The remaining North Pond loon chick is growing fast. I went for a late-day kayak on Saturday, and paddled down behind the islands to see if I could get a look at it, since I hadn’t seen it since it was a tiny chick riding on its parents’ backs. It wasn’t hard to find the family; both parents and the chick were just offshore from Bartlett’s Island, where the parents were fishing for dinner.
I hope that little guy (or girl), who is just about four weeks old now, knows how many people are pulling for it to grow up fast and be ready to make its trip to the ocean in another couple of months!
News from Betsey Foster and the Conservation Commission: Greenwood has its own tiny free library now! It is a small standing structure along the driveway at the Old Town Hall on Main Street and beside the post office. As with all little libraries, books are free for the taking. It is also a place you can pass on books for others to take as long as there is room. Now you can pick up your mail, pick up a book, and, if it is a Friday, pick up produce and baked goods at the Greenwood Farmer's Market. What more could you want? This is a project of the Greenwood Conservation Commission and was built by the Congo Crafters of Bethel.
On Sunday afternoon, I got together with a few family members to tackle Speckled Mountain in the White Mountain National Forest, which was another big-for-me hike. After hiking Puzzle Mountain last Sunday and suffering no lasting ill effects, I decided I was up for another longish hike. I want to get in as many hikes as I can before the cortisone shot in my left knee wears off, and before I have it replaced on October 8.
We chose to hike up the Spruce Hill/Bickford Brook Trail to the summit, rather than one of several other routes. This approach has one big advantage in my book: it departs from the Evans Notch Road (Route 113) at just about the highest point, opposite the parking lot for the East Royce Trail, which means that the first thousand feet or so of elevation are attained by driving, rather than hiking. It’s also a couple of miles shorter than any of the other trails, supposedly about six miles, although three devices being used by members of my party all clocked it at more like 7.3, and it felt, to me, like every bit of that.
More than half of the 1,800 feet of elevation gain comes in the first mile, which is quite different from most of the mountains I hike, where the steepest section is usually near the top. There is another, shorter, steep section of trail just below the summit, though, just to give hikers the feeling that they’ve earned the magnificent view.
Upcoming events for the next couple of weeks include:
Thursday, September 4, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Mason House at the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society: Annual meeting and potluck supper. If you’re a member, or you’d like to become one, or you’d just like to know more about MBHS, please bring a dish to share and join us. Following the potluck supper, Executive Director Will Chapman will present a program on the past, present, and future of the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society, including a retrospective marking his ten years with the organization. (He’s a really good speaker, even if I am a bit biased.)
Sunday, September 7, 2 to 5 p.m. at the Middle Intervale Meeting House, 757 Intervale Road, Bethel: Open House with live music by Seth Gallant. Come learn about the history of the Middle Intervale Meeting House, Bethel’s oldest church building, see inside the building, and enjoy some great tunes!
Thursday, September 11, 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the West Parish Congregational Church: “Navigating the Healthcare System,” a free program hosted by To Your Health, in collaboration with Western Mountains Senior College, the Bethel Family Health Center, and MSAD#44 Continuing Education. For more information, please contact MSAD#44 at 207-824-2136, ext. 1341 or email WMSC@sad44.org.
Sunday, September 14, at 2 p.m. at the East Bethel Church, 1797 Intervale Road, Bethel: Meetinghouse and Church in Early Oxford County. Join architectural historian and director of the Hastings Homestead Museum Randall H. Bennett for a presentation about early meetinghouses and churches in Oxford County. This program celebrates the transfer of Bethel’s “Lower Meeting House” (East Bethel Church) to the care of the Hastings Homestead Museum, Inc. The lecture will begin with a brief introduction to the town’s newest museum on Broad Street in Bethel Hill village. Free (donations encouraged).
Saturday, September 20, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Whitman Memorial Library: Third Annual Vendor Fair and Free Book Event. There is no charge for vendor spaces. For more information, contact librarian Pat Little at 665-2502 or email whitmanlibrary2@gmail.com.
Saturday, September 20, at 12:30 p.m. at the Rumford Community Forest, 161 Isthmus Road, Rumford: Join Trust for Public Land and Inland Woods + Trails to celebrate the Rumford Community Forest. This new 446-acre Community Forest is within five minutes of downtown Rumford and was permanently protected as a shared backyard for the surrounding community early last year. A celebration with community remarks and refreshments will be followed at 2 p.m. by a guided trail walk. There is also an opportunity for volunteer trail work that morning, from 9 a.m. to noon. Learn more and register online at https://events.tpl.org/rumford-celebration/registration/form.
Tuesdays, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Whitman Memorial Library: The Village Makers meet, year-round, to enjoy crafting and community. Organizer Liz Hatch calls herself “an obsessed knitter,” but crafters of all kinds are welcome.
If you have news or events you’d like included here, email me at amy.w.chapman@gmail.com or call 207-890-4812. The next print edition of the Citizen will be out on September 18, but you can read the Locke’s Mills column online every week at amywchapman.com, or subscribe for free to have it emailed to you each week.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Amy, I look forward to your post each and every week. I love the personal, the little loon legacy, as well as the informational all there for me to enjoy. Thank you!!