Since 2012, Regina’s involvement with Cobscook Institute has primarily centered upon apples. She helped lead and coordinate pruning and grafting workshops, bringing in apple experts from around the state, and later partnered with us to coordinate Downeast Apple Day in 2019 which welcomed over 200 people to learn about and celebrate apples. Regina’s son also attended the high school program for two years and he and Regina’s daughter attended River Camp.

Regina couldn’t fill in the “Someday at Cobscook Institute” blank with just one thing, though she especially hopes that the “awesome infrastructure” of campus will be much more utilized by the community. To do that, she had several ideas:

1. Expand the community garden: “Every town needs a community garden,” she said, “you shouldn’t have to travel far to be able to go pick veggies.” She would love to see the community garden directly serve a community need and incorporate more garden programming to draw people in.

2. Increase campus plantings and apple tree maintenance: Regina would love to see people walk onto campus and see great examples of productive apple trees, asparagus plantings, and other veggies they might not be used to seeing grow to inspire people to grow their own at home.

3. More workshops in home crafts, like canning or chair-caning, and more ways for people to access those learning opportunities.

“So much of what Cobscook Institute does is so needed,” Regina reflected. “Someday I hope it can expand and reach more people in meaningful ways.”