Some of my earliest work here in the region was with Bigelow Lab.
Charlie and Clarice Yentsch hired me to make some photographs at the labs for a promotional piece they were preparing. I remember wandering around the McKown Point property recalling smells from high school chemistry class mixed with washed up dead fish that our dog rolled in. There was a lot of strange equipment and some pretty interesting people. Rather fascinating actually.
Familiar faces turned up now and then too. Rhonda Selvin and I had worked at Tugboat Inn together; she was a waitress and I was the night janitor. At Bigelow she managed the Provasoli-Guillard collection of sea bugs. It was a pretty serious collection then, even more so now. Rhonda has moved onto a nursing career, but I see her now and then at the Hannaford.
Peter Larsen I knew from the Newagen Inn, land of many weddings. I saw Peter recently while photographing at the lab. Still very active and busy with science and racing BMW's — but alas, no more Newagen.
Bigelow has been transformed, magnificently! Its interesting to see after all these years, watching things and people come and go. I met John and Martha Welch there. They were quite a pair. I was never sure how those photo episodes would go. Martha could come up with some pretty good stuff. Never a dull moment with that young lady. She tended to speak her mind. Dr. John was a little more subdued.
I think its been 40 years now for Bigelow, almost exactly how long we've been here. I haven't changed that much, but the lab sure has.
Try to stop by. It's amazing! You may want to call first and check on public tours. I believe there are many opportunities to visit, and you will not be disappointed — and it doesn't smell like dead fish anymore!