British departure to be marked

Events to mark the 200th anniversary of the British departure from Eastport in 1818 will be held throughout the day on Saturday, June 30, and include historical reenactments, music, a horseshoe tournament, outdoor cooking demonstration, children's games and more at the bottom of Key Street. The celebration will be observing the anniversary of the end of the four-year occupation of Moose Island and the return of the Island City to the U.S.
Activities will begin at 10 a.m. when a British encampment, complete with bagpipers, in the fish pier park will greet the arriving Americans and exchange flags before the British depart.
Living history interpreter Tamara Lunn Konczal of Scarborough, who has spent the last 40 years slowly uncovering the fascinating period of competing French and English colonialism in Maine and the Maritimes, will be preparing a meal fit for the times.
While serving as education coordinator at the Old York Historical Society in York, she developed and implemented interactive programs for school, field trips and museum visitors. Konczal is especially interested in interpretations of pre-industrial textiles and foodways, including the hearth cooking skills used by New England settlers during the early days of Maine settlement. She will be using those skills on the Peavey Memorial Library lawn with tasting to follow.
At 1 p.m. on the library lawn and across the street at 4 Key Street, there will be a scavenger hunt for children, open hearth cooking, Bill Cook will speak about medical practices of the period, Meg McGarvey will be weaving, a horseshoe tournament will be held and the Little Eagles drummers will perform during the afternoon.
"There will a be a walking tour at 2 p.m.," reports organizer Ruth McInnis of the Border Historical Society. "If there is enough interest, we can add on another one."
A lasagna supper will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Christ Church Institute on Key Street.
There will be a panel discussion at the Seaman's Church at 6:30 p.m., and among the panelists will be Lt. Joshua Smith of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 1st Lt. Jonathan Bratten of the Maine Army National Guard and sea chantey singer Stephen Sanfillipo, who recently retired from Maine Maritime Academy.
Smith is the author of Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists and Illicit Trade, 1783-1812, which explores smuggling along the Maine/New Brunswick border, and he has published Battle for the Bay: The Naval War of 1812. Bratten is the company historian of the 133rd Engineer Battalion.
Anyone wishing to register for the horseshoe tournament can call Ruth McInnis at 853-2328.