Troy R. Bennett

This month marks the 84th anniversary of the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The surprise assault sank four battleships, killed thousands and hurled the United States headlong into the Second World War. However, a persistent coastal Maine legend suggests the Axis powers actually fired their first fatal shot on an American vessel five months earlier, 5,000 miles east of Hawaii and not far from Bailey Island.

One swift blow to the head with an ax handle while he slept and Elisha Wilson, of Great Island, was dead.

With multiple recent sightings, a stunning National Geographic photograph, and a new scientific report confirming their growing presence, Maine's great white sharks are more on the public's mind than ever before. But five years after the state's sole confirmed fatal shark attack off Bailey Island, not much has actually changed in Harpswell.

Southern Maine has a slew of talented cover bands who delight crowds with note-for-note, rock 'n' roll replica hits, keeping hoofers on the dance floor for hours on end. The Harpswell band Dooryarders is not one of them.

More than a dozen championship banners cover one whole wall inside Mt. Ararat High School's gymnasium. The red-and-blue pennants mark hard-won state titles in swimming, wrestling, track, tennis, football and soccer, among other sports.