CHERRYFIELD, ME — Maine Seacoast Mission joins Housing Rehabilitation Program Manager Scott Shaw in saying “Thank you!” to Trinity Lutheran Church, Camp Hill, PA volunteers for their recent good work in Maine.
“They installed a new wheelchair ramp, installed windows and did some drywall and interior painting for an elderly woman’s Winter Harbor home,” said Scott Shaw.
June 01, 2019 01:00 AM
Healthcare comes via boat to Maine’s most remote islanders
Modern Healthcare
Twenty-two miles from the rocky coast of Maine sits 720-acre Matinicus Isle—the state’s most seaward island—with a year-round population of less than 100. Even when the weather is at its best, accessing healthcare services is a challenge for residents.
That’s where Maine Seacoast Mission comes in. Headquartered on the mainland in Bar Harbor, the not-for-profit has provided islanders with healthcare services via boat for more than 100 years. Its fiscal 2018 $3.5 million budget is funded by an endowment, donations and grants.
The Sunbeam and its crew of five take three-day trips out to the islands to provide healthcare services every two weeks, and while they have a schedule for when they’ll visit certain islands, a trip rarely goes as planned, said Sharon Daley, a registered nurse who works on the boat and is director of island health services. The schedule depends on the wind, weather, tides and the various schedules of providers. “There is really no typical,” she said.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2019
For More Information
Contact Scholarship Director Terri Rodick
trodick@seacoastmission.org or 207-801-6008
Maine Seacoast Mission Announces Its 2019 Scholarship Awards
BAR HARBOR, ME — Maine Seacoast Mission has announced its 2019 scholarship awards. The Seacoast Mission has 100-year history of providing financial support to promising young adults from Downeast and island communities. Scholarship Director Terri Rodick noted an overall increase in the 2019 total scholarship amount, commenting that “this year we renewed sixty scholarships totaling $106,500, and awarded twenty-eight new scholarships totaling $59,000.”
Mission scholarships are awarded on the basis of financial need and academic promise. Most scholarships are renewable, permitting students to reapply for all four years of college as long as they meet the Mission scholarship criteria. Scholarships range in amount from $1,500 – $5,000.
John Zavodny, Maine Seacoast Mission President, indicated that “the Mission has a long tradition of supporting the aspirations of the students involved in our educational programming – from their elementary school years, continuing through post-secondary opportunities. We look forward to continued investment in the potential of these young people, the future of our community,” said President Zavodny.
Among the Mission’s new scholarship recipients this year, Becca Blanch, an outstanding student at Washington Academy in East Machias received the Mary Turnbull Elliot Nursing Scholarship, a new scholarship award. Ms. Blanch, who has always known she wanted to be a nurse, will be attending Husson University in Bangor.
The David and Ann Ingram Scholarship was awarded to Matthew Correia from Sumner High School in Sullivan. Mr. Correia is a volunteer firefighter for Winter Harbor and has trained for certifications in CPR and first aid. The three-sport athlete looks forward to entering Eastern Maine Community College in the fall and will study Fire Science Technology, pursuing his passion.
The Mission’s Angus MacDonald Scholarship, named after one of the Mission’s founders, was awarded to Shead High School student Madison Greenlaw. Ms. Greenlaw has received academic recognition from the Maine Society of Women Engineers and Phi Beta Kappa. She has also served as President of the Passamaquoddy Chapter of the National Honor Society for the past two years. She will be a freshman at the Maine College of Health Professions in Lewiston in the fall.
Terri Rodick said applications and re-applications for the Mission’s 2020 Scholarships will be available from December 2019 to May 1, 2020. Ms. Rodick can be reached by email at trodick@seacoastmission.org.
15th Annual Open Tennis Tournament-Silent Auction to Benefit EdGE
Rain date Sunday, September 8, 2019
For information about playing or sponsorship opportunities, contact Anna Silver at asilver@seacoastmission.org or 207-801-6011.
The Maine Seacoast Mission’s EdGE program helps Downeast Maine youth succeed in school and life. EdGE’s after-school, in-school, and summer programs provide activities supporting academic skills and performance. Youth learn to work in groups, develop social skills, and build character—all while having fun.
BAR HARBOR, ME — Last year we were contacted by the present owner of the Sunbeam V’s predecessor, the Sunbeam IV which was operating as a fishing boat in Ketchikan, Alaska.
This year, about two weeks after the Sunbeam V started its refitting process, we received an email from Rebecca Peterson with St. Paul Shipwrights, St. Paul, MN. That entity has, and is restoring for a private owner, Maine Seacoast Mission’s 1905 predecessor boat to the first Sunbeam.
Ms. Peterson is trying to answer still pending questions about the Morning Star‘s history. We include an edited version of her email, including the missing pieces of history. Perhaps someone reading this will be able to fill in the blanks.
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Hello –
I am contacting you in hopes of gaining further information about a boat we are restoring in our shop in St. Paul, Minnesota. This launch, named Virginia, was the second boat used by the Maine Seacoast Missionary Society, donated to the mission in 1905 by Alexander Mackay Smith. The boat was named after his wife, Virginia Stuart Mackay Smith.
The boat’s name was changed to Morning Star. There is a photo of it on your website on the occasion of your 110th Anniversary. The Morning Star was replaced in 1912 by the first of the Sunbeam ships. I made contact with descendants of the Mackay Smith family who told me more about their family’s ownership of the boat. It is truly a fascinating life she has had, first having ferried the likes of the Vanderbilts, and then used to serve the needs of the poor on the Maine seacoast.
It is a 1898 (or so) 45’ Launch built by the Gas Engine & Power Co, of Morris Heights, New York. This is a beautiful gilded age launch whose cabin still retains finely detailed mahogany woodwork, once powered by a naphtha engine. Here is a link to our website if you have an interest in seeing the progress in our restoration.
I would like to find out what happened to the boat subsequent to its use by the Missionary Society. Who bought it and what was done with it? Eventually she ended up on Moosehead Lake in Greenville, Maine, was renamed Virginia, and was used for passenger and mail service. More recently, the boat was attached to Sandbar Island in Moosehead Lake, and passed from owner to owner of the island.
I would be grateful for any old archives that shed further light on the “staunch little launch,” as she was called by the Rev. MacDonald, your organization’s founder.
My sincerest thanks.
Rebecca Peterson, Office Manager
St Paul Shipwrights
643 Ohio Street
St Paul, MN 55107
Rebecca@stpaulshipwrights.com
651-227-7069