Southwest Harbor to mark 100th birthday

SOUTHWEST HARBOR – Three digits is something to celebrate.

The number “100” holds enough significance in our society that it even affects our language. At that number, pennies become a dollar, links become a chain, and years become a century.

This last example is why the people of Southwest Harbor have planned more than 100 events to celebrate through the rest of the year, with the first scheduled for this Saturday. This week, the town of Southwest Harbor is turning 100 years old.

“We’ve been over two years working on this,” local resident Bruce Carlson said Monday. Carlson is head of the town’s Centennial Committee and director of the Southwest Harbor/Tremont Chamber of Commerce.

The town’s birth will be re-enacted at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Pemetic Elementary School gym with a short play starring the town’s selectmen, Carlson said. Written by local resident Joe Marshall, the play is about why Southwest Harbor split off from Tremont in 1905.

Marshall, an officer in the town’s historical society, said Monday that residents of Southwest Harbor wanted in 1904 to build a new school in the village but that the measure was rejected that year at Tremont’s town meeting. At a subsequent special meeting, the school proposal again was defeated by the neighboring town, but this time Tremont’s residents also voted 188-42 to let Southwest Harbor pursue secession, he said.

“I think the differences had been going on for some time,” Marshall said. “The schoolhouse was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

That split was approved by the Legislature and signed into law on Feb. 21, 1905. The school Southwest Harbor residents built is now occupied by Harbor House, a local athletic and community organization, and the old school they wanted to replace is used as the town’s municipal offices, Marshall said.

Besides the celebration events, another result of the anniversary efforts is that the town now has its own historical society. Other historical organizations have helped chart the town’s history over the years, Marshall said, but the recently created society is the first to focus solely on Southwest Harbor.

“The general feeling is that this is something that’s been needed for a while,” he said.

Carlson said that as part of Saturday’s event, a statement from Gov. John Baldacci proclaiming Feb. 26 as “Southwest Harbor Day” will be read. Local residents also will be able to get a special cancellation for postage stamps and enjoy a birthday cake made for the town, he said.

Roughly 120 events have been planned so far to help celebrate the anniversary, according to Carlson. Among some of the bigger events scheduled to take place later this year are a windjammer rally in the harbor and a fireworks display. Walking tours, presentations on specific aspects of local history, live music performances and lobster bakes also will be included in the mix, he said.

“We feel we’re going to have 130 [events] over the course of 10 months,” Carlson said.

The town has donated $12,000 toward the centennial celebration and $26,000 has been raised privately, he said. The committee still has to raise $11,000 more to meet its $50,000 goal, however.

“Our budget is $50,000,” he said. “We’re working toward that.”