not by repentance only, but by braver determination and decision.  Among the perplexities of daily life give us equanimity and self-control, that we may be not the slaves of circumstances but their masters, with the exhilaration of conflict and the joy of victory.  Finally, we pray that the adventure of living may be guarded and sustained by an undefeated patience, willing to wait for a new light and to re-enforce duty by loyalty. We do not know what a day may bring forth.  Arm us for the campaign of life with an unperturbed faith and an unconquered hope, that when the end of our adventure arrives, and we face the mystery that lies beyond, we may have some tranquil courage to meet the things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man; but which thou hast prepared for them that love thee.” Francis G. Peabody (1846 – 1936} “Courage”

November 14, 2023

“You are standing in Kennebunk’s Lower Village looking over the railroad tracks and station, lower left, and across the Kennebunk River with two schooners tied up to a dock, to the village of Kennebunkport with the Congregational Church on the left side of the photo and the Parker House facing the harbor. The origin and date of the photo are unknown. It would have been taken after the Boston and Maine spur into the Lower Village in operation in 1883, and before cars and trucks replaced horsedrawn carts. It shows the transition from sea to land transportation underway at the end of the 19th century.”

Madge Baker in “Woven Together in York County Maine”

November 7, 2023

“The best known of Roberts' nine novels are Arundel, Rabble in Arms, Oliver Wiswell, and Northwest Passage, which was made into a 1940 movie starring Spencer Tracy and Robert Young. "Kenneth Roberts established and maintained a reputation throughout his literary career as an author whose books were not only enjoyable to read but were models of historical writing and accuracy," writes Jack Bales. In 1957, one month before he died, Roberts was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize citation for having ‘long contributed to the creation of greater interest in our early American History.’'' An excerpt from “The Lively Lady by Kenneth Roberts

October 31, 2023

“Like all kids in the 1950’s, we had turned trick-or-treating into a science, blending our allotted time with a maximized yield.  Doing that required many nuances.  A lot of kids shared the same plans, so a hundred or more children might show up at any given front door.  Would any of the key givers run out of goods early?  Should we go counter clockwise to the traditional flow or should we not mess with past plans that worked? . . . We discussed all these things as well as the creativity of our costumes when we met in the Square just after sunset.  There was no need for our parents to follow us, for everyone in town knew one another and was on guard for any irregularity or problem.”

Tom Bradbury in “Our Harbor Home”

October 24, 2023

“For Charles Lindbergh, July did not start at all well. Although he had nobly resisted the crasser of the commercial blandishments waved before him, he did agree to two moneymaking propositions and it was now time to make good on those. One was to undertake a three-month tour of America in the Spirit of St. Louis. The idea was to visit every one of the forty-eight states, partly to satisfy the national craving to see him in the flesh but also to help promote aviation. The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics would pay him $ 2,500 a week during the trip, a generous sum.”

Bill Bryson in “One Summer in America,1927”

october 17, 2023

“Even as the new building (the new town hall in 1960) was opened for use, the demolition of another even older landmark, the 1835 Methodist church on Maine Street, began. The Legionnaires, who were the last to use the church and had sold it to the Ecklers, who lived next door, were building their new meeting hall at Cape Porpoise at the intersection of the Old Cape Road and Route 9.”

Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, The Evolution of an American Town”

October 10, 2023

“In 1960 one major challenge was met: the new municipal building on Elm Street was ready for occupancy in April, and the building committee was able to report that the Hendrick Construction Company had built it for less than $70,000 (rather than the high bid of another company of $120,000). Mrs. George Herbert Walker Sr. gave the health council $200 to buy a refrigerator, a table, and card files for their new quarters. Mrs. Kenneth Roberts gave the town three paintings by Anton Otto Fischer that had been created to illustrate The Lively Lady when it was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in 1931 and paid to have them conserved and reframed before they were hung in the new town offices. The new municipal building had been built on the site of the 1889 schoolhouse that was called Kennebunkport High School, although it also housed grammar school classes.”

Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, the Evolution of an American Town”

October 3, 2023

“At 3:50 a.m. on March 5, the day after town meeting (1889), the ship Governor Robie ran aground in a cove between Timber Island, off Goose Rocks Beach, and Biddeford’s Curtis Point. Her Searsport, Maine, shipmaster, Captain William Blanchard, had been returning her from a voyage to Japan and was headed for Portland with a cargo of rags for the Cumberland Paper Mill (S. D. Warren Mill, Westbrook). William Sinnett of Cape Porpoise was one of those who went in his dory to help get crew members and the captain’s family off the distressed vessel. During the day spectators flocked to Goose Rocks Beach. William E. Barry, who went to see the grounded vessel before she was finally floated free and towed by tugboats to Portland on March 15, made a series of sketches of the grounded vessel.”

Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, The Evolution of an American Town”

September 26, 2023

“While photographers and artists, charmed by the ‘typical fisherman’s shack’ Wink had created captured it on film and canvas, Wink passed his days savoring the ‘real’ town. He was befriended by local fishermen and became a supporter of the Fishermen’s Club where the men gathered to swap stories and play cards. He became a bit of a fisherman himself, lobstering 100 traps during the summer. But most of all he was a photographer, and sold his pictures to the Maine Fisherman and other publications with an interest in the Maine coast. Others took pictures of ‘The Periwinkle,; and sold them to postcard companies who printed them for the tourist trade, but Wink photographed the fishermen at work, their boats and gear, and the seagulls that followed them home and came to stand still at his own open window.”

Joyce Butler in “Winkie’s” in” Across Generations”

September 19, 2023

“While at the beach we sensed more than ever that our lives were governed by luck. When we had it—when it was sunny—my sisters and I felt as if we were somehow personally responsible. We were a fortunate family, and therefore everyone around us was allowed to swim and dig in the sand. When it rained, we were unlucky, and stayed indoors to search our souls.”

David Sedaris in “The Best of Me”

September 12, 2023

"The lobsters are crawling again. That's the one good word flashing up and down the Maine coast in connection with Hurricane Carol. The big storm stirred up the bottom so much that even the laziest lobster is crawling around, trying to get his share of easy pickings. Plenty of them are crawling right into the fishermen's traps—or pots as they're known in Maine. . . . Tangled gear presents a major problem in resuming work. At Cape Porpoise the pier this week was covered with a small fountain of snarled lines, buoys and other gear. A fisherman would find a buoy that belonged to him and follow the lines back to untangle his gear from that of the other fishermen. The wind and sea tangled hundreds of separate lines into one mass of rope."

"The Boston Sunday Globe, September 12, 1954"

September 5, 2023

“While Anna (Simon) cooked and served, Bill (her husband) always seemed to find the time to sit in the last seat at the bar.  He’d listen quietly as we talked to one another, cigarette in hand.  If ever our conversation seemed to lag he would pipe in, “Did I ever tell you about the time I met Johnny Weissmuller?  He played Tarzan in the movies, you know.”  We did know, and yes, we’d heard that story about a thousand times before.  And if our sodas were just started, we’d hear it one time more.  If we were nearly finished, we’d quickly slurp down what was left and say, “Sorry, we’d love to hear it but we’ve got to go!”

Tom Bradbury in “Our Harbor Home”

August 29. 2023

“Due to the lack of enough other volunteers, she (Miss Albania Merrill) was manning it (the observation tower) ten to twenty hours a week. The situation improved after she held an aircraft recognition class in April, which was attended by forty-five potential new volunteers. The difficulty in manning the Fisher’s Lane observation post may have been due to the fact that the army had raised another post (a round, concrete tower) on Stone Haven Hill (c, 1943). Although army personnel were responsible for it, local volunteers were assigned there, too.”

Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport: The Evolution of an American Town”

August 22, 2023

“One event that was particularly successful was the Phil Matthews Memorial Lobster Bake, first held in 1995. Phil’s family and friends recognized his long-standing love of the islands of Cape Porpoise and sought to help protect them in his memory. The inaugural affair raised over $6,000, including a curious donation of $50 from the Internal Revenue Service Processing Division Office mailed on official letterhead. The gala featured great food, fireworks (donated by Steve Pelkey), music, and a priceless setting at the end of Langsford Road overlooking the islands. Boat rides to Goat Island Lighthouse were enjoyed. In 1996 the gathering was joined by none other than George H. W. Bush and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who were kind enough to sign autographs. Noted bands, including bluesman James Montgomery from Detroit, Nashville’s Bonepony, and local favorite Straight Lace graced the stage. Subsequent lobster bake events were held for many years and generated tens of thousands of dollars for KCT.”

David Jourdan in “To Preserve Forever”

August 15, 2023

“We hope that the discoveries made on Trust properties will help students to open their eyes to those little things that are so often taken for granted.  We hope that they will make them think, and wonder and ask questions.  We hope that they will use their imaginations, be amazed by what has been and be inspired to what could be.  We hope that they will discover that learning is not isolated to a time, a classroom or a single subject.  It is lifelong, magically complex and all around us.”

Tom Bradbury

August 8, 2023

"This was similar to the Lighthouse Service's regulations requiring keepers to respond to a tender's salute.  If there was no salute from the light, the question was, ‘Where is the keeper?  He should be there.’  Even a stag or one-man light was not supposed to be left alone, but the keeper had to go for supplies occasionally.  On a family light, a member of the family was expected to take over; no extra money was paid for this service." 

Connie Scovill Small in "The Lighthouse Keeper's Wife”

August 1, 2023

“I feel so sorry for anyone who misses the experience of history, the horizons of history. We think little of those who, given the chance to travel, go nowhere. We deprecate provincialism. But it is possible to be as provincial in time as it is in space. Because you were born into this particular era doesn’t mean it has to be the limit of your experience. Move about in time, go places. Why restrict your circle of acquaintances to only those who occupy the same stage we call the present?”

David McCullough in “Brave Companions”

July 25, 2023

“I don’t think our father would have cared whether he took a vacation or not. Being away from home left him anxious and crabby, but our mother loved the ocean. She couldn’t swim, but enjoyed standing at the water’s edge with a pole in her hand. It wasn’t exactly what you’d call fishing, as she caught nothing and expressed neither hope nor disappointment in regard to her efforts. What she thought about while looking at the waves was a complete mystery, yet you could tell that these thoughts pleased her, and that she liked herself better while thinking them.”

David Sedaris in “The Best of Me”

July 18, 2023

“Formal dedication ceremonies Sunday marked the presentation of a new fire hall to the community of Cape Porpoise. The building was given to the Cape by the Kittredge family, who have long been generous contributors to their communities’ welfare. The new fire hall will house three engines. The space in the old fire hall (Atlantic Hall) will be used to expand the community library, which has occupied only a small portion of the ground floor. Some 500 K’Port residents filled the new building on a rainy afternoon and heard Cape Porpoise historian Melville Freeman give a brief address in which he thanked the Kittredge family and presented them with a watercolor painting of the new fire hall. The painting was done by Edward Mayo. Mr. Freeman remarked that the Kittredges had certainly lived up to the adage ‘Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well,’ and he pointed out that the family had also made it possible for K’Port to build their fine Communications Center—which only last week was instrumental in saving the life of a child. Emery Hutchins did the masonry work on the three-bay structure, and the carpentry was contracted for by Gilbert Fessenden. Fire Chief Wilbur Bradbury was in charge of the arrangements for the ceremonies. He was assisted by Mrs. Fred Severance and Mrs. Frank Craig. Also assisting were Mrs. Ruth Thurston, Mrs. Harold Smith, Mrs. Doris McKenna, Mrs. Eleanor Seavey, and Mrs. Mary Zecchini. A plaque bearing the Kittredge name and the date of the presentation will soon be affixed to the new building.”” Kennebunk Star” Friday, July 3, 1959

July 11, 2023

“With the race behind us it was time to move on to other types of fundraisers.  A raffle seemed to be a good idea.  In my teens I had babysat a few times for a young family who lived just down the street from our house.  Though my style was ill defined and understated, my hope was  that all the young people I came in contact with would one day climb to great heights.  In Dan Goodwin’s case that desire went above and beyond and was to bear unexpected fruit.  It was with some surprise that I read in the newspaper one day how “SpiderDan” had climbed the outside wall to the top of the Chicago Sears Tower.  The good news for us was that he carried with him a few small American flags which he had symbolically planted at the top of the building just prior to being arrested.  He was kind enough to give us two of these along with letters of authenticity which we placed in appropriately stylish red, white and blue frames and raffled off to our amazed townsfolk, just as Dan headed off to New York to test his skills on the World Trade Center.” Tom Bradbury in “Together We Can”

July 4, 2023

“By the luck of the draw, we have all found our way to this special place.  We share a history that's rich and deep.  We're surrounded by great beauty.  And, we have each other.  When combined together, these are the building blocks of community-- one that is appreciative, caring and supportive, one that we're proud to call home.”  Tom Bradbury

June 27, 2023

“In the early days of the Cape Island campaign, we had decided that we should hold an old fashioned bean supper at Atlantic Hall in Cape Porpoise. Bean suppers on a Saturday night were an established part of the local culture, a time honored tradition that couldn’t fail. The old hall in the center of the square had probably hosted hundreds of such events over the years. . . .     We had to find someone who was good around the kitchen and, in this case, the Beards were our first call. Dan and Sarah were beloved staples of the community, known for their volunteerism. Dan was the consummate fireman, and both of them were founders, as well as devoted members, of the local ambulance service. They were known and respected by all, which allowed them to call upon others for help. They immediately said that they would be happy to assist and we spent a bit of time going over the menu. Most things were givens, but there was some debate over hot dogs or ham. If it were hot dogs should they be red or brown? In the end we decided to cook them all in the interest of making everyone happy. They would ask Howie Noyes to help out. Sarah would call the ladies in town to see if they could bake a pie. We would probably need thirty or more of these, she figured, and so we were on our way.” Tom Bradbury in “Together We Can”

Photos: Our First Cape Island Bean Supper, c. 1982

June 20, 2023

“About a dozen or so Nantucket Indian class sailboats remained attached to the Kennebunk River Club.  They were sleek wooden vessels, twenty-one feet in length with trim lines, a classic look and a proud racing history.  It was true that all of them suffered in one way or another from the effects of age, but wouldn’t it be great, we thought, if we could convince their owners to participate in one more race. . . We contacted all of the owners and all agreed to take part.  We were on our way. . .We knew it would be a great event.  And since we were using Indian sailboats to promote the protection of Cape Island the name became obvious, “The Great Cape Island Indian Race”. . . We picked a date based on the tide, hoped the weather would cooperate and then began to discuss rules. . .  “When the boats turn to enter the cross channel they’re going to collide,’ someone stated.  ‘There is just no avoiding it.’  Several similar points and complications were offered and discussed until we finally decided on the easiest course of action.  We would have no rules.  Anything goes and the winner will be the first boat across the finish line. Such a decisive conclusion to a complicated matter made us all feel like Solomon. . . ‘What about the excitement factor?’  another person asked.  Everyone wanted to know what he meant.  The race was the excitement we thought.  ‘Well,’ he explained, ‘a sailboat is quiet and if the wind is wrong this could also be very slow.  Won’t that make the whole thing boring?’  He did have a point, and the answer we came up with was music.  But since the race moved along a prescribed course then the music would have to move too.  It had to be something lively and fun.  Someone had a friend who knew a friend of a Portland jazz band that would be perfect.  Their name even suggested the type of group we were looking for, The Fanfare Soufflé Over Easy National Sidewalk Band, with Strings.  We would load them on to the back of the Goose Rocks Beach antique fire truck, decorate it with balloons and follow the race along the shore.”

Tom Bradbury in “Together We Can”

June 13, 2023

“There was a beautiful summer home overlooking Stage Harbor with a view of Cape Island, which happened to be owned by Tad’s father, Professor Sterling Dow II. Tad and Tom sat with him and convinced him of their cause (the KCT Purchase of Cape Island), and he agreed to work with his neighbors, the Pargellis family, to host a neighborhood cocktail party in the summer of 1981. The well-attended event was the first of many fundraisers.”

David Jourdan in “To Preserve Forever, The History of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust”

June 6, 2023

“It was my good fortune to be present at the River Green Friday, Aug. 18, for the unveiling of Kennebunkport’s new landmark, the Frank Handlen sculpture ‘Our Forebears of the Coast.’ I am moved to express my appreciation publicly for this fine gift to all of us. How fortunate we are to share our life here in the Kennebunks with an artist of Frank Handlen’s ability and vision. How lucky we are that Catherine and John Rinaldi had the means and desire to fund this outstanding memorial to her husband and his father, Fred J. Rinaldi. My deepest thanks and heartiest congratulations to them and our friends and neighbors who made the sculpture and event possible. . . . . The event was one of the fine moments in small-town life. To be there with so many friends and acquaintances of longstanding to witness the presentation was exhilarating. Those of us who value the Kennebunks can take comfort in the wholesome public manifestation of the life we enjoy here. Those who choose to follow us as residents of these towns as well as visitors here will gain from ‘Our Forebears of The Coast’ not only as awareness of the history of this place, but an appreciation for the community that supported and valued its creation.”
Joyce Butler in the York County Coast Star, August, 1995

May 30, 2023

“Our river is small—so small that we build our vessels parallel to its channel and slide them in sideways. Yet it’s large enough to accommodate a brig of two hundred tons, which is as big as a man needs, no matter to what part of the world he wishes to sail.” Kenneth Roberts in “Rabble in Arms”

May 23, 2023

"When people who mattered to me died I began to feel that something was required of me.  Sometimes something would be required that I could do, and I did it.  Sometimes when I didn't know what was required, I still felt the requirement.  Whatever I did never felt like enough." 

Wendell Berry in "A Place in Time: Twenty Stories of the Port William Membership"

May 16, 2023

“A trend in this direction (great generosity) started in the 1980’s with the donation of a number of parcels along the beautiful Goose Rocks Beach. The two-mile strip of sand and surf had been enjoyed by visitors and residents for many decades, but all of it was owned by private landholders. This began to change when Desmond and Joan O’Hara donated three Sand Point lots the summer of 1981, followed soon by beach lots from C. Bader and Marjorie Brouilette, and Clare I. Starr. The following year several beach lots were contributed, including from Gilbert and Vivian Fessenden, Anna Larkin, and Mary McLean. In 1983 Suzanne Newell Lofredo joined the ranks of beach lot donors, as did William and Cynthia Nixon in 1985. Board member Kathy Kubiak encouraged the Trust to pursue these properties and worked hard to keep the beach accessible to the public. These nine properties amounted to a modest acre and a half, but they were the foundation of a stretch of beach of inestimable value to the community.”

David Jourdan in “To Preserve Forever – The History of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust

May 9, 2023

“Only students of forgotten things would guess the meaning of the ponderous and barnacled posts that still remain, here and there along the banks, all the way from the harbor mouth to a jumble of half-submerged granite above the village.  Long useless, these big posts and stones are what is left of the great days of Mirthful Haven (Kennebunkport); though, of the busy shipyards they served, there is now no token at all, and pine thickets have grown high upon the ground where the old square-riggers were launched above the granite locks to be warped by those sturdy posts down to the sea.” 

Booth Tarkington in “Mirthful Haven” 1930

May 2, 2023

“The photo opposite will show you youngsters how an electric car looked coming down Main Street, Kennebunk. It will also show you something that will never happen again, Main Street without a single auto or horse in sight. The date had to be between the big fire of 1903 and the time Kent Cleaner’s building was erected in 1912 by Nat Thompson.”

Kenneth Joy in “The Kennebunks - Out of the Past” 1967

April 25, 2023

“One of the remarkable features of this community (Cape Porpoise) has been the unusual unity and self-sacrifice of its members in any common public project. Recently for example, a new heating plant was needed for the church. A modern plant was installed at considerable cost and paid for within a year, not through large gifts, but through the unselfish and concerted efforts of many. Although in name and in supervision the church is Methodist, being under the general direction of the General Conference, it is a community church, in which all are welcome to have a part regardless of creedal difference—a genuine Christian organization.”

Melville C. Freeman in the “History of Cape Porpoise” 1955

April 18, 2023

“It was the goal of the Trust, Tad (Dow) taught me, to recognize those pieces of property which most clearly contributed to the feel of the community and set them aside for all to enjoy. By so doing, it was reasoned, even as the town grew and evolved, its essential character would remain the same. Natives would not be shut out from their traditional places of recreation, newcomers could continue to enjoy those special attributes that had brought them here, businessmen would not lose the major asset upon which our tourist based economy was built and those here for but a short time would be able to continue to appreciate the beauty for which we were known.”

Tom Bradbury in “Together We Can”

April 11. 2023

“Soon, a first draft was written of the Articles of Agreement of a new organization to be called the Kennebunkport Conservation Association. The draft stated purpose was…’the acquisition of primarily undeveloped land within the county of York, with particular emphasis on islands, coastal land, Marsh, and tidal areas, to be held forever in its natural state…’ In the application to form a corporation the word ‘Association’ was changed to ‘Trust.’ It took some time for Tad (Dow) and his busy cohorts to hold a formal organizational meeting but plans continued to gel over the following year. The entity was finally created in March of 1973, with an official date of incorporation of April 13, 1973. The Kennebunkport Conservation Trust (KCT) was born.”

David Jourdan in “To Preserve Forever”

March 13, 2023

I Like Snow
By Silas H. Perkins
(1927)

I’m a most peculiar guy,
Tell you why:
I like snow.
Like the winter’s storm,
When I’m snug and warm,
As you know. 

Don’t care what the people say,
It’s my way,
Let it blow!
Others may bemoan,
Whine and pine and groan;
I like snow. 

Like it when it fills the air
Everywhere,
Falling slow,
Covering the ground,
Soft without a sound,
Gentle snow. 

Like the song that winter sings
When it brings
Winds that blow.
Like it when it shrieks
“Look out ears and cheeks!
I like snow!” 

Let the poor deluded leave,
I don’t grieve;
Let them go
Where the winter’s hot.
Here I cast my lot,
I like snow

March 7, 2023

“In 1888 Vaughn’s was sold by Seth and Sarah Warren to a syndicate aiming to develop a cottage colony. Planning to use stone from the island’s shores to cut costs, the group envisioned a warren of 134 postage-stamp-sized lots placed shoulder-to-shoulder in a neat grid. They imagined a bevy of tourists drawn by the advertised delights of the “mosquitoless” coastline. To that point, access to the island was by boat or by crossing the shallow Turbat’s Creek at low tide, but the developers planned to construct a bridge and promised the town they would maintain it for ten years. A drawbridge was built in 1891 across the creek and the first cottages were erected. However, the folly of this scheme was revealed over the next few years as the bridge was washed away at least twice in winter storms and the developers failed to find an adequate supply of fresh water from briny wells. By 1895 the cottage project was stalling. James Strout, a member of the syndicate, was keen to press on and bought out the other investors. Five cottages were eventually built, but by 1910 the bridge was gone and only vacant shells remained on the island along with one deserted house said to be more than two hundred years old.”

David Jourdan in “To Preserve Forever – The History of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust

February 21, 2023

“The fish house that was next door was long and narrow.  Surprisingly, when the schooner fishing fleet was in its heyday, this building had been built as a two lane bowling alley.  It provided a good deal of competitive entertainment when the schooner fishermen were in port, seeing how many pins they could knock down, as well as how close they could roll the ball by the pin boy without actually breaking his leg. 

     The pin boy stood on a small raised platform at the end of the alley between the two sets of pins.  After the three balls had been thrown on either side of him, he would hop down to reset those pins that had been knocked over.  At the time, it was considered one of the more dangerous jobs in town, for there were those who found more pleasure in seeing the pin boy scurry for safety than in seeing the pins go down.  They also had to be on the lookout for the occasional accidental lobbed ball that would come their way.  Most of the time it was just good fun and a job was a job.” Tom Bradbury in “Our Harbor Home”

February 14, 2023

In the 1700’s, this area was originally farmland.   The first ‘settler’ was John Mitchell who bought 200 acres of land and built a farmhouse on it. . . . In 1906, the Roger’s family from NY purchased the land, building a 6,000 square foot Tudor mansion called Fairfields.  In addition to the impressive home, he had the grounds landscaped by Frederick Law Olmstead Brothers who are well known for having also designed gardens in Central Park, the Boston Commons, the White House and Capital Building in Washington DC.

The property remained the summer retreat for the Roger’s family until it was sold in 1937.  Following a brief 10 year ownership by the daughter of a Maine textile baron, the property was sold to the Society of Franciscan Fathers of Greene, Maine.  Franciscan Father Justinas Vaskys from Lithuania came to Kennebunk and first established the monastery in the name of St Anthony.  While a number of Grotto’s and Chapels have been erected over the years throughout the grounds with a Lithuanian style, the Monastery remains in the original Tudor from the home first built there more than 100 years ago.  From the 1802 House Bed & Breakfast Inn website

February 7, 2023

“Under the house is a dry cellar, stored with crocks of mince meat made from properly cooked bear and venison haunches—which is to say scarcely cooked at all—mixed with French brandy and chopped apples from the tree that shades our kitchen windows: also smoked goose breasts, hams, smoked eels, dried apples, dried corn, salted codfish, pickled tinker mackerel, bags of onions and potatoes, racks of squashes, jars of brandied peaches, barrels of corned beef, cucumbers in brine, tubs of pigeon, plover and partridge breasts packed in melted fat, so they can be eaten when fresh meat is scarce in the winter.” Kenneth Roberts in “Rabble in Arms”

January 31, 2023

“Give me the day when the sun’s a-shine

And the air is tingling like bubbling wine,

When the sea-gull cries to his wheeling mate,

And the boat sails in as you idly wait,

And the fleecy clouds are drifting over

While all about is the scent of clover;

When the gentle tide laps the old wharf’s piling,

And I, the pleasant time beguiling,

Stop the old mariner in his walk,

And settle down to a quiet talk,

Of other days, when, bold and free,

The clipper’s white sails decked the sea.” 

Silas H. Perkins

“Maine” in “On Shore Ballads”

January 17, 2023

“I love to think of the old store with its wide counters and old glass showcases, its stalks of bananas, the old meat block, the eggs in baskets, the big coffee grinder, the barrels of vinegar and molasses. Best of all were the boxes of cookies with glass doors from which we could choose several kinds when our mother sent us for a pound of mixed cookies. Those store-bought cookies were a great treat, and we thought them better than mother’s home-baked molasses or sugar ones.”

-Helen Ward Nunan in “Across Generations”

January 10, 2023

“The snow plow owned by the Atlantic Shore Line was of the four-wheel nose type, built by the Taunton Locomotive Works at Taunton, Mass., for the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway in 1899. Another four-wheel nose plow, this one built by Wason, was purchased by the Atlantic Shore Line in 1904. Three more plows, two four-wheel, one built by Wason and one by Taunton, and one double truck plow, “F,” built by Smith & Wallace of Woburn, Mass., were taken over from the Portsmouth, Dover & York in 1906.”

January 3, 2023

“Our town of Arundel, at the mouth of the Arundel River in the Province of Maine, halfway between Portsmouth and Portland, is a small place; and those who live there think that nothing happens in it, ever. It is to escape from that dullness, no doubt, that so many of my townsmen have taken to the sea, knowing it and using it as landsmen know and use their front yards and back yards and farms and warehouses and highways.” Kenneth Roberts in “The Lively Lady”

December 27, 2022

“The past is never lost to us. We carry it with us, everywhere we go. It is in every cell of our body and our soul. It is where we have been. It is where we learn to love.  It is where we made our mistakes......and where we can consign them. The gift is knowing that the present will soon pass. And that the way we embrace it has the power to change everything.” Heidi Thomas in “Call the Midwife”

December 13, 2022

“People who traditionally open gifts on Christmas Eve seem a bit more pious and family-oriented than those who wait until Christmas morning. They go to Mass, open presents, eat a late meal, return to church the following morning, and devote the rest of the day to eating another big meal. Gifts are generally reserved for children, and the parents tend not to go overboard. It’s nothing I’d want for myself, but I suppose it’s fine for those who prefer food and family to things of real value.” Comedian David Sedaris in “The Best of Me”

December 6, 2022

“Arnold Stinson came to bring the package dropped by “Flying Santa” Edward Rowe Snow which landed in the water and Lee Hutchins picked up,” Mary Bakken wrote in her journal on December 23rd, 1948.  Mary’s husband, Joseph Bakken, was the keeper of the light on Goat Island. They and their two young children lived there year round. “It contained a novel, ‘A Pilgrim Returns to Cape Cod’ by Snow,” she continued, “2 balloons, 2 rubber toys, 2 bars of candy, 2 packages of Chesterfields, another book by Snow and a silver airplane.  When Joe returned to the island he found another package from Snow.  It also contained a novel, cigarettes, candy, balloons, a rubber toy and a pen and pencil set.”  The tradition of the “Flying Santa” remained strong.

The “Flying Santa” won’t be dropping his gift this year.  Instead, he will come by helicopter to the island.  But the excitement will be just the same.  The Dombrowskis will have some young families on hand to share in the joy of the season as they greet him and share gifts.  “I don’t know whose smile will be the widest,” Scott declares, “the kids or mine. What a wonderful tradition this is. It’s just another reason why I love this place!”

November 29, 2022

“The chief source of year-round revenue of the Cape’s fishermen now was lobstering (c. 1930). Nearly all owned two boats; large, strong craft that were used in winter to catch the seasonally migrating crustaceans several miles offshore and smaller motorboats that could be used inshore during the summer. Most of the boats of the lobster fleet were equipped with power trap-lifts. The lifts allowed them to haul three times as many pots in a day as had their fathers, who hauled their traps by hand.” Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, The Evolution of an American Town”

November 22, 2022

“The winds of adversity beat on that band,

Yet their triumphant songs rang o’er sea and o’er land,

And their echo we catch through the passage of years,

For their spirit still lives and that courage still cheers,

And those hymns of rejoicing we surely can borrow

To speed us along to a nobler tomorrow.

Now folksies, pitch in, for the blessing is said—

We have offered up thanks for this meat and this bread.

Try some of this dressing? One potato or two?

Help yourselves to the squash. A wishbone for you?

Leave room for the pudding! Be he saint or a sinner,

May everyone have such a Thanksgiving dinner!

Silas Perkins in “Thanksgiving” “On Shore Ballads” 1937

Justin Landry Carving the Thanksgiving Turkey, 1955

November 15, 2022

“Warping a vessel down the river to Kennebunkport was a difficult job, partly because the river was so shallow that the ship could only be moved at high tide. It always required four tides, and often many more, to get a ship from Kennebunk Landing to Kennebunkport.” Norman E. Borden Jr. in “Dear Sarah”

November 8, 2022

“During the past forty years Cape Porpoise has grown nearly one half. Some may ask ‘What has caused the growth? Has there been any manufacturing business in the place?’ Fishing business has caused all the growth. Forty years ago there were but a few large fishing schooners that sailed from this harbor, and they went to the bay on a three or four months voyage, and the crew would make from thirty to sixty dollars, according to the amount of fish caught. The shore men so called, went out in what they called dog boats. These boats were small, with one sail. In the summer time they would make their own fish, and do their own selling. Years passed on, and about thirty years ago these same men went out in the winter in their same little boats and sold their fish to a man from Boston by the name of Abbott, Thomas Stone being his agent. About this time all the fishing business was done by hand lines. Biddeford Daily Journal. June 17, 1885

November 1, 2022

“’Look how they’ve (the natives) stopped him and all the rest of us in our plans for a yacht club that would bring any amount more boats into the harbor every summer, and naturally increase the trade in the village. Frankly, I wish they’d act more like human beings!’ ‘No, no,’ Corning protested. ‘You’re too hard on them, and besides, they’re not all the same kind. They have their own social differences, and moral ones, too, just as we have ours, and many of the villagers are very intelligent and likable people.’” Booth Tarkington in “Mirthful Haven” 1930

October 25, 2022

“Reports of fires in Kennebunk preclude driving south. To drive west is to go toward the fire. To go east is to drive into the ocean. And to drive north is not without risk. There are rumors of small fires along the main road to Biddeford. Could she and Gene and the children make it to Cape Porpoise just up the coast? Could a boat be found there? Many of her neighbors are staying put to protect their houses. Few can imagine a fire advancing to the ocean, deliberately moving toward an absolute lack of fuel.” Anita Shreve in “The Stars Are Fire”

October 18, 2022

“At Goose Rocks Beach, where cottage lots were being sold out of the Emmons and Jeffrey farms to summer people (1885), there was a new hotel, The Beachwood, on King’s Highway, facing the beach. This section of town, with its almost three-mile-long beach of white sand, was becoming, like Cape Arundel, a summer colony, although for people of more modest means. Daniel Dow’s cottage and a gunning shanty that had been built near the eastern end of the beach by Biddeford carriage-maker Robert Campbell no longer stood alone. Mr. Campbell had rented a lot from Mary Jeffrey. He had five sons and enjoyed bringing them over to shoot Canada geese in the autumn when the migrating birds came ‘by the thousands’ to the rocks offshore, as they always had, thus giving the area its name.” Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, The Evolution of an American Town”

October 11, 2022

“The Sinnett House has been the vacation home for many fine people in the past and we will do all in our power to make it an even better place in the future. Mrs. L. A. Deinstadt formerly owned the ‘White Rock Farm’ and has made many friends with her real hospitality. Her table has long been the talk of her guests, serving family style, so that if one is more hungry than usual he can eat to his heart’s content. . . The Sinnett House overlooks the harbor with its large fleet of small boats, yachts, islands and light house. At the Pier you can hire row boats and supplies for fishing are available. To get here take the train or bus to Kennebunk. Then the bus to Cape Porpoise. If you come by car you take Route No. 1 to Kennebunk, then to Kennebunkport and Route No. 9 to Cape Porpoise. We hope you can find it possible to spend your vacation with us. We know you will enjoy yourself immensely. The rates are $25 and $30 per week per person.” From a Sinnett House Ad, 1950

October 4, 2022

“News of the summer colony of Beachwood was even more difficult to find in the newspapers than that of Cape Porpoise, which at least got consistent coverage in the Star. Like the Cape, Beachwood had its own distinctive ambience, which drew back year after year the vacationers to whom it appealed. Carolyn ‘Tot’ Wilson and her husband George first came in 1921, driving in their Model T Ford to The Homestead, which she would remember as ‘an old farmhouse way up at the (eastern) end of the beach.’ It was run by Albert and Jenny Jeffery and was indeed their farmhouse with the onetime annex of the old Goose Rocks House attached. The Wilsons paid $17 a week each for their room and presumably generous meals of home-cooked food. They came back year after year and in 1926 would build themselves a cottage on the undeveloped western end of the beach. It didn’t matter that they did not have electricity and that the road to their cottage was rutted; the beach lay before their door.” Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, The Evolution of an American Town”

September 27, 2022

“To those who prefer the quiet atmosphere of the private home we are opening our Ten Room House overlooking the harbor at Cape Porpoise in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine. Boating, fishing. Excellent table with abundance of sea food. Large airy Rooms and comfortable beds. All modern conveniences. Garage. Rates $15 - $18 per week. Write to S.H. Pinkham, Cape Porpoise, Me.” From a Pinkham’s advertisement (Summer of 1920. Belle Russell was cook.)

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

“The voters agreed (in 1907) that water lines should be extended along the Huff Road (Langsford Road) at Cape Porpoise and also that $400 should be appropriated to buy 1,000 feet of hose. This led to the organization of a company of volunteer firefighters at the Cape—the Atlantic Hose Company No. 1. The company kept their hose and reel in Pharaoh Perry’s stable, and one of Perry’s horses was trained to pull it. Over time the horse learned to respond with alacrity to the ringing of the fire bell. Now when a building at the Cape caught fire, there was hope that more than a few pieces of furniture and livestock could be saved.” Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, the Evolution of an American Town”

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

“Thank you so much for all your kind words. Most do not know this but in our 29 year presence at Goat Island, we have either conducted or aided in a rescue 24 out of 29 years. From boats on fire, to going up on the rocks, out of fuel, a plane crash, capsize, piloting out of the rocks and into the harbor, on and on......it proves the cries of the local Cape Porpoise residents for many decades to keep Goat Island manned were warranted. It was the last Coast Guard manned lighthouse in Maine. We are very proud to be part if Goat Island's maritime heritage, represent the Trust and help as any good mariner would. Always good to pay it forward, we never know when WE will be the next ones in need of assistance. Happy Safe Boating to you all.” Scott & Karen Dombrowski

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

School Days c. 1907: Back Row L to R: Melvin Hutchins, Arthur Sinnett, William Sinnett, Charlie Stone, George Emmons, Frank Fisher, Frank Hutchins & Lyman Harrison Huff. Front Row: Hazel Stone, Ruth Jennison, Esther Huff, Flosie York, Marion Emmons, Pearl Nunan (Hutchins), Hattie McKinney (Griffin) & Gladys Perry (Towne).

“The 1906 town meeting was going to be extra-long. The men who gathered were agitated; everyone was talking, expressing his thoughts on the issues they were going to have to decide. Hats and caps of all descriptions bobbed up and down in the haze of tobacco smoke that hung in the air. Henry Dennett was chosen as moderator. When he picked up the gavel, his sharp, gray face, which looked like it might have been cut from granite, and his serious demeanor quieted the crowd. It was business as usual to fund the support and maintenance of the schools and also roads and bridges. Also as usual, $1800 was earmarked for care of the poor; but, the selectmen told the voters that it was absolutely impossible to keep within that figure. Article Nine asked for $600 to build a new Beachwood School. Article Ten asked if Robinson School, which only had four students, should be closed. Superintendent Elmer Meserve called both schools ‘passé,’ but both articles failed. The voters did agree to build a new outbuilding at Hutchins School.” Joyce Butler in “Kennebunkport, The Evolution of An American Town”

AUGUST 30, 2022

“’A lobsterman is a kid’s perfect hero,’ she replied. ‘Unbelievably tough. Fiercely independent. And, because they never breathe a word to a soul about their take, we thought, of course, they were fabulously wealthy.’ She smiled again at the thought that, in her childhood estimation, lobstermen were at the top of the importance pedestal. Above the wealthy summer people. Above the village professionals. At the right hand of God.” Amy Frazier in “The Secret Baby”

AUGUST 23, 2022

“Roger Deering was born in East Waterboro, Maine, in 1904. He studied painting at the National Academy of Design in New York City. Over the course of his career he was a board member and chairman of the Maine chapter of the American Artists Professional League, and was a member of numerous other professional art organizations. H exhibited in many one man shows, and won several awards. Deering represent the State of Maine at the New York World’s Fair in 1940. He founded and taught at the Deering School of Outdoor Painters in Kennebunkport, Maine. (His home and studio was on Ocean Avenue.) From Art in Embassies, U.S. Dept. of State website.

AUGUST 16, 2022

“Stunning ocean views. Sunrises over the Atlantic. Sweeping seaside lawns. Romantic candlelight dining overlooking the water. Come discover the quiet pleasures that have made the Shawmut Inn a special Maine tradition since 1913. Over 20 oceanfront acres await you. Jump in our Olympic outdoor salt water pool. Join in a game of badminton or croquet by the sea. Take a leisurely stroll through our woods and gardens. . . Maybe it’s time to pamper yourself. Come experience the coast of Maine as it was meant to be. We make you welcome at the Shawmut Inn.” From a Shawmut Inn Pamphlet

AUGUST 9, 2022

“Grove Hill Hotel, Kennebunk Beach: It is seldom that one finds at the beach a hotel with any of the advantages of Metropolitan rates. As the distance from large cities and the expense of fitting up a hotel with modern convenience is more than most landlords care to put into a summer hotel. Mr. Paul, however, the genial host of the ‘Grove Hill’ has determined to give every advantage to his guests that they can find in cities, not to mention the added advantage of pure spring water. The Grove Hill is on a fine elevation near the station and commanding an extensive view of the beach and surrounding country. Accommodations are afforded for 100 guests, and while the service is first class in every respect the prices are reasonable. The hotel has electric lights and a steam elevator which will be appreciated by guests having upper rooms. By this means every room in the house is rendered desirable and the view—which is fine from the lower rooms, is greatly increased as one ascends. The situation is near the beach—separated only be a beautiful grove—The fine bathing and fishing in this vicinity is appreciated by all fond of these healthful sports, and the fresh sea air gives added zest to the fine bill of fare provided by Mr. Paul; the vegetables coming from his own farm. In conclusion we have only to add that a guest of the Grove Hill for one season is pretty sure to register on succeeding years besides recommending its many attractions to their friends.” “Leading Business Men of Kennebunkport & Kennebunk” 1888

AUGUST 2, 2022

“Emmy (McLean) was a colorful staple in the daily life of the town. He could be seen Monday through Saturday walking the several miles from his Mills Road, Cape Porpoise, home to Dock Square. If Emmy wasn’t on an errand for Alisson’s Restaurant or Colonial Rexall Pharmacy, then he was playing his harmonica, singing or waving to residents and tourists in Dock Square. Townspeople called him their unofficial mayor.” Michele Valway in the Journal Tribune, August 3, 1990