Carrie Jones

Oct 04, 2025

BAR HARBOR—Saturday morning’s race in Bar Harbor didn’t start the way most races start.

Yes, there was gathering and stretching.

Yes, people studied a course map and pinned on numbers to their clothes.

Yes, children played in the nearby ball field on Park Street or at the Park Street Playground.

But there was also a good deal of tail wagging, slobbering, and smelling of trees.

Mary Parker, likely, would have loved that.

The annual Mary Parker race is a walk and run and meant to include dogs. That’s because Mary Parker loved dogs. She loved people. She loved community.

This race remembers that and celebrates that while also raising money for Island Connections, an agency that provides transportation for seniors and people with disabilities on MDI.

Mary worked there for seven years as the transportation coordinator before she died from cancer in 2015. The organization’s Running for Rides was renamed “Mary Parker’s Run, Walk, Wag 5k.” It’s to honor her.

Smile at a stranger today for Mary, Island Connections CEO Carissa Tinker told the runners, walkers, skippers, trotters, and gallivanters at the starting line. Be like Mary. Put your kindness into the world.

It’s the kind of legacy that makes a community stronger.

The event reflects generosity and giving, traits Mary was known for, but also traits that she inspired in others. Mary’s friends rallied, holding fundraisers to help cover the costs of cancer treatments that weren’t covered by insurance after Mary’s 2012 cancer diagnosis.

There was something about Mary, about the way she looked at life, about the way she lived it, that continues to inspire not just her family, but her coworkers and her acquaintances more than a decade after she left our community. She is still here, impacting and inspiring our world.

---

WHAT IS ISLAND CONNECTIONS?

Founded in 1997, Island Connections transports seniors and people with disabilities. It also provides grocery shopping and other services as well as delivers Meals on Wheels. Each year, it coordinates over 5,500 rides. Volunteers give those rides. Neighbors helping neighbors. And donors help keep it going by funding the vital service.

Back in July 2020, Norman Langlois became sick. He ended up needing dialysis three times a week. Dialysis isn’t available in Bar Harbor.

“I couldn’t drive after dialysis. I had to find a way to get to dialysis,” Langlois told the Bar Harbor Story last year.

He ended up learning about Island Connections and the agency stepped in and stepped up. Volunteers take him to dialysis multiple times a week.

“You’re going to a treatment that’s not necessarily fun. They make it enjoyable. They really care. Having someone to talk to just sitting there? It takes a lot of pressure off your mind,” he said.

“Without Island Connections, I would have to find a way somehow to get there . . . somehow . . . or have to move to Ellsworth. It’s made a big difference,” Langlois said.

According to the Maine Council on Aging, having transportation is part of good health and the need for it is increasing, particularly for older adults.

To learn more about Island Connections and how you can help them out, click here.

---

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Acadia Brochures of Maine.

---

All photos: Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar/BHS

---

HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY

Together, We’ve Built Something Special

Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar

Sep 28

Read full story

When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it.
But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.

We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach. But every story takes time, and your support keeps it going.

If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.

Every step helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.

Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.

Thank you for being here. Truly.

Founding member information can be found here.

Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you.