‘bring back the fish!’ - the st. george...

DRAGONST. GEORGETHE

A bi-weekly publication of Dragon’s Breath Communications, LLC

As this issue of The Dragon appears, many people in midcoast Maine are eagerly awaiting the spring run of alewives, the herring-like anadromous fish (meaning they move from fresh water to salt water) that are what St. George Conservation Commission mem-ber Les Hyde refers to as a “keystone species.” “Keystone” because alewives eat plankton, produce a lot of eggs and are an oily fish that are high in nutrients for other fish. As Hyde puts it, “If you don’t have alewives, there are a lot of other fish you don’t have, too.” Fish like Atlantic salmon, cod and hake.

While the alewife runs in Damariscotta Mills and Warren are the most notable ones in the midcoast, until the late 1980s, there was also a significant native run of alewives into the marsh in Ten-ants Harbor. The fish followed a route from the harbor into Ripley Creek, under a stone bridge on Route 131 and on up the outlet stream from the marsh and over the dam into the marsh itself. Then the state Department of Transportation (DOT) replaced the stone bridge with a new metal culvert. The problem was that the culvert was positioned too high above the creek for the town’s na-tive alewives to navigate their way back to the marsh to spawn. Unlike salmon, alewives don’t leap. “They can swim flatwise,” Hyde notes, “so they don’t need much water to swim, but they do not leap.”

An effort to restore the alewife population was first spearheaded nearly 10 years ago by St. George resident John Shea, resulting in the state’s restocking of the marsh with alewives over the course of 2009 to 2013. The hope was that these fish would spawn here, leave their fry in the marsh over the course of the summer and then these young fish would leave (moving through the metal culvert with the flow of water out of the marsh) to spend the next four years at sea. The hope was that by the time they were ready to return to spawn, a new alewife-friendly culvert would be in place to welcome them.

Volume 5 Issue 5

Thursday, May 11, 2017

‘Bring back the fish!’

Continued on page 2

The DOT installed the new culvert in.the fall of 2015. Hyde says that is when Alison England and her science students at the newly independent St. George School gave the effort to bring the alewives back a badly needed shot in the arm.

“When we withdrew from the regional school unit, many of the staff met regularly over the summer to articulate a collective mis-sion and vision for our school,” England recalls. “It was a very em-powering process to talk with one another about our ideas of what education could look like, and about the kind of school we wanted to be here in St George. Those ideas included having our students feel connected to their community in the sense of both people and place. We also wanted them to develop a sense of stewardship of the natural resources that make St George such a special place. To me, bringing that vision to life meant engaging students in place-based science projects that are meaningful to the community and that help solve problems. So I went to the Conservation Commis-sion to ask how our students could help the Commission.”

~ FREE ~A journal

of community life

“My hope was that doing a community-based project like this would help our students see science in a more practical and tangible way.”

PHOTO: Alison England

Students collect data near the culvert leading to the marsh.

The St. George DRAGON May 11, 2017

The answer, Hyde says, was to help the Commission determine, now that there was a new fish-friendly culvert in place, whether conditions were right for the return of the alewives. England em-braced the project as an opportunity for her students to engage in “citizen science,” a model of volunteerism where community mem-bers play a role in science research and see themselves as contribu-tors to solving authentic community issues. “My hope,” says Eng-land, “was that doing a community-based project like this would help our students see science in a more practical and tangible way.”

One of the most important questions that needed answering was whether the flow of water out of the marsh was sufficient to al-low fish passage into the marsh. Another was whether there had been changes to the marsh since the last runs. Finally, as May ap-proached in 2016, there was the question of where were the off-spring of the stocked alewives?

“We combined science and math classes and worked on site practicing our methods, then collecting our ‘official’ data that we would communicate to the Conservation Commission,” England explains. “As we gained momentum in understanding the nature of our questions about whether the water flow would be adequate and whether the site conditions were optimal, students started forming their own questions and would suddenly appear while I was teach-ing other classes and ask if they could grab a pair of waders and go check on something they were wondering about—like the height of the water in the culvert during a particular part of the tide cycle or if they could use a GoPro camera to see if fish were coming into the culvert. Students even borrowed the waders over the weekend to check the water conditions and the culvert.”

As the students wrote in the “Abstract” section of their report to the commission, “Early in the season water flows were adequate to provide passage up into the marsh, especially with flood tides (spring tides) early in May. Alewives in neighboring midcoast communities began heavy migrations upstream the third week of May (May 15-21) after a cool, yet dry start to the month.”

It wasn’t until May 25th that the students saw alewives in the Tenants Harbor culvert. The problem, the students’ report noted, was that “by then, water flow from the marsh outlet was inadequate to bring them farther upstream. As of May 25th, average heights of high tides do not provide adequate water flow beyond the up-stream end of the culvert, given the lack of flow from the marsh.”

Based on interviews with community members who were famil-iar with the conditions in the marsh before the metal culvert was installed, the students found that “the water levels of the marsh are nearly two feet lower than during historical runs of alewives.” In addition, “the habitat of the outlet stream is different today than in the past. The water is not as deep as before and does not have deep-er pools of water that alewives could ‘rest’ in before going into the marsh. The habitat on Ripley Creek is different than when alewives ran. Today there is no water that is pooled either by a man-made structure or rocked pools for alewives to ‘rest’ as the tide goes out.”

Based on their findings the students made several recommenda-tions to the Conservation Commission for how to improve condi-tions for the alewives. This past March the Commission brought a number of biologists to the project site to determine which of the

‘Fish’ From page 1

recommendations should be pursued. “One of the recommenda-tions was to raise the water level in the marsh,” Hyde noted, “but that would require restoring the old dam and the biologists said ‘We are into stream restoration now, not dam restoration.’ The students also recommended creating small resting pools in Ripley Creek and the outlet stream to help the alewives get up into the marsh, which we all agreed would be a good approach.”

So developing an engineering plan for the stream restoration—Hyde is hopeful the Nature Conservancy will prepare this—and finding funds to implement it is now firmly on the Commission’s agenda as the necessary next steps to bringing the alewives back to Tenants Harbor. “We’re calling our effort stream restoration, re-storing the ecosystem to what it was,” Hyde says. “That’s our goal. Bring back the fish! That stretch of stream from the culvert to the marsh is also pretty ideal habitat for smelt, so when that engineer-ing is done it will be done with alewives in mind but also with smelt in mind.”

As for the effect of the alewife project on her students, England points to what may seem like the most intangible aspect of their impressive “citizen science” research activities, but which to her is the most important one—the excitement the students felt when alewives were first sighted in the culvert. “While two students were out one day, they found an alewife wedged in a glass jar, halfway through the culvert. That really got us all excited that maybe, de-spite such dry conditions, that alewives could be returning. When alewives were actually seen swimming in the culvert it was like we had wished them back. It was on the day of our last observation of stream flow, as we literally measured zero flow! It seemed un-believable that they were really there. In the morning, as we took turns tip-toeing over to view the culvert, several students at a time, community members began pulling into the parking area or pull-ing over on the road. A day or so later, the Conservation Commis-sion, with their special permit, allowed students to net and carry alewives into the marsh to spawn. When students can literally say they helped alewives back into the marsh, that makes a lasting im-pact!”—JW

(“Report to the Conservation Commission from the St. George School Eighth Grade Class, June 1, 2016” is posted on the town’s web-site (stgeorgemaine.com). Click on the “Documents” section and scroll down to the Conservation Commission heading.)

Are there alewives in the culvert?PHOTO: Alison England


Continued from previous page

Dear Editor,

As you may know, with the exception of our sailing instructors, the workforce of St. George Sailing is all-volunteer. Members of the Board of Directors pitch in to do everything including accounting, fundrais-ing, registration, boat hauling and mainte-nance, daily management, and much more. With the support of so many in St. George, we are proud to have established St. George Sailing as a contributing member of the community. But to keep our organization operating smoothly, we need help.

If you value St. George Sailing and would be willing to contribute some time to help out, please let us know. We could really use some additional hands and can tailor the tasks to suit your skills and the time you have available. As examples, we’d love for others to take on any of these tasks:

· Coordinate St. George Sailing participa-tion in St. George Days (this year, Satur-day, July 15)

· Coordinate participation in the Red Jacket Regatta (this year, Sunday July 16)

· Coordinate Parents on the Water day for each sailing session.

· Volunteer to bring refreshments to the Awards Ceremony and/or sell St. George Sailing merchandise

If none of these seems right for you, we have plenty of other ideas, and we are ready to give you all the help you need to get started! You don’t need to be a current or former sailing parent and you don’t need to live in St. George full time—all you need is an interest in keeping St. George Sailing available as a resource for the children of the area!

Many thanks,

Kate [email protected]. George Community Sailing FoundationPO Box 435Tenants Harbor, ME 04860

LettersTENANTS HARBOR

BOATYARDest. 1605

Fuel dock year round Mooring rentals Dingy and dock space Heated indoor boat and automotive storage

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Building in our community for over 30 years

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Featuring fresh, organically raised vegetables and flowers, delicious prepared food for lunch and dinner from Green Bean Catering and specialty grocery items.

Friendly Saturday morning market with freshly baked indulgences.

Goods for home and garden.

Gallery showcasing original hooked rugs by master fiber artist Anne Cox.

Corner of Ridge Road and Route 131, Martinsville207-372-0655 www.hedgerowdesign.com

Open Saturday and Sundaythrough Memorial Day

9am - 4pm

The Kelpie Gallery announces a call for artist submissions for “Wet Paint on the Weskeag!,” the 4th annual juried Wet Paint benefit auction for the Georges River Land Trust. During the weekend of the event, se-lected artists will paint en plein air on prop-erties protected by the Land Trust. Artists will create works on Friday, August 11 or Saturday, August 12, which will then be previewed at the gallery on Sunday, August 13 during a cocktail reception and auc-tioned off that evening. Proceeds from art-work sold will be split 50/50 with the artists and the Georges River Land Trust.

For the past three years, artists have painted along the Weskeag River and Marsh to create the works for this event. Through the Land Trust’s “Bridging 2 Riv-ers” initiative, over 1,000 acres of land be-tween the Weskeag and Georges Rivers are now protected, and this year the artists are invited to explore more of these areas.

Interested artists are invited to submit by email ([email protected]) two images of original plein air paintings

in any medium for juried consideration to participate in this year’s “Wet Paint on the Weskeag!” Please include at least one in the medium that will be used for the event. All entries must arrive by the deadline of Mon-day, May 15th. Application information and details can be found online at TheK-elpieGallery.com. Please call 207-691-0392 or 207-691-3416, or email [email protected] with questions or for more information.

Wet paint on the Weskeag! TURKEY COVE

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GREEN BEAN

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TENANTS HARBOR, ME207-691-2780

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In April of 2017, Tenants Harbor artist and poet DiTa Ondek participated in the inaugural exhibit of “Artword: Ekphrasis at the PMA,” a weekly series at the Portland Museum of Art intended to celebrate the relationship between poetry and visual art. Ekphras-tic poems are written in response to works of visual art, and illu-minate what the eye might not see. Therefore, the art and poetry illuminate one another. At the exhibit, DiTa and other Maine poets were featured reading their original ekphrastic poetry aloud in the galleries where paintings were on display.

Born and raised in Southport, Conn., DiTa’s artistic journey in both poetry and visual art began with her interest in foreign language, which she studied at Marietta College in Ohio for three years. During that time, her primary creative outlet was writing poetry. However, her interests soon turned to teaching, and she transferred to Central Connecticut State University where she completed a degree in Education followed by a Masters Degree in Elementary Education at the University of Bridgeport, Conn. After completing her education, DiTa enjoyed a 20-year career as an el-ementary school teacher in Fairfield, Conn.

It was during her years as a teacher and poet that DiTa’s interest in the visual arts emerged. In 1985 she took up watercolor paint-ing. Influenced by her training in foreign languages, she painted a series of portraits of ethnic peoples. This led to her first solo show in New York. Furthering her interest in the visual arts, DiTa served as an assistant to a post-modernist photographer in the 1990s. The two met regularly with other post-modernists for lively discussion about the arts, which deepened DiTa’s understanding of fine art and design.

By the time she retired from teaching and moved to Portland, Maine in 1998, DiTa was ready for a new career. Her background in language, poetry and art laid the foundation for her next enter-prise as a website designer. Self-taught in that field, she began a new company, DiTa Group LLC, that became a viable business and remains so today.

About six years ago, DiTa developed a deeper desire to spend more time painting. She enrolled in an adult education class on acrylic painting taught by Deb Arter at Gardiner High School. There she developed a passion for the medium and has since com-

pleted many different series based on themes such as Monhegan Is-land, farm animals, cup-cakes, birds and florals. DiTa describes herself as a “colorist” in both po-etry and painting. “My work is a connection to the everyday: evocative colors, unexpected pat-terns of light or the sub-lime quality of ordinary subjects. I work to create a vibrant painting.”

An artist who explores the relationship of art and word

Her ability to conceptualize is the common link to DiTa’s engage-ment in foreign language, poetry writing, painting and web design. Last year she decided to investigate encaustics, painting with wax, which led to a show of encaustic assemblages with ekphrastic po-etry at the Granite Gallery in Tenants Harbor. Her encaustic bird paintings were accompanied by a chapbook, “A Goldfinch’s Win-ter Garden.” Perhaps another common link may be her desire to share with others through each of these disciplines. As a visual art-ist, DiTa expresses a concern that “everyone should be able to own original art, and my art should be accessible to everyone.” There-fore, her prices are affordable and her works have broad appeal.

Although DiTa has lived in various Maine communities flipping houses over the past 20 years, she feels most at home in St. George, where she feels a warm welcome she says never before experienced. Appreciative of this “inclusive, diverse community that supports the arts,” as she puts it, DiTa’s creativity is nourished by the many other local artists that have welcomed and encouraged her. There-fore, she is slowly retiring from her web design company in order to exclusively write poetry and paint.

DiTa’s series of acrylic paintings of vintage cars is presently on display at the Atlantic Motor Company in Wiscasset. Her new series, entitled “Laundry,” will be exhibited at the Port Clyde Art Gallery this summer. And her encaustic paintings that explore a mashup of Victorian dress and abstract expressionism will be fea-tured at the Granite Gallery from August 17th to 23rd. Additional works may be seen on her website: www.dita.org.

—Katharine A. Cartwright

“Geraniums” by DiTa Ondek

DiTa Ondek

PHOTOS: Katharine A. Cartwright


P R O P E R T Y S A L E S

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LORI ALEXANDER207.837.0804

www.masiello.com

Peggy Crockett [email protected]

Specializing in properties on the St. George peninsula

800.564.3195 • www.TheFirst.comMember FDIC • Equal Housing Lender

National Bank

132 Park Street, Rockland207.594.5900

63 Union Street, Rockland207.593.1010

Kevin Solsten CabinetsFine Custom Cabinetry and Design

15 Juniper Street, PO Box 246Tenants Harbor, Maine 04860

207-372-8002kevinsolstencabinets.com

Adults-$8.00 Kids-$5.00(under 10 yrs. free)

PUBLIC GRANGE SUPPER

Saturday, May 135pm-7pm

St. George Grange at Wiley’s Corner

Come and enjoy homemade food with family, friends and neighbors

All welcome!

POND HOUSE GALLERYarchival picture framingart * antiques * gifts

*********************************************************

41 Port Clyde Rd Tenants Harbor 372-6966

[email protected] www.pondhousegallery.com

St. George SailingFor young people ages 9-18

Sessions:July 10-21, July 24-Aug 4, Aug 7-18

Monday through Friday

9 am - 12 pmbeginners and younger sailors

1pm - 4pmadvanced sailors

adult instruction by appointment207-372-8174 [email protected]

www.stgeorgesail.orgP.O. Box 435, Tenants Harbor, ME 04860

SUMMER 2017

The SGBA Business Expo and Job Fair was held at The St. George School on April 29. Shown: Ryan LeShane of Blueberry Cove Camp.

PHOTO: Betsy Welch


The St. George Dragon is published by Dragon’s Breath Communications, LLC. Our mission is to promote the good things about St. George: its natural beauty, its heritage, its hard-working and creative people, its cul-tural and recreational life, its commu-nity organizations, its attractive and often unique local enterprises. Our advertisers are local businesses and groups devoted to creating a pros-perous and vital St. George. We hope you will support them!

The St. George Dragon is distributed to local retail outlets and businesses on Thursdays. The deadline for ad-vertising and copy is on Monday 10 days prior to publication date.

Submit story ideas and photos to:[email protected]

Julie Wortman, Editor 207 691-3234

Advertising and business office:[email protected] Welch, 207 975-5072

May 4 Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum open Saturdays and Sundays through Memorial DayMay 13 Public Supper St. George Grange Wiley’s Corner 5-7pmMay 27- St. George “Sales into the Season” 29 Business openings/sales & yard sales on the peninsulaMay 27 Jackson Memorial Library Annual Plant Sale, 9am-1pmMay 29 Memorial Day parade, Main St., Tenants Harbor, 9amMay 29 Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum open 7 days a weekJun 5 Music Jam at St. George Grange, Wiley’s Corner 7-9pm (every Monday through October)Jun 6 Senior Pot Luck Luncheon, Town Office, 11:30am

Upcoming Events

Where in St. George...?

PHOTO: Betsy Welch

Do you know where this is? Email your answer to [email protected]. The first correct answer wins a free business card-sized ad in The Dragon.

Kathleen Fox identified the sculpture near The Drawing Room in the April 13 issue.

© 2017 Dragon’s Breath Communications LLCP.O. Box 1, Tenants Harbor, ME 04860

2004 Starcraft Antigua 215SB with 3 sleeping bunks, and couch/bed, table/bed, tv antenna, microwave, stove, bathroom with shower, freezer, refrigerator, furnace, hot water, used 1-2 x a year, winter storage undercover, very good condi-tion, $5,500 priced to sell! Call 975-6956.

FOR SALE

Tuesdays 10:00am Story time for toddlers

3:00pm Regular Bridge Game

Wednesdays10:00 Qi Gong

5:00pm French class

Thursdays12:00pm Free Tech Help

Fridays 1pm Mah Jongg Game

First Thursdays10:15am JML Book Club

5:00pm Encouraging Poetry

Fourth Fridays10:00am Mystery Book Club

Jackson Memorial Library71 Main St. Tenants Harbor

At the libraryOngoing programs,

all are welcome!


Stationery, Brochures, Newsletters,Posters, Rack Cards, Post Cards,

Print Consulting...To name a few

www.camdenprinting.com(207) 236.4112

[email protected]

12 MORAN DRIVE, ROCKLAND, ME

COME CHECK OUT OURNEW LOCATION!

(207) 372-8262(207) 542-9905

Home projects • RepairRenovations • Property management

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ajletourneauworks.com

It’s springtime! And that means new projects at St. George School. We inter-viewed students and teachers from each grade. Here are some springy highlights:

Ms. England and the 8th grade class have been studying local vernal pools with sup-port from the Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Amanda Devine and Kirk Gentalen. Using a GoPro camera, they’ve spotted dif-ferent amphibian species including sala-mander and wood frog eggs.

The 6th grader has been learning about the watershed and ecosystem of the marsh. They have been going down to the marsh to study the water resources, habitats, and history of the marsh. See their blog here: http://marshwatershed.edublogs.org

The 6th graders are also raising worms for compost in their math class. The stu-dents are working to design a vermicom-posting system to match their food waste.

The 4th graders took advantage of the good spring weather to visit the Norlands Museum in Livermore, Maine. When they were there they experienced what life was like in the 1800s. They got to encounter what school, chores, and everyday living was like.

Ms. Smith and her 2nd grade class plant-ed milkweed and some “mystery seeds” and have been taking care of them. They have also been writing spring haikus.

Ms. Babb’s 2nd grade class is doing an expedition on lobsters and lobstering in

Signs of spring at St. George Schoolby Sophia Vigue and Allison Gill

• TREE WORK• STUMP GRINDING• BUCKET TRUCK

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PHOTO: Alison EnglandPHOTO: Rebecca Albright

PHOTO: Ashby Bartke

Maine this spring. The students are very excited!

Ms. Albright’s kindergarten class has been planting marigolds for the classroom. They have also hatched ducklings and chicks in their classroom, and everyone loves the little peeps coming from the cage!

And finally, students spotted a spotted salamander that had made its way into the hall at school one morning. Students gath-ered around to see the little guy hanging around the trophy case.

So now that flowers have popped up, the sun has come out, and little creatures have come around, we hope you have a great spring!

(Vigue and Gill are 7th grade students at the St. George School.)