Rev. Neal Bousfield, Mission Superintendent (1938-1972) delivering Christmas presents in 1940. As of this writing, we have no other details about this photo. We welcome any factual background information readers are willing to share.
“For thirty-six years Reverend Neal Bousfield…worked tirelessly to improve the live of coastal Maine people. Employing his philosophy that outright charity demeans and even destroys the individual, Rev. Bousfield endeavored to help people help themselves. Educational opportunity was one pillar of his self-improvement philosophy.”
The Sunbeam V is making a few Christmas Cruises to Maine islands this week. Director of Island Outreach Douglas Cornman sent these cruise details.
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Who: Mike, Storey, Jillian, Douglas and the communities of Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, and Matinicus
What: The Sunbeam’s annual Christmas Cruise. What is included in the service will vary depending on the island. Islands with enough children will have a Christmas pageant. Islands with fewer children will have Lessons and Carols. Every island will hear a Christmas message and have a carol sing with cookies and cocoa served following the service.
Where: Frenchboro and Matinicus have agreed to heat their churches for the day of the service, so the services on these two islands will be in their church buildings. The service on Isle au Haut will be aboard the Sunbeam.
When: The dates are listed below
Sunbeam Christmas Trip to Frenchboro When: Sunday, Dec 18, 2016
Sunbeam Christmas Trip to Isle Au Haut When: Tuesday, Dec 20, 2016
Sunbeam Christmas Trip to Matinicus
When: Wednesday, Dec 21, 2016
Sunbeam Christmas Trip (Return to Northeast Harbor) When: Thursday, Dec 22, 2016
Why: These islands do not have year round ministers “on island,” so the Sunbeam and her crew (minus Director of Island Health Sharon Daley) visits each year. It is my understanding that the Sunbeam’s minister has led Christmas services for each of these island communities for many years. I do not know the exact number of years, however.
BAR HARBOR — November 15, 2016, Education Talk Radio Host Larry Jacobs interviewed Mission President Scott Planting on Bench-Marking Success in the Opportunity Gap.
In the podcast segment here, Scott Planting answers Larry Jacobs’s question about reactions from parents and students on the unbridged islands the Mission serves, when those students must leave the islands to attend college.
Scott Planting tells Larry Jacobs, the large majority of these island students want to return home after college.
