1981-82 Mount Desert Island, Maine, during a time when any available job was up for grabs, I collaborated with a writer to develop a family board game based on the tourist town of Bar Harbor. For 18 months we tested the game with friends and edited each iteration to fix any flaws. We connected with other independent producers, researched materials, secured advertising spots on the game board, and made multiple trips to the printer. The visuals I created for the game board represented coastal Maine: a lighthouse, sailboat, porpoise, and the Bluenose ferry. I painted colors from nature: deep forest, granite rock, cold ocean, and a swirling blue to denote the watery vortex at Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park. Always a photographer, I included photography on the game board, "Take prize winning photo, collect 5 units." Followed by, "Overexpose film. Lose 5 units."

As copy editor for the project, I spent a couple hours at the printer to check every word: the game board, rules booklet, pad of scoresheets, all 60 Impulse cards, each advert, the game board box. I only missed one typo - the spelling of my first name on the game board. Not going to make that mistake again! I also traveled solo to Washington, DC, US Copyright Office, to fill out the forms, hand in the required copies of the game, and pay the fee to register my unique creative work. Bar Harbor Vacation Game ©1982.

While we never got rich from the venture, 20 years later somebody from Trenton, Maine, contacted me online about their copy of BHVG. I'd call that a success.