We’re all moved home from camp and settled in at what our granddaughter calls the Winter House. It’s probably a good thing, too, since this is a very big week for us, with Will and Rosemary’s wedding coming up on Saturday! As it turns out, even a fairly small, casual wedding involves a lot of details. Fortunately for everyone, there are some good planners in Rosemary’s family, and, thanks to her sister Marguerite’s detailed lists, I think everyone knows what their jobs are for the next few days.
Tony will be hauling chairs on his trailer to the wedding site at the scenic overlook in the Buck’s Ledge Community Forest, Will’s sisters each have a set of responsibilities, and our granddaughter Lila is excited to be a flower girl. As for me, I’ve been baking five kinds of cupcakes, which will serve as the wedding cake at the reception, and stashing them in four different freezers, wherever I could borrow a little space…now if I can just remember where they all are, we’ll be all set!
Eli the Wonder Pup spent most of last weekend with us, while Will and Rosemary were off on a pre-wedding camping trip on Umbagog Lake with a bunch of friends. They had great weather and a lot of fun—a much better way to celebrate, in my opinion, than with the traditional bachelor and bachelorette parties.
On Sunday, Tony and I took Eli on a hike along the Sanborn River, across the connector trail to Overset Pond, up and down Overset Mountain and around the pond, and back to our car by way of the Jeep Road, a.k.a. Overset Lane. These are some of my favorite trails, and I was surprised to look back at my hiking log and see that I hadn’t been on the Sanborn River Trail since early May, and that I hadn’t done the loop around Overset Pond in almost a year, since last October. The last three times I’ve done this particular route, my Garmin tracker has recorded it as 5.1, 6.6, and, this time, 5.9 miles, the last of which is probably somewhere near right.
There was very little water in the Sanborn River, and a strip of exposed mud around the edge of Overset Pond. I’m glad we’re getting some much-needed rain this week, and also very happy that it’s coming before, rather than during, the wedding festivities. The weather for the weekend looks perfect, and I hope that forecast holds. Then, when the wedding is behind us, I hope we get more rain—enough to fill the wells before winter.
Less than two weeks left to hike before my second knee replacement, after which I’ll be reduced to short, slow strolling for a while. I’ll miss being out in the woods in October, but I’m looking forward to having a pair of fully functional knees eventually, hopefully in time for my annual Christmas Day hike with Eli.
Congratulations to Ken Cole, Greenwood’s new highway foreman! Ken will officially be on the job next week, but as a resident, a former member of the highway crew, and our fire chief for the past few years, he’s well acquainted with the town, the roads, and the people he’ll be working with, and he’s been diving right in already.
Now that we’re just about through September, programs and events seem to be slowing down a bit, but here are a few I know of that are coming up in the next few weeks:
Sunday, September 28, from noon to 4 p.m.: Habitat for All Homegrown Food Festival at the Valentine Farm, 152 North Road, Bethel. Learn how to make cheese, kraut, garlic spreads, jams and jellies, and more. And there will be cider pressing, too!
Monday, October 6, from 1-2 p.m. at the Whitman Memorial Library in Bryant Pond: Archivist Rhonda Chadwick will discuss ways to organize, preserve, and store documents to create a family archive for future generations. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Librarian Pat Little at 665-2505 or email whitmanlibrary2@gmail.com.
Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: A yard sale with a twist: fund-raising event for Far-Winde-Away Nature Preserve, located at the south end of Mud Pond on the Greenwood Road. Gerry and Dawn Nelson, who have created trails on their property and opened it to the public for hiking and nature exploration, are holding this special event to raise funds to support continued development of the preserve. Similar to a yard sale, there will be a wide variety of items available, but here’s the twist—nothing will be priced, and the amount you pay is up to you. If you see an item you like, simply make a donation that you feel is fair, and it’s yours! The Nelsons say, “You’ll leave with a new treasure, plus knowing you’ve helped support this treasure of a preserve.”
The annual Bethel Outing Club Ski Sale is coming up on October 24 and 25. I’ll have more information in next week’s column, but, in the meantime, if you would like to find out how to sell your unneeded (but not obsolete) winter gear or clothing, or how to volunteer to help at the sale (with some nice benefits), go to bethelouting.org and look under Events.
If you have news or events you’d like included here, email me at amy.w.chapman@gmail.com or call 207-890-4812.
My husband and I walked by you this morning as you were on a pre wedding hike! The setup was so beautiful I had to google Buck’s Ledge wedding and it brought me here. I hope it was a great day! 💕
So exciting for all of you. Savour the moments.