June 2009

By Carol McCracken

that starting back in the 1880s, Peaks Island was home to a major amusement park?

It may be difficult to imagine that today with all the summer cottages dotting the Island, but it’s true.  The late John K. Moulton, well-known local historian, says this and much more in his book, “Peaks Island – An Affectionate History.”  The book is available at the Portland Public Library if you want to learn more about it.

Greenwood Gardens on Peaks southerly end was the center of the amusement area. It opened on the 4th of July in 1887 and provided lots of entertainment every day.  There was a Garden Opera House among the other attractions.  Later,  The Gem was erected on another part of the island.    It was a roller skating rink which ran very successfully for a dozen or so years.  In  1898, it was converted into a theater  and  became the first summer stock theater in Maine.  The theater opened  with a seating capacity of 1,600.  However, following World War I, the theater faltered and was destroyed by a fire in 1934.

Transportation to Peaks started in 1851 with regular steamboat service and was never a problem for the Island.  As Moulton points out:  “For example, in 1898, Casco Bay Lines carried 450,000 passengers to the islands – at least half of these to Peaks Island.”

Because of the arrival of electricity and other modern conveniences on the Island,  in 1910 summer cottages began to spring up around the Island. For the next twenty years or so, the Island became more of a long-time summer colony that an amusement park.  This trend continued until World War II when summer cottages dominated and the days of the amusement park were gone.

In many ways, Peaks Island once resembled a quieter and smaller version of Old Orchard Beach than you’d probably  have suspected!

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Reps. From Covanta Energy & National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Pose With Mayor Jill Duson

By Carol McCracken

The Fish Pier on a rain drenched Commercial Street was the backdrop for an announcement this afternoon that fishermen will now be able to dispose of their derelict fishing gear with no cost to them or to the City of Portland.  Until now, it was costly for fishermen to dispose of old ropes, traps and metal equipment in landfills.

There are now two bins on the Pier where fisherman can dump their unwanted equipment into in order to avoid associated costs.  The program called “Fishing For Enerbgy,” turns collected material into clean, renewable energy by Convanta Energy at its Massachusetts facility.  The metal equipmenet will be processed separately by Schnitzer Steel Industries for energy as well.

Mayor Jill Duson said that Portland is proud to be the first fishing community in Maine to collaborate with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program, Covanta Energy and Schnitzer Steel Industries. “Fishing equipment, if it becomes derelict, can threaten marine life, impair navigational safety and cause serious and costly problems for coastal communities like Portland.”  Hopefully, “Fishing For Energy,” will encourage fishermen in our waters to collect debris as they come upon it and bring it to the Fish Pier for handling.

Theresa Torrent-Ellis, a senior planner for the Maine Coastal Program in Augusta, said there’s no way of knowing just how much derelict gear there is off the waters of Maine.  The State has run several pilot “grappling” programs to determine that number.  It hopes to receive Fedeal funding to continue this program.

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Stone Path Between Eastern Prom and Fort Allen Park

By Carol McCracken

Work is on-going on the 400 ft. path between the Eastern Promenade and Fort Allen Park on the Hill.  It will be a walkway between the two that is expected to be completed in time for the Fourth of July celebration – which has already been underway for some time now.

About a month ago the supporters of this effort began to realize this path could be completed in time for the annual event.  Construction began on June 2nd.  There have already been users of the path who had noticed the recent work there and been curious about it.  One was a woman who is a resident of Portland House, another was a fisherman who lives on the HIl and two were women visiting from Gorham.  All said they had noticed the stone steps and had been using them already.

Charlie Bodin, a mason with Portland Trails who lives on the Hill,  said that the stones used for the steps are from the city’s ‘bone yard’ – its storage facility for recycled stones used elsewhere in the city originally.  Bodin said that the ‘field stones’ used for the sides of each stone step come from Hiram. 

The last step will be the placement of a Portland Trails sign, landscaping and an interfacing with the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum & Co. to assure that path users don’t run  into danger on the train tracks when exiting the  path onto the Trail along the Eastern Promenade.

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By Carol McCracken

State Senator Justin A. Alfond (D-Cumberland County) was selected to participate in the 2009 Program For Emerging Political Leaders, sponsored by the Maine State Legislative Leaders Foundation and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

“I am honored to be selected to participate in this program.  This is a great opportunity to touch base with my legislative peers throughout the US, to learn from them and share our experiences,” Senator Alfond said.  “I look forward to attending and will bring the best of Maine to the Leadership Program.”  Senator Alfond is a resident of Munjoy Hill.

State legislative leaders are asked to nominate one or more members who by their actions have demonstrated those qualities associated with leadership – integrity, compassion, intelligence, vision and common sense.

According to Stephen G. Lakis, President of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, “These legislators represent the best and the brightest and are destined for future leadership roles in their state.  After being with these people for several days, you can’t help but feel proud and more confident about our unique sysem of representative democracy.  They are just that good!”

Senator Alfond is one of only fifty state legislators chosen from a nationwide pool of outstanding applicants.  The conference runs from July 12 – 15  in Charlottesville on the UVA campus.

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