 |
| Bisi Cameron Yee photo |
Newsbreak - Colorful buoys dangle like Christmas ornaments from trees along a half-mile stretch of Route 24, close to Gurnet Trading Co. in Brunswick and the Harpswell town line.
The trend began last year when lobsterman Scott Harley hung one of his own painted buoys by the Gurnet seafood market and restaurant he co-owns with his wife, Brae Harley.
“First there was one, then there were two, then there were five, and then 15 buoys,” Brae said as she rang up a customer’s order of fresh Snow Island Oysters in April. By then, the number of buoys had grown to 38....
The Harleys bought the more than 20-year-old business two years ago. The property includes a strip of marsh and rocks stretching from Coombs Road to Princes Point Road. “We can’t build anything on it,” Brae said, so Scott decided to decorate one of the trees as a marketing tool. Brae said previous owners of the market told them Brunswick restricts the placement of roadside signs indicating the location of a business. Brunswick’s code enforcement office did not respond to a request for comment.
But once the idea of buoys caught on, the floating markers, or dangling in this case, also became a way to honor the local fishing community. “Bring me your buoys!” Scott eagerly told friends and family. And they did.