The Friends of Sears Island (FOSI) and the Alliance for Sears Island (ASI) are collecting memories of Sears Island, with a focus on the time before the causeway was constructed in 1988.

Sears Island and the sandbar that connected it with Kidder Point at half-tide were important for clamming, fishing, hunting, picnics and other pursuits for thousands of years before the present. First-person stories of those experiences from the pre-causeway era shed light on the cultural, economic and environmental significance of Sears Island.

“Friends of Sears Island has wanted to do this project for several years, so it is very fitting that this project can move forward during the organization’s 20thanniversary year,” said Rolf Olsen, FOSI’s board president, in a news release announcing the project. “We have heard some wonderful stories about how families enjoyed the island over the decades, and even a few memories of cars caught on the causeway when the tide came in. Every year that goes by, we are losing the voices that can share this rich history.”

Islesboro Islands Trust advocates for protecting the health of Penobscot Bay and helped establish the Alliance for Sears Island in 2022. Speaking for ASI, IIT Executive Director Emeritus Steve Miller observes, “This oral history project is key to truly understanding how the island has been part of people’s lives and we’re excited to learn more from families that have lived here for generations.”

Oral Historian Galen Koch will collect and preserve those memories from volunteer narrators and produce archival-quality video, audio and text.

The Sears Island Oral History Project will collect stories about Sears Island, focusing on when only a sandbar connected Sears Island and Kidder Point, Stockton Harbor and Long Cove. Please contact FOSI at info@friendsofsearsisland.org or ASI at Allianceforsearsisland@gmail.com.