I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reply, what a small world! My father-in-law worked at BIW for almost 40 years, he started in the pipe shop in the 70s and worked his way to Union President for the BMDA. I worked in the yard as well for four years in the maintenance department in the electrical apprenticeship program.
I’m in Gardiner a few times a week for work, it certainly hasn’t changed much at all. The old diner on the bridge and Harvey’s Hardware are still there! Many of the surrounding towns have had a substantial amount of houses built in the last few years (along with storage units, solar farms, and an influx of SUVs with New York plates) but the riverside brick building downtowns have been resistant to most change.
I was in Detroit with a friend a few years ago for a shipyard related class, the taxi driver we were chatting with on the ride back to the airport had to ask where we were from, said we sounded “like the Kennedy’s”. I’d never even considered that I had an accent before that moment. I like to think you’re right, it’s the rest of them that talk funny.
