Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley and Swan’s Island EMT Tammy Tripler.
Mission President John Zavodny.
Maureen Giffin, RN with Sharon Daley.
Island Outreach Director and Chaplain Douglas Cornman.
Mill Pond Health Center Director Donna Wiegle.
SWAN’S ISLAND, ME — Mission President John Zavodny said in an 11:45 a.m. email that the vaccination clinic had so far seen 31 people, and were expecting a daily total of 58 people.
“System’s working well. Folks are showing up early and are very excited and grateful to the Mission and to the Health Center here. They love Tom’s stickers.
A shout out to Maureen Giffin, RN with MDI Hospital, EMT Tammy Tripler with Swan’s Island EMS, Maine CDC, and Director Donna Wiegle with the Mill Pond Health Center on Swan’s Island.
I learned recently our friend Terry died. It wasn’t a surprise. He’s been shuffling around with an oxygen bottle for a while, struggling to catch his breath. It’s been a handful of tough winters for he and his wife Dottie.
As Terry’s health diminished, friends and community helped with his firewood. I remember a conversation, years back, at one of our Downeast Table of Plenty (DETOP) suppers. We all were seated, eating at the big round table. Terry said he needed help carrying firewood into the house. Adam and Mark went over that weekend to move firewood. They did so for two winters.
Others took turns. Zach, Maeve and her son, Jaden, carried wood for a while. Neighbors looking out for neighbors. In summer, the Mission’s Housing Rehab workers moved and stacked big piles of firewood into Terry and Dottie’s wood shed.
Dottie and Terry have been together fifty years. Strong folk, back to the landers. They’ve lived many, many years off the grid, good and simple. Before coming to Maine they lived in a retrofitted bus in New Mexico. They first got electricity only three or four years ago when Terry needed it to power his oxygen supply. Scott Shaw, working through our Housing Rehabilitation program, had power strung down their long driveway, into their home.
Last fall, the Mission’s Megan Smith and Scott Shaw worked with Downeast Community Partners, to have two propane heaters installed in Dottie’s and Terry’s house. When Dottie called the Mission to tell us of Terry’s passing, she said Terry was proud of his new propane heaters. It’s reassuring knowing Dottie, without relying solely on wood, will be warm this winter.
Heart mending needs warmth.
I didn’t really know Terry before we were regulars at our DETOP community suppers. I knew he was old friends with Mooney. Like me, raking blueberries initially brought Terry and Dottie to Maine. I also heard Terry wasn’t afraid to have fun at Joan’s parties way back in the day.
The Terry I got to know over the last ten years was a gentleman. He held doors, asked about your loved ones, and about how so-and-so was doing. He was always charming and, with depth and attention, happy to engage in conversations. Terry had a soothing laugh. He told good stories and asked to hear yours. The mention of his wife Dottie always made him smile big.
Sometimes at our community suppers Maeve and I would box up something for Terry to bring to Dottie who prefers to stay home. She is feisty, tiny thing, with a smart strong spirit. Maeve and I wondered, making up a care package, what Dottie would like to eat. Cake or kale?
Early in the pandemic, when I stopped by to drop off a Family Food Center box, Dottie’s cute dog came running out to greet me. Bark, bark! This little dog is a bit chubby. Ha! I suspected then and there that maybe the dog shared some of Dottie’s Table of Plenty goodies.
Terry loved Table of Plenty, and Terry was loved at Table of Plenty. Pastor Priscilla had an instant soft spot for him. Young men loved having long conversations at the supper table about life with him. And Bonnie? Well, you can see their friendship in the picture here. Bonnie said Terry mistook her for a nun in the early days of our community supper.
Talking recently with Joan I asked her for few Terry stories from back when they all were young homesteaders. She said Terry bought their modest place with money inherited from his mother. Before putting down roots in Maine though, he and Dottie used a portion of the inheritance to travel in Europe.
Joan said she first met Terry some thirty-odd years ago when he delivered a truck bed full of wood scraps to a Rainbow family gathering she was hosting at her “Happy Hollow” farm. Terry knew the bunch of hippies camping in Joan’s yard would enjoy that firewood at the nightly campfire.
And with that — a story, a cycle of warmth, love and life — I will end my little homemade eulogy for our friend.
It’s Thank you Thursday. Today’s shout out of Mission love goes to Mark Green, Executive Director of Downeast Community Partners (DCP). Mark has recently announced his upcoming retirement.
Mission Housing Rehabilitation Manager Scott Shaw said, “When Mark Green started as Executive Director for DCP, we spoke about the Mission Housing Repair Program. He showed a lot of interest. As I learned about their Weatherization Program I began referring eligible families we were assisting.
“As Mark and I communicated more, we utilized their services for our Housing Program, and we became closer, eventually growing into the partnership we now have. Ours is a case of two organizations looking beyond what we do separately, to the positive impact we have working together for the families we both serve.
“Mark made CF Adams Charitable Trust aware of our housing partnership. As a result, program funding took off. With our many exceptional volunteers from in- and out-of-state, we were able to take on larger home rehabilitation projects. The Mission’s Housing Repair Program was reborn as our Housing Rehabilitation Program.
“The Mobile Home Rehabilitation Program and, most recently, the Downeast Maine Tiny House Project, are other Downeast Community Partners/Maine Seacoast Mission success stories.
“Bottom line? Mark Green and DCP improved many lives,” Scott Shaw said.
This is what community looks like.
On the web – https://www.downeastcommunitypartners.org
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — It’s a moonlit and chilly December dark evening in Maine. Around four-thirty. There’s a heavy dusting of snow on the frozen ground. You’re in your wood fire warmed Downeast home wondering whether the ground is finally frozen so that now the snow will pile up until the February thaw.
You’re also wondering whether the five-cord woodpile will last until May when the last fire is lit. Since 2020, heading into an uncertain 2021, you are also always wondering, at least a little bit, about your kids, your job, your health… When the doorbell rings.
Of course, a world-wide pandemic won’t permit in-person and door-to-door caroling for Christmas 2020, but, in the spirit of the season, as it should be, we can share in some virtual singing. Click the video above, follow the bouncing Sunbeam, and sing along!
I’ve always thought the traditional version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is wholly outside the spirit of Christmas. Too demanding: “Bring us some figgy pudding and bring it right here.” Too threatening: “We won’t go until we get some!” And just what is figgy pudding anyway? I guess I can imagine, though I’d rather not.
Instead, we offer “We Wish You a Mission Christmas” recast in the Mission and Christmas spirit. Instead of demanding dried fruit treats, we ask every day how we can help. What can we bring to your table? What joys, small or large, can the Maine Seacoast Mission offer to buoy you and our communities? This Christmas of all Christmases.
This Christmas, I am grateful that the Mission has been able to play such a crucial role during the worldwide pandemic. I am grateful to the communities and individuals who welcome us. I am grateful to the people of every faith tradition for keeping their faith in this season and every season. I am grateful to the donors who support the work. I am so grateful to the Mission staff and board who
just keep going…
Most of all, I am grateful to you who have welcomed the Mission into your lives and hearts this Christmas. This year. Every year. So grateful.
Merry Christmas,
John Zavodny
President, Maine Seacoast Mission
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We Wish You a Mission Christmas and a Healthy New Year
Sung to the tune of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
We wish you a Mission Christmas. We wish you a Mission Christmas.
We wish you a Mission Christmas and a Healthy New Year!
Good tidings we bring – white paper, red string.
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We bring you Jillian’s cookies.
Baked in the Sunbeam Galley.
They’re from your Mission family.
With a cup of good cheer!
We bring you a full cupboard.
We bring you Sunday supper.
We bring you hand-knit mittens.
And the gift of good cheer!
Good tidings we bring – white paper, red string. Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We bring you seniors thriving.
We bring you children smiling.
And young adults inspiring.
Their families and peers!
Mission Magic we bring, white paper, red string. Mission Magic for Christmas and a Healthy New Year!
We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
BELFAST, ME — This is Director of Island Health Services Sharon Daley’s office aboard the Sunbeam on August 17, the day the boat was returned to the water. The wide angle setting on the camera lens gives a fuller view of the different room perspectives nearing the end of the Sunbeam refit. Sharon’s office is equipped with telemedicine equipment so she, island patients, and medical personnel on the mainland can videoconference with each other.
It’s Thank you Thursday. Today’s shout out of Mission Love goes to architect Jeri D.W. Spurling for gifting her services in designing the Downeast Maine Tiny House for a formerly homeless US military veteran with a disability. The Tiny House was placed on its foundation in Milbridge on August 3, 2020. Jeri Spurling was there to see it happen.
“Jeri Spurling lives in Maine. She reached out to me probably four or five years ago and offered her services to the Mission’s Housing Rehabilitation Program,” said Scott Shaw who directs the Housing Rehab Program. “We really didn’t need an architect at that point. I did mention the Tiny House idea and told Jeri if that project ever became a reality, we might need her services.”
With the Tiny House Project a go, Jeri was also a go. “She did a one-on-one meeting with the military veteran to find out his needs for the design of the home. She created all the 3D plans and everything else all pro bono,” said Scott.
Spurling Design is based in Islesford. It’s vision, Jeri’s vision, is “to make good architecture attainable for all, to make comfortable,delightful built environments that have meaning and serve the whole person: body, mind, and soul.”
