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V O L . X X I I N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 6 26 M I D C O A S T / D OW N E A S T R E G I O N F O C U S duties that in a larger town would be handled by a town manager. "I think right now the island is in a tough spot," he says. "Anything goes: If anyone can make a living doing some- thing, it's fi ne. Most fi shermen only do fi shing. Some do wood-cutting or light carpentry. ere are some carpenters on the island who do caretaking work along with the carpentry. ere are still a couple of diehards saying fi shing is the only way to be out here, but that's changing as the population declines." DeWitt estimates the island's year- round population is 35 people, 10 less than the 2014 estimate included in the Island Indicators 2015 report. "It goes up and down. It was about that number when I fi rst arrived in 1972, then in the '80s and '90s it got up to around 50 people." Enrollment at the island's K-8 school has been as low as one student and as high as 14 during that time. "We're excited we have fi ve kids right now," says Chubbuck, who serves on the school board. "One family moving on or off the island makes a big diff erence. All the small island schools depend so much on families with school-age children being able to make their living on the island." DeWitt says the economic chal- lenges faced by Isle au Haut are inter- related and are shared by most of the year-round islands. In his view, the lack of aff ordable housing is the No. 1 problem. "You are limited to what kind of work you can get here," he says, "but nobody can come out here to do any- thing unless they have a place to live." DeWitt says the Isle au Haut Community Development Corp., a non- profi t, focuses on providing aff ordable rental housing. In 2013, in a public-private partnership with Maine State Housing Authority, it built two energy-effi cient aff ordable homes and now owns and manages four rental houses. "All the houses are fi lled up now," DeWitt says. One of the tenants is Rozalyn Santospago, who lives with her lobster- man husband and their children. For the past two summers, she has man- aged the Maine Lobster Lady food truck, which is owned by her mother, Diana Santospago. e food truck caters primarily to day trippers, selling lobster rolls, fried clams, whoopee pies and homemade cookies and a fried haddock sandwich that some say is worth the fare to the island. Its season runs from 4 th of July to Labor Day. " e more things going on out here the more people want to check them out," she says. "We're profi table. I have to make a profi t, or it's not worth it." Island visitors add value DeWitt admits he has misgivings about the island's economy being so exclusively dependent on lobstering. "Guys are going at it like this is going to go on forever," he says. "I don't think it is. Unfortunately, I don't think there is that much else we can be doing." Tourism, he says, "is the last little asset that Isle au Haut has." Kendra Chubbuck's ties to the island go back fi ve generations. "I came out here as a kid," she says, recalling long summer stays with her grandmother and great aunt and uncle at Head Harbor on the island's southern end. "I always knew I was going to retire out here. I love it here." Her island "retirement" after working 15 years as loan and housing administrator at Coastal Enterprises Inc. coincides with her 2012 marriage to DeWitt and moving from the main- land to the island with a pet llama and some geese. DeWitt's lobster boat was their moving van. ey opened Shore Shop Gifts that same year. It's become Chubbuck's full-time job during the summer tourism season. e gift shop is 300 feet from the town landing. It used to be DeWitt's workshop. Now it's the way they pay for their Aff ordable Care Act health insur- ance and car insurance. It also provides a source of income for 23 islanders who sell something there, including an 8-year-old girl who asked if Chubbuck would be willing to sell the lobsters she catches in the summer to tourists. "She has 10 traps and goes out with her father," Chubbuck says. "I've given her over $600 this year. She's saving it for college. She's a third-grader and one of the 23 islanders represented by our gift shop." "Whenever someone buys something, I tell them who made it," she adds, noting that over the past fi ve years the gift shop » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E For more information, visit efficiencymaine.com (some restrictions apply) 866-376-2463 Your business may be eligible for up to $12,500 in incentives for high-efficiency heating equipment. Fall is the perfect season to evaluate your heating system So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, So many people who have deep roots on these islands, who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea who've survived there for ages, really respect the idea of being an entrepreneur. … They don't sit around and whine about a problem. They do something about it. — Brianna Warner, Island Institute

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