by maineseacoast | Apr 23, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
ABOARD THE SUNBEAM — “Despite the high southerly winds, sea height and fog, the Sunbeam and crew made it to Isle au Haut on Saturday, April 20th to celebrate Easter.
We had a lively and festive church service on the boat, with Hunt and Allison Smith of Steuben providing music on fiddle and accordion.
Douglas’ Easter message focused on how we can better love one another as God commands us to love through the Gospel, even though doing so is one of our greatest challenges.
Sunbeam Steward Jillian served a delicious dinner of chicken and dumplings and blueberry pie.
It was a delightful evening where all were lovingly fed – body, mind & soul.”
Douglas Cornman, Maine Seacoast Mission Island Outreach Director
by maineseacoast | Apr 16, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Scott Planting, Sunbeam
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L-R: Mission Health Director Sharon Daley, RN and Dr. Anand Viswanathan, MD, PhD.
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Mission Health Director Sharon Daley, RN (second from left) with Dr. Anand Viswanathan and his research team at Massachusetts General Hospital.
BAR HARBOR, ME — “Monday, April 15, I spent an amazing day at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) thanks to Anand Viswanathan, MD, PhD,” said the Mission’s Island Health Director Sharon Daley, RN.
Director Daley’s was somewhat of a full-circle visit. In May 2018, at the invitation of then-Mission President Scott Planting, Dr. Anand spent three days accompanying Sharon aboard the ‘Sunbeam V’ for her regular telemedicine run.
Dr. Anand, a Neurologist, is a member of the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and is a staff neurologist in both the Stroke Service and Memory Disorders Unit. He also works with patients in remote areas, such as northern Maine, via telemedicine. His work and the Sunbeam’s island work are a natural fit.
After that trip, Anand wrote to Sharon, “…I think you guys are doing really outstanding and important work, although not always glamorous. I think you guys are really the unsung medical heroes of the Maine islands.”
During her recent visit with Dr. Anand at MGH, Sharon attended “a meeting where the newest research was presented,” she said. And she “was also shown [MGH’s] stroke telemedicine program.
Sharon explained, “Dr. Anand and other physicians provide stroke telemed and consultations to Maine hospitals. The technology enables the physicians to [remotely] see all of the scans, labs, and the patient.”
But, Sharon added, what “impressed me more than the technology is the dedication I saw in the people I met.”
Mission Health Director Daley said the MGH “team was very interested” in the ‘Sunbeam’ telemedicine work. “Anand and the team offered to do anything they can to support [that work] any way they can,’ Daley said, which is great news for the Mission and the island communities with which we work.
To learn more about the ‘Sunbeam V’ telemedicine work click here.
by maineseacoast | Apr 11, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
‘Sunbeam V’ tied up at Isle au Haut, 4-10-19 (Photo by Capt. Michael Johnson)
ABOARD THE SUNBEAM, ME — An April 10, 2019 photo with a succinct message from Sunbeam V Captain Michael Johnson:
“‘Still winter on Isle au Haut.”
Learn more about the Sunbeam V crew’s work on Isle au Haut and other unbridged Maine island communities.
by maineseacoast | Apr 10, 2019 | Downeast Campus, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam, Weald Bethel Community Center
Wednesday Spinners at Weald Bethel Community Center (Photo by Scott Shaw)
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Followers of the Mission’s blog and/or social media may remember an October 29, 2018 story of the Wednesday Spinners traveling aboard the Sunbeam V to Isle au Haut.
Island Outreach Director Douglas Cornman said at that time:
“As I understand it, the Spinners have been meeting weekly, for over forty years, to share their craft, learn from one another, and spend a day together doing something they love. They meet every Wednesday during the Fall, Winter and Spring. In Summer they need the extra day to shear their flocks, card and dye the fleece and spin the wool for their own use or to sell.”
Thank you, Maine-based artist Audra Christie, for hosting the Wednesday Spinners earlier this month at the Weald Bethel Community Center, Cherryfield, ME. And a tip of the hat to the Mission’s Downeast Campus Facilities Manager Scott Shaw for sharing this photo with a note saying, “No amount of snow can stop their Spinning Wheels from turning.
by maineseacoast | Apr 4, 2019 | DETOP, Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam, Weald Bethel Community Center
Jillian (Photo courtesy Eva Murray/Pen Bay Pilot)
Pen Bay Pilot
Without an Agenda: Talking with the Crew of the ‘Sunbeam’ Pt 2
By Eva Murray – Tuesday, April 2, 2019
…Sunbeam steward Jillian…. [H]er domain is the galley, from where she feeds crew and visitors alike. Sometimes islanders are invited aboard for supper, but all through the day working islanders stop in for coffee break and to raid the famous cookie jar.
You don’t have to have an identified need to come aboard and be helped to feel good, and that’s largely the responsibility of the cook. The sense of community helped along by a good meal is not lost on Jillian….
“Seven years ago we started our regular community supper in Cherryfield, and for seven years every Sunday we’ve served a free meal. I just learned the value of just sitting with your neighbor and eating at a big table. People love to come together. Providing a meal for people is an honor and I love the simplicity of it.”
I said to Jillian, “Your role and the role of every steward before you has been larger than your bosses may know. You’re not just here to support the crew, but you’re here to support us all in an abstract sense. You provide the service that is the hardest to measure.”
She replied, with a grin “Not really—you cut a pie into eight pieces!”
Full story
by maineseacoast | Apr 3, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
Mission Island Health Director Sharon Daley, RN. (Photo courtesy Eva Murray)
Pen Bay Pilot
Without an Agenda: talking with the crew of the ‘Sunbeam’ – Part 2
By Eva Murray – Posted: Tuesday, April 2, 2019 – 1:45pm
I brought up how March on an island has classically been considered the hardest time, and asked, “Do you see a seasonal impact on people in terms of depression?”
Sharon’s reply was particularly interesting to me, and it defied the stereotype of the “long lonely winter.”
“I see August as also being hard for people on all the islands.” (Hearing these words from her made me smile, as I personally feel the stress of the intensely busy summer much more acutely than any stress from a low population, even though that issue gets little media attention in Maine). “The population on every island doubles (or more,) and everybody’s working really hard, and having so many people around always needing a lot of things can be really hard. By August, people are ready for it to be quieter.”
I could have hugged her. We hear a lot about the impacts on mood and mental health of isolation and long winters, but less about the sense of being overwhelmed, overworked, or “always on call” during a Maine coast summer.
Full story
