What an odd name “Agitator” for such a calm and peaceful picture!  Of course many of you already know that this is the name of the boat in the painting.  So many stories could be told about this boat owner and his bigger then life personality!  The story I will tell is one of thanks.  When I was a “youngster” I loved to row.  I would hang out at the town dock waiting for the chance to get aboard a punt and take off rowing.  It wasn’t long before I realized that the lobstermen want their boats to be where they left them and they want them available when they need them.  They didn’t want kids playing with the boats and possibly loosing the oars or damaging something.   Dale Torrey heard my plight and gave me permission to use his punt for rowing when he was not using it.  What joy and what freedom I felt after being given permission.  For me this is a great “Hometown Memory”, thanks Dale!

Well  the title of this one tells a bit about the person.  Just in case you didn’t know my father, Colby Coombs this shows some of his personality.  He was known for his skill working on engines, large and small, gasoline or diesel.  He was also known to toss a few Pabst Blue Ribbons around and maybe a few other types as well.    Colby had many ways of enjoying his life.  Just being in Winter Harbor was definitely one of his most favorite things to do, perhaps with a ride around Grindstone, a few stops here and there along the way.  He makes a very rich subject for “Hometown Memories” and there are more pieces made and in the making.

This piece is one in a series of approximately 60 paintings depicting life on the Schoodic Peninsula as I remember it and from stories told to me.

Stinsons’ Canning Co.  Opened 1906-closed 2010
Last sardine factory in US

Owned and operated by the Stinson family from 1927-2000, this business has seen lots of changes throughout it’s life.  The building burned to the ground in 1968 and was rebuilt.  Due to many changes in regulations and the market needs, costs of doing business and foreign packing plants the Sardine business in the US has disappeared.  It was once a thriving industry and below is a poem written by Bill Curtslinger that pretty much describes what how it once was in for sardine fishermen.

“I have witnessed a herring school swim briefly alongside a boat, their large numbers darkening the water as far as the eye could see….the underwater school looked like one massive organism, pulsating and shifting this way and that….A million expressionless eyes stared back from the wall of fish.”  Pictured above: Nancy Harrington, Lela Anderson, Mytress Harrington (these ladies were depicted as packing the last three cans of sardines before the factory closed.  Photos and information from the following sources:
Working Waterfront, BDN
Penobscot Marine Museum , Maine State Museum
blogs: sardinesongblogspot.com,jmcwilli.wordpress.com