Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS March 2014 Waterfront News Penobscot Marine Museum: Hamilton's Donate Building and Maine Boatbuilding Forum
Wayne and Loraine Hamilton Donate Building to Penobscot Marine Museum for New Education Center
SEARSPORT – Wayne and Loraine Hamil- ton have donated the former Hamilton Ma- rine Seine Loft on Route One in Searsport to the Penobscot Marine Museum as a home for the museum’s new education center. Contractors have renovated the front of the building to create a boat building workshop, and last week, the newly-named Hamilton Learning Center opened its doors to host an intensive eighteen-week boat building class for Searsport District High School students, taught by master builder Greg Rossel. “We are so thrilled to see this building used to promote education, Searsport and the Penobscot Marine Museum, three causes that we strongly believe in,” said Wayne Hamilton, after the gift was fi nalized last De- cember. “Loraine and I hope this boat-build- ing class is the fi rst of many programming collaborations between the school and the museum.”
The museum is currently engaged in raising funds to renovate the remainder of the 7,000 square foot building, and working with Searsport District High School and other organizations to develop further edu- cational programming. “Loraine and I hope other donors will take up our challenge to contribute to this project and help promote education and building skills for the future by learning about our rich maritime heri- tage,” Wayne said. Wayne grew up in Searsport and fi shed in Penobscot Bay. He has served as Searsport harbor master for many years and also helps deliver and pick up Penobscot Bay pilots from ships transiting the bay. The Hamiltons bought the Seine Loft in 1982 as a base for their marine supplies business, Hamilton
Marine. Eventually the company outgrew the space and moved to its current location in 1990. Hamilton Marine, which now has fi ve stores throughout Maine, has used the Seine Loft as storage since then. This is the fourth year that Penobscot Marine Museum has partnered with the Searsport District High School and Rossel to present this class in which the traditional art of boat building is interwoven with academ- ic objectives to create a multi-disciplinary learning experience. Students work with Rossel and a dedicated core of community mentors to build two Joel White-designed shellback dinghies, which they launch in the spring in Searsport Harbor.
Building boats is a Maine tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Maine’s resource-based economy depended on the exportation of fi sh, lumber, ice, granite, and other products, and the state’s waterways and miles of ocean coastline were the high- ways by which these goods were sent around the world. Virtually every small town on the Maine coast was involved in boatbuilding and Maine’s reputation for fi ne design and craftsmanship continues today. By building a traditional wooden boat, designed by the premier Maine designer Joel White, high school students carry on a long-standing art form, gaining not only appreciation of the history of that art, but also its application in today’s world.
“The Hamilton Learning Center pro- vides an ideal site for this and other related educational opportunities,” said Penobscot Marine Museum Director Liz Lodge. The boat-building program integrates this tradi- tional art form with curriculum standards. Rossel works with teachers from Searsport District High School to identify and incor- porate math and science concepts into the
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Known as the seine loft, has been donated by Wayne and Lorraine Hamilton to the Penob- scot Marine Museum. In this photograph alterations are being made.
boat building process. Over the course of building the dinghies, students apply these concepts to practical situations. Math con- cepts, from measuring and ratios to more complicated geometry and algebra, are reinforced during the boat building process. Building a viable boat which actually fl oats makes it clear why these concepts matter. During the course, students also learn specifi c woodworking skills and practice creative problem-solving and team building skills that impact their lives well beyond the conclusion of the program.
Penobscot Marine Museum Launches Maine Boatbuilding Forum in March Boat building is an important part of
Maine’s cultural and economic life, bringing millions of dollars into the state and provid- ing thousands of jobs. This March Penobscot Marine Museum launches the Maine Boat-
building Forum, a monthly conversation with boat builders about the “how” and “why” of the boats they build, and to look at ideas, trends and controversies in the boating world. Maine Coastal News publisher Jon Johansen will serve as moderator. Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 2pm:
Schooners: with Captains Doug and Linda Lee, Captain John Foss, Captain Havilah Hawkins, Captain Bill Brown, Captain Ste- ven Pagels, Captain Dan Miller, Captains Kate Kana and Zander Parker, and Captain John Worth.
Join schooner builders and the captains who sail them as they debate which type of schooner is best for the windjammer trade and who is going to win this year’s Schooner Race.
Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 7pm: Small Continued on Page 19.
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