By David Dowley
Wednesday October 26 was a beautiful, seasonably cool evening for Downeast Coastal Conservancy’s (DCC) sponsored Jack-O-Lantern Walk on the Mowry Beach Boardwalk in Lubec. Cathy Lookabaugh, DCC’s Membership and Outreach Director had partnered with the Lubec Community Outreach Center (LCOC) and the Lubec Memorial Library to highlight the boardwalk with a night of fun.
Robin Pinto, DCC Board Vice President and I, recently retired, long serving board member pulled into the former Consolidated School parking lot that evening to support the event. Creatively carved gourds by the young LCOC participants, Lubec elementary students, and the community were illuminated and placed along the trail to guide curious lookers over the boardwalk, through the marsh and to the beach. Pumpkins and carving supplies for the local school were paid for by donation from a fund created by Sineidin O’Niall and Melissa Lee to support school projects and an additional 30 pumpkins came from DCC board members and community donors. At the beach a fire pit, and table full of chocolate bars, gram crackers, marsh mellows and carefully carved sticks awaited s’mores lovers to enjoy. Cool glasses of cider were provided by LCOC and library volunteers read spooky themed books to the children nearby.
Stars poked through the pitch black sky as I headed back to the school parking lot choosing to greet the walkers as they arrived. Colin Brown, recently hired executive director of DCC gave me a push button counter to track the number of visitors. When I arrived at the trailhead I was met by a swarm of spook enthusiasts, too numerous to count. Parents and children kept coming, from Calais, Machias, Jonesboro, Jonesport and beyond. “How did you hear about this” I inquired. Facebook and DCC’s monthly email blast were common responses. It was generously estimated that over 200 visitors took part in the Jack-o-Lantern beach walk that evening.
I was reminded of the boardwalk’s inauguration celebration held some 14 years ago in the Lubec Consolidated School cafeteria. It was a foggy July 18th evening in 2008. The Quoddy Regional Land Trust (QRLT) was excited to formally introduce the boardwalk to the community after two years of construction.
(QRLT has since merged with the Great Auk Land Trust (GALT) from western Washington County in 2009 to form the Downeast Coastal Conservancy)
The Gala included entertainment from the UMM Ukulele Band, a presentation by Department of Conservation, Commissioner Pat McGowan, a Teddy Roosevelt impersonation and concluded by awarding the QRLT volunteer of the year award to Ukey Santos. UKey, as clerk of the works had guided the construction of the 200 4 x 8 ft. sections of the boardwalk in Victor Trafford’s warehouse logging 700 hours of volunteer labor. It was a significant local volunteer effort for an important community resource, worth celebrating.
That event was similarly overwhelmed and the 200 odd attendees quickly consumed the homemade fish chowder supper that had been meticulously prepared.
This fall’s Halloween Special Event at Mowry Beach sponsored by the cohort of partners was planned to not only highlight this important local, well visited boardwalk but also call attention to this aging infrastructure and its need for repair.
In the near future DCC will be hosting community gatherings to begin the conversation on the importance of the “boardwalk” to the community and plans to upgrade it.