|
Frenchboro’s Life Forces: Tide,
Weather and Ferry
Frenchboro, the smallest of all towns in Hancock
County, is a place where the sun rises and sets over the ocean.
It’s where farm fresh eggs can be delivered to the doorsteps of
island residents, and where everyone knows each other.
Frenchboro, on Outer Long Island, sits about eight miles off
Mount Desert Island. It is
reachable only by boat or a 45-minute ferry from Bass Harbor.
|
Lunt’s Harbor is the center of activity in Frenchboro. The
mountains of Mount Desert Island loom in the distance. Islanders
say they can see the headlights of cars driving up Cadillac
Mountain on most nights. |
Living on the island is “like going back in time,” said resident
Jo-Ann Albano.
Life on Frenchboro revolves around three things islanders say: the
tide, the weather and the ferry.
The people have to be self-sufficient because there is no store to
get that gallon of milk. Groceries are obtained on the mainland
packed into coolers and transported back by ferry.
The ferry landing is the unofficial town meeting place, according to
Pat McEachron.
“It’s the place everyone meets if they don’t have something else to
do,” she said. “We watch the cars going and say, ‘So-and-so is
getting a new fridge.’ In the bad weather we just pop from car to
car.”
Cars are allowed on the island which is a working community of
mostly fishermen and lobstermen. But mini-bikes and golf carts fill
the roads more often. It is considered a traffic jam when two cars
pass on the narrow hardtop roads (about one mile of them). But that
doesn’t happen often.
Boaters discovering the beauty of Downeast Maine often find their
way to Lunt’s Harbor and the moorings they rent in the summer. Last
year, visitors to Frenchboro arrived from 14 countries and 40
states, according to the Frenchboro Historical Society guestbook.
It is a range of visitors that never ceases to amaze island
residents.
The entire town surrounds the U-shaped harbor. The other two-thirds
of the island’s land is in preservation.
In March 2000, Maine Coast Heritage Trust worked with the Island
Institute and Maine Sea Coast Missionary Society to ensure that
eagles, otters and other critters are here to stay. Hiking trails
weave around the island and through the land preserve.
The island also supports a few businesses. The newly opened Harbor
House Inn is the island’s bed and breakfast. All of the work to
restore the house was done by owner Paul Charpentier.
Charpentier, his wife, Karen, and their two grandchildren act as
hosts. They cater to the guests’ personal tastes. Their food is
“unbelievable,” according to Albano.
Lunt’s Dockside Deli, almost directly across the harbor from the
inn, is open just two months a year, serving lunch to cruisers and
islanders alike. The menu features steamed lobsters, crab rolls and
grilled cheese sandwiches, plus, of course, ice cream and delicious
desserts.
Ladybug Knoll is Albano’s mail-order business. She sells homemade herbal cream,
hand painted tiles and buoys.
“Basically it is everything I had to squeeze into the weekend before
I moved to the island,” said Albano, who moved to Frenchboro five years ago.
She also sells eggs from her organically fed chickens. It is a
service that many islanders have come to rely on as a means of
getting fresh eggs.
Currently, Frenchboro is experiencing a baby boom, said McEachron.
Only four children attended Frenchboro’s one-room school last year.
But now there are six children under the age of four, with a fifth
child due in January.
The island also boasts a library and a historical society museum.
The historical society was founded in 1979 by sisters Vivian and
Lillian Lunt who had lived their entire lives there. They were
concerned that the history of their home was being lost.
The museum also houses a gift shop featuring crafts that have some
link to the island, said Donna Hasel.
An art gallery was a recent addition. This summer it will be showing
the work of Daud Akhriev who has visited the island twice for
painting. |
