Resilient communities adapt to pandemic's impact this year

Looking back over the past year's front page headlines and photographs of The Quoddy Tides, the impact of COVID 19 is felt on almost every issue starting on March 13 when the top story about coronavirus preparations beginning in area was right above the news that county voters had upheld the vaccine law in a nearly 3 1 margin at the polls. Also in that pivotal issue was the news that the border and ports were on the alert for any pandemic related changes that would need to be implemented with their operations. As many a Downeast and Maritime resident knows, those changes were quickly implemented by the following issue on March 25. Campobello islanders have had a particularly difficult time of it with limited access to the Canadian mainland, with many subsequent articles examining the challenges of limited ferry service that the islanders face in getting essential goods and services.
Prior to the March 13 issue, cover photographs illustrate a lifestyle that does not currently exist and that many hope will return with the end of year news that COVID 19 vaccines are in the pipeline for widespread roll out in 2021. Front-page photos include children sledding, couples square dancing, basketball players in the thick of tournaments and foster grandparent "Grammy Helen" Helen Brooks celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday with young reader Ava Paul at the Peavey Memorial Library in Eastport.
The first issue of the year on January 10 showed the joy of two youngsters, Keene and Loa Cooke, sliding down a snowy hill, their eyes wide with delight and big grins rounding out their cheeks. Their happiness was contagious but tempered by the lead story about the posthumous pardon by Governor Janet Mills of Donald Gellers, an Eastport attorney who started the case that led to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act and who supporters believe was framed in 1968 by state officials on a felony marijuana charge to end his efforts. Gellers died in 2014 at the age of 78.
Robert Checkoway, the Freeport attorney who petitioned for Gellers' pardon, wrote, "His effort helped end the archaic and oppressive management of the Indian agent system and gradually turned the entire state from a pattern of oppressing and excluding our original peoples to one of recognition and closer to equality." However, tribal-state relations have a world of work still to be done, as noted by the lead stories in a number of issues throughout the year that discuss proposed legislation to change the relationship between the tribes of Maine and the state so that they operate as 560 tribes in the country do under federal Indian law instead of state law.
The March 27 issue featured a photo that heralded the pandemic's influence on schooling, employment, running of chores, social life and more. Helping out at the Labor of Love Food Pantry in Eastport were coastguardmen from U.S. Coast Guard Station Eastport. Masked and gloved, they moved heavy boxes of food delivered by the statewide Good Shepherd Food Bank into the pantry. That issue saw a special section on the coronavirus with articles explaining the impact of pandemic related restrictions on a wide range of industries and day to day lives.
In May Eastporters learned of the possible berthing of the 785 foot cruise ship, the Riviera, at the breakwater. With the cruise industry at a standstill, cruise ships were in need of berthing spots where they would be manned by a minimal crew. The proposition, while a potential source of badly needed funds for the Eastport Port Authority that had seen and was anticipating a significant reduction in port activity because of the pandemic, was met with mixed feelings. While some residents welcomed the ship, the funds and the ship bound crew, others were fearful of pandemic contagion, pollution of water, air, light and view and wanted none of it. The Eastport City Council held a number of Zoom public meetings, a forum now ubiquitous to most households, to sort through fact and fiction. The Riviera was allowed to berth, arrived to quiet interest, dominated the breakwater with its massive size and gained friends as crew members and Eastporters made contact through social media, shared stories of life on board and about their hometowns and snapped and swapped photographs of Eastport from the ship's towering decks versus Eastport on the ground. When the giant ship left, more than a few tears were shed from those on the ground waving good-bye.
The summer whale-watching industry was greatly reduced, as were all tourism industries, but that didn't stop one of the largest great white sharks ever documented, at just about 20 feet, to show up in Passamaquoddy Bay. Perhaps thinking that it would find its starring moment in a home movie, it surfaced by the 19 foot skiff of Kingsley Pendleton of Lord's Cove, Deer Island, just off St. Andrews. Pendleton was with his wife Kelly when the shark appeared. At first he thought it was a basking shark, but then "it turned at me and came towards me... I never saw a fin that big." As the shark got closer they realized it was longer than their skiff. They could see its mouth and eyes. "It was a little intimidating," with their boat weighing about 1,000 pounds and the shark about five times that weight. Massachusetts based shark researcher John Chisholm confirmed that it was one of the largest sharks documented. "The largest we've seen and tagged was an 18 foot one off Cape Cod."
While educators worked as unsung heroes along with medical professionals and other essential workers, one educational institution faced allegations of racism that echoed national concerns. The September 11 issue contrasted personal stories of students and staff encountering racism at Washington Academy in East Machias with the photograph of Eastport Elementary School student Keyanah Chase jauntily stepping forward to have her temperature taken with her mask in place and backpack at the ready for the new school year.
There was nothing jaunty about the stories told by current and former students at WA and a former staff person about incidents of alleged racism. The Washington County legislative delegation became involved and wrote to the attorney general that the claims were "horrifying, unacceptable and must be fully and openly investigated by your office along with the Maine Human Rights Commission to allow our community, the school, students and their families to move forward." By the November 27 issue, WA Head of School Judson McBrine reported that the school had appointed a director of diversity, created a Trustees Diversity Committee and an Educator Diversity Committee and established a student Civil Rights Team. Also, teachers were participating in monthly professional development on race, equality and inclusion, and 10 representatives from trustees, administrators and counselors and teachers were participating in a year long Cultural Competence Institute. In addition, students and staff were engaged in school-wide diversity programming, and WA's Gay, Straight, Transgender Alliance continued to meet.
The year 2020 has put a damper on volunteer and face to face social activities, but that has not stopped many an arts and cultural institution from putting their best foot forward to help neighbors and friends with everything from food pantry drive throughs to art lessons and more on Zoom and social media. Wrapping up the year are any number of house and business holiday light tours that have built on numerous tours that were started in late spring to bring joy to house bound children and elders. Walking and car tours have become one way to enjoy the company of others from a safe distance.
COVID 19 itself went from being a frightening but somewhat abstract concept in the county, which did not see many cases until fall when numbers began to climb, to an escalating reality. In December the Maine CDC noted that high levels of community transmission were taking place throughout the state, including in Washington County.
And as a sign of the times, the region's real estate market heated up, reminiscent of previous hot markets felt in the past and recognizable to those who have studied The Quoddy Tides' archives of old real estate ads. Demand comes and goes and prices rise and fall, but this time the pace of real estate sales was dizzying even compared to past cycles of hot markets. Where once a real estate browser could peruse multiple pages of listings on the Internet for any given community Downeast, now many towns and small cities are seeing long vacant properties being snapped up for record prices by early retirees fleeing the pandemic in congested environments and those reassessing how they could earn a living remotely. It remains to be seen whether the most recent converts to the calmer way of life Downeast will stick with it or not. Past cycles have seen two to five year tides, with some newcomers deciding the quiet winters are a bit too much for them. Others sink in deep and join volunteer and social activities, spread their roots and find that they've found home.