Today

Winter Harbor is a town in transition.

Since the Navy base officially shut down in June, Winter Harbor has lost not only a major economic contributor to the community, but also a group of friends and neighbors who can’t be replaced.

Winter Harbor Navy Base Commander Jim Guest strides past the “sideboys,” an honor guard that welcomed officials last May to the Winter Harbor Navy base’s decommissioning ceremony.

STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN HUBBARD

“The Navy was always a good neighbor,” said Town Manager Roger Barto. “They extended into the community at large, getting involved in Big Brother Big Sister programs, Coats for Kids, and other programs.”

The community lost half its population when the base staff and personnel moved out. Barto estimated that the town of 988 people has dwindled to 450.

But like any military community that has faced shutdowns, Winter Harbor plans on bouncing back.

“We knew about the base shutdown in 1995, when we found out at a chamber meeting,” said Barto, “so we’ve been preparing.”

Part of that preparation has been the work of Schoodic Futures, a group founded in 1995 in response to the closing of the base.

The group of local citizens that includes people from the six towns in the Flanders Bay School District, pulled together to provide a community forum for changes on the Schoodic Peninsula in the towns of Franklin, Sullivan, Sorrento, Gouldsboro, Winter Harbor and Steuben.

Schoodic Futures has been involved in Healthy Communities, Downeast Senior College, the Ice Age Trail, Scenic Byways and the Maine Bicycle Coalition. It began Schoodic Arts for All, which is now one of Winter Harbor’s most active and popular organizations.

Recent focus has been on re-use of Navy properties in the towns of Gouldsboro and Winter Harbor. Toward that end, Schoodic Futures has been concerned with furthering Acadia National Park’s plans for the Schoodic Education and Research Consortium.

“We’re looking at other Navy bases that have converted,” said The Jackson Lab’s Tish Tanski, who is the consultant to the research consortium.

Tanski has come on board to help the park turn a portion of the former Navy base into a research facility for scientists, students and other organizations.

Tanski said she is working with area businesses and colleges, trying to persuade them to become business partners with the park in the educational facility.

“We’re completely rethinking the park structure and the Navy base facilities in order to make this happen,” said Park Ranger Ed Pontbriand.

Barto said a number of businesses and organizations continue to remain strong through the tough times.

In the summertime, a group of community volunteers comes together especially during the number one event of the Schoodic summer: the Winter Harbor Lobster Festival.

“Fitz Dixon helps with the boat races, and Alan Goldstein always has a corn husking party,” said Barto. “Most of the volunteers don’t belong to any particular organization, they just come out and help.”

The Acadia Women’s Club buys road signs, plants flowers at the town office, helps with the Memorial Day service, does a yard sale, and holds a silent auction in the spring.

As Winter Harbor looks towards the future, it plans to put together a comprehensive plan to prepare for the future needs for housing and businesses and to protect the commercial fishing industry.