Sardine queens recall royal status

Susie Knight Calder remembers 1949; Ginny McCaslin remembers 1980. Before, between and after those years, Maine may have acclaimed more titled rulers than have most countries where royalty lingers. Yet Maine's rulers, like Calder and McCaslin, aren't hailed as heirs apparent. Their royal origins stem from Maine's native land and seafoods and its people's love of them. So queens are named for potatoes, blueberries, lobster and, of course, sardines.
For Calder, the route to queendom went straight. "I was 19 when I graduated from Lubec High School, but I'd worked from age 16 at the fish factory packing and cartoning during school vacations." She explains that seven factories existed in Lubec in 1948, and all agreed to form a contest committee to promote the town's biggest product C the little silver herring that swam abundantly into their nets and, with heads and tails neatly snipped, became sardines to can for family feasting.
When each factory's employees voted for one of their number as candidate for the 1949 crown, Calder was chosen to represent the brand name of her Peacock's factory, Ms. Continental. She and the six other successful candidates were outfitted with shorts and tops and lined up alluringly for the press on Peacock's wharf. "We also got gowns. I got mine at Unobsky's on Water Street. We were fitted with sashes and had our hair done." Calder adds, "I went to a nice shop in town for my hair, where Oceanview Nursing Home is now." She also remembers more pictures taken "after 25 stores in the area donated articles to help fund the contest. Dr. [Robert] MacBride brought us together again to pose."
At last came town residents' vote for queen, and Calder won the crown. In Lubec's bicentennial birthday parade float, she dressed in Fourth of July red, white and blue and donned the crown and sash she'd always kept. She sighs, remembering. "The Sardine Queen Ball was held at the top of the hill on Route 1 that used to be the town hall. My goodness it was grand!" Calder notes that the school banner now waves over the site.
For her, marriage and two children followed soon after -- Janice, who lives next door in Whiting and heads her own home-based basketry shop, and Cathy, who attended beauty school but didn't pursue beauty as a career. Calder did and opened a beauty shop at home. "I always wanted to be a beautician." Between customers, she has long helped Janice design and sell beautiful reed baskets.
Another Lubec sardine queen, Faustina Sawtelle, also rode on the bicentennial float. She now lives in Florida.
And still another Lubecker, Ginny McCaslin, became not Ms. Lubec Sardine Queen but the first Ms. Maine State Sardine Queen. Although her memories differ greatly from Calder's, they remain a vivid and wonderful experience to retell.
McCaslin served a full year in 1980 and was re-elected in 1981. She traveled throughout Maine, addressed the legislature in Augusta, pinned a sardine emblem on then Governor Brennan, discussed facets of the fishing industry with Senator Larry Brown, House Speaker John Martin and other legislators of the period.
A Lubec school alumna, McCaslin worked summers at Booth's factory before graduation in 1978. "I love fish and love to talk about them," says the petite blonde dynamo. She shows a listing of the strict qualifications for the first all-Maine contest, developed by James Warren of Eastport and the Maine Sardine Council, of which he was president.
Each packing company in the state was allowed to choose one contestant. McCaslin recalls that `Mustard' Lingley, a manager at Booth's factory, suggested she enter the first proposed sardine pageant to be highlighted by Maine Sardine Week that ran in 1980 from August 3 to 9. The council provided wardrobe, travel with companion, expenses for the year's appearances, and a $100 reward.
"I wore a tiara rather that a crown, " McCaslin smiles. She had served in 1975 as Ms. Lubec Fourth of July Queen, so she knew how to handle pomp and ceremony. She also knew how to pack sardines and how to tell about the high nutritional value they provide at low cost.
Both her first and second year terms as queen took her not only around Maine to festivals and meetings of church groups, schools, businesses and government agencies. In 1980, she also attended Big E, the annual Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., where she vied with Ms. Maine as top celebrity guest speaker on Maine Day.
McCaslin started work more than two decades ago as aide to Dr. Crosby at HealthWays/Regional Medical Center at Lubec, and she continues on staff there. She also started singing at age 14, and many appearances in local shows and musicals have earned her celebrity status with Downeast audiences.