And Then There Were None – The Rise & Fall of Maine's Sardine Industry

Watch the Public Service Announcement

Download the conference brochure and registration form.

Within living memory, the sardine industry operated dozens of canneries in Maine and employed thousands catching, transporting, processing and selling the once-popular little herring.

It's all gone now, and it's essential to understand the reasons for its growth and decline. Penobscot Marine Museum's 2010 History Conference will examine the history of the industry and its people. Of special importance, it will present valuable documentation and management-level reminiscences of the last days of the state's last cannery – the Stinson Seafood plant in Prospect Harbor, which closed earlier this year.

Preliminary Schedule

Friday, Oct. 22 -- Old Town Hall
5:30 – 8:00 p.m.	Informal Session	Video and slide presentations, refreshments, libations and networking
Saturday, Oct. 23, Congregational Church Meeting Room
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.	Registration and coffee	Refreshments sponsored by Cappy's Chowder House of Camden.
9:00 – 9:15	Opening Remarks	Benjamin A.G. Fuller, Curator, Penobscot Marine Museum
9:15 – 12:00	Formal Sessions: The Rise and Fall of Maine's Sardine Industry	David Libby, Biological Monitoring and Assessment Division director, Maine Department of Marine Resources Peter Colson, former Stinson plant manager Al West, former director of purchasing at Stinson
*	*	There will be a mid-morning break, with refreshments sponsored by Cappy's Chowder House.
12:00 – 1:00	Luncheon: The Great Sardine Cookoff	The best local restaurants will serve a variety of sardine-based dishes. (A non-sardine option will also be available.) Participants will vote for their favorites. Special guest Nancy English, restaurant reviewer for the Portland Press Herald will be on hand to critique the day's "sardine cuisine."
1:00 – 5:00	Formal Sessions: Documentation an Industry's Last Days	Dr. Pauleena MacDougall, Director, the Maine Folklife Center Bill Kuykendall, Senior Lecturer, New Media Center at the University of Maine David Conover, Director/Producer at Compass Light Productions, Camden Mark Starr, photographer
*	*	There will be a mid-afternoon break, with refreshments sponsored by Cappy's Chowder House.

To Register

Credit card charges: call 207-548-2529

Send a check to:
History Conference
Penobscot Marine Museum
PO Box 498
Searsport, ME 04974-0498

Questions? Contact Bob Holtzman