About Tours of Lubec and Cobscook
Tours of Lubec and Cobscook is part of APPLE, the Association to Promote and Protect the Lubec Environment. APPLE is a non-profit corporation in the State of Maine, with 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS. It was formed in 2005 to promote and protect environmentally sound tourism and economic development in the Lubec area; environment to include historic, cultural, ecological and economic conditions and infuences. Tours of Lubec and Cobscook was the first strategy towards fulfilling our mission. Local people as guides share their pride in the history and culture of this unique and beautiful area.
In 2008 APPLE started a new venture to further promote the Lubec area. With a grant from the Maine Community Foundation Washington County Fund we renovated a room in the Lubec Historical Society to be a Lubec tourist welcome and information center, called the Info Stop. You will find us at 135 Main Street as you enter Lubec, where you will be greeted with a friendly smile and a room chock-full of brochures, maps and area information.
Anonymous donors entrusted APPLE with the website www.VisitLubecMaine.com. We enlarged the information base to all businesses and activities in Lubec, charging a minimal fee for listings or changes.
In 2008 APPLE also spearheaded a Lubec-wide Coastal Cleanup, participating in the Maine State Planning Office's Maine Coast Week and Ocean Conservancy's data collection. Over 40 volunteers cleaned and documented the debris for a representative sample of Lubec's 97 miles of coastline. In 2009 we added an underwater cleanup made possible through an in kind donation of 2 divers for an afternoon by Cooke Aquaculture and a grant from the William Bingham Foundation. 2010 has continued to see volunteers cleaning and documenting, giving us a good data base of type of debris and where it tends to accumulate.
Building upon the Coastal Cleanup, in 2010 we issued a Trash from the Sea Art Challenge, which was supported by a grant from the Maine Coast Heritage Trust's Partridge Fund. We received 19 incredible pieces of art, from a larger than life-size marionette formed by buoys, a scene woven on a side of a lobster trap using various colors and sizes of rope, a fisherman whose face was formed by over 1000 lobster bands to a mermaid sporting a hubcap diadem!
Through a grant from the Maine Arts Commission and Maine Humanities Council we've expanded the arts and culture information available in Lubec, Campobello and Trescott, along with a map on www.VisitLubecMaine.com and on a paper handout distributed by the Info Stop and all participating groups.
In 2011 APPLE continued to sponsor Tours of Lubec and Cobscook, the Info Stop, VisitLubecMaine.com, the Lubec Coastal Cleanup and the Trash from the Sea Art Challenge. For 2012 we will focus on improving and expanding the VisitLubecMaine.com website.
Donations are welcome to help us work toward our purpose. We accept donations of any denomination by check or online through PayPal, where you may use your major credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover).
APPLE abides by this definition of ecotourism from the International Ecotourism Society:
"Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people."
- Minimize impact
- Build environment and cultural awareness and respect
- Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
- Provide direct financial benefits for conservation
- Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people
- Raise sensitivity to host's political, environmental, and social climate
APPLE Board of Directors
- , President
- Ruta Jordans, Treasurer
- Jonathan Stence, Secretary
- Jeanne Drews
- Pam Headrick
- Sue Keef
- Rachel Rubeor
- Trina Stephenson
We are grateful for supportive grants to promote our mission from the New Century Community Program, the Maine Humanities Council, the Maine Arts Commission, Maine Coast Heritage Trust's Partridge Fund, the Washington Hancock Community Agency, the William Bingham Foundation, the Downeast Business Alliance, the Washington County Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, Downeast and Acadia Regional Tourism (DART) for a subgrant from the Maine Tourism Marketing Partnership Program, the Lubec Area Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Project and an in kind donation by Cooke Aquaculture.
Our thanks to our incorporators: Ruta Jordans, Sheila Huckins and Melissa Lee;
to previous board members for their contributions: Debra Ayala, Susan Boutin, Katherine Cassidy, Dennis Drews, Suzette Francis, TJ Goetting, Jody Grimes, Sheila Huckins, Melissa Lee, Eleody Libby, Wanda Matthews, Jennifer Multhopp, Suzanne Saunders, John Shoemaker, and Lisa Tyson Ennis;
to Chessie Johnson for our inaugural website and her beautiful photographs;
to Deb Ayala of Northern Tides and the Lubec Historical Society for allowing us to share their space;
and to Deborah Bailey of Barnstormer Design Group for her invaluable support with both ToursofLubecandCobscook.com and VisitLubecMaine.com - web designer extraordinaire!
"Lubec ... not easy to get to, but hard to forget."
