“On Monday, August 25th [1952], the city of Eastport, Maine closed its shops and painted the town red— and green, yellow and buff. By eight o’clock in the morning some 500 citizens, teenagers, clergy, sardine canners, doctors, had assembled in the main street, and with scrapers, brushes and paint pots accepted assignments from the master painters directing the job of lifting Eastport’s face.” (from Kosti Ruohomaa’s notes) In the midst of a grinding economic decline, residents of Eastport and a host of supportive neighbors decided to celebrate.

Over the course of one August day, fortified by music, food, and camaraderie, this group of Yankees and visitors visually transformed the storefronts along Water Street at the heart of town. Kosti was there to pay tribute to them with his camera and his unique perspective. His photos were featured in a subsequent issue of “Parade”, a newspaper magazine circulated throughout the U.S. The event was also covered in Look and Pageant, two high-profile magazines of the era, and on CBS TV’s “It’s News to Me”.