- Playing
- Monhegan Island in Winter
- From
- Neenah Ellis
Monhegan Island,Maine has fifty year-round residents. It's the only place in Maine where lobstering goes on in the winter months only. The one-room school on Monhegan Island, a public school with one full-time teacher and seven students, is a big part of what keeps the community viable.
This piece includes a scene where the entire community comes to the one-room school to partake in an annual ritual, the school play and community Christmas pot-luck.
This is an excerpt from the 59:00 documentary now available on PRX called "The One-Room School in the Twenty-First Century" by the same producer.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Monhegan Island,Maine has fifty year-round residents. It's the only place in Maine where lobstering goes on in the winter months only. The one-room school on Monhegan Island, a public school with one full-time teacher and seven students, is a big part of what keeps the community viable. This piece includes a scene where the entire community comes to the one-room school to partake in an annual ritual, the school play and community Christmas pot-luck. This is an excerpt from the 59:00 documentary now available on PRX called "The One-Room School in the Twenty-First Century" by the same producer.
Broadcast History
adapted from a piece first heard on Morning Edition in December 2005
Timing and Cues
total running time is 13:36
In cue: (music) I'm independent producer Neenah Ellis . .
out cue: I'm Neenah Ellis
This piece could run as a stand-alone, it's self contained.
If you need to have a host introduction, contact me and I'll tailor one for you.
Related Website
Of 2 purchasers of this piece...
- 1 also bought:
Washington Goes To The Moon PART 1 (00:58:56) - 1 also bought:
A Pioneer in Writing Women's History (00:29:00) - 1 also bought:
- 1 also bought:
- 1 also bought:
Anna on the Homefront (00:09:20)
Tina Antolini
Posted on December 24, 2006 at 12:09 PM | Permalink
Review of Monhegan Island in Winter
The one-room schoolhouse is the conduit through which we meet the inhabitants of Monhegan- an community that is isolated, tightly-knit, full of vibrant characters. Through their voices, their activities, listeners become aquainted with a whole town in 13 minutes.
And despite the reference in the intro to the "one room schoolhouse" as an institution from another time, once we're in the classroom, it's clear that this is a living-- and essential-- part of this small community.
The best moments in this piece are the action: the play rehearsals in the school, a local resident whipping up egg nog, children sledding, the community christmas party that caps the piece. The narration seems a bit wistful; as if longing, to some degree, for a time when this sort of insular community was more commonplace. On the whole, though, this is a loving and rich portrait of a place.