PEOP L E
Eagle Eyes
The first woman to graduate from the Naval Test Pilot School, Captain Colleen Nevius, finally catches up on her reading in her new home on the shores of Little Sebago Lake.
W
B Y COLIN W. SARG EN T
hat can you see from your screened porch?
You mentioned Thanksgiving. Do you have many wild turkeys out there?
Oh, yes. They’ve come out of the woods and into the road, which is evidence of the brightness of the birds. We also have hummingbirds.
It’s a breezy day on the lake. The American flag and the Maine flag are waving on my island.
Do you feed the hummingbirds?
Yes. We’ve increased their nectar because we know they’re about to make their big annual flight to Mexico. They go there just like the monarchs. In the spring, they’ll be back in Maine.
What’s your island called?
My kids called it Ghost Island. We first saw it when my kids went with us to Aimhi Lodge from 2001 to 2005. But it’s really Moon Island. From the sky it must once have been crescent-shaped.
We think it was a man-made island when the lodge property was being created originally. All the extra dirt and rocks were put there. I’ve got a little footbridge that connects us to the island. With the world, sky, and stars to choose from, how did Maine win the lottery?
For years we’ve visited friends in Brunswick around Labor Day for an annual lobster feed. We knew that Aimhi had gone out of business back in the mid-2000s, and I knew they’d sold it to a developer and subdivided it. Back then in our careers we weren’t in a position to do anything about it. But we tucked it away in our minds. In 2018 we wondered again, whatever happened to Aimhi Lodge? It was such a magical place. We drove down from Brunswick and saw the island, the footbridge, the view—and the for-sale sign. We knocked 30 P O R T L A N D MAGAZINE
I’ve flown probably 30 or 40 different aircraft types.” on the door of the old lodge. The guy who ran the lodge back in the day, he and his wife were the sellers. We decided to make a run at it. Because lake restrictions didn’t allow us to build a summer-only place, we ended up building something a bit more grand than we’d planned. By Thanksgiving it was ours! This year is our first winter here.
Two über-pilots. Where are you going to keep your seaplane?
The little cove that’s formed by the island and parking place is the perfect place for a float plane. But it’s usually better to have a friend with the plane than to own one yourself. Where do you and your husband (Astronaut William Readdy) go in Maine for a night out?
We don’t do dinner out much. We’d rather have dinner here with friends. But we like Harraseeket Lunch, Petite Jacqueline in the Old Port, the Front Room in the East End. We’ve had snacks at a Sea Dogs game. I love the stadium. I just have a hard time turning into a Red Sox fan since I’ve been rooting for the Nationals.
Where were you living just before?
A couple blocks from the Pentagon.
What’s the farthest away from Maine you’ve ever been?
No wonder you’re here. The Pentagon doesn’t have a screened porch. (Though there’s a nice helipad.)
When I was testing, I flew Marine H-46 helicopters in Hawaii for a week. I’ve flown H-46s and H-53s in Norway, Puerto Rico, South America. In the reserves I got to fly a King Air in the UK a little bit. I was aircraft commander in 46, 53, and King Air. I’ve flown probably thirty or forty different aircraft types.
This screened porch is where we spend eighty percent of our waking hours. How have you furnished it?
With a hickory table and chairs that used to reside at the lodge.
COURTESY COLLEEN NEVIUS
You have that extra dimension—only a pilot would say that.
