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The ghost ship of Harpswell

Sam Smith - Maine is one of the few places that still remembers the War of 1812. As Wikipedia explains: British army and naval forces from nearby Nova Scotia captured and occupied the eastern coast from Eastport to Castine, and plundered the Penobscot River towns of Hampden and Bangor . Legitimate commerce all along the Maine coast was largely stopped—a critical situation for a place so dependent on shipping. In its place an illicit smuggling trade with the British developed, especially at Castine and Eastport. Claims to "New Ireland" were finally dropped in the Treaty of Ghent , and Castine was evacuated, although Eastport remained under occupation until 1818. But Maine's vulnerability to foreign invasion, and its lack of protection by Massachusetts, were important factors in the post-war momentum for statehood.   To celebrate the 200th anniversary some of us gathered near Porter's Landing in South Freeport on Casco Bay to listen to a program of  nautical ball...
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Casco Bay

Sam Smith -   Casco Bay is the westernmost of the great bays of Maine, eighteen miles from headland to headland. The product of glaciers, Casco Bay is speared by a series of points extending in a generally southerly direction. Beyond the points are the islands, many laying on the same axis after being chopped off the peninsulas by the dull but indefatigable knife of the sea. Maine has thousands of islands -- a survey in the 1980s found 2,000 of uncertain ownership alone -- and if its coastline were stretched taut it would reach the Panama Canal. But nowhere is it more jagged and idiosyncratic, nor its waters more jammed with the potsherds of glaciations, than in Casco Bay. The Maine Times claimed once that there were 768 islands and ledges visible above the 9-10 foot high tides. Old tourist material referred to "The Calendar Isles," a reflection of the alleged island count. This count goes back at least to 1700 when an English document cautiously reported that Sd bay is cover...
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Learning laughter in Maine

Sam Smith  -  Long before  Bert & I,  I started collecting Maine humor during my summer visits. One of my sources as a boy was Walter Stowe for whom I worked on various projects. Mr. Stowe appreciated having someone to instruct and demonstrate his immunity to poison ivy by chewing on some its leaves. He had a stock of sayings of which he never tired. He could recite a blasphemous version of the Lord's Prayer at breakneck speed and when you asked him how much something cost, he always replied, "25 cents, two bits, two dimes and a nickel, one quartah of a dollah." When you picked up your end of a plank, the instructions also never varied: "Head her southeast!" When you said goodbye he said, "Keep her under 60 on the curves." And he offered this assessment of a suddenly departed brother-in-law: "That fella never was any good. Now he's upped and died right in the middle of hay season." On the other hand, his assessment of Clyde Johnson wa...
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Freeport Facts

AGRICULTURE Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment BUSINESS Maine Business  CASCO BAY Friends of Casco Bay  Tide chart -   https://www.usharbors.com/harbor/maine/south-freeport-me/pdf/?tide=2026-04 To get the latest chart adjust the date at the end of the link above ENVIRONMENT Freeport Green Guide  -  The Freeport Green Guide is an on online directory of where to buy resale, repair, rent, recvcle, and now – restaurant! Local restaurants have shown their commitment to reduce their climate impact through sustainable food, energy, waste and sourcing practices. Freeport Climate Action Now  Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment HISTORY Freeport Historical Society NEWS Patch Freeport  Freeport Notes In 2011 ago Bow Street Market moved to its present location. In honor of this event your editor  wrote this song.
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Bow Street Baby

    Sam Smith -  In 2011 ago Bow Street Market moved to its present location. In honer of this event your editor  wrote this song.
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Sam Smiith bio

  Sam Smith. . . · Is a journalist, activist and social critic who has been at the forefront of new ideas and new politics for nearly seven decades. He has been editing alternative publications since 1964, longer than almost anyone in the country. · Is the author of four well acclaimed books, two at the request of editors - the latest of which is Why Bother?: Getting a Life in a Locked Down Land, which was an Utne Reader staff pick and was selected by Working Assets as one of its books of the month. · Is an award-winning alternative journalist and editor of The Progressive Review. · Has helped to start 6 organizations . Was one of the organizers of the Association of State Green Parties - forerunner of the national Green Party - and, in the 1970s, was a co-founder of the DC Statehood Party, which held public office for more than two decades. Others included the DC Humanities Council and Fair Vote, which helped inspire the current ranked choice voting effforts. · Is the ...
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