An Open Letter to Governor LePage
by Lee S. Wilbur
Dear Governor LePage,
First, I want to thank and congratulate you for introducing “open office” concept on Saturday mornings. It is refreshing that an elected official will finally take time to listen to ideas from the citizens of Maine in a private setting. I would also like to voice my thoughts regarding why we find ourselves with higher than usual unemployment in Maine, irrespective of the so-called “housing mortgage depression” in the country.
Sometime in the late 1980s there evolved the misguided idea that not only should all school efforts be aimed at sending students off to college, but that they should also not be allowed to work in a structured environment until age 16. Both of these ideas have not only been wrong, as history is now proving, they are virtually catastrophic. It is my earnest opinion that most children become bored with free time by age eleven (11). My father, a man from a working class family who had worked from a very young age, lived through the Depression, then put himself through medical school by working one year and going to school the next, told me at age 11 that I had to find a job, that I was not going to hang around the house doing nothing all summer.
There weren't many jobs available for kids in the early '50s if you lived in a small town. To earn money I fixed up a wooden box with a strap, put a board on one end where a client could put their shoe, took some snow shoveling money, bought shoe polish and went into the shoe shining business at 10 cents a pair. To supplement this burgeoning business I caught and sold nightcrawlers for 10 cents a dozen. Father let me put the hand painted “Nightcrawlers” sign several feet away from his “Doctor” sign on the front lawn. I earned $35 that summer. And more important, I learned the value and pleasure of work. What I could accomplish on my own. The next years I went to work for steady pay, landscape company, hardware store, delivering groceries at age 15 when one could get a license at 15, working for the National Park, etc.
At age 16 there were skippers and mates from Maine sailing the great sailing ships around the world, who had been on the ocean at a much younger age. There was a time when a person could apply for a job outside the state and say they were from Maine and be hired instantly. Mainers, even when I started in business still had an accepted reputation as good, honest, hardworking employees. By the '90s this had all begun to change.
When my children were young, my wife and I also started them as well on the path of good work habits. Daughter Ingrid, the oldest, was teaching sailing at ages 12 and 13. By age 14 she was skippering a summer ladies 28' power boat. Son Derek, at age 7 was running clients out to our rental boats in the harbor with a skiff and a 5 hp motor. Age 12 or 13 he started working in a bakery washing dishes and by summer’s end he was baking bread.
Today he owns a very successful fine dining restaurant in Southwest Harbor. Ingrid has her own bookkeeping business, is the executive director of the non-profit recreation program in town and co-owner of her parents’ business, Wilbur Yachts. When we, by law, must wait until our children are 16 years old to begin working, it’s too late. Their focus is lost in video games, cell phones, texting, and summer programs to keep them “occupied.” I am seriously worried for the futures of my grandchildren. How will they be allowed to understand the value of work?
On the subject of unemployment. What do our graduating children know how to do today? And I know you have the same concerns and are trying to do something about it. I’ll bet half of them don't even know how to change a light bulb, let alone fix a dripping faucet. Industrial Arts programs and Home Economics have been removed from school curriculums. At the time I went to high school all students were required to take one year of their respective course. I took “shop” along with College courses my entire four years. After returning home from the military and college, and finally setting up a boat shop, we used to hire a number of students OJT (on the job training). I know for a fact this program saved several students from dropping out of school. Today, these individuals have respectable jobs and are fine members of the community. Later, as the Industrial Arts program was regionalized and students had to travel to Ellsworth, the OJT students disappeared.
As I travel around Maine, (I enjoy talking to business people) I ask: “What is the greatest problem you face in expanding your business?” Invariably the answer is: “We cannot find good employees. Either they have no skills or they simply don’t want to work. First question out of their mouths is usually related to how much time-off they get.” They’ve never been taught. Poor Johnny might have to get his hands dirty, and Mary can’t give up her texting.
Have you ever noticed the number of foreign students who come to Maine in the summer to work? I thought at one time I should learn Russian to order lobsters at Beal’s Wharf here in Southwest Harbor where I had worked briefly one summer. Why do we have foreign workers in resort area towns when our children are walking around with nothing to do and getting in trouble? And, this is virtually the entire state of Maine? The answer is, because we have blindly followed the misguided “Do-Gooders” to the detriment of our children, our economy and our society. Keep up the good work!!
Yours Truly
I have a confession to make. Though I enjoy cooking and eating fish, I had, up until this fall, never thought of hake in any way other than corned. Then, I happened to see some fresh hake that had just come in to the local fish store and the price was much lower than other white fleshes such as cod, haddock or flounder. I bought a few pounds then tried to find a recipe. Lo and behold, there were several on the internet. After a bit of experimentation, this is the result and has opened the door to even more fun with this forgotten fish.
Recipe for Baked Hake Fillets
4 Hake fillets about 6 oz. each
1 lb. baby plum or “grape” tomatoes
6 Tbs. olive oil (regular)
6 peeled and halved garlic cloves
Handful of baby spinach
16 seeded Kalamata olives
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes in a small roasting pan or iron fry pan and cook for 15 minutes. Add the spinach and olives and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove the pan and push the mixture aside. Place skinless fillets in the pan and baste with the olive oil. Roast until you can pierce easily with a fork. Check in 10-12 minutes. Spoon mixture over each fillet and serve. I like to accompany with a good white rice. If you'd like to share a hake or other fish recipe please send it along to Lee, c/of FV info@fishermensvoice.com. I’ll give you the “Attaboy”
Fair winds and Good roads.