From the desk of Sunbeam Education Coordinator Yvonne Thomas
What happens when more than 50 teachers, students, and families converge on one of Maine’s small, unbridged islands? Friendship, food, and fun for starters, as well as the sense of being part of something important and essential. Inter Island Event, a decades–old, grassroots island custom, is a three-day gathering of the small unbridged islands. A beloved island tradition, this year’s happened on Great Cranberry Island. School communities from Cliff, Chebeague, Islesford, Isle au Haut, and Monhegan traveled to be together for this annual get–together in mid-September.
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The Great Cranberry Island community hosted an outstanding event with many of the community’s facilities, organizations, and people providing space, help, food, funding, golf-cart tours, programming, and more. Darlene Sumner, a Great Cranberry parent and the school’s ed tech, lead the effort to pull off this amazing event. She had support from teaching principal Gloria Delsandro and schoolteacher Ashley Greenleaf, along with partners from the Mission and Island Readers & Writers, as well as many community members.
The Sunbeam transported more than 30 people along with all their bags and camping gear, to the island, which is a short trip from Northeast Harbor. There we were greeted with cheers, waves, and beautiful hand-made signs. An assembly line of adults quickly moved all the luggage out of the boat and into the trucks that were waiting for us. Thankfully, the weather was perfect, and tents were pitched in the Ladies Aid field as students found their friends from other islands and started playing together. Because most of the attending schools are very small with just a few students enrolled, the chance to play big games with lots of kids is a huge treat. Capture the flag and tug of war are perennial Inter Island Event favorites as well as any kind of tag game. After a welcome circle and dinner, we headed off for our evening activities of watching a movie at the Cranberry House’s high-tech movie theater or playing board games at the school.
The following day, we rose early for a full day of arts and outdoor activities. The school’s art teacher, Kaitlyn Miller, taught students how to make friendship bracelet jellyfish, which turned out beautifully, and some kids have been making friendship bracelets ever since! With Renee Duncan from Maine Coast Heritage Trust, students hiked through the woods to the shore and learned about the local flora and fauna. Island Readers & Writers brought Maine children’s book illustrator Kevin Hawkes to share his story of how he became an illustrator and to teach the students (and adults) several drawing tips and tricks. Kevin’s books are very familiar to this group, and everyone was thrilled to receive a signed copy of his book Westlandia.
That evening, we were treated to a classic island potluck dinner with an amazing spread of delicious food provided by the community. Great Cranberry Island has some talented home chefs, and it was great to see folks from so many different islands making new friends or reconnecting with old ones. From babies to elders, it felt like just about everyone on the island was there to enjoy a wonderful meal together.
The second night of Inter Island Event is generally when everyone gets a better night’s sleep as our bodies have adjusted to sleeping on the ground and we are exhausted in the best possible way after a full day of inter-island fun. After breakfast, while the adults packed up, students spent time with local author Ruth Freeman, reading her books and learning about her writing and publishing process. As we walked back to the dock to meet the Sunbeam for our return trip, we were full of gratitude for the Great Cranberry Island community and their outstanding hospitality. We also had that familiar bittersweet feeling of looking forward to getting home (and sleeping in a bed) along with some sadness that the incredible magic of Inner Island Event is over for this year. Isle au Haut parent Laura Angeley-Devereux eloquently summed up Inter Island Event’s value:
Inter Island Event is essential. The opportunities to connect with other people who share the unique life experience of living on an island in Maine feels extremely important. Living on an island requires a bit of rugged self-reliance. It’s easy to get into a groove of all that’s required of you to make island living work. But then you come to Inter Island Event, and it offers this huge dose of nutrient-rich connection (for kids and adults). It’s the soul food you didn’t know you needed. I leave feeling filled up and so grateful to be a part of something so special.
Many, many thanks to the Great Cranberry Island community, and to all the teachers, students, and families who were part of 2025’s Inter Island Event. And thanks to all the islands and islanders who have hosted and attended in years past and who will in the future. We don’t yet know which island will host next year, but we do know it will be essential.
