“Living and Working in a Waterfront Community: A Conversation Series” will resume on Aug. 15 with a panel titled “Gentrification, Access and You.” The event will take place at Bowdoin College’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center on Orr’s Island from 5-7 p.m., with optional self-guided tours of the center at 4:30.
Five local nonprofits — the Cundy’s Harbor Library, Harpswell Anchor, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Holbrook Community Foundation and Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association — are organizing the conversation series for the third year, after two events each in 2021 and 2022.
“Gentrification, Access and You” will explore what the terms gentrification and access mean to different sectors of the community and what challenges and solutions may lie ahead for Harpswell and other coastal communities. As with all conversations in the series, the event will seek to foster communication between Harpswell’s working waterfront and the larger community.
Monique Coombs, an Orr’s Island resident and director of community programs for the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, will continue in her role as moderator of the conversation series. Panelists were not confirmed at press time.
Samples of local seafood, including Maine Coast Monkfish Stew, will be served. Maine Coast Monkfish Stew is made with sustainably harvested monkfish and Maine produce and dairy. Sales of the stew benefit Fishermen Feeding Mainers, a program of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association that donates fresh seafood to schools, food pantries and community groups.
The event is free, but registration is required. To register for either in-person attendance or remote attendance via Zoom, go to hhltmaine.org.
In a related effort, the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and its community partners recently published a booklet titled “Scuttlebutt: A guide to Living and Working in a Waterfront Community.” The guide is being distributed with the August edition of the Anchor.
