Sharon Daley, director of Maine Seacoast Mission’s Island Health Services, walks toward the Sunbeam, the Maine Seacoast Mission’s service boat, in Northeast Harbor, Maine, in August. (Ellie Markovitch/for The Washington Post)
www.washingtonpost.com National Patients and doctors who embraced telehealth during the pandemic fear it will become harder to access
The most remote island communities have long relied on the nonprofit Maine Seacoast Mission to show up in its 75-foot steel-hulled floating clinic, the Sunbeam V.
The mission’s nurse, Sharon Daley, coordinates with mainland doctors, sometimes consulting with out-of-state specialists like vascular neurologist Anand Viswanathan of Massachusetts General Hospital, who accompanied her on a recent trip to meet patients he usually sees online.
Daley’s experience with everything from unreliable Internet access to physicians’ state-based licensing arrangements is central to a today’s debates in Washington. But day-to-day, her focus is less on policy than on integrating the tools of technology with the traditions of good care — a challenge that all practitioners face as they adapt to telehealth.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME – We invite you to watch this video portrait of the Mission medical team’s Covid vaccination work on remote Maine islands earlier this year. This video is part of a Walgreens public service announcement series depicting Covid-19 responses in different parts of the nation.
This story features Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley, RN – who co-led the Mission’s Covid-19 medical response team, with Douglas Cornman, Island Outreach Director and Chaplain – and supporting nurse, Maureen Griffin.
Mission Director of Island Outreach and Chaplain Douglas Cornman.
In 2016, when I was first introduced to the Sunbeam, Island Outreach Director and Chaplain Douglas Cornman, the only crew member aboard, gave me a tour of the boat. I remember walking from the wheelhouse onto the top deck. Douglas explained to me that the two white cylindrical hard-shell cases affixed to the roof held life rafts. If the cases ever hit the water, Douglas said, they open, and the rafts inflate, automatically.
Also affixed to the deck, near the cases, were stainless steel tie downs. Those, Douglas said, secured coffins when the Sunbeam traveled to or from funerals.
Funerals? Yes, funerals are an unsung service provided by the Sunbeam crew for islanders. Here, for the first time, Douglas Cornman, the Sunbeam crew member who officiates funerals, talks about what he says is “one of the most profound aspects of my work.”
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NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME – I have officiated over 11 funerals on the Sunbeam or on island since I started with the Mission in 2014. Now, these are only the funerals for which I’ve officiated the service. The boat has participated in other funerals since I joined the crew.
Who is eligible for a Sunbeam funeral? Islanders are eligible. There are no hard rules around this. The funerals I’ve officiated, or the Sunbeam has participated in, in some capacity have been for islanders from islands frequently visited by the Sunbeam.
The majority of funerals I’ve officiated have been on Matinicus where the Sunbeam plays a significant role in the life of the island. Matinicus doesn’t have a minister living on the island. It’s also a challenging island to get to because of it’s distance from the main land. I’m the island’s chaplain which is why most of my work officiating funerals is on this island.
In 2014-15, when I was still an interim Mission employee, Mission President Rev. Scott Planting asked me to do a fairly comprehensive assessment with islanders regarding what kind of Sunbeam crew member was needed to succeed Rob Benson, who had moved to the Bar Harbor Congregational Church as their minister.
I learned islanders want to know who’s going to marry them, and who’s going to bury them.
So I’m asked to officiate funerals for families where the Sunbeam or her crew, including the chaplain, has played a significant role in the families’ life. The islands that ask me or the Sunbeam to be involved typically do not have a year ‘round clergy presence.
The islands we serve all have active cemeteries, really sacred spaces on islands. No one desecrates an island cemetery.
There are people on Matinicus who, every summer, go to the cemetery and clean the grave markers so the lichen doesn’t cover up the names and destroy the markers. People really respect these places. They’re extremely important.
With a burial on land there’s a permanence because, whether it’s a full body burial, or a cremation; an urn with cremated remains, you know the essence of that person is permanently placed there. And a marker will always remind people that the person is there.
I’ve only dispersed ashes during burials at sea, never a body. I watch the ashes disperse. I watch them touch the water and the waves just carry them out into the sea where even the remains of the ashes, the shape they create, disappears, and once again becomes clear water. It’s as if the spirit of the person is truly released into the water, rejoining the universe. Because you just watch the ashes fade into the water and become part of the sea.
The Sunbeam crew gets involved in all kinds of ways. The boat can get involved in helping people grieve and transition when a family member has passed.
I think we all need to grieve in our own ways. But grieving doesn’t necessarily equate to sadness. People assume they should feel sad when a loved one dies. But I don’t know that sadness is the emotion that’s always felt.
Grief, if grief is an emotion, I think grief is the emotion that’s felt. I’ve been a part of funerals where there has just been so much laughter and joy. And that’s the emotion that is expressed through the grieving process.
Something that surprised me. I officiate over weddings and funerals. When I started this work, I thought I would find weddings to be more profound than funerals, but it’s the other way around.
I find officiating a funeral or a celebration of life really to be one of the most profound aspects of my work. I really get to know families. I listen to their stories, their grief, their memories. Then we come together. The time we take is really powerful. There’s something really special about walking alongside a family honoring the death of a loved one.
Even if I don’t intimately know the person who’s died, I find myself joining in the family’s grief. I think it’s the depth of emotion that families share with me that’s really profound. It’s a gift and I feel fortunate to receive it.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME – This photo from Jillian, taken in the Sunbeam salon, is “a picture of Laura Venger, teacher at the K-8 Frenchboro School on Frenchboro island. She is delighted to receive a bag of apples from Island Outreach Director Douglas Cornman for a school project.”
As an aside, it’s nice to see the Mission’s Summer 2021 issue of The Bulletin in the wall wooden magazine rack. You can download or read it online here.
A view of the Sunbeam Award Gala 2021 at the Bar Harbor Club. The large tent used is partially visible.
NOTE: Thank you to Mission Director of Administration Ann Cox Halkett and Development Operations Associate Thomas Thompson for this Sunbeam Award Gala 2021 recap.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — The Mission’s 2021 Sunbeam Award Gala was a great success, a joy to gather in Bar Harbor to honor Sigma Kappa and Acadia Senior College. The August 12 event celebrated two extraordinary organizations — Acadia Senior College and Sigma Kappa. Both have made great contributions to strong communities on Mount Desert Island, including the women of Sigma Kappa who have steadfastly supported the Mission for over 100 years
The gala was held on the Bar Harbor Club patio, and also under a large tent on the lawn. The weather was picture perfect. After our virtual Gala last summer, guests were happy to gather together with friends to support the Mission’s work.
Mission President John Zavodny welcomed guests and introduced David B. Woodside, Chair of the Board of Directors of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, one of the Gala’s Platinum sponsors. Following an entertaining video about Acadia Senior College, former Mission President Scott Planting gave the Sunbeam award to Acadia Senior College president, Linda Dunn. In her remarks, Dunn told of the College’s start and quick success, and pointed out that the room held dozens of Gala guests who have been College instructors, supporters, and students through the years.
Next, President Zavodny introduced Tony Shurman, President and CEO of Wyman’s, the Gala’s other Platinum sponsor. After a video about Sigma Kappa, Dan McKay, Chair of the Mission Board of Directors gave the Sunbeam award to Ann O’Connell Adams, national President of Sigma Kappa Sorority, and Dawn Copple O’Connor, President of the Sigma Kappa Foundation. Sigma Kappa Sorority was founded at Colby College, Waterville in 1874. President Adams recounted the partnership Sigma Kappa has had with the Mission since 1918.
It was a festive evening of old and new friends, good food, and abundant reminders of the importance of vibrant community. The work and activities of this year’s award winners demonstrate how strong community is built and enriched.
Thank you to all who participated, and to the Bar Harbor Club, who hosted us in a huge tent near Frenchman’s Bay. From the video of older Mainers naming their superpowers to the excitement of meeting Sigma Kappa members from across the country and hearing the hearty cheers of Senior College supporters, it was a memorable evening.
With just days until the Sunbeam Award Gala 2021, we thank these sponsors for their generous support of the Maine Seacoast Mission’s fundraising event in support of our community.
Today, help us thank our Platinum sponsors by visiting them online.
