In the years it was at Long Wharf, the Society met there on the third Tuesday of each month, except for July and August. May was reserved for Ladies Night, which in recent years has been held at a restaurant. The former excursions to Indian Island were replaced by a lobster bake in July at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. The Long Wharf room was long and narrow, with a dining table running along most of its length and a head table along the wall facing the harbor. During the entire period at one end of head table in the secretary’s chair was Captain Granville I. Smith, who with two years off as president has held the post since December 1959, the longest such tenure in the Society’s history. A 1947 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, Captain Smith spent many years aboard tankers. His last vessel was the SS Samoset, which he left in 1958. In September of that year he began his duties as a Portland Pilot and is presently Senior Pilot.
In 1994 the Portland Marine Society left its rooms at Long Wharf, placed its collection of paintings and artifacts in storage, and began meeting monthly at the McKernan Center on the campus of Southern Maine Technical College, while retaining its traditional Ladies Night and summer picnic. The Center is convenient, yet it lacks the ambience of Long Wharf with its picture-studded walls and the fragrance of fish chowder emanating from the galley. But the Society remains strong and active and financially sound. As the Bicentennial approaches, it has ninety-six active members, and has admitted seven new members in the past year alone. Although as noted it is not currently providing any relief for its members or their families, its charitable purposes remain active in its scholarships to further worthy students’ maritime educations. It is ready to cast off into its third century.
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