Every year, the Mission partners with organizations across Maine and beyond to provide services, education, and more to communities Downeast and on Maine Islands. For the past few years, Ann Backus has joined the Sunbeam crew to outer islands to provide outreach to fisherman. We interviewed her on a trip to Matinicus, Isle au Haut, and Frenchboro. 

What is your name? What organization do you represent? 

My name is Ann Backus and I work for the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. I work in occupational safety and health and environmental health, all of that is under the Department of Environmental Health. I am funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. 

Who does it serve? Tell me about the people who will benefit? 

We work with both children and fisherman. For children, we had coloring books that are put out by the Shaw Fund, and I share those with the communities I visit. I also have a stability exercise with a card stock boat, where students add paper clips or rubber bands above or below the center of gravity and they see if they can balance the boat. Then we talk about the real-life implications of that.  

For adults, I focused on a number of different things. One thing I was interested in was talking about carbon monoxide emissions from the boats. We discussed whether they have a dry exhaust or a wet exhaust and the difference. There is a back draft concept, that if you have a wet exhaust, the carbon monoxide from the emissions can circle back onto the boat and get caught under the overhead. If people are working at the stern of the boat, they might get a headache or feel a little woozy. And if that’s the case, they should stop the boat and get some fresh air before they continue.  

What drives you to do the work you do? 

One thing I am driven by is a type of equity, because rural populations just don’t get the same information that the big cities or big ports do, or even fishermen that have more access to professional organizations like the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.  

What do you hope to accomplish? 

I hope this visit brings the fisherman some idea about the importance of thinking about safety around their work and how to keep themselves both healthy and safe on the boat. I hope to reinvigorate their thinking around safety and bring what we call in the in the business, the safety culture. 

What has been a memorable moment of the trip? 

I think seeing the kids get excited about ideas in the realm of safety and having them realize that they do have a vocabulary and if they didn’t before they do now. The other fun thing was seeing how these communities came together. 

A few minutes after the Sunbeam tied up on Frenchboro, islanders made their way onto the boat. They were there for Covid and flu vaccines. While some islanders just stopped by to get their shots and maybe grab a cookie, others stayed to enjoy lunch or dinner and chat with the crew and other islanders. 

The Mission’s short time on each island went a long way for each community. During the winter months, with some island populations dropping to around 20 people, the Sunbeam provides a welcome respite. And it was clearly a celebration: on Frenchboro, a young boy came on to play with the toy pirate ship, expressing joy that it was back. Sometimes both tables in the salon were filled with people discussing the latest island news. On Matinicus, one resident joked that the whole island stopped by to see the boat. When the Sunbeam is in port, it becomes an unofficial community center, with neighbors catching up with each other. With many islanders wearing multiple hats, they often lack the spare time to socialize; yet a visit from the Mission gives them a chance to pause and get together. 

Learn more about the Mission’s Island Health program and the Sunbeam.  

Last year, the Mission received more than 2,000 handcrafted hats, mittens, scarves, socks, and lap blankets from around the country. While it is not clear when the first knitted item was given as a Christmas present on the Maine coast, as early as 1910, the Mission noted in its Annual Report that knitted mittens and hats were donated to its Christmas Program alongside clothing, dolls, and books. Now, more than a century later, a knitted item is included in every gift given by the Mission and has become a staple of the Christmas Program.  

n later years, Alice began making mittens of her own to donate to the Mission. Many coastal residents still remember the years when the Mission might have given them their only Christmas gift and always included was either a hat or a pair of mittens. They fondly share the importance of the Mission and many would go on like Alice, to continue to support the Christmas Program for years to come.  

By the 1920s, knitting had become integral to the Mission’s work and in the Annual Report the Mission specifically asked for donations of knitted items. In 1935, the Mission thanked knitting groups for their donations including one group that sent 464 items to the Mission. Knitters and crocheters have continued to make and send items to the Mission for decades, sometimes sent with notes that speak of generations of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters.  

And while mittens might not be at the top of most kids’ wish lists today, they often are a favorite of many kids. Douglas Cornman, Director of Island Services, says many times kids overlook the toys and go straight for their new hat and mittens. “It amazes me when they do this. They love their new hat and mittens and want to know how Santa knew their favorite color. Their wonder and amazement adds to the magic of Christmas.”     

Now, the Mission is reaching out to current knitters and crocheters to find out more about their connection to the Mission. If you have created handmade items for the Mission, please let us know by filling out this survey. And because the Mission still gives thousands of knit items to people living on the coast each year, new knitters and crocheters are welcome to send their items to Maine Seacoast Mission Christmas Program, PO Box 428/ 6 Weald Bethel Lane, Cherryfield, ME  04622. 

To learn more about the Christmas program and its impact here. 

The Bulletin underwent a redesign to better reflect the work the Mission is doing, with more dynamic colors and design, the new Bulletin features community and partner profiles alongside a longer feature story, introductions to Mission people and more stories about our programs. These profiles help give a face and story to the people who both help the Mission and receive Mission services. 

The Bulletin walks readers through the changes made on the campus from the new Downeast Engagement Center to the pole-based challenge course to the new cabins down by the Weald Bethel Community Center. Along the way, community members share what the improvements have meant to them.   

To read the full issue of the Bulletin visit Our Publications page.