August rounded out with two events, one which was especially noteworthy. On the afternoon of the 25th a site visit took place on the pier by the Boothbay Harbor Select Board, code enforcement officer, and harbor master to evaluate the Island’s application to rebuild. Others present were the IOS Pier Task Force, Will Gartley of Gartley and Dorskey Engineering Firm, the harbor master, and several interested islanders. The visitors were obviously comfortable with the application. That evening at the town hall, a public hearing for approval of the application took place. No concerns were raised at that forum, and the Island is now proud holder of a building permit issued by the Town of Boothbay Harbor to allow the Island to proceed with the construction of a new Isle of Springs pier. The accomplishment made front page news of the Register, “Isle of Springs Gets Wharves and Weirs Approval” on Sept. 4. Kudos to the Pier Task Force (Rob Reece, Chair, Brad Booth, Melodie Esterberg, Betsy Morrell) and to the whole of the IOS community on successful completion of this major step! 

Also noteworthy in August was on the 22nd, the first Karoke Night at the Casino. A fabulous turnout of Islanders of all ages accepted the ad hoc invitation. Who knew that so many of the Islanders would have musical talent?  

Sunday Services held since the beginning of August were led by Jim Morrell, Robin Woolson, and David Rydell. By the week prior to Labor Day Weekend, the final Sunday Service (always held dear), did not have a leader. To her great credit, Brenda Bowen stepped in to fill the gap. Her idea, ask participants to talk about their memories of the pier (perfect timing). Interesting past, current, and often funny stories were shared interspersed with traditional Island hymns. Brenda, capable at multi-tasking, also stepped in to fill the void of no pianist by playing the hymns on the antique pump organ. The service concluded with the traditional and poignant end-of-season hymn, “God be With You ‘Till We Meet Again.” Thank you, Brenda, for seeing all of us off in such a touching way. Immediately after the service, everyone chipped in to move the 100 chairs, the pianos and few pieces of furniture to the center of the room and draped them with bright white sheets (care of the Ridlon cottage) in anticipation of the construction of a new Casino roof. 

Back to Labor Day Weekend, on that beautiful Saturday afternoon, the Annual Farmhouse Picnic was hosted by the Morrel family and Brad Booth. This annual event allowed Islanders to connect once again and meanwhile sign off for the fall. The opportunity to grill and picnic among Betsy’s beautiful garden flowers was a perfect end to summer. Delicious foodstuffs were shared, appetizers, garden and pasta salads, garden tomatoes (some with basil and burrata), home cooked baked beans, and a wide array of homemade desserts (cookies, brownies, Pavlova, Linzertorte, etc.) rounded out the meal. Thank you to Betsy, Brad and the Morrell family.  

Despite some beautiful days, there’s no denying that by the first week of September, summer is passing on. Many have returned to school, work to their off-season lives. The diminished light, cool nights, faded goldenrod, the red of the blueberry/huckleberry bushes, small red maple leaves on the boardwalks, and plenty of parking spaces on Sawyers make it obvious.  

But just as things seemed to quiet down, beginning the day after Labor Day, a multitude of new people and equipment came ashore. The first wave was by float ‘barge’ pushed by Scott at the helm of the skiff bringing over all of the shingles and equipment needed to replace the large Casino roof. The roofers (numbering about eight) arrived by ferry. They began by removing the old shingles and making innumerable trips to fill a dumpster that had had been placed between the upper court and the Casino. Once they began their work, there was a cacophony of hammering as the first layer of protection and the shingles were applied. Watching the roofers so very high up on the precarious steep slopes of that large roof was awe-inspiring anxiety-provoking. Perfectly choreographed, one worker sat high up on the roof peak and slid individual batches of new shingles down the slope as requested by the roofers who were nailing below. The new roof was completed in record time (about three days), and apparently no dust or dirt fell into the building. Also, beginning on that Tuesday, two vehicles, one large and one small plus a huge spool of wire arrived by barge accompanied by employees from Fidium. They came to wire the island for the new fiberoptic system. That took about three days, and by Friday the spool and those workers had left with a plan to return off-season to wire individual cottages. Friday the tree cutters arrived along with a large chipper. Buzzing and grinding continued to the void left by the hammering earlier that week. The last to arrive by barge was the septic truck which attended to several cottages prior to heading off. Also on that special Friday a small crew came ashore to remove the door, windows and lockers from the pier shed. We commend Kim and Scott for keeping all of these people, their equipment, and their schedules straight.  As for the Pier Shed, no wonder in days of old, they called, windows, “Lights.” With no windows, the shed appears lonely, dark and desolate. Regardless, off we go to a new era beginning on Oct. 15 when the demolition of the whole of the pier will begin, and new pier construction begins due for completion by spring of 2026. The process will be monumental, and for those of us unable to be present, we eagerly anticipate witnessing the process in photographs.  

Best wishes to all for a safe and pleasant off-season.