by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Spirits were high Friday, April 22, as local, county, and state officials joined members of the wider Washington County community to celebrate the reopening of the Downeast Correctional Facility (DCF) in Bucks Harbor, Machiasport. 

A glossy white tent shielded guests from most of the spring winds and showers as they dined on an elegant buffet provided by the kitchens of Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston, before assembling near a podium in front of the new DCF, its roof almost entirely covered with solar panels.