There must be something in the Moose Island air, or maybe it's just that the island city seems to bring out the best in people. While residents and long‑time visitors find this obvious, it may come as a surprise that a group of men with much shorter connections to Eastport have been jumping in to volunteer their time and energy in between their busy work schedules.
     Jamie Smith of Kris‑Way Truck Leasing drives to Eastport frequently for U.S. Postal Service mail pick‑up, but with a four‑hour layover and a past life of 32 years in Winterport as a dairy farmer he's used to doing, not sitting, when he has a spare moment. "I happened to be going by the cemetery, saw Marc, got to talking, and found out they were down a crew member," he explains. Marc Young works for the Eastport Public Works Department. Later that night Smith got to thinking and thought "Why not?" Shortly after that, with the city's blessings and gratitude, Smith was on volunteer duty at the cemeteries to help get the grass in ship‑shape order. He's glad to help. "Towns and even businesses are having it tough right now."
     But what he really enjoys is the peace and quiet, the constant breeze and "seeing all the veterans' graves. It's like wow -- there are some really old veterans here," he says, looking towards the part of the cemetery that is home to War of 1812 veterans.
     Smith is looking forward to bringing his wife up for a visit. "It's peaceful and friendly. You can talk to anybody down here."
     That same friendly attitude was all it took for Peter Thornton and a crew of four other men to jump at the chance to help with a playground expansion project: truck driver Frank Lawless, foreman Fred Grant Jr., project resident Dale      A. Mayo and operator Ralph Murray. They are with Federal Program Integrators LLC, working on the new port access road off Old County Road. The overgrown area surrounding the Little League ballpark at the corner of Key Street and Old County Road has community members developing expansion plans that include a toddler play area, obstacle course, swing set and more. However, the land abuts the old railroad tracks and was wildly overgrown and soggy, proving to be a considerable barrier to progress for community volunteers without access or experience with heavy equipment and fill requirements.
     "We wouldn't have known if Mike Cummings hadn't come to me," says Thornton. Cummings, a former city councillor who spearheaded the first round of expansion plans, sold them on the idea, and because of their work on the access road they needed a place to put some of the excess fill material. Project resident Dale A. Mayo has worked on much of the city's recent watershed engineering. "He took a look at it for a fill site," explains Thornton. Fill work requires permitting, and it turned out that the old railroad bed had become a "man‑made wetland," which created a smaller fill and park area than originally intended. Cummings worked with them on the permitting, with City Manager Elaine Abbott also involved.
       "People here have been so helpful. Elaine has been so good," Thornton adds. That attitude was all it took to persuade Thornton and the others to jump in. "The town has been so helpful, so we go out of our way to help." The crew has been all over the state on projects big and small. He pauses after describing some of them. "It's a lot easier here than some places." He's looking forward to helping out with the obstacle course and has a huge tire waiting in the wings.