Category Archives: Town/Community

16 July 2019: Ice Cream Social a Great Success!

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Two of our event-coordinators Kelsie French (left) and Melissa Palmer-Karas.

Our first Ice Cream Social was a great success! By the middle of the afternoon there were about 50 people hanging out on the Clary Lake dam property and on the adjoining property belonging to neighbors Steve & Julie Cowles. Many thanks to them for their help getting the site ready and allowing us the use of their property. It was a beautiful sunny day and the canopies we set up provided much appreciated shade. Jeff French and his family arrived by boat! Many thanks to our volunteers for pulling off such a well-organized event and special thanks to Joe Holland of the Jefferson Scoop for donating tasty Gifford’s Ice Cream,  and to Linda Gallion who brought home made chocolate and strawberry ice cream. This wasn’t really intended to be a fund raiser, but we did collect over $70 in our donation jar which helped cover the costs. Next year we’ll do a better job with promotion.

Sorry for not posting something sooner, but the past couple of days have been pretty hectic. Here is a gallery of pictures from the event. I’ll get around to adding some captions when I find a round tuit:

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Clary Lake Association Ice Cream Social Reminder!

Ice Cream!Just a reminder that our Ice Cream Social is this coming Sunday July 14th at 2 PM at the Clary Lake dam! The weather is looking perfect with temps in the mid-80s. Stop by and make yourself a Sundae! Bring a friend! We’ll have some tables and chairs set up, and some canopy tents so you can get out of the sun if you wish. Here’s a link to the original post about this event:

Clary Lake Association Ice Cream Social July 14th

One thing we forgot to mention in the original post is that The Jefferson Scoop has donated two tubs of ice cream to the event! Help us spread the word, because ice cream!

Hope to see you there!

Clary Lake Association Ice Cream Social July 14th

CLARY LAKE ASSOCIATION
ICE CREAM SOCIAL

Stop by the Clary Lake Dam site on Mills Road in Whitefield and join us as we continue to celebrate the return of fun and frolic on our beloved and restored Clary Lake!! On Sunday, July 14th @ 2PM we will be treating Members (if you’re not currently a Member, consider becoming one!) and our community friends and neighbors to an ice cream social. We’ll be featuring ice cream supplied by some good folks in Jefferson…our friends and supporters, Joe Holland, who owns and operates The Jefferson Scoop, and Linda and Rick Gallion of Clary Lake Bed and Breakfast (they make their own!!).

Plan on staying a while… there will be tables and chairs so you can sit and linger with friends, awnings to get out of the sun, and water to keep you hydrated… and most importantly—plenty of ice cream! We hope to see you there!!

We’ve added this event to our Upcoming Events Calendar and you can also keep track of it on the countdown timer on the sidebar to the right. We’ll post updates here as the event approaches!

 

03 July 2019: Clary Lake Association Putting a Float in Whitefield 4th of July Parade

Whitefield 4th of July Parade, 2010

The Clary Lake Association has been threatening to put a float in the Whitefield 4th of July Parade for a few years, and we’re finally doing it! With everything that’s been going on, I completely forgot to post anything about it so sorry for the late notice! The parade starts at 10 AM. Come on down to Kings Mills (intersection of Route 194 and Townhouse Road) and cheer us on. If you’d like to ride on the float or have kids that would like to ride on the float, be at the intersection of Route 194 and Route 218 at after 9 and before 10. Hope to see you there!

29 April 2017: Midcoast Conservancy Info-Session on Browntail Moths

Browntail Moth Caterpillar

For those of you who are interested in learning more about Browntail moths (which should be pretty much all of you), the Midcoast Conservancy has finally posted the video of the program on Browntail Moths that they put on back on April 4th at the Edgecomb Eddy School. You’ll find a link to that video along with other useful information about these insect pests.

https://www.midcoastconservancy.org/browntail-moth-info-session/

02 April 2019: Midcoast Conservancy to Offer Informational Meeting on Browntail Moths

We have a growing Browntail Moth problem in our area. Several people around Clary Lake have recently brought the problem to my attention. They’ve been around a while, so you may be familiar with them already. If not, you should familiarize yourselves with these critters. They’re nasty. Besides being bad for the trees (primarily Oaks, but they infest other varieties), the caterpillars have tiny hairs which can cause serious problems for people. Our area has until recently been considered a “Low Risk” area for Browntails, but from my recent observations it sure looks like they’re rapidly becoming a significant problem. Continue reading →

30 March 2019: Fire Spreads to Multiple Buildings at N.C. Hunt Lumber

N.C. Hunt Lumber Company on Route 215 in Jefferson suffered a major loss due to fire that apparently started late last night. Fire crews from Jefferson and surrounding towns were still there this morning pumping water out of Clary Lake. Here’s an article from the online version of the Lincoln County News:

Fire Destroys Sawmill at N.C. Hunt Lumber in Jefferson, Business Plans to Rebuild

DSC_6269I stopped down this morning when I heard about the fire, and took the photograph at left of fire trucks pumping water out of Clary Lake. We have been planning for some time to install a dry fire hydrant at this location. Fortunately, the lake is almost full and they were able to get plenty of water or they might have lost more structures in the fire. 

NCHunt_Fire-03-30-2019Jack Holland sent me a the drone photo at left which I believe was taken by Mark Allen. You can clearly see the main sawmill structure and associated buildings are totally gone. It is amazing they didn’t lose more structures.

This is very unfortunate. Norman Hunt has donated generously to the Clary Lake Association in the past. We wish him the best of luck in rebuilding.

22 February 2019: Whitefield Library Association to Purchase Arlington Grange

Two years ago the Whitefield Library Association was formed and moved into Whitefield’s historic Arlington Grange Hall. This structure, built in 1884, has acted as a community gathering space in various capacities over the past 135 years and is a heartwarming symbol of rural American civic engagement. The Whitefield Library Association has begun fundraising to purchase the building and set up a fully functioning community library on the bottom floor and a vibrant community center on the second floor. Check out the new website!

Purchase & Renovation Effort

07 September 2017 Lincoln County News: Commissioners Hear about Clary Lake Dam

Last Tuesday September 5th CLA Board member Jane Chase and I and my wife Margaret attended the Lincoln County Commissioners meeting in Wiscasset to update them on the current status of the Clary Lake water level crisis. The meeting which lasted about 30 minutes came about as the result of a chance meeting between CLA President Malcolm Burson and County Administrator Carrie Kipfer at a Midcoast Conservancy function where they discussed the Clary Lake situation. Ms. Kipfer offered to put us on the agenda for the next County Commissioners meeting. Charlotte Boynton, staff reporter for the Lincoln County News attended the meeting and wrote up a short report of the meeting in this week’s Lincoln County News. The article didn’t make it into the online news site, so I’ve scanned a copy of it for our archive:

This is the first time we have met with the Lincoln County Commissioners though likely not the last; the purpose of this first meeting was to bring the Commissioners up to speed with where things stand with Clary Lake and answer any questions they had. They had a lot, and we covered a lot of ground in 30 minutes. While the Commissioners were generally aware of our water level crisis, they were not particularly familiar with many details surrounding the controversy. I found them genuinely interested and concerned, and fully expect they will be keeping a much closer eye on the situation going forward. We did not ask them to take any action at this time.

One minor correction to the article: the caption for the photograph lists the people left to right, and it should be right to left 🙂

September 2017 Whitefield News: Clary Lake Association Petition Delivered to DEP

The September 2017 issue of the Whitefield News has an article on the front page I wrote about the Clary Lake Association’s recent Petition initiative to DEP. The article includes a little background to help give people who are new to town or who haven’t been following the Clary Lake saga an idea of what’s been going on with our Lake. I hope to write for the Whitefield News from time to time.

The Whitefield News is the monthly newsletter of the own of Whitefield and is available free of charge at the Town Office, the North Whitefield Superette, the Sheepscot General, and as a PDF download on the Town of Whitefield website. Here’s a local copy if you have trouble getting it off the Town site:

22 August 2017: CLA Petition to DEP Submitted

I want to thank EVERYONE who signed our petition to DEP and to let everyone know that the Petition which the Board introduced at the Clary Lake Association Annual meeting on August 12th, along with over 350 signatures collected both at the meeting and over the course of the week following the meeting, was hand-delivered to the office of the Commissioner of the DEP yesterday, Monday August 21st, as planned. Looking over the signature sheets I believe ALL Clary Lake Association members managed to sign the petition even if they weren’t at the meeting; quite a few people who are currently out of state printed out the signature sheet, signed it, and mailed or emailed it back to me. A lot of people collected signatures for us, but I’d particularly like to thank Debbie Duncan, Ellis Percy, Malcolm Burson, and Jack and Ann Holland for their efforts to collect signatures. It seems like more often than not, when I asked someone to sign they’d say “Already signed it!” 🙂

It remains to be seen how the Department will respond to the petition and what if anything action they will take towards enforcement of the Clary Lake water level order. They have a variety of enforcement options and while I don’t expect miracles, I am cautiously optimistic they will take this matter as seriously as we do.  I do expect to hear from them and will keep everyone apprised of any developments.

The petition was also sent to the Lincoln County News, Central Maine Papers, and the Portland Press Herald, and I do expect articles to appear later this week in most if not all those papers.

Summer 2017 Newsletter Now Online.

Typical Clary Lake Sunset, photograph by Craig Brann, used by permission. Taken at the State boat launch, August 2016.

The Summer 2017 Newsletter went in the mail early last week. It is now available for download from our Newsletter Archive. Please feel free to share it with your friends.

This year’s featured picture is a stunning sunset photograph (at left) taken by Craig Brann. He recently posted it on the Clary Lake Association Facebook Page.

 

The Mill at Freedom Falls – Freedom, Maine

The Mill at Freedom Falls, site of The Lost Kitchen.

[dropcap]The[/dropcap] other day I came across the following article about a fine dining establishment called  The Lost Kitchen located in the Mill at Freedom Falls, Freedom Maine. I decided to post the article here as an example of how a well thought-out and executed development plan can lead to a wonderful local resource that enriches both the town and the lives of the people that visit it. When juxtaposed with our own Clary Water Mill, it allows us to see just how badly Paul Kelley and his partner Richard Smith botched their own attempted development project. While it is to their credit that these two men saw the historic beauty of the old Clary water mill site and recognized it’s nascent development potential, it is unfortunate that they failed to come up with a viable plan to develop it. It is even more regrettable that they chose to blame their failure not on themselves and their ill-conceived plans but instead on the Town of Whitefield and the Clary Lake Association, and to take their revenge against Clary Lake itself and the People of the State of Maine. Why would they try to destroy that which gives their property it’s value?

Enough of that. Please check out the article. I intend to visit the Mill at Freedom Falls this summer, and to dine at the Lost Kitchen:

This Remote Restaurant In Maine Will Take You A Million Miles Away From Everything

There are actually 2 stories here. One is about The Lost Kitchen and the other is about the old mill building that houses it. There is a great site documenting the history of that structure, and it’s restoration:

The Mill at Freedom Falls – Freedom, Maine

18 April 2017: Spring Musings and a Look Ahead

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Isn’t it time to get a dry fire hydrant installed at the inlet of the lake on Route 126?

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] try to keep this news forum factual and informative and not all that speculative. From time to time however I am compelled to offer up some commentary on what has been happening, where we are and where it looks like we are headed. This is one of those times. My goal is to bring some perspective and commonality into our lives where they intersect with Clary Lake and the travails that have assaulted it for so long. Spring is a good time for this kind of musing: it’s a time to wake up, gear up, get in shape, and get ready for another season. I feel this is going to be an important year, that a lot is going to happen. We may not see a resolution of our water level crisis this year but then again we might, the problem being that I really have no idea what a “resolution” might look like. Certainly we’ll see some real progress towards a resolution. Not only am I prepared to be surprised, I expect to be. If one thing has been proven time and time again it is that we have no idea what lies around the next corner. Continue reading →

Spring Supper to Benefit Fergusson Family After Fire

Happy Spring, everyone!

For those of you who don’t already know, the ancestral Fergusson family home on Clary Lake caught fire last week. Luckily, nobody was hurt in the blaze, however, a large part of the home was destroyed in the fire and George’s son Colin Fergusson and his partner Sara Roy lost pretty much everything in the fire.

The Fergusson family has been living on Clary Lake for 95 years. George Fergusson is the current Secretary of the Association and plays an integral role in the Association’s management and ongoing success. His father Stuart Fergusson was one of the CLA’s founding members of the Clary Lake Association back in 1961. Colin and Sara are already making plans to rebuild and hope to be moved back into part of the house by next winter.

The Clary Lake Association Momentum Committee will be co-sponsoring a Spring Supper with (and at) the Sheepscot General Store on Townhouse Road to benefit the Fergusson Family on May 6th from 5-7PM. Admission to the supper is two-fold: $5 and a dish of some sort to share (either a side dish, a salad, a dessert, or a beverage), but don’t let the lack of a dish stop you from coming by.

Please feel free to pass this email along or advertise as you see fit.  The more, the merrier! If you have questions contact the Momentum Committee at momentum@clarylake.org. All proceeds will go to the Fergusson Family home rebuilding fund.

All the best,

Erin Grimshaw, CLA Momentum Committee Chair

Love and Loss… and Mindfulness

DSC_3851 (Medium)First, I’d like to thank everyone who has reached out to me and my family since the unfortunate house fire at the Fergusson ancestral home where my son has been living on the south shore of Clary Lake. The fire occurred last Wednesday evening, most likely starting as a chimney fire. There has been an unending stream of people arriving at my front door ever since with gifts of money, food, clothes, and offers of all sorts of assistance from places to stay to labor for cleanup and rebuilding. My son Colin and his girlfriend Sara spent 4 days staying (free of charge) at Rick and Linda Gallion’s Clary Lake Bed & Breakfast which I can assure you was a whole lot nicer than the pullout couch in my wife’s reading room. Today they moved out of the B&B and into a house in Chelsea that a friend of theirs has had on the market for a while. They’re welcome to stay there until the place sells. They’ve taken 2 of their 3 cats with them, having decided to leave Mehitabelle with Margaret and me. We’re thrilled.

The plan right now is for the family to rebuild, but there’s a lot to be done between now and then and it’s really too soon to be talking about that. Clean up has only begun, and the task is daunting. I am grateful for having been able to use this Association forum to share our experience, strength, and hope, but Clary Lake needs saving, and it is time to move on and put this unfortunate event in the rear view mirror. To that end, I am going to close with an email my wife composed and sent to her long list of friends. She just has a way with words that I lack. Continue reading →

26 February 2017: Fire On Ice Winter Festival A Great Success!

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February 2017 Fire on Ice Festival. This is about as close as I came to getting a group photo. A few people had already left, a few were yet to arrive.

The Winter “Fire on Ice” Festival put on by the CLA Momentum Committee last Saturday was a great success. The weather was good, the companionship was even better and the S’mores were perfect. By this time of the winter it seems like everyone is suffering from cabin fever to some extent, and it was wonderful to be able to get outside and enjoy the day without having to be all bundled up against the cold. All told about 2 dozen adults and 10 kids showed up for the event. Most were existing Clary Lake Association members but there were some new faces in the crowd including Stephanie Chamberlain and her partner Steve Berry, who recently bought a house in Coopers Mills. Over the course of the afternoon I took a lot of photographs which I’ve added to the Winter 2017 Photo Gallery (duplicated below). Continue reading →