OLD TOWN, Maine (WABI) – Governor Janet Mills proclaimed June as Maine Dairy Month. Today she, along with dairy farmers, students and others began the month with a milk toast at the University of Maine’s Witter Farm.

The gathering brought together dairy businesses, students and researchers at UMaine’s Witter Farm to celebrate and recognize the impact of the industry on the state of Maine.

Also stressing the importance of keeping the industry strong for generations to come.

“That’s vital,” answered UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. “We’ve got to be able to work through 4-H, we have some students here who are still in high school and all the way up through our graduate programs where we’re able to really understand how to modernize, improve efficiency and keeping that farming industry going.”

The 4-H program through U-Maine looks to teach young students about certain fields through hands-on education.

Mariah Johnson is a current 4-H member of Franklin County. She will be attending UMaine-Farmington in the fall on a pre-vet track.

“I’ve grown up on a farm my entire life so being around the animals and caring for the animals, I just want to be able to be one step ahead and be able to care for them on a deeper level,” commented Johnson.

Johnson says there really aren’t a lot of younger Mainers looking to make a career in the farming field and she sees it firsthand with 4-H.

“It’s very sad seeing that there isn’t as many kids going in as they’re coming out and I think that’s the same with the farm and America’s growing faster and the farms are decreasing and I really think we need to get that next generation into so that we can have a future for ag,” added Johnson.

Mills spoke at the ceremony. Praising the farm for it’s robotic milking system and stressing just how critical new ideas are for improving farming and holding on to the industry.

“Open space is part of our heritage, part of our economy, part of our sense of place here in Maine. So every kind of innovation that keeps this land open and in-use and productive is valuable to us and to generations to come,” said Mills.

Witter Farm and the robotic milking machine is open for tours. Click here for more information.

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One of three summer cottages on a Maine island is for sale, and for the price of the home, you get shared access to a beach, tennis court, two docks and an old-fashioned bowling alley, too.

The property for sale is on Mouse Island, a mile south from Boothbay Harbor. It was listed Monday at $1.6 million, and has already attracted plenty of interest from out-of-state buyers, said listing agent Karen Roberts.

For decades, the 16-acre island was known as the home of The Samoset Hotel, which was built by a group of Skowhegan men in 1877 and could sleep 125 people, according to the Boothbay Register.

“​​People used to go by steamboat up from Boston to stay,” said Roberts, an agent with Tindal & Callahan Real Estate of Boothbay Harbor. “There’s some real history to the island itself.”

The hotel burned down in 1913. After that, the whole island was put up for sale and bought by private citizens including famous liberal Protestant minister Harry Emerson Fosdick, who used to write his sermons there, Roberts said.

“It is far enough from the mainland so that we can live an entirely unsophisticated life,” Fosdick once wrote of the island, according to the Wiscasset Newspaper. “That is to say; a man can put on a flannel shirt in the morning and go to bed in it at night if he feels like it.”

In 1924, three cottages were built on the island, according to the Register. A couple of the people who own those properties today are descended from those who built the cottages, but the owners of the one for sale were not, Roberts said.

The home for sale, which has not been winterized, presents a rare opportunity to own an island along with two other homeowners. All islanders share amenities including a rustic bowling alley built around the same time as the Samoset Hotel, Roberts said. A full-time caretaker lives on the island to maintain those amenities and ferry homeowners to Boothbay Harbor, she said.

Inside the home, there are five bedrooms, four bathrooms and features like a stone fireplace, warm wood interiors and a remodeled kitchen, according to its online listing. The island also includes walking trails, golf cart paths, and two solitary cabins which any of the owners can make use of.

Roberts’ phone has been ringing. She has been fielding questions from brokers representing out-of-state buyers charmed by the cottage’s history, location and amenities.

“It’s like going back in time. It’s just beautiful. But you’re a 15- to 20-minute boat ride from downtown Boothbay Harbor, so it’s very convenient and in a great location,” Roberts said. “You’re in your own little world out there.”

They were last seen at approximately 10:15 a.m. Sunday, setting off from Abol Campground towards the summit, Baxter State Park officials said.

Trail guides and experts have some pointers on how to prepare to climb Katahdin.

“People underestimate how challenging it is,” said Jesika Lucarelli, a Registered Maine Guide who’s been leading hikes up Katahdin since 2012. “People often look at a route and see it’s only 4.5 miles to the summit, but they don’t understand how rugged the terrain is.”

Mount Katahdin rises sharply from the northern wilderness. The trails scramble over steep, often slippery rock with limited visibility. “That’s why we say climb Katahdin and not hike it,” said Lucarelli.

Round-trip hikes average 8–12 hours, and all Katahdin trails are rated “moderate” to “extremely strenuous,” according to the Baxter State Park website.

The weather can change fast, especially in the “shoulder seasons” of late spring and early fall.

“The mountain is so high, it creates its own weather patterns,” said Tori Gray, a Registered Maine Guide and former Baxter State Park ranger. “Thunderstorms can roll in that weren’t even on the weather forecast. It happens very quickly, in a matter of minutes.”

Because conditions can change quickly, Noah Kleiner, a certified guide who leads hikes in summer and winter said he’s “always collecting data,” paying attention to both the environment and how his body is responding “in order to make the right decision.”

“It’s really rugged, it’s true wilderness, and sometimes that’s lost on people,” Gray said.

“Wilderness first, recreation second” is a guiding principle at Baxter State Park, Gray said. “The park promotes and stands by a primitive experience,” she said.

The most important thing is knowing when to turn around. Gray said. “A lot of hikers are super experienced, but they have summit fever, they don’t care about anything but reaching the summit,” she said.

“But in a situation where you’re not feeling safe or comfortable on the mountain, say you see dark clouds or your ankle is starting to bother you, turn around.”

“The hike doesn’t end at the summit,” she said. “It ends in your car.”

“The mountain will always be there, it’s not going anywhere, whether I get to the summit today or tomorrow,” Kleiner said. ” And I think people forget that when they’re there. But you have to ask, what is the risk? And is it worth more than [reaching] the summit?”

Rita Chandler can be reached at rita.chandler@globe.com.