This Week in Lincolnville

Backyard saunas are an odd feature of Midcoast Maine

Sun, 06/28/2026 - 7:59pm

Ed O’Brien

Ma supervises my brother and daughter’s restoration work.

Ma supervises my brother and daughter’s restoration work.

It was around 25 years ago that we built the sauna.

Backyard saunas are an odd feature of Midcoast Maine, surprisingly common due to a long ago influx of Scandinavian immigrants, mostly Fins. There is no close Scandinavian ancestry in this family, but back in the 1970s, my parents got the idea to build a sauna in the barn.

The sauna was removed when that part of the barn was converted into the weaving shop, and frankly, having a room designed to get that hot in an old tinderbox of a barn seems like a questionable idea in the first place.

My old man did love a sauna though, and the idea of building a separate sauna house remained in his mind. At some point in the late 1990s, us boys made it happen.

I struggle to remember the details, but both my brothers and I were involved, as was my older brother’s fiancé; they were working at a school overseas, and had the summers off. In the field behind the barnyard, we built a pretty solid little two room shack — the sauna and changing room, with a small deck off the front.

The men in my family are not known for their technical skills. We can learn them, but it takes a long time. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad with his chainsaw in pieces on the barn stoop, swearing a blue streak. A few years later was the summer that he, as the school principal, was tasked with learning how to use the Castine Adam’s School’s brand new TRS 80 computer. I attribute my younger brother’s colorful way with words to spending too much time as a toddler with my dad and that g**d***ed computer.

The sauna, though, while it took a couple summers to complete, was pretty well built, all things considered.

I even spent the summer of 2000 living out there, having returned home from my travels, and accepted a job with the state. Broke, but still wanting my space, it was a pretty sweet place for my 25-year-old self. Living in the shack behind my parent’s house. A line that played well with the ladies.

Years have passed, as those young men who built it in their 20s move into their late 40s and 50s, the sauna has similarly seen the passage of time. Leaks around the front window has rotted part of the floor, it needs some serious work.

While the O’Brien men are slow learners when it comes to certain things, I married well, and I am blessed with a daughter who wants to learn how to do everything, and has the natural talent to do so. Her skills honed by four years of theater tech, building sets, running lights and soundboards, she has long eyed the dilapidated old building behind the house, wanting to make it structurally sound again.

It so happens that my older brother, in semi-retirement from a career teaching and a bit nomadic, is also looking to increase his technical skills, to demonstrate that O’Brien men can learn. Therefore the 54-year-old man and his 18-year-old niece have tackled this project. They are seeking the consultation of the 82-year-old matriarch, who has always been the brains of every project undertook on this old homestead, as well as my wife, whose mind just instinctively understands how things go together. And of course, the old men, Don and my father-in-law Allen, also have the opportunity to chime in on the project.

I make my living as a clinical social worker, my older brother is a teacher, our younger brother is a journalist and professional maker of good trouble. In the same way that some of my brother’s students struggle with math concepts but can be taught with patience, we can learn to run machinery, hang drywall, chainsaw the underbrush. It just may take us a little longer. It doesn’t come natural.

It seems a safe bet that the old sauna house will soon be temporarily occupied again, either by my between-countries math teaching brother or my soon-bound-for-college adult daughter. Regardless, I am looking forward to firing it up this winter on a snowy evening, and taking a long hot sauna.

Fourth of July

Next Saturday, of course, marks the 250th anniversary of this nation of ours. My direct ancestor Noah Woodward was a minuteman from Norton, Massachusetts. Norton is the home of my alma mater, Wheaton College, where my daughter will also attend come August. The ancient burial ground on the edge of campus is full of Woodwards. Noah, however, left the state after the war, moving to Sidney, Maine, where his descendants remain. He would not be the last veteran of war to seek solace in Maine.

Camden will be commemorating the signing of The Declaration of Independence on the Village Green from 10:30 to Noon on Friday, July 3rd. The service is being organized by the American Legion Post 30. Music will be provided by the North Winds Ensemble under the direction of Marlene Hall. Speakers will include Revolutionary War reenactor Hank Lunn, who will speak to Maine’s role in the war effort, the volunteer militias and those on the home front.

Brent Wucher, commander of Post 30 shared this quote from Camden Historian Barbara Dyer:

“There is a bronze plaque at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania commemorating the 1,000 men from Maine who served in the Massachusetts Regiments of the Continental Army under General George Washington in the Winter of 1777-78 sharing the hardships thereby endured. But Maine has done less than an adequate job of remembering the contributions and hardships of this frontier wilderness towards our independence. Falmouth (now Portland), Machias and Camden should be as famous to our State of Maine as Bunker Hill is to Massachusetts and Saratoga is to New York.”

Library Happenings

Needleworkers will meet Tuesday at 3. This Tuesday at 5:30 bring the kids for the summer reading kick off with Tom Knight’s musical puppet show, followed by ice cream and popsicles! MahJongg for all will be held Friday at noon.

Have a great week Lincolnville and a safe and happy Fourth. I always appreciate that we celebrate America’s birthday on the same day as we celebrate the birth of my wonderful sister-in-law, one of many New Mainers who make this country great.

Be responsible with your fireworks, keep an eye on your pups. Reach out at ceobrien246@gmail.com with any Lincolnville news you may have.

Municipal Calendar:

Monday, June 29

School House Museum open, 1-4 p.m., 33 Beach Road

Tuesday, June 30

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Wednesday, July 1

School House Museum open, 1-4 p.m., 33 Beach Road

Library open 2-5

Comprehensive Plan Review Committee, 6 p.m., Town Office

Thursday, July 2