Ferry Service to Boston
I read with interest the editorial from the Bangor Daily News, “Sailing Down From Boston.” We regretted most deeply the loss of the Blue Nose that used to sail out of Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. It was a delightful way to spend a day, reminiscent of an ocean crossing with breakfast and luncheon served on linen tablecloths in the dining room, and time to stretch your legs on deck, take in the ocean sights, and breathe the wonderful sea air. When they substituted The Cat for that elegance, naturally the market shrank. Who would want to be forced to spend the crossing in a tin can with no deck to enjoy the air or to sit out on and food provided from a slot machine or a greasy food counter? I fear if ever ferry service is considered from Boston to Bar Harbor, it will never succeed unless a level of elegance is returned.
—Margaret-Ann Corbett,
Addison, Maine

Stonington Opera House
My dad, from Sedgwick, played basketball in the Stonington Opera House in the 1920s. He told us tales about taking the ferry over with the girls’ teams. If a storm came up, the girls were put up in local homes and the boys slept on the floor of the opera house.
 
He would love to see what it has become today. My family attends many events there every summer. Our highlights are the concerts by Paul Sullivan and the jazz concerts. We attend many of the five-for-five on Wednesday nights, seeing lots of local talent, but always one star, who puts on a special performance when working at the arts camp the first week in July. You didn’t mention the arts camp, which is put on by Opera House Arts and Seamark Community Arts. The camp is for one week only and for years my grandchildren have attended. Now they are old enough to work as counselors. Both Judith and Linda are wonderful, friendly people, who do so much for island children.

Where in Maine?
Not being able to call myself a Mainer, but owning a Summer Camp near the beautiful fishing village of Corea, my heart was aflutter when I finally was able to recognize your “Where is Maine?” photograph! On two different summers, my wife and I explored the entire coast of Maine before we settled on the Schoodic Peninsula. This photo, of the Village Library in West Gouldsboro, represents the front door to the National Scenic Byway of Route 186 from U.S. Route 1 to the world-class scenery and authentic fishing villages of the Schoodic Peninsula and the Schoodic section of Acadia National Park. There may be more direct routes to Corea from Route 1, but we enjoy taking Route 186 for tranquil scenes like this, or to stop at the nearby Winter Harbor or to take in a show at historic Hammond Hall. The Schoodic Peninsula is blessed with a few historic libraries under the care of local citizens: the Village Library, the Winter Harbor Library, the Dorcas Library in Prospect Harbor near Elsa’s Inn, and, in Corea, we have the wonderful Chapter Two Bookstore run by Rosemary and Garry. Each of these has a “Maine Room,” where I have come to know the regional work of authors like Louise Dickinson Rich, Kenneth Roberts, Bernice Richmond, and Margaret Henrichsen, to name a few. The Village Library is a fitting sentry to the historic and artistic nature of the Schoodic Peninsula.
—Bob Steffel
Plymouth, Minnesota, and Corea-by-the-Sea, Maine