Monumental Carvings: One family’s Gardens’ legacy.

One of the highlights of volunteer and donor Pat Schubert’s year is driving over the Piscataqua River Bridge into Maine. “I love driving over the border and seeing the sign, ‘The Way Life Should Be.’ I always take a deep breath and say, yes, this is exactly where I should be.”

Schubert and her husband, Joe, came to Maine 27 years ago. “Friends of ours from New Jersey had a house on Barters Island—now we live next door to them there.” First, however, the Schuberts happened to tour the land that the Gardens would later sit on. “It was slated as a subdivision, but I’d always wanted to live by the water, so we ended up nearby on Barters Island instead.” 

When they first began summering in Maine, “there wasn’t anything like the Gardens here. Who could have imagined that there would one day be a garden like this? Watching it grow has been like watching my grandchildren grow—the dedication of everyone, of the volunteers, has crystalized everything here.”

Schubert speaks from experience—her involvement with the Gardens began in the early 2000s when a family friend asked Joe to serve on the overseers committee and then, later, on the Board of Directors. Schubert herself was a volunteer fundraiser and shuttle driver. 

A lover of people and stories, both jobs were perfect tasks for the outgoing and thoroughly welcoming Schubert. “I really loved driving the cart, meeting people from all over the world. Oh, and the English! They have such a long gardening history, and they couldn’t believe how quickly these gardens came about—it’s inspiring what a dedicated group of people can do. There are no words for how wonderful it is to have this place here—there’s something for everyone.”

Schubert saw the truth of that versatility firsthand, both during her five years volunteering and through personal experience. “We brought my mother up here, and she loved it, and the last time our grandchildren were here, they spent at least half an hour with their hands over the spouts of whales in the Children’s Garden. They ended up, of course, soaking wet—we fed them lunch in the sun to dry them off.” After a lifetime working with children, first as a nurse, then as a parent, birthing coach, and teacher of classes for new grandparents, Schubert knows the way to a child’s heart. “The first thing the grandchildren do is race to the Children’s Garden—they love the water pump, watering the plants, talking to the chickens. There’s so much to do, and it’s always changing.”

That constant change, of course, is part of the Gardens’ charm. Even off campus, “I tell everyone about this place—how it started out as an idea by a group of families, some of whom mortgaged their homes so that there could be a garden in Boothbay. I’m just sorry so many of the original founders aren’t here to see what it’s become—it’s a destination.” 

Destinations are one area in which the Schuberts, great lovers of travel, are experts. Though Schubert spent a childhood living in cities—born in New York City, her father’s work took her all over the country—New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Dallas, back to Pittsburgh, and then outside Cleveland. 

Schubert’s husband, however, had been born and raised in Glendale, New York, went to local schools and then onto Fordham University. An only child, he lived in the same house his entire life until college. “His parents lived in that house for 75 years. It was a very different upbringing.” Shubert laughs and says, “Well, they say opposites attract! And since he lived in one place all his life, it was huge for him to move out of the city, and then to Maine.”

But Maine became a launching pad for other adventures. “We did a lot of traveling, at least one or two cruises each year.” But Alaska remains a favorite destination. “Alaska is incredible—until you see it, it’s impossible to realize just how wild it is. There are tons of eagles, and we could watch them flying and swooping, catching salmon. We went to glaciers, to the state and national parks. Sailing in, you realize how small you are. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are so frenetic, but Alaska is so big, so laid back.”

That quality of space and vista is one thing that kept the Schuberts returning again and again to Maine. “What sold the Barters Island house to me was the view—before we bought it, we rented it for a Columbus Day weekend, and I was just mesmerized by the view. I love being by the water,” she says. “In a cove on our land, there’s a huge tree with an enormous osprey nest, and every year the same osprey return, raise their babies. I love watching them.” 

Traditions, family history and stories mean a great deal to Schubert. “I first met Joe in 1965 when we both volunteered at the Knickerbocker Republican Club on East 86th Street in New York.” Three years later, they met again, attended a Halloween party together, and had such a good time that, instead of walking her home, “we skipped the entire way—four long New York City blocks, laughing and meeting people on the street who clapped for us. The rest is history.” 

Married in 1971, Joe and Pat Schubert were together nearly 50 years before a valiant battle with cancer claimed Joe in September of last year. But anyone who has lived so vibrant a life as he had is sure to leave a legacy. “The Boothbay peninsula and the Gardens have been so important to us—we have loved it up here. It’s so peaceful. I had had a bench on the Haney Hillside named in my parents’ honor, and it’s lovely to go and sit there and think of them. So after Joe passed, I asked Jen [McKane, Director of Philanthropy] what could be done in his memory.”

McKane showed her a series of benches, and two called to her—elegantly carved stone chaises, one in the shape of a wave, the other reminiscent of Maine’s signature fiddlehead ferns. “Joe and I took cruises each year, so the waves were perfect. That one is from me. And though my kids never really liked eating fiddleheads that much,” she laughs, “that one is from them.”

One aspect of her travels in Alaska that’s stayed with Schubert is the stunning impact and legacy of totem poles. “I love them; I love the fact that different families have symbols that they think of as part of their family. Different aspects of their lives are carved into them, and they spend ages doing that work. It took someone a long time to craft that history—it’s a visible symbol of what their family means to them.”

Carved benches, then, are a fitting symbol of the Schuberts’ dynamic life together. “The benches really spoke to me—the undulation. They’re beautiful.”

Schubert isn’t the only one moved by the grace of these monuments. Located between the Visitor Center and the bridge into the greater gardens themselves, they’re one of the first pieces visitors see. As soon as they were installed, children were climbing on them, entranced by their shape and texture. “I love that children love them—there’s so much vitality there. They’re a wonderful celebration of his life.”