By Cipperly Good, the Richard Saltonstall Jr. Curator of Maritime History

Captain Richard “Dick” Young of Gouldsboro is a third-generation weir fisherman. His grandfather, Francis “Frank” Young, built the weir on Point Francis in Gouldsboro Bay and passed it down to his son Charles “Charlie” Young, and then his grandson Richard. Dick only fished it the one year, though. Even by the 1960s, the influence of purse seining was felt by the near shore weir fishermen of Maine.

In our effort to gather stories from herring fishermen for our ongoing exhibit, Sardineland, and our archives, we interviewed Dick about weir fishing, and have transcribed his reminiscences for this newsletter. If you have stories about the herring fishery, we’d love to hear from you, too. Join us on Saturday, October 4 at 4pm for the Salty Tales portion of our SardineFest. Or drop us a line: by phone: 207-548-2529, by e-mail: cgood@pmm-maine.org, or by letter: Penobscot Marine Museum, PO Box 498, Searsport, ME 04974.

Volunteer or Just Come Visit!

By Kevin Johnson, Photo Archivist

When our museum visitors make it all the way down Church St and wander into the photography archives they are often blown away. In 2017 we decided to open the photography archives to our museum visitors as a quasi-exhibit. While the archive does have some museum display cases and the walls are papered floor to ceiling with photos and former exhibit posters, it is primarily a work space where our volunteers sit at work stations either digitizing photographs and negatives or cataloging photos in our database. The first question a visitor usually asks upon entering is, “Are we allowed in here?” They are quickly put at ease and welcomed. It's a great opportunity to connect with our guests, answer their questions, and give them a glimpse of what goes on here. Our volunteers often act as our ambassadors and take great pride in sharing what they do to contribute to our efforts. Many of our volunteers joined our corps after a visit, and others visitors have decided to donate their photographic treasures here knowing the special care they will receive. The photo archives are open weekdays between 10:00-3:00 or by appointment. While our exhibits close for the season on October 11th, the photography archives is open year round, so come visit, and if you're inspired, join our volunteer community! 

By Jeana Ganskop, Education Director

Let’s start with a quick recap of summer at PMM. We hosted many campers at our Kids Camps and enjoyed additional young people during our Free Kids Wednesdays (these continue until we close!). We brought our interactive booth to festivals and events and engaged with 100s of people at Carver Memorial Library summer reading kickoff, Blue Hill Maritime Heritage Festival, Belfast Harbor Fest, Camden Windjammer Festival, RSU 20 Open House, Searsport Rec Mosman Park Outdoor Movie Night, and most recently at Northportpalooza. When the American Cruise Lines ships were docked in Bucksport, we welcomed their passengers for museum visits. We also engaged with three different RSU 20 summer school classes, two of which were multi-visit collaborations. Finally, museum staff and guest chanteyman Stephen Sanfilippo led groups of visitors in chanteys during monthly chantey singalongs. We’re considering collaborating with other locals to keep chanteys going through the winter. If you would be interested in participating in chantey singalongs once or twice a month in the winter, please send me an email to sign up for the email list jganskop@pmm-maine.org.

Thank you to Nautilus Marine Fabrication, Jonesport Shipyard, and Holland's Boat Shop for signaling their support of PMM and the work we do with their business memberships!