Are we changing?

Today's essay is taken from the Sunday Postcard from Washington County which featured this stunning image by Cindy Joyce. These are the famous sunflowers of Gleason Cove, Perry. Photo by Cindy Joyce.

I sometimes joke that I am still about 10 pounds Fat Cat Deli, which was — you might remember — a beloved Machias pizza and sandwich shop from the early 2000s to about 2013. We were building our house, living in various pop-up locations, and we ate out a lot.

It was good.

Another construction-era favorite, also no longer with us, was the Artist’s Cafe, set along College Hill, where I would go with young Griffin for pesto chicken banquettes, and a chance to eat outside under a big beautiful tree.

For a PFA (Person From Away, which here includes everyone born west of Steuben), becoming a regular is a terrific way to learn about the community and we did. I soaked up the stories of the people who served us, including one woman who said she had moved here during the back-to-the-land movement in the 1970s.

“It must have changed a lot since then,” I said.

“Not really,” she replied.

I was surprised to hear it then, but she was right. During the pandemic and while we wanted for the 2020 Census, I interviewed Sunrise County Economic Council Director Charles Rudelitch as often as I could. He is a human library of Washington County information and he said yes, before the pandemic, the last big population boom to hit Washington County was in the 1970s.

Things really hadn’t changed.

Things have changed since the pandemic, though, but not so much in terms of population. By 2025 Maine projects Washington County will have 32,099 residents, an increase of 1,027 over the 2020 Census. Between 2020 and 2030, we’re predicted to experience the most population growth of any county in Maine — 8% — taking Washington County to 33,555 residents.

But statistics being what they are, even with the “greatest rate of population growth” we’ll be the next-to-smallest county in terms of population, because 8% of small is still, well, small.

So the changes we’re looking for are somewhere else.

Leaving data behind for a moment, what I see is this: more year-round homes converting to seasonal, more construction of seasonal homes, more businesses, and, compared to the last decade, at least, more positive energy.

We could be in the midst of positive, reasonable growth, which is the best kind, in my opinion because it allows us to consider what we don’t have here that we’d like, what we do have here that we love, and what of that we want to ensure we carry forward.

I’m reading a book by Dar Williams, one of my favorite musicians, titled, “What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America’s Communities One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, & Open Mic Night at a Time.”

I’ve just finished a chapter on Beacon, New York, a town that has, by Williams’ estimation, managed to grow and hold onto itself at the same time. This quote about gentrification is phrased in the negative, but read it for the way it defines positive community change in the process.

“Gentrification ‘dons’ the fabric that took decades for people to weave, ensuring through relationship-based transactions and some trial and error that histories, families, culture and mutual respect guided the process. Buildings are for sale. And fabric can be bought. But at some point, the original material is all gone.”

Positive, healthy change is guided by relationships, trial and error, history, families, and culture.

Let’s keep those in our sights.