Cool Things That Have Happened Lately

Or maybe some are just interesting, you decide.

Mar 14, 2023

So, the Bar Harbor Story tends to look at town and school government meetings a lot, which is because we want to make sure that information is out there and that it’s freely available to the voters in town.

The thing is that we also really like celebrating cool people and cool things that have happened in the community. So, while we are possibly already creating too much content according to much more savvy reporters than us, we’re going to start a weekly (or so) column about cool things, positive things. Yeah, it might not be as clickably sexy as a lawsuit, but acknowledging positive things that happen in Bar Harbor? It’s just as important.

And what do we think of as positive? Right now (and it’s likely to change), it’s kids being strong and doing great things; it’s art programs and Indian markets returning; it’s people debating and protesting and speaking when we do and don’t agree with all they say.

And sometimes it’s just getting to live here on this island.

So here goes! And, as always, if you have something you want us to celebrate, just email me at carriejonesbooks@gmail.com like so many of you do or put it in a comment below.

COOL THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED LATELY.

THE DRAMA FESTIVAL OF AWESOME

It wasn’t just a drama festival of awesome. It was seriously awesome. Proving that not all championship involve tracks, pools, fields or courts, MDI High School and its legion of volunteers came together to host the Downeast Regional Maine Drama Festival.

MDI’s Eva Crikelair and Ly Dillon made the all-festival cast.

Brooke Stevens, Ila Boatright, Mabel Bureau, Ashlin Hogdon-Marsh,Bryce MacGregor, Isa Raven, Tessa Sanborn, Griffin Dubé,Cayla Swanberg, Richard Miller, Cayla Swanberg, Richard Miller,Fred Sebelin, Meredith Cook, Avery Preston-Schreck, Katie Horton all received excellence in tech commendations.

Grace Weed, Aidan Fisichella, Cassie Carter, Bri Swanberg received commendations for sound design and operators.

Esperanza Evsikova, Owen Moses, Adam Losquadro, Isabelle Peterson, Tessa Sanborn, Fred Sebelin.Hayden Braun, Graham Carter, Eva Crikelair, Rex DeMuro,Ruby DeMuro, Grifin Dubé, Alifair Durand, Per Lisy all received ensemble commendations.

All of the above images are courtesy of Matthew Hochman

And MDI High School Drama also won its championships. So did neighboring Ellsworth. Now it’s onto States!

THOSE SHARKS!

The MDI YMCA Sharks took a bite out of the competition at the state championships this weekend with six state championship titles for the 8 and under division.

That’s right. Six.

Piper Nicholson got the state and meet record with the time in the girls 25-yard breast.

At the Maine State YMCA swimming championships, three Sharks were honored!

Congratulations to seniors Susanna Davis, Brendan Graves, and Gracie Parker for their dedication to swimming, YMCA values, and their team.

Those 3 sharks swam for more than 25 years for the Y. The Y sent out shout-outs to Nina Rozeff and Lily James, too.

AYS

The AYS 5/6 girls were Lincoln Invitational runners-up this weekend! The 7/8 Boys were Sheriff’s Cup runners-up this weekend!

Seal Cove Auto Museum

No, they aren’t technically in Bar Harbor, but it’s such good news, we’re sharing it.

Via the Bar Harbor Chamber,

“The Seal Cove Auto Museum's 1912 Crane Model 3 was awarded the Hagerty Drivers Foundation National Automotive Heritage Award at The Amelia last Sunday, March 5 in Florida. This is the second consecutive year that a vehicle from Seal Cove has been recognized with this award at The Amelia.

“Click here to read more about the significance about the award as well as the history of the vehicle.”

CLIMATE STRIKE

COA and others had its annual Climate Strike march to the Village Green earlier this month, combining activism and engagement. It’s part of the global citizen movement.

Love/Not Love

A Collaboration between Finding Our Voices and ArtWaves MDI

Finding our Voices and ArtWaves invites MDI/Trenton youth, ages 4 - 21 to submit art and/or poetry in one of the following themes: Love, not Love, or Love/not Love.

Liz Cutler will be hosting a FREE Collage Class to create unique collages with the theme of What is Love, What is Not Love or a combination of Love/Not Love in preparation for the Love/Not Love Artists Exhibit. We will be using our extensive eclectic collection of collage materials, paints, plaster craft cloth and fiber.

Here is an article about this project in 2022!

The deadline for submission is April 24, 2023.

Click HERE for More Information!

LITTLE LEAGUE SIGNUPS

Acadian Little League registration is now open for the 2023 season!! Click the link below to register for Farm League, Little League Baseball & Softball, Major League Baseball & Softball, and Junior League Baseball. We are so excited to get things rolling!!

League Age charts are attached to this post. Please find your child's correct league age before signing up. Please contact us with any questions! Registration closes APRIL 3 for all levels - please don't delay in signing up - it helps us run a much better program if we know our numbers and sizes of divisions in advance of opening games!

Registration Link:

https://active.leagueone.com/Olr/Pages/Welcome.aspx...

SPEECH CONTEST!

Conners-Emerson’s Shriya Muthukumar placed first in the district speech contest and Molly Dority placed second. Both students are in eighth grade.

“We couldn't be prouder of you!!!” Tiger Talk, the school’s newsletter, read.

To watch the event on YouTube, click here.

FROZEN CLASSROOM’S TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY!

According to Tiger Talk,

“Mr. Cote traded in his classroom for a day on the ice last Friday. Fifth graders spent the day ice fishing and learning about the outdoors while rotating through stations (animal tracking with wildlife ecologist Billy Helprin, improv theater and smores with Ms. Dority and Mc, and an ice fishing derby with Tony Preston Schrek). It was a glorious day and one they won't soon forget. Thank you to staff and volunteers that helped make this day happen and Corey Goodwin from MDI Portables for the porta potty. This was the Frozen Classroom's 20th anniversary which Tom Lawerence, Billy Helprin, and Brian Cote started in 2003.”

INDIAN MARKET RETURNS!

After a 3-year hiatus, the Abbe Museum Indian Market (AMIM) is set to return to Bar Harbor for the weekend of June 2 – 4, 2023! This multifaceted event will feature more than 50 Native artists working in forms ranging from baskets and pottery to jewelry and sculpture - along with performances, demonstrations, and educational programs.

“We’re delighted that AMIM is re-emerging from the necessary closures of the past few years to once again illuminate Wabanaki artistic excellence and support tribal creative economies,” says Executive Director & Senior Partner with Wabanaki Nations Betsy Richards (Cherokee).

BRECHLIN AND KRUGER AND COFFEE CLASH ENGAGEMENT

Protestors at the Village Green every week protesting the Middle East war. A lawsuit. Chalk messages on a sidewalk saying to Google MDI summer resident Leonard Leo. College of the Atlantic Students marching in a climate strike. A letter to the editor. There are many ways of protest and at a Acadia Senior College’s Coffee Clash at Havana Friday morning, Earl Brechlin and Annlinn Kruger, both Bar Harbor residents, spoke about protest and community.

Attendees were at Havana and 24 attended on Zoom. According to Jack Russell of Acadia Senior College, the sessions are not recorded to help engender freer discussion.

“Our island is an amazing confluence of peoples,” Russell said during his opening remarks. “We don’t always get along and agree.”

It took the town two decades and four votes to have an island-wide high school, he said. Growing up, if you had a sweetheart from another town, you might not tell your parents.

“But as my mother taught me, there may be a bridge, but this is an island bridge with island ways,” he said.

People on the island have common purposes such as schools, libraries, churches, volunteer groups. And this same island has grown a national park, world-class research labs, and a college, he said.

Annlinn Kruger began her discussion with a snippet of “Cool, Considerate Men” from the 1972 film 1776 and then “It Isn’t Nice” by Malvina Reynolds.

“Drawing lines, taking liberties,” her discussion began and continued, “People protest to publicly assert the need for change.”

Who are the arbiters of local sensibility and keepers of community? she asked. “Protest spotlights what protocol shrouds.”

Brechlin said that when you have a protest, you want to wonder who is your audience, and what is your intent. How do you connect with them and effectively reach them? The question, he said, becomes when is extremism counterproductive to your cause or when do you risk alienating potential supporters via your methods.

“The landscape itself requires patience,” Brechlin said of Maine and added that this patience also is required for the community and the environment. He added that keeping the focus on a cause and not on an individual is the way to move forward.

To get change, you have to win hearts and minds and if you aren’t thinking about that, then you’re doing a disservice to your cause, he said.

Kruger said there can be many types of community within one locale and it can be complicated to define. When it comes to protest, it becomes a community of concern.

Media plays a great role in defining a narrative, she said. During the questions and answers section of the discussion, she mentioned her own protests and interaction with Bar Harbor’s former town manager and how she alleged Sutherland switched the spotlight from “google Leonard Leo” to the message that her protests were against the law.

An audience member asked when was the time to move from civility in protest.

Brechlin said that protest has to be done in context. Protest can become tribal where you are just playing for your choir, your folks, and your votes. A growing trend toward fascism is a big risk, he said. There is always a time to put down the pen.

“An irritant can become something we appreciate,” Kruger said and that to move forward there needs to be reasoned debate of empirical evidence. The silence of patience almost always helps the oppressor, she said.

“All anyone wants is to be heard,” Brechlin said and he stressed that listening to each other is important. Everything doesn’t have to be a touchdown dance or a football spike when a conversation occurs.

Acadia Senior College and Havana host Coffee Clashes and other programs. The educational organization’s website states that it “offers interesting talks, informative classes, lively discussions, field trips, retreats, and fun gatherings.”

It further says, “Located on Mount Desert Island, Acadia Senior College is an educational organization providing intellectual stimulation, practical knowledge, social interaction, and fun primarily for adults over 50. We welcome you to explore our course offerings and community events.”

Corrections: Annlinn Kruger has informed me that the sound prior to the song was not a snippet of the conversation she plays of her interaction with Kevin Sutherland. Apologies. I misheard via Zoom quality. The error is mine.

Similarly, I originally wrote: “She mentioned her own protests and interactions with Bar Harbor’s former town manager and how she alleged he changed the narrative from what she said rather than what he did in their interactions.” She’d like that to read that she said Sutherland switched the spotlight from google Leonard Leo to the message that her protests were against the law. Kruger’s specific protests came up during the question and answer period of the discussion and not the original transcript.