Summer days start for me at sunrise on Lincolnville Beach, emptying the trash barrels, picking up butts, putting the place back in order for the day. It’s a job I love, and it turns out, so does my upstairs D-I-L, who took it over last year while I got used to my new knee. This year we share it, alternating days.

Gazing out over the water, making sure Islesboro hasn’t moved during the night, that Blue Hill and Cadillac are still visible on the horizon is first on my list. I usually have company, as one or two vehicles pull up so that their drivers take a few minutes to see that yes, the sun has risen again, before heading off to work.

It's the same horizon the first people saw, the ones who left behind the shell midden we used to poke at north of Frohock Brook. It’s gone now, eroded away by the rising sea.

An archaeological dig up beyond Ducktrap thirty years ago yielded evidence of these early people, the stone tools they made, the shells and bones of the creatures they ate, bits of the pottery that they made with clay they found under their feet.

The sea wall that divides the shore from the parking lot, that holds back the tide from washing over the road most of the time, is built of large granite blocks. Look closely and you’ll see the evenly-spaced grooves made with a hammer and chisel that broke off the blocks.

I only just learned that the wall I walk along every morning was built in the 1950s with the blocks that once formed the long wharf that ran out south of Frohock Brook. Oldtimers remember, as youngsters, fishing for flounder and cunners on that wharf, using broken clams as bait. Today a few of those original wharf blocks remain, underwater when the tide’s up, but at low tide seabirds congregate atop them.

The wall seems to be serving its purpose of protecting the sandy beach, one of the few along the Midcoast and beyond. But more than that, it provides the nooks and crannies for a wild population of beach tolerant plants. Rugosa roses, in full bloom and delicious scent right now, dominate. Oh boy, do they dominate, forming huge masses of thorny, tough stems, thick leaves impervious to salt, and lush blossoms – single, deep pinks to luscious doubles, and here and there, striking white singles.

I like to think the whites are descendents of one I surreptitiously planted, after all the fancy hybrids Maine Department of Transportation planted, died. My own white rugosa grew from a seedling I got from Alda Stitch in Montville a long time ago. MDOT, by the way, warned us against ever planting rugosas. Too invasive, they said. Can’t be controlled, they added. Turns out they were right, but we love them anyway.

Here and there a few other intentionally planted day lilies and lupines have survived, as well as a large Russian sage. But other than those domesticated plants everything is wild. Now and then a locust seedling takes root, and before anyone knows it, it’s reared its thorny self above the general tangle.

Wally cut down a few over the years; currently there’s another that needs to be gone. Blackberries are colonizing one section of the wall, beach peas spread out at the wall’s sandy base, and dune grass holds the fort near the bathroom kiosk.

My favorite, though, is the peony that appears every year along a secluded path up from the Beach to the sidewalk. I think this is a remnant of plantings that must have been associated with the long-gone cabana the owners of the Fir Wigwam (today’s Spouter Inn) kept across the road from their summer house. A demure, domesticated plant gone rogue, or at least clandestine. See if you can spot it; it’s buds are getting ready to open.

The wall divides the wild beach from the civilized town beach with its asphalt and curbing, its garden beds and signs directing us to do this, don’t do that. Park here, not there. No drinking of alcoholic beverages, oh no! And leave between 1 and 6 a.m.

And no dogs on the Beach.

As the person changing up the trash bags every morning, I can say with certainty that people are, in fact, drinking alcoholic beverages. And as the person walking the sand every morning, people do sometimes sleep on the Beach. Or in their cars which are definitely parked between 1 and 6 a.m.

And from direct observation, their dogs are on the Beach, too. Most are on leashes, and mostly the poop resulting from dogs on the Beach ends up in those little plastic bags most people carry. I see them in the trash bags every day.

I understand there has been a heated dogs-on-the-Beach discussion on the LBB these past few days, a discussion I’ve avoided. There’s only so much controversy a person can take in, and I’m over my limit.

But for what it’s worth here’s my two cents. I chat with dog walkers every day, usually the same few who come out early. They pick up after their dogs, keep them on a leash, and seem to bother no one. I’m not talking hordes of dogs here. Dogs on the sidewalk or the parking lot? Fine. Dogs on the Beach? The signs say No. I don’t see them bothering anyone. I guess I’m in favor of taking down the signs. If that makes a dogs-on-the-Beach problem, the ordinance is still in effect and can be cited.

Stroll around the many little garden beds that have been incorporated into the design of the Beach. As a member of the town’s Route 1 Committee, I remember when those beds were just a gleam in the eye of the MDOT engineers and our committee.

The whole project was designed to slow traffic down through the area with curbs and bump outs. To eliminate the sense that the village was just a blip in the speedway that’s Route 1, to change the perception. Several crosswalks, sidewalks, street lights and plantings were all part of the plan. They called it Traffic Calming.

Does it work? Yes. Of course, some drivers still speed through the village, but they’re not the norm. It’s way better down there, and I’ve seen it both before and after.

The garden beds were originally planned and planted by MDOT’s landscaping division. All those beds, along both sides of the road, are today planted and tended by a team of volunteers. And that brings me to the recently-announced dedication of the Town Report to Lee Cronin. As David Kinney said, “For all of her hard work and untiring effort for the betterment of our community the 2022 Annual Report is dedicated to you!”

By the way, Lee learned of the honor when, in the middle of a meeting of the Lincolnville Historical Society’s steering committee at her house, there came a knock on the door. She opened it to find a crowd: town administrator David Kinney and all five selectmen! They came in and told her that the Town Report was dedicated to her this year. Only her husband and children knew this was coming, so the surprise was complete.

It was fun for our committee, there to discuss finances and fund-raising, to inadvertently be part of the announcement.

Lee, a lifetime summer resident, has been responsible for shepherding the Lincolnville Improvement Association through most of its good works. That includes raising scholarship money through a hugely popular annual rummage sale which morphed into the Blueberry Wingding some 19 years ago.

And as the original MDOT plantings needed refurbishing, Lee organized a team of volunteer gardeners to adopt a bed and make it their own. The result is a variety of plantings including the boat overflowing with petunias, the yellow and blue Ukranian bed in front of the Post Office (last year planted in honor of Covid victims). Each bed has a little sign with the name of the person tending it.

Today, in between weeding and watering her own special spot, the flowers around the Welcome to Lincolnville sign, and planning for this year’s Wingding in August, Lee is co-chair with her husband, Brian, of the Capital Campaign for the LHS restoration of the Beach Schoolhouse.

Now that’s a useful retirement for a woman with a career as an elementary school teacher.

Missed Last Week

I forgot to mention Viking and Sewall Orchard in last week’s roster of Lincolnville businesses. Any others?

Town

David Kinney writes: “Congratulations to Lee Cronin!  For all of her hard work and untiring effort for the betterment of our community the 2022 Annual Report is dedicated to you!

The annual Town Report has been posted on the town web site and can be viewed by clicking here. Print copies will be available at the Town Office and at:

Mike’s Align & Repair – 2661 Atlantic Highway

Western Auto – 611 Beach Road

Drake Corner Store – 103 Main Street

Lincolnville Center General Store – 269 Main Street

“When you pick up your town report please thank the business owner for allowing the reports to be distributed from their location.  If you are a business owner and would like to be a point of distribution this year or in future years please let us know.

“Print copies will also be available at the polls next Tuesday from 8:00am to 8:00pm within the gymnasium of the Lincolnville Central School.  More information about voting and town meeting can be found here.

School

Read the doings at LCS and the recent school committee meeting on the school newsletter, Lynx. Eighth grade graduation will be held Tuesday, June 21, 5:30 p.m. in the Lynx gym. The last day of school, Field Day, is Wednesday, June 22 with 11:30 dismissal.

And two pieces of good news from LCS: The HAL (Hope-Appleton-Lincolnville) Busline League won the Northern Division Championship and there was only 1 Covid case reported among all grades and staff.

Women’s Club Yard and Bake Sale

This Saturday, June 18, stop by the yellow house across from Dot’s (2460 Atlantic Highway) 8 a.m. to noon, to see a huge selection of furniture, antiques, clothing, garden tools, & jewelry .... plus an array of home-baked treats.

All proceeds go toward scholarships for local high school seniors.

Rain Date:  Saturday, June 25th.

Center Indoor Flea Market

The Lincolnville Center Indoor Flea Market will be held on Saturday, June 18th from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the Community Building located at 18 Searsmont Road, Rt 173, in Lincolnville Center.  This is the second market of the season which is held the third Saturday of the month through October. The event is sponsored by the United Christian Church (UCC).

This is a real sellers' and finders' emporium. New and returning vendors will be offering an interesting array of products. 

 John and Sandy Spinney from Montville will be selling handcrafted wreaths made of local natural materials and hand carved wooden utensils.

Jennifer Temple of Sew Goods Studio in Lincolnville, will be offering reusable goods such as up-cycled wool/cashmere mittens, tooth fairy pillows and aprons, of which a portion of sales will be shared with groups that promote girls education. 

Schoolhouse Museum

In the course of inventorying everything item in its collection as volunteers at the Historical Society have been doing the past several months, we find things that don’t have anything to do with Lincolnville or its history. If we know who gave it to us, we make an effort to see if they want it back. Mostly we don’t; things “show up” sometimes with no donor attached. Stop by our table at Saturday’s Indoor Flea Market and see what we’ve got. Rather than pricing items we’re asking for a donation to the LHS Restoration Project.

Soup’s On (and Pizza and Subs and ....)

The popular Soup Cafe is back, noon Thursdays at the Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road. With three or more homemade soups, one always vegetarian, breads and cookies, it’s a hearty meal and there’s aways company to eat with.  A project of United Christian Church,  it’s free, though a donation is appreciated.

And down at the other end of town, the Lincolnville Beach Store is up and running with current hours of 11-7 and soon, 7 to 7 every day. I hear the pizza’s very good, and can vouch for a delicious turkey club I took across the road to eat on a bench in the sun. It was generous enough to feed two people, and if Don had been with me I’d have shared. But he wasn’t so I ate the whole thing.