more:
"It signals the start of spring in my mind, and I need it," Coggins, 78, said at McFadden's Variety store and deli.
Lubec, situated 180 miles northeast of Portland, has seen brighter days, back when fish were more plentiful and fish processing plants were bustling. Nowadays, its main drag is mostly empty storefronts. Just a few fishing boats are moored in the harbor. The nearest traffic light and movie theater are 50 miles away.
Those early sunsets can make Maine residents crazy, Betsy Anderson joked at Broomstick Creations gift shop. "If you work all day, the worst part is getting off work and it's still dark," she said. "I'm one of those people who need more daylight."
To the east, just across the bridge over Lubec Narrows on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canadians are in the Atlantic time zone. Over there, just a few hundred yards away, the sun sets an hour later than in Lubec, which is in the Eastern time zone.
Erik Lookabaugh, owner of Lubec Hardware, said that daylight saving should be year-round or Maine should join the Atlantic time zone, something the Legislature considered two years ago.
"It's a psychological boost," Lookabaugh said. "The early sunsets are extreme up here."
In 2005, Congress decided to expand daylight saving time in the hope that more daylight in the evening would reduce energy consumption.
Because Lubec is situated so far east within the Eastern time zone, the town is often the first place in America to see the rays of the rising sun. The earliest sunrise of the year is in mid-June, at 4:41 a.m. The longest day has more than 15 1/2 hours of daylight.
In milder climes, people will use the extra hour of daylight to get in a little more golf. For Lubec residents, there is still snow at nearby Herring Cove Golf course.
Karlene Hood, office manager at a former sardine cannery that now houses small businesses processing sea salt and sea cucumbers, intends to use the extra daylight to take rides with her husband on their motorcycle. "We're all happy about it. The sooner it stays light later, the better," she said