The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Maine Seacoast Mission.
TREMONT—Three days of sun and fun summarizes this year’s Backside Blast event in Tremont but it does not even begin to tell the story of how that celebration of community came to fruition this summer.
“This year’s Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Races and Backside Blast were a massive success,” Town Manager Jesse Dunbar wrote in his manager’s memo to the Select Board for its July 6 meeting.
That “massive success” is mostly due to the year-round preparatory work of the women on the Backside Blast Committee.
- Elean Mitchell
- Bonnie Lewis
- Molly Goodwin
- Theresa Butler
- Kat Murphy
At that July 6 meeting, the Select Board wanted the committee to know how much its hard work was appreciated by the town and how much the town appreciated the volunteers and donors who all came to together to make the event a success.
In the end, the events raised $20,225 dollars in voluntary donations, had merchandise donations of $13,170, and throughout the weekend, including all sales, race boat registration, etc., brought in a total of $48,467 including the $12,000 that was already in the reserve account.
Expenses for the event were $21,831 with a couple of bills still coming in. This leaves a balance of $22,210 in the reserve account according to Dunbar.
From the earned money, the committee donated $2,250 to the William Searls Scholarship Foundation, and $2,175 to the Fisherman’s Forum Scholarship Fund.
The weekend kicked off on Friday night, June 26, at Archie’s Lobster with the 3rd Annual Lobster Feed (127 lobster dinners were served) and Pollock Frolic with music by the Bullseye Band. The Pollock Frolic, is always a crowd favorite and features teams of all ages and fish toting experience.
On Saturday afternoon, June 27, at Gordius Garage people could fawn over their favorite vehicles and indulge in a pig roast. The car show and pig roast, with live music by Matt & The Barnburners, drew around 300 attendees this year and so many cars (approximately 60) that some potential show participants could not find a place to park and display their ride.
The morning of Sunday, June 28, was the anchor and originating event, the Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Races. This year there were 75 boats signed up to race and after the races there was a DJ and three food trucks on the wharf for post-race celebrations and community engagement.
“Nice job gang!” Vice Chair McKenzie Jewett said to a round of applause. “It’s a lot of work.”
“It was a fantastic event, thank you very much. It really was impressive,” said Kevin Buck.
Eric Eaton said, “It’s the best weekend of the year!”
The committee’s monetary goal is to be able to fund a fireworks show for the 20th Annual Backside Blast. This year was the 17th annual event.
The quiet work of volunteers weaved through the town’s Select Board meeting. From the women who make the Backside Blast event happen, to the members of the Tremont Volunteer Fire Department and Chair Jamie Thurlow’s assistance hauling a burning lobster boat to shore and helping to keep other boats safe, volunteers made the day in multiple ways in Tremont recently.
The Select Board unanimously approved a motion “to thank the Lobster Boat Race Committee and volunteers for all their hard work on the Backside Blast events, and to thank all the businesses and people who donated to make this weekend a success.”
Fanning Road and Dodge Point Road Repair
Still working on improving town owned roads, the Select Board approved some upgrades to two roads, Fanning Road and Dodge Point Road.
Dunbar has received estimates from Doug Gott and Sons for both roads. Fanning Road’s estimate was $3,584 to top the existing road surface with 72 yards of inch minus stone and grade and compact the stone as needed.
The Dodge Point Road estimate was $6,410 to place six inches of inch minus stone in an area 200 feet by 24 feet and to pitch and compact the stone as needed.
Both jobs were unanimously approved by the Select Board.
Bernard Wharf Parking Lot
Harbormaster Tyler Damon has requested that the lower, main parking lot at the Bernard Wharf have parking stall lines and no parking areas painted on the asphalt. There is also a culvert in the lot that has caused the pavement to raise up and should be reset according to Dunbar.
Even though the public works department has a line striper that it was recently given by the Southwest Harbor Public Works Department, Dunbar suggested paying a contractor to lay out the parking lot and stripe it this first year and then having the town’s public works repaint over the existing lines in following years. Dunbar said that the cost of the striping is $2,000.
While the Select Board seemed to be in agreement regarding the resetting of the culvert, some of which will be performed by the town’s highway department, there was some disagreement about whether the lot should be striped or not.
Thurlow asked, “How many times have you gone down there and people are parked every which way but loose? You could fit a lot more trucks down there if they were parked correctly.”
“I just think that it’s opening up a can of worms. Fishermen are not going to be right in them, they are going to be all over still and then he (Damon) is going to be chasing them around,” said Eaton. “It’s so difficult to regulate it down there because there’s trap trailers, people moving boats around, and even when it’s completely full, you can find a hole somewhere.”
Eaton asked if it made more sense to just paint where the town doesn’t want people to park and let the fishermen and boat people park where they want.
“I disagree,” said Thurlow. “The only reason why I disagree is because if Tyler thinks it will make his job easier, with people parking in the correct order, people ought to be able to handle that.”
“He’s gonna be down there having people towed left and right, it’s gonna be a nightmare,” Easton responded.
Ben Harper said, “even the fishermen ought to be able to park between a couple of lines.”
Buck said that he agrees with Thurlow and that the lines should help the situation.
The Select Board unanimously voted to “authorize the repair and paving to the Bernard Wharf parking area as discussed at a cost not to exceed $5,000 using the Wharf Capital Improvement Fund, and to authorize the painting of the parking lot lines using the Wharf Fund.”
Planning Board Seat Appointment
The Select Board unanimously approved the appointment of Moriah Duffy to the open seat on the town’s planning board. Duffy’s was the only application received and her seat will expire on June 30, 2029.
Fiscal Year 2026 Audit Contract
The Select Board unanimously voted to contract with James W. Wadman, CPA, to conduct the town’s audit for the fiscal year 2026.
According to Dunbar, the audit proposal says that it is impossible to provide an exact quote for the service, but the cost for the fiscal year 2025 audit was $13,000.
Maine Municipal Association Legislative Policy Committee
Every year, the municipal governing body of Maine Municipal Association (MMA) member towns have the opportunity to vote on the upcoming year’s MMA Legislative Policy Committee members.
According to the MMA website, “Two municipal officials are elected from each of Maine’s 35 Senate Districts and the membership tends to be a mixture of seasoned municipal officials, who bring an extraordinary depth of experience to the table, and new members with fresh concern and insights.”
Tremont is in Maine Senate District seven and the three candidates were Kathleen Billings, Manager, Town of Stonington, Roberta Boczkiewicz, Select Board Member, Town of Castine, and Amy Morley, Select Board Member, Town of Lamoine.
Dunbar recommended to the Select Board that they vote for Billings and Morley and they followed his recommendations and unanimously voted for the two women as suggested.
Surplus Property Sale
The town has replaced its free electric vehicle charger that was located at the back of the town office with a model that requires payment. Dunbar said that the new charger is already generating income and he would like permission to sell the old one as surplus property.
The Select Board unanimously approved the request to sell the old, no fee, charger as surplus property.
Winter Salt Bids
Dunbar updated the Select Board on the bid price of winter salt. This year, the town joined other towns in the League of Towns (LOT) to do a joint bid and see if that came in lower than the bid for the state wide bid process.
The LOT bid came in two dollars per ton cheaper than the statewide bid process and Dunbar had accepted this bid price.
Executive Session
Following the regular meeting, the Select Board went into executive session for Consultation with Legal Counsel.
According to Dunbar, when the Select Board came out of executive session, a motion was made by Buck to appoint Matt Tarasevich of Bernstein Shur as legal counsel for the Town of Tremont. The motion was seconded by Jewett and passed 4-1 with Harper opposing.
Dunbar said that town legal counsel James Collier “will still be used on certain matters” and the Select Board was simply “formally appointing (Tarasevich) as one of the attorneys they use for counsel.”
The next meeting of the Tremont Select Board is scheduled for August 3, 2026, at 5 p.m., in the Harvey Kelley Meeting Room at the town office.
GoFundMe for the Snows
Brandon Borror-Chappell has set up a GoFundMe for Nathaniel and Kirsten Snow.
The Snows’ beloved lobster boat “More Miss Chif” was lost to fire, July 3. There is currently no known cause. No one was aboard the boat at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.
“If you know Nathaniel, then you know he is as diligent and painstaking as it is possible for a person to be. He is also always kind, respectful, wry, and generous whenever anyone in the community could use a hand,” Borror-Chappell wrote.
The Snows will have to purchase a new boat as well as outfit it. His income source has been lost.
“As you can see, the fundraising goal is $40,000. Nathaniel and Kirsten will be mad at me for setting it there but … the loss is structurally damaging to the family unit, and it is also an emotional loss. Any amount you can give will help boost their spirits. I suspect Nathaniel is not aware of how appreciated he is around Mount Desert Island, and I think this is a nice opportunity to show him the strength of the quilt he is so integrally woven into,” Borror-Chappell wrote.
He added, “Nathaniel and Kirsten will pass along as generous as possible a portion of the funds raised to the Tremont Fire Department, who did an amazing job responding to the dangerous situation.”
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
They Thought the Lobster Boat Races Were Fading. Then the Town Turned It Into a Full-Blown Festival of Fun.
Link to GoFundMe for the Snows
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