The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Bar Harbor Music Festival.

TREMONT—It’s not quite a decade, but it might as well be and a lot can change in nine years. Over the course of that time, Howard “Howdy” Goodwin has sat at the Tremont Select Board dais, a steady presence, helping his fellow members navigate the issues that can confront a small and tightly knit community.

In keeping with his reserved persona, Goodwin did not have much to say in the way of goodbyes, although he wore a large smile, at his last meeting as a member of the Tremont Select Board, Monday, May 4.

“Thanks for the memories, Howdy,” said Vice Chair McKenzie Jewett. “You will miss us on Mondays.”

Mondays are when the board typically meets.

“Thanks for the time, Howdy. It’s a thankless job no matter how we do it. We have been doing this a long time now together. We are going to miss you, whether you believe it or not,” Chair Jamie Thurlow said.

“I will stop by once in a while,” Goodwin said.

One of two members of the public in the audience at the time said, “Can I just say as a member of the public, thank you so much. I have learned so much coming to these meetings and the effort and the commitment you have put in.”

Goodwin responded, “Thank you.”

LOCAL CHARITY STEPS IN TO HELP PAY FOR FERRY TERMINAL IMPROVEMENTS

At its April 6 meeting, the Select Board had voted to expend almost $15,000 from the town’s Harbor Fund to cover the cost of engineering, manufacture, and installation for a new bracket at the ferry terminal on Granville Road in Bass Harbor. The previous bracket had deteriorated to the point that it had crumbled and fallen off of the concrete abutment. This bracket is what allows the floating docks to be attached to the abutment.

The town is currently working on replacing those floats via a SHIP grant obtained through the Maine Department of Transportation. Without a new bracket neither the new floats or the existing ones could not be attached or utilized.

The amount of that grant is $32,500 with a town match of $32,500. Additionally, Swans Island and Frenchboro both contributed $10,000 each as the two biggest users of the facility.

According to Town Manager Jesse Dunbar, due to the length of time that it has taken for the grant to be approved, coupled with the rising costs of construction, it will be a very tight budget just to get the necessary float work done and doesn’t leave room for the unexpected bracket replacement cost.

In a memo prepared for that April 6 meeting, Dunbar wrote, “The Harbormaster and I have both tried appealing to MDOT that due to the location and infrastructure of the abutment, it is the state’s responsibility, but that has been a flat out no in response from them.”

“If (we) were to use the grant funds in place to fund the bracket, not only would we then be short for the float replacements, but the timeline the DOT would require would delay any float launch well into May or longer,” Dunbar also wrote in that same memo.

But now, thanks to a local charitable organization, the Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund, the bracket has been paid for. At the May 4 Select Board meeting, Dunbar told the board that the charitable fund has agreed to pay for the $10,000 bracket and a Witham family member has agreed to pay for the $4,400 in engineering costs.

Both checks have already been received, Dunbar said.

Work on the new bracket has already commenced as well.

LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWALS AND SPECIAL AMUSEMENT APPLICATIONS

There were two special amusement permit application public hearings on the Select Board agenda, one was a renewal for Archie’s Lobster at 90 Tremont Road and one was a new application for the Seafood Ketch at 47 Shore Road.

The first public hearing was for Archie’s Lobster. Audience member Jen MacKenzie, asked, “What does ‘amusements’ entail?”

She said that she can guess, but that the word seemed very general.

Chair Thurlow responded that it refers to music and then asked Heather Lewis from Archie’s to explain what they have used it for in the past.

“At Archie’s Lobster, we usually have one person and an instrument playing music from 5-7 p.m. Occasionally we’ve had a few private events. There has even been a band or a couple of other players who would go a little bit longer but usually not more than 8 o’clock at night. It is music,” Lewis responded.

Though Archie’s was the impetus for a homeowner’s attempt to convince the town to create a noise ordinance last year, MacKenzie’s was the only comment during the public hearing and Archie’s renewal was unanimously approved. Last year’s effort failed.

Chair Thurlow said that he is an abutter to Seafood Ketch and would be abstaining from voting but would still conduct the public hearing if nobody had an issue with that. Nobody raised an issue.

A new application, Seafood Ketch garnered more comment, but it was mostly clarifying questions on frequency of performances, number of musicians, hours of performances, and direction which the music will travel.

Owner Ryan Lynde was present to answer these questions and there was not any protest.

The application for Seafood Ketch was approved four in favor with one abstention.

Maine DOT Infrastructure Adaptation Grant.

During the January 2024 storms, Lopaus Point Road where it crosses the marsh was impacted and suffered significant road flooding. This low lying section currently utilizes PVC culverts.

Dunbar wrote to the Select Board, “Maine DOT is seeking applications for its Infrastructure Adaptation Grant. Shortly after the storms, University of Maine reached out looking for projects for their senior engineering students to work on as their ‘capstone project.’ I submitted this project as an option and it was chosen by a group of seniors including a graduate of MDI High School with ties to Tremont. The students worked on a plan to install a box culvert and raise the road in that area.

“This can serve as a great starting point for an engineer to work from. The grant will cover up to $75k in planning/scoping costs, and up to $3,000,000 for a total project cost. The town share would be 5%.”

Dunbar asked the Select Board for authorization to apply for the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Grant for the needed improvements to this section of Lopaus Point Road and to also use funds from the town’s road improvement reserve for funding any estimating fees from Hedefine.

The Select Board unanimously approved this request.

Ferry Terminal Floats.

Dunbar had asked the Select Board to approve a request for bids for the ferry terminal floats that are to be funded by the SHIP grant and matching town funds but the Select Board decided that there needed to be more detail in the bid request and tabled that motion until the specifications could be worked out.

FY25 Audit.

Wanese Lynch from James W. Wadman, CPA, gave the Select Board a report on the financial statements that the company audited for FY 2025.

While Lynch quickly covered most aspects of the report, three often covered topics are the report’s opinion letter; a town’s unassigned fund balance and what percentage of the town’s expenditures it accounts for; and long-term debt and what percentage of the town’s state valuation it accounts for.

Tremont’s opinion letter was “unmodified” which means that the company gave a clean opinion on the town’s financial statements and disclosures.

Tremont’s unassigned fund balance for FY25 was $1,384,782 or 15% of the town’s expenditures. The Maine Municipal Association recommends a minimum of 10-12% for towns.

According to Dunbar, Tremont currently has no outstanding debt and in 2025 the town’s valuation was $800,531,153.

Election Clerks.

Dunbar said that “state law requires that the Select Board appoint election clerks to supervise voting and count ballots.”

This must be done every two years as that is the statutory term of office. Town Clerk Sarah Abbott had presented a list of election clerks and that list was unanimously approved by the Select Board.

Town Office Cleaning Contract.

According to Dunbar, the Tremont Town Office is currently cleaned by an outside cleaning contractor, the cost of which is based on a weekly rate. The previous cleaner had left suddenly and that is when the town hired the current cleaning company.

There is no contract for this service and Dunbar felt that a contract should be created to outline expected services and duties and then there should be a bid submission process for FY 2027.

The Select Board unanimously approved this request.

HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY

When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.

We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going.

If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.

It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.

Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.

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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop.

by Sabrina Martin/Bangor Daily News

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK—Everyone descending on Acadia National Park this spring will find most trails, roads and amenities open, with a few exceptions.

A one-mile stretch of the popular Park Loop Road — a 27-mile scenic drive on the eastern side of Mount Desert Island — will be closed until June 12. The section between Kebo Street and Sieur de Monts Spring has been closed since mid-April, though the road will reopen for Memorial Day weekend.

While that section of the road is closed, visitors will be rerouted along Kebo, Mount Desert, and Main streets through downtown Bar Harbor, which is heavily congested during the tourist season.

The park does not expect any other closures to Park Loop Road this spring, according to Amanda Pollock, an Acadia spokesperson.

During the closure, crews will work on two projects, a park official previously said. The park is replacing a three-foot undersized culvert as part of a restoration of the Great Meadow, Acadia’s largest wetland.

Friends of Acadia, a local conservation group, was recently awarded $308,000 in state funding for the wetland’s restoration.

Officials also will connect the park’s seasonal workforce housing complex, Harden Farm, to Bar Harbor’s wastewater system during the road closure. New housing units, which have been under construction since 2024, will not be completed until 2027.

Visitors enjoying Cadillac Mountain summit, Acadia’s highest peak, are now able to safely walk between the summit’s east and west parking lots. A new dedicated pedestrian pathway, built between mid March and late April, provides a safe walkway along the busy corridor.

The winding road leading up to Cadillac Mountain was closed during the path’s construction, though it has since reopened. Vehicle reservations are needed to drive to the top of the mountain from May 20 through Oct. 25, and the road will close during the fall for crews to complete the walkway.

Cadillac Summit’s west parking lot — known as Blue Hill Overlook — will be closed for construction until May 19.

Four trails — Precipice, Jordan Cliffs, Penobscot East and Valley Cove — have been closed since March 1 to protect peregrine falcons during their nesting periods. The trails are closed until further notice.

Last year, three breeding pairs of peregrine falcons nested near Acadia’s trails, according to the park.

All of the park’s carriage roads are now open, following some springtime closures that are meant to prevent damage while the gravel roads are soft from thawing out from winter, Pollock said.

As of Thursday, most of the park’s public buildings were open. The Thunder Hole gift shop, Jordan Pond House Restaurant, and Hulls Cove Visitor Center have all opened for the season. The shop at the summit of Cadillac Mountain opens today, according to an employee.

The new $27 million Acadia Gateway visitor center — located just off Mount Desert Island on Route 3 in Trenton — will open Memorial Day weekend for its first full season.

Visitors will be able to park their vehicles at the Acadia Gateway Center and ride the Island Explorer — the park’s free shuttle system — around the park and back to Trenton.

The Island Explorer will begin running three routes Memorial Day weekend for the first time in its 27 year history. The shuttle’s service from Trenton to Bar Harbor, Park Loop Road, and the Schoodic Peninsula will start May 20.

Acadia is never fully closed, though some roads are blocked off to vehicle traffic in the winter and most of the park’s public buildings are shut down. Aside from some seasonal closures, most trails and paths in the park are open year-round to hikers and non-motorized traffic.

This story appears through a media partnership with the Bangor Daily News.

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ELLSWORTH—The annual Ellsworth Pride Festival will take place Sunday, June 7, 2026, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Knowlton Park, Ellsworth. This free, family-friendly event brings people together to celebrate inclusion, connection, and pride. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Event highlights include drag performances for all ages by Curbside Queens; music by bands Lasers in the Jungle and Telescope Club; a public art installation led by the Ellsworth High School Gender and Sexuality Diversity Alliance (GSDA); food vendors; an LGBTQIA+-focused marketplace; a nonprofit information fair; and more. The festival is open and inclusive to all, with no cost to attend for individuals, nonprofits, or small businesses.

“Come and celebrate and be part of the rainbow!” Shares Ruth Goodwin, Ellsworth Pride Committee Member.

Community members can visit www.healthyacadia.org/he-ellsworth-pride to learn more about Ellsworth Pride, a volunteer-led community project fiscally sponsored by Healthy Acadia. For questions about the Ellsworth Pride Festival or to get involved, email events@healthyacadia.org.

Ellsworth Pride Festival is made possible by community and business donations and grant funding. Donations in support of Ellsworth Pride Festival and other Ellsworth Pride events are gratefully accepted at bit.ly/EllsworthPrideSupport or by mailing a check to Healthy Acadia, 77 Beechland Rd, Ellsworth, ME 04605, with a memo of “Ellsworth Pride”. Ellsworth Pride is deeply appreciative of the wonderful community generosity in support of Ellsworth Pride.

Healthy Acadia serves as the fiscal sponsor for Ellsworth Pride. Celebrating 25 years, Healthy Acadia is a 501(c)(3) community health organization working to build vibrant communities and make it easier for everyone to lead healthy lives throughout Washington and Hancock counties. For more information, visit www.healthyacadia.org.

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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Restaurant Barn.

BAR HARBOR—This year the clean-up of Hadley Point, organized by Marine Resource Committee members and members of the working waterfront got a little help.

Lydia Stiles, Jenn Kramp, and Andrew O’Donnell, brought 11 high school students, nine from a marine biology class and two from an environmental science class, to the town-owned beach and parking area.

They raked. They hauled trash. They interacted with a lot of algae and a lot of junk and they made a resource better.

It’s an important resource to keep clean.

The water quality is monitored by the state and if the state shuts down the beach, it shuts down the area nearby. Hadley Point had worried many harvesters because of last year’s water quality scores.

That shut-down would be devastating for local fisheries, particularly for Hollander & de Koning, a sixth-generation family-owned and run mussel farm and the Bar Harbor Oyster Company, a 22-acre oyster farm in Mount Desert Narrows.

Those two businesses employ approximately 30 people combined.

When people think of contaminating a water source or a beach, they often think of cars, oil, plastics, but one of the larger problems is dog fecal matter.

“One dog poop can shut down the size of an American football field,” Fiona de Koning explained last year about Hadley Point.

“You can’t be harvesting filter feeders when there’s poop around,” Mount Desert Island native Joanna Fogg had said.

Fogg co-founded Bar Harbor Oyster Company. de Koning is of Hollander & de Koning. Both women serve on the Marine Resources Committee, a town group of volunteers, led by Chair Chris Petersen, that are meant to preserve and monitor the town’s shellfish resource.

The issue for both of the women’s businesses and anyone who harvests shellfish in the area was that if dogs and other animals defecate on the beach and it’s not cleaned up, that fecal matter mixes in with the ocean.

And that?

That is a big deal when it comes to the state gathering data as well as when it comes to the water quality in the area.

The women, who are also part of the town’s Marine Resources Committee, worked with their staff and other committee members to clean up the beach last year. The committee also worked with the town about increased signage and waste containers in the area and other efforts to help keep it cleaner.

This year, Stiles brought 21 leaf-style rakes, a bag of work gloves, and most importantly, the 11 students coming from the high school.

The clean-up has been working so far.

If the site’s P90 score reaches 31, then the state has to close an area. In 2025, before the clean-up, Hadley Point was at 28.5.

“That would be a huge closure. It would include Joanna’s piece, Old Point, and our mussel farm here,” de Koning had said.

A closure would impact the wet storage harvesters use in the area. It would close the clam flats for recreational and commercial harvesters of all the shellfish in the impacted spot.

The trouble comes because there have been a few high scores recently in the data set that uses six years of scores to determine that overall P90 score. A particularly high score was four years ago.

The goal has been to make sure there are no more high scores and that means a lot of volunteers working to make the site better.

After last year’s clean-up and many worries about potential closures, the Maine Department of Marine Resources recently had positive news for Hadley Point.

It’s still safe. It’s still approved. It hasn’t gone higher than that 28.5 P90.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

Maine’s beach advisory status updates

MaineDMR Public Health - P90 Scores 2024

Bar Harbor’s Marine Resources Committee

Before clamming in any area in Bar Harbor (or anywhere) you should check to make sure the area is open. Potential shellfish closures are as listed:

• Bacterial closures

• Flood closures

• Red tide closures

• Statewide closures

Call the Department of Marine Resources Maine Red Tide and Shellfish Sanitation Hotline 1-800-232-4733 or 207-633-9571 with any other questions.

Photos: Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story

HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY

When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.

We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going.

If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.

It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.

Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.

Thank you so much for being here.

Founding member information can be found here.

Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you.

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As the small town between Ellsworth and Blue Hill, Surry contains a lot of heart and community for people who live and work in the Downeast area. But it was not until 2016 that a community center opened specifically to serve those living in the region. The effort was spearheaded by Surry resident Florence Reed.

“Ten years ago I sketched out a fuzzy idea for a gathering place in Surry. What happened next wasn’t my doing — hundreds of people showed up with their time, talent and resources and built something none of us could have done alone,” said Reed, who is a founding board member at The Gatherings. In October 2015, with major support from Tradewinds Marketplace in Blue Hill and the Gray family, the property at 1208 Surry Road was purchased and renovations to the ground floor were carried out. The upper floor was renovated with support from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. Town selectmen, town committees, local businesses and other nonprofits in the area have supported The Gatherings since its inception; and more than 200 donors and volunteers have given their time, talent and resources to create The Gatherings,” she said.

“Innumerable people have contributed in a variety of big and small ways to make The Gatherings what it is today. I can’t wait to see what our community does with The Gatherings in the next 10 years,” said Reed.

Guiding the Gatherings into its second decade are volunteer board members Florence Reed, Peter Hile, Elizabeth Jezorski, Lena Ramsay, William Matlock, and David Hollenburg. The part-time staff are Program Coordinator Clarisa Diaz and Building Caretaker Justin Mejia. All work tirelessly beyond what is required to keep The Gatherings thriving in an open and beautiful space.

“What I love the most about The Gatherings is the creativity people have in transforming the space. It’s a place where people can try out new ideas and develop their interests,” said Clarisa Diaz. “New instructors teaching art and science labs, various dance practices, group singing and performances, meditation and well-being workshops, language classes, writing and book clubs, game nights, themed birthday parties, a wedding ceremony; all are just some of the diverse activities Diaz has worked behind the scenes with community members to host at The Gatherings over the last few years. “I’m excited by the momentum The Gatherings has at the present time, and I am positive about its growth to expand offerings in the future.”

Funding, organization, and capacity will be vital to expanding facilities and services at The Gatherings in the coming years. Future projects include planting a community orchard, a pavilion for outdoor activities, and transitioning the building to solar power. Donations to The Gatherings can be made via its website: www.surrygatherings.org.

The event calendar at The Gatherings is often full with community groups and private events. Rental fees aim to be accessible at a minimum of $10 for a group session and $85 for a half-day private rental. Inquiries can be sent to buildinguse@surrygatherings.org.

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What neighbors are saying about The Gatherings:

“As someone who has devoted a lot of time in the past to building community, I tremendously admire the success of The Gatherings in creating both a learning and celebratory community environment. My hat is off to all those inspired to make The Gatherings a model of what communities can achieve. I feel blessed by the warmth and generous energy of everyone I have met there.” - Paul Weiss

“Folks at The Gatherings have offered a welcoming, sunny venue for the Surry Garden Club’s 2026 winter events. We’ve enjoyed their well-equipped kitchen for serving refreshments with elegance and without paper waste. The A/V equipment is easy to use, the publicity for our programs has been excellent and there was no shortage of chairs for a surprise overflow crowd of 50!” - Marie Merkel

“I began going to The Gatherings for a Spanish conversation group. It’s been six years now, helping advance my language skills. More importantly, I met a wonderful group of friends. I’ve also gone to yoga, plant talks, Friday Food with Friends, Halloween parties and more. The Gatherings events are affordable and accessible. I learn, eat, sing and meet friends, old and new.” - Robin Snyder-Drummond

“The Gatherings is one of Surry’s greatest assets, hosting groups that run the gamut from uke jams to ESL. The staff (Clarisa and Justin) are welcoming and helpful. The facility’s space options include a full kitchen making it perfect for any event. Wesmac often rents space for employee holiday parties.” - Linda Greenlaw Wessel

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BAR HARBOR – Gene editing can repair a DNA error in mice that causes Dravet syndrome, a rare, incurable, and potentially deadly form of childhood epilepsy. After the edit, the mice have far fewer seizures and live much longer.

Published in Science Translational Medicine, the results suggest that a one-time genetic correction could someday treat the root cause of the disease rather than just managing its symptoms. The work represents a major step for genetic medicine, as restoring disease-relevant brain function with gene editing tools remains a major challenge.

The study also reflects growing momentum behind gene editing as a therapeutic platform for rare diseases. In February 2026, the Food and Drug Administration issued its Plausible Mechanism Framework guidance, outlining a regulatory pathway for individualized therapies targeting specific genetic conditions. It recognizes that for rare genetic diseases, a well-characterized biological mechanism can serve as the foundation for approval where large clinical trials are not feasible.

“For families affected by Dravet syndrome, our study provides proof of concept that a genetic correction approach could have real impact, a future with treatments that don’t just manage the disease but actually address its cause,” said Matthew Simon, a senior study director at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) Rare Disease Translational Center (RDTC) who co-led the study. “We’re at an inflection point in genetic medicine, where we can now actually repair the DNA itself.”

The work builds on a long-standing collaboration between JAX’s RDTC Vice President Cathleen (Cat) Lutz and David Liu, a core member of the Broad Institute (Broad) and pioneer in gene editing. The team has contributed to the growing momentum behind gene editing as a viable therapeutic strategy for rare diseases, a field that has seen landmark advances including the treatment of Baby KJ Muldoon in 2025. The latest breakthrough comes from their partnership with Ethan M. Goldberg, a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and director of the Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative.

Dravet syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in infancy or early childhood, with symptoms including drug-resistant epilepsy, spontaneous and fever-triggered seizures, and significant developmental impairments. Patients face a high risk of sudden unexpected death. Yet current approved therapies often require repeated dosing or long-term intervention to treat symptoms. While the disease is rare by definition, an estimated 15,000–20,000 patients live with it in the United States today, Lutz said.

A new era of precision genetics

The preclinical study focused on a specific Dravet-causing SCN1A variant called R613X. This mutation prevents cells from producing a full, functional Nav1.1 channel, which regulates neuron excitability. This creates an electrophysiological imbalance in certain brain cells, where neurons don’t work properly, making the brain overexcitable and prone to seizures.

The researchers used adenine base editing (ABE), a precision gene editing approach that rewrites a single DNA letter without cutting both DNA strands, which preserves genomic integrity and reduces the risk of unintended edits. To correct the mutation in cells and in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome, the base editor was delivered via a single injection into the brain in very young mice, either on day one or day 12 after birth.

The success of the approach is particularly significant, Lutz said, because it applies base editing to one of the most difficult settings for genetic medicine: a neurological disorder involving specialized inhibitory neurons distributed across the brain.

In treated mice, the team corrected nearly 60% of the mutated DNA. Even with partial correction, almost all the gene’s expression appeared normal. That is because cells naturally help destroy defective messages from uncorrected genes.

“The advantage here is that once you correct the gene, the cell’s own regulatory systems take over again. You’re not managing a disease but restoring the biology that was always meant to be there,” Simon said.

As predicted, the edit restored the function of the gene and prevented seizures. Unlike untreated mice, the mice treated at birth had a significant survival improvement. Mice treated on day 12 also benefited, with lasting protection into young adulthood and very low levels of unintended DNA changes or other adverse effects in the brain.

“Most patients aren’t diagnosed at birth. They’re diagnosed after symptoms begin. So, showing that we can intervene later, at an age closer to real patients, is important,” Simon said. “There’s been a concern that once the brain develops, it may be too late to fix these problems. Our data suggest that’s not the case.”

Because Dravet syndrome patients often have their own unique mutations, the next step is figuring out how to tailor the approach across the many different versions of the disease and advancing delivery technologies for the clinic.

A new platform for genetic medicine

Last month, a JAX team led by Lutz in collaboration with the same team from the Broad reported using the same gene editing technology to fix mutations in mice and human patient cells with an extremely rare and life-threatening genetic disease called Zellweger spectrum disorder, which impairs liver function in early childhood. In 2025, that team also fixed mutations in mice causing alternating hemiplegia of childhood, a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening seizures in children. For that, they used an approach called prime editing, which rewrites (inserts, deletes, or replaces) short DNA sections instead of fixing single-letter errors.

“We’re following a game plan built on years of work in the field, and this project showed how straightforward the process can be when all the pieces come together: the right model, testing the editing strategy, and connecting that all the way through to disease outcomes,” Lutz said. “The long-term vision is to build a platform so robust and adaptable that correcting a new mutation becomes a matter of precision and speed rather than starting from scratch, ultimately expanding the reach of genetic medicine to diseases that today can only be managed.”

The team is focused on separating the unchanging components of the platform from those that need to be tailored to each disease—primarily the guide molecule that directs the gene editor to the precise location in the DNA that needs to be corrected. The goal is to establish the platform’s overall safety and efficacy so that adapting it to new mutations becomes increasingly practical.

“This study gives us hope that base editing could be an effective approach for durably correcting the underlying cause of Dravet syndrome in patients,” said David Liu, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a professor at Harvard University. “It is also a compelling example of the benefits of working collaboratively across laboratories and institutions to integrate each other’s complementary expertise into the foundation for a future treatment for a devastating rare disease.”

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants MIRA R35GM118062, CEGS RM1HG009490, and R01NS110869); the Broad Institute Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science program funds; the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; the Dravet Syndrome Foundation Research Grant; the Dravet Syndrome Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant; and The Brody Family Medical Trust Fund Fellowship in “Incurable Diseases” of The Philadelphia Foundation.

Other authors are Andrew T. Nelson, of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; Sophie F. Hill and Jérôme Clatot of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Jun Xie of UMass Chan Medical School; Holt A. Sakai, Alexander A. Sousa, and Meirui An of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; and Guangping Gao of UMass Chan Medical School.

About The Jackson Laboratory

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center. JAX leverages a unique combination of research, education, and resources to achieve its bold mission: to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health. Established in Bar Harbor, Maine in 1929, JAX is a global organization with nearly 3,000 employees worldwide and campuses and facilities in Maine, Connecticut, California, Florida, New York, and Japan. For more information, please visit www.jax.org.

Citation: Nelson A.T., Hill S.F., Simon M., et al. In vivo adenine base editing ameliorates Dravet syndrome phenotypes in a mouse model. Science Translational Medicine. (2026). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adx5999

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SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Curious about the geologic origins of Mount Desert Island and how it came to be? Wondering how glaciers shaped its dramatic landscape? Join geologists Duane and Ruth Braun at the Southwest Harbor Public Library on Tuesday, May 26th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. for this in-person and online presentation, “Assembling the Mount Desert Island Geology Puzzle.” This is one of our most highly anticipated programs of the year—regularly drawing a full house! Purchase your copy of the Braun’s Guide to the Geology of Mount Desert Island, The Schoodic Peninsula, and Acadia National Park, 2024 Edition at the library for $20. Proceeds benefit the Library and the Maine Granite Industry Museum and Historical Society

.

In this talk, the Brauns will guide us through the island’s deep geologic past—starting nearly a billion years ago, when what is now MDI was once part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana, before becoming part of North America. Fast forward to the last million years. Glaciers advanced and retreated across the island at least five times, burying it under as much as 5,000 feet of ice. As the last glacier melted away about 15,000 years ago, it left behind the striking features and deposits that define MDI today.

Ruth Braun, who holds a Master of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University, has taught science, math, and geology at both high school and college levels. Duane Braun, with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, is a retired Geosciences Professor from Bloomsburg University. He also mapped glacial deposits across 9,000 square miles of northeastern Pennsylvania for the Pennsylvania Geological Survey.

Together, Ruth and Duane have taught geology courses for Acadia Senior College, co-authored a guidebook on MDI’s geology, and Duane has updated MDI’s geologic maps for the Maine Geological Survey.

Don’t miss this chance to see MDI’s past come to life through science and storytelling!

Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/yen35ym9. 207-244-7065 or email programs@swhplibrary.org.

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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND—Patrons from the Jesup Memorial Library, Northeast Harbor Library, and Southwest Harbor Public Library can again borrow complimentary daily admission passes to local museums and cultural destinations using their library cards.

Participating local museums and destinations in the program include the Abbe Museum (Bar Harbor), the Dorr Museum (Bar Harbor), Land and Garden Preserve locations including the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden (Seal Harbor) and the Asticou Azalea and Thuya Gardens (Northeast Harbor), the Maine Granite Industry Museum and Historical Society (Mt. Desert), the Oceanarium (Bar Harbor), the Seal Cove Auto Museum (Tremont), and the Wendell Gilley Museum (Southwest Harbor).

The Northeast Harbor Library and Southwest Harbor Public Library also offer passes to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Boothbay Harbor), the Maine Discovery Museum (Bangor), the Farnsworth Art Museum (Rockland), and the Portland Museum of Art.

Contact your local library to reserve or borrow a pass.

Jesup Memorial Library, https://www.jesuplibrary.org/museum-passes, 288-4245, info@jesuplibrary.org.

Northeast Harbor Library, https://nehlibrary.org/museum-passes/, 276-3333, talktous@nehlibrary.org.

Southwest Harbor Public Library, https://swhplibrary.org/passes/, 244-7065, circulation@swhplibrary.org.

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NORTHEAST HARBOR—The Garden Club of Mount Desert is pleased to announce that our biennial Open Garden Day will be held on July 25, 2026 from 10:00-4:00. This year’s fundraiser showcases seven beautiful gardens in Northeast Harbor, including an award-winning school garden at MDI Elementary School and several new locations featuring stunning woodland and ocean views.

While the houses are not open to the public, guests can enjoy lemonade and cookies at many of the gardens, and a water refill station will be available.

Tickets are available for purchase at www.gardenclubofmountdesert.org under the “Open Garden Day” tab. After selecting your tickets and completing payment, your confirmation email will serve as your official ticket. On our website, you can also view garden descriptions, photos, and a printable map of garden locations, local restaurants, and restrooms.

Please note the following event details:

- Photography: Only cellphone photography is permitted.

- Footwear: Please wear garden-appropriate footwear.

- Weather: The event will be held rain or shine.

After expenses are met, all proceeds are donated to organizations supporting horticulture and conservation on Mount Desert Island and throughout Maine.

We look forward to welcoming you!

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) raised concerns after the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) recently directed the Togus VA Medical Center in Maine to make cuts to vacant positions. Among those cut were vacant police officer positions, which the medical center had been prevented from filling while the positions underwent reclassification reviews by the VA. In a hearing of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), King asked VA Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration Mark Engelbaum about the unfairness of the VA forcing Togus to cut the positions when remaining vacant was due to a VA required review.

At the end of the discussion about the pending review, Senator King asked Mr. Engelbaum directly whether the positions in question had necessarily been lost, and Mr. Engelbaum confirmed that they had not.

VA Police are armed and uniformed federal law enforcement officers within the VA responsible for the protection of VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) and other facilities such as Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), Health Care Centers (HCCs), annexes, and other facilities operated

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. Additionally, King has repeatedly spoken out against cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs workforce. Last month, he introduced bipartisan legislation that would require the VA to develop a long-term workforce strategy to improve outcomes at the VA. During a SVAC hearing in January, King pressed VA Secretary Doug Collins to release the VA contracts that he canceled, including those canceled in Maine, so that veterans are aware of potential impacts on patient care and benefits. Last year, he sent a letter to Secretary Doug Collins raising concerns about a leaked report that highlighted plans called for by Elon Musk’s DOGE to cut 83,000 VA employees. Earlier this year, he was honored by The American Legion with its 2026 Distinguished Public Service Award. Last year, Senator King was honored by the Disabled American Veterans as its 2025 Legislator of the Year. He was also recognized by the Wounded Warrior Project as the 2024 Legislator of the Year for his “outstanding legislative effort and achievement to improve the lives of the wounded, ill, and injured veterans.”

To watch or download the exchange click here

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, Jr., and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden announced that they will begin accepting nomination applications from Maine high school students for appointments to the United States service academies operated by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Merchant Marine. No nomination is required to apply to the United States Coast Guard Academy.

Students should apply for a nomination in the spring and summer of their junior year. Senators Collins and King and Representatives Pingree and Golden will begin accepting nomination applications May 15, 2026, from students for admission to the academies in the summer of 2027.

For more information please contact:

Senator Susan Collins

Contact: Karen Staples

207-784-6969

collins.senate.gov

Senator Angus King, Jr.

Contact: Katie Fellows

207-352-5216

king.senate.gov

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree

Contact: Dorian Cole

207-774-5019

pingree.house.gov

Congressman Jared Golden

Contact: Kim Rohn

207-249-7400

golden.house.gov

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BAR HARBOR – Eleven Bar Harbor Bank & Trust employees were recognized for their extraordinary leadership at the Bank’s annual Chairman’s Dinner and Celebration, held May 8 in Bar Harbor, Maine. The Chairman’s and Emerging Leaders Awards honor employees who have played key roles in helping the Bank achieve its strategic goals and deliver positive outcomes.

The Chairman’s Award, presented by Board Chair Matthew L. Caras, is the event’s highest honor. The winners are selected in recognition of their consistent display of the Bank’s brand behaviors, strategic thinking, perseverance, and ability to motivate. The recipients of the 2026 Chairman’s Award are:

• Joe Delano, Senior Vice President Commercial Real Estate/Hospitality Team Leader. He joined the Bank in 2018.

• Jack Frost, Vice President Director of Community Giving. He joined the Bank in 2017.

• Chuck Hall, Senior Vice President Controller. He joined the Bank in 2024.

• Tony Shaw, Senior Vice President Chief Credit Officer. He joined the Bank in 2022.

“Our continued success at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust relies on the hard work and dedication of people at every level of the organization, and the Chairman’s Award is for those whose efforts and leadership create a standard of excellence that propels us forward,” said Curtis C. Simard, President and CEO of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. “This year’s Chairman’s Award winners — Joe, Jack, Chuck, and Tony — reflect the best of our Bank’s culture. I’m proud and grateful to work alongside them.”

The Emerging Leader Award is presented to high-performing employees who demonstrate strong leadership skills and significant potential for growth in the organization. The recipients of the 2026 Emerging Leader Award are:

· Diane Anderson, Vice President Commercial Loan Assistant Group Manager. She joined the Bank in 2011.

· Kerensa Chambers-Ficorilli, Vice President Information Reporting Manager. She joined the Bank in 2020.

· Jay Fish, Vice President Regional Market Manager for Vermont and the Upper Valley of New Hampshire. She joined the Bank in 2022.

· Emily Gerrard, Vice President Senior Accountant. She joined the Bank in 2011.

· Shane Klardie, Vice President Branch Relationship Manager. He joined the Bank in 2019.

· Dora Maxwell, Vice President Human Resources Business Partner. She joined the Bank in 2022.

· Mike Woodbury, Vice President Treasury Services Officer. He joined the Bank in 2020.

“The seven recipients of this year’s Emerging Leader Award are people who deliver impactful work each day for our customers and our colleagues,” said Simard. “Their contributions make our Bank an exciting place to work, and help us be a positive force in our communities.”

Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE American: BHB) is the parent company of its wholly owned subsidiary, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. Operating more than 60 locations across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is headquartered in Bar Harbor, Maine, and has more than $4.5 billion in assets. As a leading Northern New England community bank, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust offers a full range of personal and business banking services, as well as wealth management services through its subsidiary Bar Harbor Wealth Management. For more information about Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, visit www.barharbor.bank or call 888-853-7100. Member FDIC.

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Washington, D.C. – At a hearing to review the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s FY 2027 budget request, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, asked Secretary Scott Turner to cut bureaucratic hurdles impeding the use of Build America, Buy America (BABA) waivers to increase the supply of affordable housing in Maine. Citing Maine as the oldest state in the country by median age, Sen. Collins also encouraged HUD to quickly implement changes she championed in a FY 2026 bill to make it easier for seniors to age in place and remain in their own homes.

Q&A on Housing Supply in Maine

Sen. Collins: All of us agree that we should collaborate with the goal of increasing housing supply. The lack of affordable housing holds back both community and economic development, as well as affects family stability and workforce availability.

In Maine, there are far too many of our police officers, firefighters, teachers, nurses, and others who cannot afford to live in or near the communities in which they are employed. Economic development is also strengthened, I realize, by the objectives of the Build America, Buy America Act, or BABA. Unfortunately, HUD’s implementation of BABA stands in the way far too often of building affordable housing.

In March, a Maine newspaper reported that 10 Maine projects that would add more than 400 units of affordable housing were fully permitted and ready to go, except that they lacked HUD BABA waivers. Although OMB guidance excludes privately owned homes, such as multi-family housing properties, from BABA’s definition of infrastructure, HUD’s guidance continues to find projects with five or more units as public infrastructure. HUD’s waiver process relies on individual project-based waivers rather than product-based waivers. A review of the waivers submitted to HUD reveals multiple waiver requests for heat pumps and HVAC systems, cases where there simply are not BABA-compliant production.

Developers in Maine have shared with me that while it would be a great use of a product-specific waiver, they are instead required to resubmit waiver requests for the very same parts and components for each individual project. So that results in months-long delays, and leads to unmanageable cost increases, and it can place financing, especially through tax credits, at risk. So it feels like HUD’s waiver process for BABA is a black hole where affordable housing dies. What can you do to streamline and improve this process so that it is not an obstacle to building affordable housing?

Sec. Turner: Thank you, Madame Chair. And as you know, when we came into this Administration, we really did inherit a broken system. As it pertains to BABA, there were no processes in place so that we could process these waivers and streamline this system. And so our team has been working very intentionally and hard every day to make sure we can streamline this process.

And we’re happy to take your input, and I’m here today, to listen to your input and work with you, and your office, and members of this committee. You know the President’s commitment, obviously, as I do, you know that we source materials here in America, but from the HUD standpoint, we want to streamline this process, and we’re working very hard to get these systems in place for the waivers. So thank you for your input, and I will be happy to work with you and take your advice on this.

Sen. Collins: Thank you. I think real progress could be made in that area.

Q&A on Helping Seniors Age in Place

Sen. Collins: Mr. Secretary, enabling seniors to age in place is critical for their health and well-being, and accommodating their preferences. It also helps the stability of local communities, and it is much less expensive than moving an older adult to an assisted living facility. Maine is the oldest state in the nation by median age. And for these reasons, I authored the program when I held the Chairwoman’s position years ago at HUD for low cost, low barrier, high impact home modifications that simply would allow seniors to remain in their own homes.

And, oftentimes these are minor, low-cost modifications, such as grab bars, railings, and replacing door knobs and faucets, as well as, in some cases, bigger modifications, such as replacing an existing bathtub with a walk-in tub, or building an outside wheelchair ramp. All of these, however, are far less expensive and far more accommodating to the older person than moving into an assisted living facility. They want to remain in their own homes, if possible.

Unfortunately, in the case of replacing tubs in existing homes as I’m talking about, or anchoring wheelchair ramps on existing property footprints, HUD has determined these activities require environmental reviews. Once again, that results in time delays, cost increases, and discourages proven strategies to help our seniors remain in their own homes. To correct this problem, I included language in the FY 2026 bill to ensure that the improvements were not subject to unreasonable environmental reviews, and I also included, working with my colleagues, including the Chair and Ranking Member, to adjust the cap on the cost of home modifications to account for annual changes in the cost of labor, materials, and supplies. Mr. Secretary, do you support these important common-sense improvements, and will they be fully implemented as part of the next funding competition?

Sec. Turner: Thank you, Chair Collins, and you know I understand and do appreciate your priority and your care for our senior citizens.

As we’ve talked about before, we want to make sure at HUD that we are providing as much flexibility as you alluded to, as we can to make sure that our seniors are taken care of, and give this flexibility to builders that are building these senior projects. And again, we do look forward to continue working with you on this to make sure that our senior citizens around our country, in particular, in your great state, are taken care of.

Q&A on Housing Supply in Maine; Click HERE to watch and HERE to download

Q&A on Helping Seniors Age in Place; Click HERE to watch and HERE to download

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BAR HARBOR—Gather around the fireplace, sip a beer, and hear stories about the history and future of Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island.

From May 21 to October 15, we gather in the main lodge at Terramor every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. for an informative talk and discussion, camaraderie, and delicious refreshments.

This free series is hosted by Friends of Acadia. All are welcome to attend and $1 of every beer purchased benefits FOA!

Here are the first few events of the season (click here for the full schedule):

• May 21: Becca Stanley, FOA’s Recreation Technician Manager - Learning More About Anemone Cave and the Acadia Gateway Center

• May 28: Rich MacDonald - Conversation with an Ornithologist: Migration and the Movement of Birds

• June 4: Amanda Pollock, Acadia National Park’s Deputy Chief of Interpretation - The Frances Perkins National Monument

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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Maine Seacoast Mission.

TRENTON—In a quick, convivial, ten-minute meeting, Tuesday, the Trenton Select Board approved a local restaurant’s permits, paid bills, and then discussed a cistern siting as well as the ancient bag phones that came before the modern cell phones.

The amusement permit and liquor license renewal for Currents on Route 3 had no public comment or discussion.

Putting a cistern at a town-owned parcel in the industrial park was also discussed by the fire chief who has spoken to a contractor about cost.

“We’ve just got to find a place to put it,” Chief Heckman said.

The next potential location for another cistern will likely be at Oak Point Road or closer to the school.

After cistern installation, a test will be scheduled with ISO (international safety standards) to potentially lower the town’s fire insurance rating.

“They pick a random spot in town, and we are to be there and start flowing 250 gallons a minute. I think it’s like eight or 10 minutes since you set the brakes, and then you have to flow it continuously for two hours. And if we’re able to do that, then they will reevaluate their ISO rating for the town. So that’s the plan,” Chief Heckman said.

The town must publicize any rating change, as residents will likely need to contact their insurers directly to request a rate adjustment.

A better ISO rating may lower homeowner/business insurance premiums.

The Comprehensive Plan Committee is in the process of getting everyone’s schedules aligned to find a meeting date.

OTHER FIRE DEPARTMENT NEWS

In April, the town’s volunteer fire department had six calls including: three alarm activations, one grass fire, one possible structure fire, and one propane leak.

On May 5, on social media, the department honored its former chief, Kelton Muise, writing, “Five years ago, we lost a giant in our community. The weight of losing Retired Chief Kelton Muise still resonates deeply with the Trenton Volunteer Fire Department and the entire Hancock County fire family.

“Chief Muise was a cornerstone of our service for decades. His dedication was unmatched, serving in various roles within the Trenton Volunteer Fire Department, including leading as Chief for a remarkable 33 years. Beyond the station, he was a steady force and a leader within the Hancock County Firefighters Association.

“He was more than just a leader; he was a friend and a mentor to countless firefighters who looked up to his guidance. His influence shaped generations of responders in our area.

“Though five years have passed, the void he left is still felt every day. We honor his legacy by continuing the work he loved and upholding the standards he set. We will do our best to carry on his legacy.

“Rest in Peace, Chief. You will never be forgotten.”

TOWN MEETING

Trenton’s election for municipal officers and other officials, as well as its referendum questions is Monday, May 18, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Town Office. Those referendum questions concern a citizens’ petition to allow two retail cannabis stores in town as well as amendments to the town’s Shore Lands Ordinance and the town’s Land Use Ordinance. Those amendments were proposed by the Planning Board.

Town Meeting continues on Tuesday, May 19 at 6 p.m., at the Trenton Elementary School.

The town’s municipal budget is proposed at $1,433,323; its education budget is proposed at $6,227,040; and it’s portion of the county tax is $289,474.

This is a $107,676 increase to the municipal budget and is mostly due to electricity, heating, and oil costs as well as a new sign for the office building and a replacement of the town’s copier as well as the increased cost of sand and salt for the roads.

The county tax increases 8.6% or approximately $23,000.

The education budget increases overall by 4.8%. However, due to state funding and carry forward, the town’s appropriation increases by approximately $341,220.

According to the town’s newsletter, “The Town Meeting serves as the legislative body of Trenton. Voters will consider any needed laws or ordinances for the orderly governing of our town, approve our annual budget, levy the taxes, and elect town officers including the select board and school committee. All Trenton voters are encouraged to participate.”

All Trenton students in grades 6-8 are invited to attend to learn about local government. Those that do, can enter a raffle to win a Trek Roscoe mountain bike, size M donated by Select Board Member John Bennett.

There will also be a spaghetti dinner from 5-6 p.m., prior to the Town Meeting. This is also at the school.

Copies of the referendum questions are available at the Town Office as is the 2025-2026 Annual Report.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

The annual report

Trenton’s website

Trenton’s Substack Newsletter

HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY

When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.

We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going.

If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.

It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.

Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.

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BAR HARBOR — Scholar, sailor, and writer Jeffrey McCarthy presents Participate in the Polycrisis: Blue Humanities Now at the College of the Atlantic Gillis Blue Humanities Forum on Monday, May 25 at 4:10 p.m. The free event takes place in the Davis Center for Human Ecology. Registration is required at go.coa.edu/mccarthyforum

Shipwreck symbolizes our environmental future – grand forces sweep us either towards dissolution or reinvention. Which way will we go? The ocean is the very soul of this metaphor because the ocean is the protagonist of contemporary environmental collapse. College of the Atlantic is the perfect place to explore the polycrisis besetting America. Likewise, the Blue Humanities is the perfect lens to focus the impending threats and opportunities. “Participate in the Polycrisis” offers ocean insights from an environmental humanist and ocean sailor dedicated to communicating the issues and surviving the consequences.

Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy has written four books and many academic articles. He has also published in both popular sailing media and climbing magazines. His books include Contact: Mountain Climbing and Environmental Thinking (University of Nevada Press, 2008), Green Modernism: Nature and the English Novel, 1900-1930 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), Conrad & Nature: New Essays (Routledge, 2019), and Re-envisioning the Anthropocene Ocean (University of Utah Press, 2023). His most recent essay “Lawrence’s Environmentalism: From ‘Pastoral’ to Anthropocene Rebirth” appears in Reading D.H. Lawrence in the Anthropocene (Edinburgh University Press, 2025). He has been a Fulbright Fellow, a Mellon Fellow to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, and has held research fellowships to the National Humanities Center, the Calgary Institute for the Humanities, and the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Edinburgh University. He was the director of environmental humanities at the University of Utah. Before that, he was a professor of English and the founding director of environmental studies at Westminster University.

The Gillis Blue Humanities Forum is an interdisciplinary exploration of oceans, waterways, and aquatic life as central forces shaping culture, history, and environmental thought. Bringing together scholars, artists, and activists, the series invites audiences to rethink human relationships with water in an era of climate change and ecological urgency. This series was created in honor of John Gillis by his wife, Tina.

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MOUNT DESERT — College of the Atlantic Beech Hill Farm opens for the season on Saturday, May 16 at 9 a.m.

The farmstand will be stocked with fresh, local, organic vegetables, flowers, baked goods, meat, dairy, and more. Planting out your garden? The farmstand has a wide array of vegetable, herb, and flower seedlings for sale as well.

College of the Atlantic Beech Hill Farm is a MOFGA-certified organic property. Its 73-acres include vegetable fields, pasture land, heirloom orchards, greenhouses, and open forest—all serving as an immersive classroom for human ecology in action. The farm supplies fresh, organic vegetables and sustainably raised meat to the COA dining hall and wider Mount Desert Island community. It’s a place where students plan crop rotations, steward soil health, harvest food, and contribute to a more resilient local food system.

COA Beech Hill Farm is located at 171 Beech Hill Rd. The farmstand is open Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. through the summer and fall. The farm offers 50% off all SNAP/EBT and WIC purchases.

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BAR HARBOR—The 2026 sailing season for the Nova Scotia-Maine ferry service is beginning today, Thursday, May 14, with an increase in passenger interest.

As of Tuesday, May 12, 17,771 passengers have made reservations for The CAT’s 2026 season, compared with 13,727 at the same time in 2025. This represents an increase of more than 29 per cent.

“The CAT arrived back in Yarmouth on May 2 following its winter maintenance period, with the entire team focused on training, safety and readiness ahead of the start of the 2026 season,” said Mark Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Bay Ferries Limited (BFL), the locally owned operator of The CAT. “Everything is in place for a successful service, and BFL looks forward to welcoming customers on board, delivering a memorable travel experience and continuing to support the tourism and hospitality sectors across the Maritimes.”

The CAT ferry is scheduled to depart Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, at 9:30 am Atlantic, and Bar Harbor, Maine, at 3:00 pm Eastern. The 2026 schedule is as follows:

Darlene Grant Fiander, President of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS), noted that The CAT provides a critical access point bringing visitors into Nova Scotia from the United States.

“We are very pleased that The CAT service kicks off today what is looking like a strong operating season for 2026. Nova Scotia needs every possible option available to bring visitors to our province and we need predictability and stability of the transportation network,” said Grant Fiander. “With Nova Scotia’s new Tourism Strategy identifying the importance of marine access into the province, The CAT provides a critical piece of transportation infrastructure. With global uncertainty at an all-time high, having a direct marine link into the lucrative US market is key for our economic goals for the industry, building on the $3.7 billion tourism results from 2025.”

The increase in bookings on The CAT this year reflects a renewed strong interest in travel from the United States to Canada.

BFL will release monthly traffic reports during the operating season.

For further information and reservations, please visit our website at www.ferries.ca.

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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Window Panes Home and Garden.

BAR HARBOR—At a time when headlines about higher education often focus on closures and financial strain, leaders at College of the Atlantic say the small Bar Harbor college is leaning on community ties, strong donor support, and new career-focused programs to chart its future.

It’s a future interwoven with the future of both Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island.

“You can almost not pull COA out of the community and have MDI look the way it does,” said new interim President Lynn Boulger.

The college’s vice president of institutional advancement, Boulger will be filling in while the college looks for a replacement for President Sylvia Torti who has left to lead Westminster, in Salt Lake City, Utah, beginning this summer.

Torti was COA’s eighth president since the college began in the late 1960s. She was hired in June 2024. She had succeeded president Darron Collins, PhD ’92 in 2024. Collins had led the college for 13 years.

Since it began in 1969, the liberal arts college nestled on the edge of Mount Desert Island, has been led by multiple presidents beginning with Edward Kaelber (founding president), Dr. Judith Swazey, Dr. Louis Rabineau, Dr. Steven Katona, David Hales, Andy Griffiths (one-year interim president), Collins, and Torti.

“I continue to believe deeply in the mission of College of the Atlantic. Its human-ecological approach, its connection to place, and its commitment to linking learning with real-world challenges make it not just relevant, but essential,” Torti said in a press release announcing her resignation. “The foundation is in place for what comes next, and I’m excited to see where that work leads.”

For now, the person leading that new work will be Boulger, who has been a part of the college community as well as the Hancock County community for years.

Those same years, the college has been building its $95 million endowment, which helps buffer it from some of the financial issues of other institutions who are also dealing with visa restrictions for foreign students and increasing costs for education and the infrastructure that supports it.

According to the college, “Boulger served as dean of institutional advancement at the college for 13 years before leaving in early 2021 to become executive director of the Authors Guild Foundation. She returned to COA in 2025 in her current role.”

For Boulger, the college’s evolution continues in multiple positive ways.

“The thread of our values-laden curriculum and dedication to life-changing education is still the resonant note on campus,” she said.

And, for those same years, the college has been integrating with the larger community.

Many alumni stay in the area, working, starting businesses, and putting down roots. That weaving together creates a college that has both continuity and evolution.

“I think maybe that's rare, or that (it happens) no matter who's at the helm,” Boulger said. “They say culture eats strategy for lunch every day. The culture of the college is palpable in the air. The students want it, they hold us to it…. It has to do with the sense of community. It has to do with our panlogical approach.”

Despite the interwoven fabric of the community and the college, there are occasional tension points.

One of the tension points in the community has been the purchase of homes for student housing. Many of those homes had already been housing students. They are on the town’s tax rolls and pay full property tax. Part of the impetus for the purchases was it allows the students to not have to move out before the weekly rental season.

Instead, the college uses those properties for weekly rentals (after the students go home for the summer) and then uses the profits from those rentals to help students pay for housing. The weekly rental season at those properties is much shorter. The college also bought a home for its president, which is a year-round home in Bar Harbor that will continue to house a year-round family, specifically the college president’s.

The college paid $108,987 in direct property tax in fiscal year 2024.

The college hosts events and summer camps. It brings students into area farms and clam flats. It is where Diver Ed docked, where gardens bloom, and where conversations and ideas begin and then move out into the towns and world.

“We have students that are here now that have spent their whole careers here working in a lab at Jax or the Bio Lab doing graduate level work all because of the really open and collaborative stance of our partners and co-organizations and just the people that live here and staff, those places have been so welcoming of COA students over the years that the college has just been so enriched by these many communities,” Boulger said.

Its annual budget is $19 million.

Leaders said those dollars are ones that go into employee bank accounts, prop up local vendors. Employees buy homes and send their own children into schools.

There’s a ripple effect from COA’s payroll into the community.

There are 189 jobs supported, have been $29.2 million in capital projects from 2020-2024, $16.9 million in additional economic activity, $1.2 million in state and local tax revenues.

According to its economic impact report, “Students alone spent an estimated $744,000 annually at local businesses. Over the past four years, COA’s capital projects have added $29.2 million in cumulative value to the regional economy and supported more than 300 jobs during construction, renovation, and property improvement efforts. These impacts extend well beyond the numbers. Faculty and staff live and volunteer locally, strengthening civic life and contributing to the year-round economy through spending, leadership, and engagement. Students are active consumers and volunteers in Bar Harbor and neighboring towns, supporting small businesses even outside of peak tourism months. Alumni continue this cycle of impact—many remain in Maine, applying their education in environmental science, agriculture, education, and professional services, founding new businesses, and reinforcing the region’s skilled workforce.”

The ripple effect isn’t just about dollars; it’s about community and engagement, leadership and volunteerism. And it’s all happened just sense the late 1960s.

“When you think about it, when the college began, in the world of colleges, it's not all that long,” Boulger said.

The college typically has approximately 350 students at a time, though enrollment shrank a bit recently. It’s expected to expand toward that number again. Those numbers won’t be finalized until after May 15 when the transfer student deadline has passed. The college expects to accept many students from Hampshire College, which has just closed.

Though the enrollment numbers are small, the college has made an impact, she stressed, on multiple levels: personal, community, state-wide, and beyond.

It’s impacted Boulger as well.

“When I started working with the students and faculty…I fell in love with how people saw the world, how earnestly they wanted to be part of a solution,” Boulger said. “I felt that these are people who are going to change the world. And I have seen that. I mean, 20 years later, I have watched some of them do that. But there's just a wonderful sense of how you are working towards something so much bigger than yourself when you are on the COA campus. You are part of this community that I just feel that is quantifiably different.”

Part of that difference, she said, is the agency of the students.

“They come and they want to do something, and at COA, they're able to do it, and my life has been enriched in so many ways because of the college friends,” Boulger said. “The alumni network, just colleagues that have been wonderful…. This position is a little bit of a way that I can give back for what the college has given to me and my family.”

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

COA’s economic impact report.

COA

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