Topsham seniors help clean up Hermit Island shoreline in Phippsburg
Topsham retirees crossed into Phippsburg to clear Hermit Island’s shoreline, helping protect a 271-site campground and the coast locals use for recreation and wildlife.
Residents from The Highlands Retirement Community in Topsham spent a June day on Hermit Island in Phippsburg, moving along the shoreline with gloves and litter grabbers to haul away debris. The cleanup left a visible difference on one of Sagadahoc County’s best-known coastal stretches, where the Hermit Island Campground dates to 1952 and now has 271 sites on the island’s southern end.
The effort was also a direct expression of The Highlands’ service culture. The Topsham retirement community says it is 30 years old and sits on a 98-acre campus on Maine’s MidCoast, and its Vibrant Living Program centers on purpose, curiosity, creativity and fun. Emily Merrigan, The Highlands’ life enrichment director, said giving back to surrounding communities is an important part of life there, and the Hermit Island cleanup fit that approach by sending older adults beyond their own campus to serve a place their neighbors, tourists and seasonal visitors rely on.
That matters on a coast where maintenance work is constant and public resources are limited. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says the state has coordinated the International Coastal Cleanup for more than 30 years, and Maine’s 2025 effort removed 12,323 pounds of trash, cleaned 94.4 miles of waterfront, recorded 47,476 items and drew 1,287 volunteers. NOAA says marine debris can affect an estimated 700 wildlife species, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says polluted beaches can also harm recreation, property values and local economic growth.
Phippsburg’s Conservation Commission says its mission includes protecting water quality, recreation lands, habitat diversity and shoreline protection, priorities that line up closely with a shoreline cleanup that is as much about stewardship as it is about trash. The Maine Coastal Public Access Guide covers beaches, boat launches, parks and trails across Maine’s 144 coastal municipalities and townships, underscoring how many communities depend on public access and careful upkeep.
Hermit Island sits inside that wider web of places people use, work in and identify with. For Topsham seniors to spend a day cleaning its shore was a practical act of civic care, one that linked Sagadahoc County’s inland communities to the coastline they share.
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