September on pace as worst Covid-19 month for MDI Hospital testing since pandemic began
In death, Luke Gross stirs universal applause as model police officer
SOMESVILLE - With five days still to go until the end of the month, September already has tied August as having the highest number of positive Covid-19 tests at MDI Hospital since the pandemic began in March 2020.
There were nine new cases in the week ended Wednesday, according to hospital spokesperson Oka Hutchins, including one out-of-county resident. That brings the month’s count to 23, the same as August which is one calendar day longer.
Since March 2020, 154 local residents and 14 from out-of-county visitors have tested positive at MDI.
Hospital CEO Chrissi Maguire urged businesses and local governments in late August to take precaution - vaccination, mask wearing and hand washing - to combat the virulent Delta varian. She said 90 percent of those hospitalized were persons who were not vaccinated.
The hospital will field questions about booster shots starting Monday:
Cooper Gilmore Health Center: 207-288–5024 17 Hancock Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
Community Health Center: 207-244–5630 16 Community Lane, Southwest Harbor, ME 04679
Trenton Health Center: 207-667–5899 394 Bar Harbor Road, Trenton, ME 04605
OFFICER DOWN: Even in death, Luke Gross’s influence continues in towns he served
TRENTON, Sept. 2, 2021 - There hasn’t been a news event in a long time which captured a universal reaction of the heart the way the tragic death of Hancock County deputy Luke R. Gross has.
From the avalanche of sympathetic comments on social media to the tributes from Janet Mills and virtually every public service official who knew him, Officer Gross was a rare combination of professionalism, authentic caretaker of the public trust and role model for young people.
We feel the pain because such souls are rare in our caustic civic divide. He solved problems with wise and minimalist intervention even though he carried a weapon which could discharge quick and lethal power.
“He was an amazing man. Always there whenever anybody needed him,” Christina Leeman Gramolini of Hancock told the Bangor Daily news.
“I met him on, so far, the worst day of my life,” the home health care worker said. “I think a lot of people came across him on some of their worst days.”
BDN reported, “The meeting happened nearly three years ago, during an episode of domestic violence at her home. She made an emergency call to police, and Gross arrived to help.
On Facebook, she elaborated:
“About 3 years ago I was having ‘the worst day of my life.’ My child, the children with me and myself needed protection in an emergency situation. My home was literally turned upside down and I was physically and emotionally torn apart. I got one call out for help.
“Deputy Gross was the help that arrived.
“He not only calmed three crying children, he was able to calm me down as well, and was able to safely apprehend the person who hurt us.
“He sat with me for as long as it took until I was able to collect my thoughts and go somewhere safe.
“He showed up for every court proceeding, he continued to email with me when my fears would run wild and every time he had an answer and made time.
“One of our conversations was about my daughter returning to school, in a small community, where everyone knew what had happened. His son is in my daughters class. He was able to name people that could bring her comfort during the hard days ahead. I can’t explain the amount of relief that brought me and my child.
“Almost every morning we would wave while dropping the kids off at school.
“I know that I thanked him a hundred times, I just wished I could’ve thanked him a hundred more.
“I know he has a family and if they happen to read this I need you to know that your husband, brother, dad, son, cousin, uncle made a difference in my families life. He brought light and comfort during our darkest days.”
Gross died in the early morning of Sept. 23.
State police spokesperson Shannon Moss stated, “At approximately 4:30 a.m. Deputy Gross responded to a crash on Rt. 3 in Trenton. The driver of the crashed vehicle had fled the scene, in his car.
The official state police crash report stated officer Gross was in the roadway cleaning debris at 5:15 a.m. when he was struck by a 2017 Nissan pickup truck driven by Timothy J. Badger, 55, of Levant. Troopers said Badger has been cooperative and they do not anticipate criminal charges.
“At the time of the crash, Deputy Gross was wearing a high visibility reflective vest and walking with traffic, appearing to reach down to pick up a piece of vehicle debris to remove from the roadway, when Unit 1 struck him from behind as Deputy Gross bent down,” wrote Maine State Police Sgt. Aaron M. Turcotte.
The report stated that Gross had been “in the roadway improperly” when the collision occurred.
Officer Gross had parked his cruiser in the westbound breakdown lane with his emergency lights activated to investigate the crash.
Officer Gross, an 18-year-veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, sustained “significant head trauma and died from injuries suffered in the crash.”
Around 9 a.m., troopers located the driver of the crashed vehicle who had fled the scene. The driver was located a short distance away in his vehicle sleeping, reported Moss.
Thorin Smith, 20, of Bar Harbor, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, illegal use of drug paraphernalia and illegal possession of alcohol by a minor, Moss said.
Gross, 44, is survived by his wife of 15 years, Lauren, and their two children, Ryan and Alyssa.
Town to acknowledge life-saving action by SWH police at Seal Cove
SEAL COVE - Molly Rawle was just settling in for the night with a beer when the rubbing of the mooring stick against the side of her 27-foot sloop was annoying her. So back up on deck she went to move the stick only to tumble overboard when she reached for it.
She knew her time was limited in the sub 60-degree Maine water. She was able to hoist herself partly up on the cable connecting the bowsprit to the boat, but she still could not make it into the boat.
It was Sept. 1 and the sun had set an hour earlier. She started to yell for help and luckily someone on the beach heard her and called 911. SWH police responded by launching a boat to rescue Rawle off of the bowsprit.
Tuesday night, SWH Police Chief John Hall will be presenting Officer Cold Bernhardt and Dispatcher Traci Patton with commendations for their outstanding service in saving Rawle, who was taken to MDI Hospital by ambulance and then to Eastern Maine Hospital in Bangor.
The 72-year-old spent eight days in the hospital until it was determined there was no lasting heart damage as a result of hypothermia, she said.
“I respectfully suggest that the Select Board may want to join Chief Hall in celebrating their accomplishments by passing a motion to commend Police Officer Colt Bernhardt and Dispatcher Traci Patton for their outstanding service to their community when saving the life of Ms. Molly Rawle on September 1, 2021,” wrote interim Town Manager Dana Reed.
SWH taking MDI seafood restaurant to court for outstanding code violations
SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Sept. 25, 2021 - The interim town manager wants to take a nettlesome restaurant to court.
In an unusually stern memo to the select board, Dana Reed said town officials have reached their breaking point with MDI Lobster Company on Clark Point Road and its code violations and is recommending invoking Maine’s state statute for zoning violations, Rule 80K.
“Over a year ago, the Planning Board approved a food truck, tent and storage shed for MDI Lobster, LLC, at 126 Clark Point Road, with conditions that were required to be met,” which was then reported by Sarah Hinckley in the Islander.
“Code Enforcement Officer John Larson has been working with MDI Lobster to obtain voluntary compliance and, if anything, has been more than accommodating and understanding of the constraints making their compliance difficult. On July 2 this summer, CEO Larson made a site visit and found customers parking in a dedicated right of way and a six-foot-high fence and a dumpster in the wrong locations, all which violated the Planning Board approval and were explained to the owners at that inspection.”
“Code Officer Larson sent the owners a Notice of Violation by Certified Mail on July 19, which they failed to accept and was returned to the Town on August 5. Mr. Larson then had a Sheriff’s Deputy serve the owners with the Notice of Violation, which they did on August 18.
“Under the terms of our Land Use Ordinance, the owners have thirty days to appeal his decision to the Board of Appeals, which they have not done. As of this Monday, September 20, the Code Officer has not been contacted by the owners and the violations are continuing. Consequently Mr. Larson has been left with little choice but to seek redress in District Court” Reed stated. The court has the authority to issue fines.
Reed added, “Furthermore, I respectfully suggest that this meeting is not the time to litigate this very complicated matter. Owners and neighbors often attend such Select Board meetings and want to debate if a violation took place, what penalties, if any, are appropriate, what the Planning Board did, why the violations happened, etc. But the time for that has passed.
“Their next chance to debate the violations is with the Court, and I strongly suggest that the Select Board allow no public debate, pro or con, this Tuesday night.”
Owner Joe DeBeck declined to comment when asked by QSJ.
Cruise ship committee off course, town council member says
BAR HARBOR - The Town Council will begin budget deliberations at its meeting Oct. 5 in anticipation of a year in 2022 with lower cruise ship revenue.
The action was sought by member Jill Goldthwait, who said she attended a recent cruise ship committee and found that the chairman, Eben Salvatore, was saying that 2022 will be a full operating season.
“The chairman of the cruise ship committee has said a number of times ‘obviously we’re not making any changes to 2022.’ This is for 2023,” Goldthwait reported. “I think a year plus after the survey if we have a normal cruise ship season it’s not going to be popular in this community.”
Goldthwait was referring to the townwide survey of residents in the spring when two-thirds of the respondents said they wanted the council to curb cruise ship visits.
Goldthwait also said Salvatore was not complying with the directive from the council for developing scheduling models for review and consideration. She said instead he is using the numbers as a baseline for negotiations.
“What I thought was our charge to the committee was different than what the chair was describing,” Goldthwait said Tuesday at the end of a 3.5-hour council meeting. “Specifically he seemed to be looking at the data, the numbers we sent him as a starting point for negotiation. I did not understand that as was what we intended. I thought we were looking for a schedule based on those numbers.”
Salvator manages the tender and docking services of Ocean Properties among other responsibilities for the largest owner of hotels in Bar Harbor. The committee was set up to help manage cruise ship visitations and consists mostly of industry representatives. Salvatore did not return an email from QSJ seeking comment.
TRIBUTE: Temple Grassi
DECEMBER 10, 1946 – SEPTEMBER 17, 2021
Temple Grassi of Chevy Chase, MD and Northeast Harbor, Maine, born December 10, 1946, died peacefully from metastatic melanoma in his Chevy Chase home surrounded by his family on Sept. 17 at age 74. He was a graduate of Woodberry Forest in Orange, VA and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduating from UNC, Temple began his teaching career at The Gilman School in Baltimore, moving to the Allen Stevenson School in New York City, and at the Landon School, in Bethesda, MD, where he taught for the remaining 22 years of his 32-year career. Temple played football, soccer and lacrosse at Woodberry Forest. He played lacrosse at UNC where for four years. During his summers, when not in Northeast Harbor, Temple was a camper and, later, a counselor at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro, Maine. After moving to New York City, Temple was introduced to what would become his great obsession, court tennis - a game few know, but many love. He met his lovely wife, Eleuthera, and together they moved to Washington D.C., where he began a 15 year quest to build a court tennis court. Ultimately, Temple was successful and Princes Court opened up in McLean, Virginia. It was then that the nickname was born, “The Ambassador”, as he would continue until his dying day to teach and educate anyone who would listen about his beautiful sport. “The Ambassador” was predeceased by his father, Ettore H.A. “Bud” Grassi and is survived by his mother, Edith Gwathmey Grassi; wife Eleuthera S. Grassi; elder sister, Louise Whitney (Karen); younger brother, Edward Grassi (Judith); daughters Melissa Purcell (Andrew), Charlotte Aukamp, and Helen Vest (Chad); 5 grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to his Memorial Service on Oct. 26 at 11 a.m., at the Washington National Cathedral. The Family asks, in lieu of flowers, to please make a donation to The United States Court Tennis Preservation Foundation, attention The Junior Development Program, using the website: https://usctpf.org/player-development/ or mailing address: USCTPF, c/o Jane Lippincott – Treasurer, P.O. Box 194, Jamestown, RI 02835
TRIBUTE: Jay D. Scribner
Jay D. Scribner passed away on Sept. 11 at his home in Dallas, Texas, surrounded by his four children. A father, grandfather, educator, mentor and friend to many, Jay is remembered as a loving, intelligent, down to earth soul who enjoyed a good time and detested injustice. Jay was born in Ellsworth, Maine and spent time throughout his childhood in various places across the state, including Ellsworth, Portland, Scarborough, Eastport, Northeast Harbor and Seal Harbor before graduating high school. He personified resilience and grace, living in 15 homes throughout his childhood. His love and value for family and community were instilled early in life, having been cared for and supported by grandparents on both sides of his family, his Aunt Bernice and Uncle Yale, and innumerable members of the MDI community through his high school years. In 1961, on a chance encounter, he met the love of his life, Alicia Paredes. A year later, after a long-distance relationship by correspondence with Alicia and her father, he embarked on his first trip via plane, and first trip out of New England, to marry Alicia in Los Angeles in 1962. Together they lived in East Winthrop, Maine; Palo Alto and Los Angeles, CA; Boston, MA; Penn Valley, PA, Austin and Dallas, returning each summer to his favorite place on earth, Seal Harbor, Maine. After graduating from Farmington Teachers College, Jay started his career as a teaching-principal in a three-room schoolhouse in Troy, Maine. He became a middle school principal in Auburn, ME after getting his master’s at the University of Maine, Orono. Soon after he was married and had his first child, he and his wife left Maine for Palo Alto, California where he pursued his doctorate in Education Administration at Stanford University. Jay started a career as a professor at UCLA in 1965, where he developed and secured federal funding for an innovative program that prepared leaders for urban schools in Los Angeles. During his stint at UCLA he was awarded the Alfred North Whitehead Fellowship, affording him the opportunity to study at Harvard for a year. In 1975 he was recruited to Philadelphia’s Temple University to lead the College of Education as Dean, where he led the development of programs in partnership with Philadelphia School District as well as in Nigeria and Tokyo. Eventually, he moved to Texas for an endowed professorship at UT Austin in 1989. Beyond a remarkable career, he was most at home in Seal Harbor, enjoying time with family and friends on his boat, “Seabbatical.”He loved playing golf, watching old westerns and action movies, and for the last 35 years of his life had become a prolific artist, gifting his work to family and friends. Jay will be remembered by his children, Jay (Karen), Kent (Suleyka), Samantha and Connie (Ryan Shultz), grandchildren Pierce, Bo, Julian, Jacqueline, Sophia, Harper, and Everett, and his step-grandchildren, Peyton, Carson, Giovanni and Santino. He is predeceased by his beloved wife, Alicia, parents Jay and Dorothy, brother Henry, his Aunt Bernice and Uncle Yale Pierce, and his parents-in-law, Luis and Consuelo Paredes.A memorial service for Jay will be held 10 am, June 23, 2022, at Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mt. Desert with the burial of Jay’s and his wife, Alicia’s, cremated remains immediately following at the Seal Harbor Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to make a donation by check, with a notation that it is in memory of Jay D. Scribner, to the Northeast Harbor Library, 1 Joy Road, PO Box 279, Northeast Harbor, Maine 04662-0279.
TRIBUTE: Ralph J. "Ralph" Tracy Jr.
1931 - 2021
Ralph J. “Jack” Tracy Jr., 90, died on Sept. 19. Jack was born on May 26, 1931, in Somes Sound Village to Ralph and Pauline (Higgins) Tracy. Better known as “Jack” he spent his entire life on MDI, apart from attending advanced schooling and military duty.
He graduated in 1950 from Gilman High School in Northeast Harbor in the last class to graduate from this school. Following graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to Germany as a medic in a 400-bed hospital. Returning home, he found employment at the hospital in Bar Harbor as an orderly and maintenance worker. While working there, he met a laboratory technician named Dorothy Simpson from Winthrop, Maine. Dorothy soon became his wife for the next 53 years until her death.
Taking advantage of the GI bill, Jack enrolled at Maine Vocational Technical Institute as an automobile technician. Upon graduation he found employment in Seal Harbor and moved with his wife and son where he purchase a home. Upon recommendation, he transferred to the electrical field and became a Master Electrician. The Jackson Laboratory contacted him and offered him a job as an electrician in the maintenance department, a job he held for the next 28 years. He was a sportsman, which included hunting, fishing and snowmobiling at his camp on Lower Lead Mountain Pond. He also enjoyed fishing at Chamberlain Lake in the Allagash with a special group, which included his lifelong pals Edgar Walls and John Reeves. Jack was a Scout Leader, Little League Baseball Coach, member and president of MDI snowmobile club, member and officer of Downeast Electrical Association, Seal Harbor Old Timers Club, 50-year member and Chief of the Seal Harbor Fire Department, 50-year member and worshipful master of the Masonic Lodge #208 A.F & A.M. and a 50 years member and commander of the American Legion Post #103 both of Northeast Harbor.
Jack is survived by his sons Kenneth and Stephen Tracy, daughters Beth (Gerald) Frost, Marcia (Michael) Bender, all of Seal Harbor. Six grandchildren, Marie (Andy) Ericsson, Laura (Ben) Geisler, Corey (Yaicha) Frost, Megan (Tyler) Robbins and Ryan and Allyson Bender. Great grandchildren Josie, Mae, Jack and Ivy Geisler, Jack and Cyrus Frost and Alayna Robbins, sisters Alice (Chuck) Wilson and Kay (Robert) Moore, plus many nieces and nephews. Jack was predeceased by his parents, his wife Dorothy, brother Clarence and sister Leta and her husband Charles. Graveside Services will be held 1pm, Sunday Oct. 3 at the Seal Harbor Cemetery with a celebration of life to follow at the Seal Harbor Community Center. Those who desire may make contributions in Jack’s memory to the Seal Harbor Old Timers Club, C/O Steve Pinkham, PO Box 74, Seal Harbor ME 04675. Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mt. Desert. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com