View of Dennys Bay from Pembroke, Sunday evening, July 25, 2010.

Obamas' Visit

The Obamas have come and gone from MDI, much to the relief of many local folks. Not that the Obamas weren't welcome - a lot of people genuinely seemed excited about their being here for two days - but summer is brief and residents here are glad to get back to their seasonal routine.
Some people were disappointed they didn't see more of the First Family. Hundreds of people who lined Route 3 through Salisbury Cove and Hulls Cove, hoping to see the motorcade as it made its way to the heavily guarded Regency hotel from the Trenton airport, were irritated when it took another route and evaded them completely. Two days later, many people went to Trenton to see them leave, knowing there was no other way to get off the island (not by presidential motorcade, anyway).
But some who wanted to see the president and his family during their visit lucked out. Many saw them from afar when the Obamas happened to appear nearby, and some of them even had close encounters by correctly guessing where they might be next.
Staff at Stewman's Downtown, the Bar Harbor Club, Havana, The Claremont Hotel and Mount Desert Island Ice Cream didn't have to guess. They saw the Obamas up close and personal when the First Family stopped in for meals or for other reasons - tennis at the club and cones at MDI Ice Cream.
Suddenly finding yourself with the president as your customer certainly would be a riveting/terrifying experience for the average store clerk or shop owner (even though the businesses did get a few minutes notice from the Secret Service), but according to this Portland Press Herald story, one waiter at Stewman's got the most important customers he'll ever have with only six days of experience of waiting tables. He might as well switch careers now, if you ask me, because his career as a waiter is going to be all downhill from here.
Unfortunately, some people see everything through the lens of partisan politics, and part of the Obamas' MDI visit got snared in this trap. I won't comment on what some of these hyper-partisan bloggers said, other than to say that local folks responded with a lot of wisecracks and head-scratching. The BDN had a story about what Linda Parker (the ice cream shop owner) thought about all the fuss.
The Obamas might be gone, but a lot of local hotel, eatery and shop owners are hoping their visit will draw business to MDI for a long time.

The POTUS Cometh

A book cover depicting the face of President Obama sits in the window of Sherman's Bookstore in downtown Bar Harbor on Wednesday evening.

At the end of the workday last Friday, word got out that President Obama and his family - First Lady Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia - were coming to Mount Desert Island for a little R&R. At first it was thought they were coming this past weekend (July 9, 10 & 11), but according to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (whose district does not include MDI) the Obamas will be vacationing on MDI this coming weekend, July 16, 17, & 18).
MDI has long been known as a place where the rich & powerful like to escape in the summer, if only for a few days, but the presence of a sitting President of the United States on MDI hasn't happened in recent memory. According to Associated Press, three have visited the island, the most recent being William Howard Taft almost exactly 100 years ago. In 2008, Laura Bush, who was then First Lady, made a brief visit to MDI, including an informal meet and greet with Acadia National Park personnel, but "W" was not in tow.
The Obamas aren't planning to make any public appearances, according to reports, and there was heated speculation locally about where they might stay until word got out early this week that they'll stay at the Bar Harbor Regency hotel, a 278-room waterfront hotel owned by Ocean Properties Ltd., a private firm that owns more than 100 hotel and resort properties in North America.
The use of a hotel seems odd, given the number of huge, private and well-appointed private estates on the island. I've long heard rumors that David Letterman sometimes stays at the Balance Rock Inn in Bar Harbor, sequestering himself in a third floor, ocean-view room , venturing out only when leaving to return home.
Many local estates include those owned by people in high political positions. The late former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, whose family traces its seasonal roots on MDI back more than 100 years, owned a home overlooking Seal Harbor. Bush's former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley visits a home near Long Pond, and now-deceased former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger lived on Route 198 in Somesville. And don't forget former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who owns a home in Seal Harbor.
Aside from those in political power, there are many with money and other types of influence, such as television producer Dick Wolf, Martha Stewart, and Susan Sarandon. The usual coterie of super-wealthy magnates who summer on MDI - outside the Rockefellers - nowadays also includes billionaires Edward "Ned" Johnson, Robert Bass, Charles Butt and Mitchell Rales, among others.
But up until the Regency revelation, many speculated that the Obamas might stay with Mitchell, whose shares the Obamas' political party affiliation and serves as s Obama's special envoy for peace in the Middle East. Aside from his political connections, according to Judy Harrison of the Bangor Daily News, Mitchell has two children of his own who are the same ages as the Obama girls, who are 9 and 12. Many thought this was a sure sign the Obamas would stay with the Mitchell family while in town.
But the list of politically connected people on the island also includes Ocean Properties' owner Tom Walsh, which may help explain why the Obamas are staying at his hotel. Sen. Mitchell partnered with Ocean Properties in the company's failed bid to redevelop the Maine State Pier in Portland. Walsh, a Bangor native, also is friends with Gov. Baldacci and partnered with the governor's brother Bob in the same unsuccessful Portland project.
So with the First Family's lodgings having been ferreted out, what they might do remains a secret that the White House and Secret Service aren't telling. A trip into Acadia National Park seems a sure bet. Aside from that, the only other likely concrete outcome of the visit is congested roads around Bar Harbor caused by crowds of curious Obama-seekers and the traffic restrictions that will be imposed around the hotel.
The excitement among local residents about the Obamas pending visit is palpable. Whether such enthusiasm might be enough to win out over the inevitable traffic complaints, we'll just have to wait to find out.

Schoodic lobster boat fatality

When cameras such as these suddenly show up in small town Maine, it often doesn't mean something good. That's been the case in Winter Harbor the past two days, as reporters have showed up to find out more about a fatal boat collision that happened Wednesday afternoon off Schoodic Point. Phil Torrey, captain of Master Simon, survived the collision but Frank Jordan, captain of Linda Diane, did not. Torrey, pictured above, told the media that he couldn't explain why, on a clear day, he didn't see the other boat and why Jordan apparently didn't see him. The BDN and Fenceviewer both have stories about it.
As anyone who has seen a fishermen's memorial (many of which can be found overlooking fishing harbors along the coast) should realize, fishing is a risky business. People can get into routines, focusing on their catch, and lose sight of the potential hazards they may face. Safety groups have raised concerns about people using cell phones or texting while they drive cars, but on the water fishermen often multi-task while they are under way. Whether they should or not is a worthwhile question to ask but, as Torrey said, the way he was operating his boat was "the same thing I've done for 20 years."
Jordan's passing is not a good thing but I am sure many fishermen and others were relieved to learn that the collision was an accident, and not a fishing confrontation gone wrong. Fishing confrontations - such as the shooting out on Matinicus last summer or what was depicted fictionally in the movie "Islander"(which was filmed on Vinalhaven) - happen up and down the coast and have happened in Winter Harbor, but many people believe the media often overplays such incidents and unfairly characterize fishermen as lawless goons.
This incident at least won't reinforce that stereotype. The fatal accident will be tough enough on the Schoodic Peninsula fishing community as it is, without its members having to fight that generalization, too.