The names of a father and son scalloping duo from Addison have been added to a memorial honoring Down East fishermen who have died at sea after initial questions about whether they would be.
Chester “Chet” Barrett and his son, Aaron, drowned in January when they hit bad weather while moving their scallop boat between moorings.
Family and friends had requested they be included on the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial in Lubec, a granite sculpture unveiled in 2016 that bears names of fishermen from Washington County and Charlotte County, New Brunswick, who died while actively working on the water.
That specification of “active” led one member of the committee to initially suggest the Barretts would not be eligible, which kicked off a social media firestorm from those who wanted the fishermen’s names added to the monument. But the committee had not formally met to make a final decision at the time, member Barbara Sellitto told the Bangor Daily News in July.
The debate found some resolution Tuesday when the men’s names were engraved on the memorial, according to a Facebook page made in their memory. Reached for comment, a member of the committee confirmed the decision but declined to say more.
Committee members said this summer that they needed to review the criteria for including names on the memorial, and that they had not met to make a decision earlier in the summer when the initial backlash grew.
They inherited guidelines for adding names to the memorial from the earlier committee that had formed to get it built, Sellitto said earlier this year. Initial members of that committee later resigned, feeling they had completed their mission.
Since the new committee took over managing the memorial several years ago, members had reviewed two requests before the Barretts, Sellitto said. Tylar Michaud, an 18-year-old lobsterman from Steuben who died while hauling traps, was added. Another person was denied.
The committee voted last month to add the Barretts, WABI reported.