Page 20. MAINE COASTAL NEWS March 2014 SEVENTIES MEMORIES: F. W. THURSTON WHARF
War was over. 1946. Father was home from the South Pacifi c and a landing at Nagasaki soon after the second Hydrogen bomb was dropped. I was a bare 3 years old when he got back to the states, scooped Mother and I up in Virginia where we’d been living in a two bedroom house with two other two member relative families also waiting for war’s end and we headed for Maine. My only recollection of this blessed event was being dislocated from a shared bedroom with my mother into the living room.
Dad had been offered a partnership in a medical practice in Washington, DC after the war by my namesake (I shudder at the thought of having to have grown up there). As luck would have it, however, while in the South Pacifi c, he had met up with his History teacher, “Bud” Weymouth, who had gone on to become a surgeon in the Army. He said to Dad, “Herb, you abso- lutely must come back to the island (MDI). Hancock County will be the last bastion of “rock-ribbed-Republicanism in the coun- try.” This statement after three terms of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House. So Dad the Doctor, with my Southern (Virginia) Mother the Nurse, and I, who thought he was some sort of descendant of Robert E. Lee, took the train to Maine and shortly thereafter, having bought a home on Main St. in Southwest Harbor, he opened a medical practice in the house. You may wonder, and rightfully so, what all this might have to do with Thur- ston’s Wharf. Well, this is how as a young- ster, who at the time couldn’t begin to see over the dashboard of whatever vintage car Dad had been able to purchase for his rounds and trips way over to the hospital in Bar Harbor, began to meet and grow
up appreciating the people and where he lived on the “Back Side” of Mount Desert Island. Until I was forced to go to school, and then often on school vacations, I would tag along with the good doctor while he did his “house calls”. The local fi sh wharves were often on his list. Cuts, broken bones, ailments, etc., were attended to by doctor’s visits. Few people had cars after “the war”. House calls were simply part of a country doctor’s day, as were the offi ce hours “by appointment” from 7-9 in the evening. The “wharf calls” were how I fi rst met
Fred W. Thurston who in 1946 had pur- chased a wharf and fi sh packing plant from Maurice Thurston in the community of Bernard on the south side of Bass Harbor. My memories of “F W” Are rather sketchy, only that he was a nice individual and was always friendly. However, I do remember Lester Radcliffe as one of the fi rst to pin me with my earliest nickname “Doc”, a nick- name along with another, “pillbox”, I was to carry through school years and beyond. Lester had come back from the war at age 20 and worked for “F W” for over 40 years. He then ran it with his stepfather “Harve” Moore for several years until selling the wharf to his son Mike and wife Libby. Les- ter would continue to tease me in a good natured way every time I saw him, be it in town, at the wharf, or on the ski slopes that Lester had come to enjoy. By 1991, Lester had fi nally decided it was time for retirement and a little rest for himself and wife Sue in his later years so he sold F.W. Thurston’s to Mike and Lib- by. It wasn’t but a short time before the new owners realized the wharf wouldn’t produce suffi cient income to support the payments to Lester and have enough left over to raise their own growing family.
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Lobster buying and selling was beginning to change. Several fi shermen were by-pass- ing the established model of working from and selling their catch to an owned wharf. Instead, some were now selling to a wait- ing truck on a public pier. Neither Mike and Libby, nor Lester, wanted to see the passing of F.W. Thurston’s Wharf, agreeing that it was a tremendous asset to the Bass Harbor waterfront. They came to a decision. Only way apparent was to move from not only processed lobster sales, but to cooked lob- sters and a seafood restaurant.
Longtime employees at this time were
Ken Sawyer, Larry Closson and son Lee Closson, Ken Parsley and wife Susan. “By 1992,” Mike recalls, “We had ap- plied for and received permits then begun construction on a two story building along- side the wharf. By the spring of “93” we were ready to open. Had no idea how to manage a restaurant. Hardly a clue. I did know how to boil lobster and pick out the meat though.” “We just didn’t know if people would drive all the way over to a “quaint little village” on this side of the island,” Libby says, “This had to be a destination restau-
rant and we were extremely nervous if it would work. We only knew we had to do something.” That fi rst year, there were 12 tables on
an open deck. Neighbors, although worried about the parking, were often to exclaim that spring, “How are you going to fi ll all those tables?” “We were busier than we ever dreamed possible, “Mike says, “It was like we awak- ened to standing room only and lines at the door! We would serve our new patrons as long as the water kept boiling every night. It was exhausting, but we learned a lot.” Over the next few years a canvas roof was added over the upper dining area along with drop curtains, and heat to extend the season on both ends as well as bringing the downstairs area online. Parking areas were expanded, then more added within walk- ing distance, and this last year, the road by the wharf was extended past the expanded original buildings to the public wharf road for even more parking and ease of access. Thus proving once again the old adage “When the going gets tough the tough get going.”
U. S. NAVY NEWS Continued from Page 9.
equipment, so that we can tune into our role within the nation’s defense. It is infl uencing potential crisis from the sea, as an air-ground Navy-Marine team, that sets the Marines apart from other services. It is our primary identity.”
Duhe also said this ship will be more capable in handling MV-22 Osprey and F-35B Joint Strike Fighter missions when compared to any other current ship in the fl eet.
“The Marine Corps operates the Osprey
now. We are bringing in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter soon. For all the hard work that has gone into building this vessel, the ship’s ca- pabilities and design are specifi cally pointed at those two warfi ghting assets,” said Duhe. America has wasted no time embarking and enabling Marines to familiarize them- selves with what will soon be the Navy’s newest amphibious asset. On Feb. 5 and 6 tours were held for Marine Force Reserve (MARFORRES) located in New Orleans, LA.
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“Conducting tours now is important, especially for junior Marines because we are on the tail end of a ground-fi ghting war in [the Middle East], and for so many Marines, this is all they have known during their careers,” said Duhe. “The Comman- dant’s guidance is for everyone to revisit operations from the sea, of an expeditionary nature, so I’m happy to be a part of this.” The tours consisted of Marines from di- verse backgrounds and ranks, from Colonel to Lance Corporal.
“These tours are important for all Ma- rines,” said Marine food service Staff Sgt. Jarvis Dixion assigned to MARFORRES. “For the junior Marines, I think it’s import- ant for them to actually see the ship and to get a feel for its capabilities and day-to-day life. For senior personnel, it’s an opportunity to plan for future operations and prepare their [subordinates].”
Col. Ricky S. Brown, assistant chief of
staff MARFORRES, discussed his appreci- ation for PCU America’s innovative steps toward Navy and Marine Corps integration. “As we build all these new platforms for the next generation, it’s going to be these young Marines that need to understand the fl exibility, capability and how to employ [a variety of amphibious mission-sets],” said Brown. “Visiting a ship, like PCU America, allows Marines to experience how the Navy and Marine Corps effectively works togeth- er for one cohesive mission.”
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