COMING EVENTS

Harbor Lights Open House

We will hold an open house on Saturday, December 6, during the pre-Christmas Harbor Lights celebration.

We'll decorate the museum and offer cider, sandwiches, and cookies from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Some items will be on special sale. Plan to come for pre-Christmas conviviality and refreshments and to look for possible Christmas presents among our books and maps.

SUMMER ACTIVITIES

  The Annual Meeting

The annual meeting took place on May 21 at the museum. The brief business meeting included the election of new trustees: lifelong residents Dick Hodgdon of Sawyers Island , Tom Perkins of Boothbay Harbor , and Robert Rice of East Boothbay . Doreen Dun of Ocean Point, a longtime summer resident now year-round, and Judy Dunsford of Edgecomb were also elected, while Roger Duncan of Linekin was reelected as trustee. Elected as officers: Jim Hunt as president, Cathy Sherrill as vice-president, Sarah Giles as treasurer, and Larry Brown as secretary.

Long-time board trustees Alden Stickney and Bea Walker were elected as trustees emeriti, in recognition of their decades of service to the society. Alden and Bea expect to continue their participation as they have before.

After the meeting, Maine Maritime Museum curator Anne Witty gave a short talk on " Maine 's Ocean Commerce in the 1850s." She profiled the trade carried by world-wide-ranging Maine vessels and their impact on local culture and society. The attendees and trustees then socialized with each other over refreshments.

Summer 2003 Art Colonies Exhibit

The largest attendance ever for a BRHS event—150 people—turned out for the July 2 opening reception of the exhibit "Drawn to Boothbay - Art Colonies of the Early 1900s." The show, consisting of more than 40 paintings, sketches, and ceramics produced by members of the art colonies that flourished in Boothbay in the early 1900s, continued to attract a record number of visitors to the museum all summer long.

Carol and Alan Fisher, of Sprucewold and Michigan State University , assembled and mounted the exhibit (with help from Sally McClintock) and conducted two guided tours in July and August. They also wrote two Boothbay Register column articles as companion pieces to the exhibit.

        Artists included were Frank Allen, Ruth Erikson Allen, Eliza-beth Branch, Anson Cross, Ethel Fowler, Ruth Lepper Gardner, Lydia "Lillie" Marie Smith Gleason, Lillian Hale, John Nichols Haapanen, Palmer Hayden, R. A. Lawton, Carola Spaeth Hauschka, Frank Marshall and Asa Randall.

Some of the works were from the historical society's permanent collection; most were lent by local residents. Included was a 1915 scrapbook of photo-graphs and memorabilia compiled by Ina Kronk Slate who attended the Commonwealth Art Colony. Other colonies and schools represented in the exhibit were the Boothbay Studios ( Allen Art School ) and the Anson K. Cross Vision-Training Art School.

Among those who provided art and memorabilia were Mabel Brackett, Gwen Brackett, June Elderkin, Barbara G. Fellows, Marty and Dennis Gleason, Chris Hale, Paula Hallett, Loraine Nickerson, George Pouder, Pat Stenger, Nancy Thayer and Charles Wright. Susan Brackett of Boothbay Harbor Framing donated display material.

Part of the exhibit's success can be attributed to the accompanying brochure that the Fishers and Peggy Voight produced. The Fishers distributed them around town to inns and public places. They did everything possible to make the exhibit the success it was, and we thank them for all that hard work!

Jim Hunt Slide Show

        On August 12 society president Jim Hunt gave a slide show profiling shipbuilding in Boothbay Harbor in the World War I era. The presentation was much enjoyed by a packed house.

  Fall Foliage Festival

On Columbus Day weekend we maintained a booth at the Fall Foliage Festival at the Boothbay Railway Village . We sold books and cheddar cheese, a 25-plus-year tradition.

For the first time, we were in a tent—like nearly everyone else! Bea Walker bought the tent for the benefit of the organizations she assists. Bea has been doing things for the historical society in her usual unstinting manner for almost 30 years.

  Volunteer Recognition Reception

We deeply appreciate the great contributions made by the many volunteers who donate their time and energy to help the society. On September 24 we gave a reception to honor our volunteers.

Attending were members of the group who work behind the scenes in collections and those who man the museum in the summer.

A special thank you to those who welcomed visitors at the museum this summer: Judy Cook, Marilyn Lozier, Pat Moses, Toots Adams, Judy Davidson, Barbara Bush, Edith Tauber, and substitutes Lynne Nicoletta and Joyce Armendaris.

We are always looking for more volunteers and urge you to contact us if you would like to get involved. Volunteers help with small mailing parties, man the museum in the summer, and help with collections work in the archives and photograph collection. Special computer skills needed are scanning and entering data. There are a variety of things to do!

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Members' Tangible Gifts

During the summer, member Reid Ervin again expressed a wish to underwrite a particular project. Since we're spending more time on displays and exhibits, Reid agreed to fund display aids, such as acrylic stands and easels. So some artifacts are shown off better and display cases look more spiffy!

Collections Work

A number of volunteers have been working behind the scenes on most Wednesdays and some Saturdays.

Ken Hanson continues the task of cataloging artifacts in the computer and checking the artifacts and their locations against the information. Faith Meyer and Barbara Rumsey continue the routine collection work of accessioning, cataloging, and acknowledging artifacts and small collections.

Doreen Dun is working on updating archive box labels and entering data. Marilyn Lozier continues to maintain the membership cards and also helps out retitling photos and negatives.

Edith Tauber is organizing and maintaining order in the family history files—she's gotten to "T!" Judy Davidson finished organizing and cataloging a Boothbay Playhouse collection given by Chris Patton. Bruce Wood, Earl Leavitt, and Cathy Sherrill have devoted hours to collection cataloging. Robert Rice, Bruce, and Earl have also helped take down displays and set up different ones.

Brenda Bettinson generously restored, to the extent possible, a Morgan Rhees painting of a fishing schooner being run down on the Banks by an ocean liner. The society had an early 1800s sampler professionally conserved to protect it from deterioration. It was originally made by Southporter Sophie Maddocks Grover. She was born in 1807 and married Freeman Grover.

Buildings and Grounds

Tom Carbone and his crew continue to mow the lawn and make improvements to the grounds. Larry Brown has taken loads of brush to the dump and has done some painting and puttying. Jack Wilson makes trips to the dump for us too.

Bill Wilson has repaired the scarred walls of the main exhibit room and has been working generally to improve our looks. Ken Hanson assembled a set of shelves for archive collections.

Boiler

The boiler in the cellar stopped working altogether in early October and we are in the process of replacing it with a new model. We will also line the chimney to which the boiler is connected. The boiler failure is a setback for the budget, but a good, safe heating system is an unquestionable necessity. Gary Blackman is installing the new boiler and Breck Holladay will "Supaflu" the chimney.

Annual Fund

We sent out an annual fund letter to our membership in mid-October. We hope to use some of the donations toward upgrading the security of the building and the collections, besides providing needed operating funds.

We intend to install a high-low temperature and fire warning system. And we hope to acquire more fire-proof files to house some of the print or photograph collections. We will continue these efforts in the coming years.

Inner Workings

Pat Waldman has been our part-time office helper for about two years now, handling some of the administrative chores. She keeps the museum open on Friday mornings from 10 to 12. Her help is invaluable in handling many of the routine tasks, such as the administrative letter writing and phone calling.

Judy Dunsford, trained in architecture and historic preservation, was very helpful with displays and label-making during the winter, and she joined our board in May. But an unexpected job opportunity took her and her husband Jon to their new permanent home in Massachusetts in July. Judy regretfully left the board since the distance is just too much. We miss you, Judy!

OUTREACH

  News Items

Peggy Voight places nearly all the historical society news items in the Boothbay Register and Lincoln County newspapers. She announces coming events and reports on how they went, so people can follow our doings on an ongoing basis.

Website

Bruce Wood of Southport and Maryland maintains and updates www.boothbayhistorical.org, our website—a bonus to all the other things he does for us. Another key element in our internet activities is Great Works Internet (GWI) which hosts our email (brhs@gwi.net) and website. GWI generously provides access at no cost to non-profits organizations.

Out Of Our Past

Articles that were in our Boothbay Register column, "Out of Our Past," since the last newsletter included three by Barbara Rumsey: one on the iceworks at Back Narrows, one on the iceworks at Appalachee, and one on East Boothbay shipbuilding  following the great launching of the Hodgdon Yachts ketch Scheherazade.

Also printed was another John M. Hodgdon story written by Flora H. Bishop. Chip Griffin provided an article on Damariscove; and Carol and Alan Fisher wrote two on the history of the art schools.

In the month-long lapse between articles or a series of articles, we run a photo with a detailed caption in the Register. Some of the photos profiled recently: a 1910s view of the Maddocks Packing plant on Boothbay Harbor's east side, a view of the 1890s mackerel fleet in the harbor escaping a storm, an 1890s view of the steamer Enterprise and the west side of the harbor, the horse-drawn Barters Island school bus, and Buzzell's health resort at Back Narrows in 1945.

Schools

Barbara Rumsey spent a morning with the fifth grade at Porter Point , introducing the children to the probable lifestyle followed at the site of a 19th-century house foundation.

Hats and Shirts

Thanks to Larry Brown who made arrangements with Harbor Embroidery, we are offering baseball caps at the museum with our pinky logo and name at $15.75. The khaki caps have dark blue visors.

If you'd like to purchase a shirt with the same logo, go to Harbor Embroidery at 71 Commercial Street and choose among the many varieties and colors. The business is turning over part of the proceeds from shirt sales to help the society. Thanks, Harbor Embroidery!

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Membership

Our membership now stands at 611. Since the April newsletter we've gained the new members listed below. Thanks, everybody—your dues provide a large part of our operating funds.

Our members join for various reasons: they may be residents, summer residents, descendants of old Boothbay families, and so on. We'd appreciate your emailing us with your reason for being a member, particularly if you are a descendant.

Thirty-three-year member Eleanor Miller, who has been so generous to the society over the years, died this summer. Eleanor was a driving force behind the arts and many of the cultural groups in the Boothbay region for many decades.

New Members

MAINE

East Boothbay Dr. & Mrs. Stephen Sozanski

Sawyers Island Dick & Joan Hodgdon

South China Joanne Reynolds

OTHER STATES

Marshfield , Massachusetts Daniel Welch

Newton , Massachusetts Bob Cerra

Edgartown , Massachusetts Charles Ross

Norwich , VT David & Mary Otto

Rochester , New York John Stone

Baltimore , Maryland Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Kurz

Perry , Georgia James & Paula Geiger

Pahrump , Nevada Dennis McCuneo

Kalamazoo , Michigan Len & Sue Mattano

  ACQUISITIONS

Philip Chapman gave a painting of Church Hill in East Boothbay done by Vivian Fuller, as well as packing box boards for local merchants (J. R. Auld and W. Winslow) dating to the late 1800s. He also gave his grandfather's Boothbay excise collection record book and an 1896 East Boothbay high school graduation document. Margaret Hodgdon gave a section of a "Caleb Hodgdon & Son" clapboard from East Boothbay 's C. U. Hall, which burned in 1982. The clapboard would have been produced at the village tidemill.

Virginia Gamage gave a chocolate box given to her by her husband Gleason when they were dating about 1925. She also gave her 1920s autograph book, 1927 school material, a scrapbook of local events. and 1930s valentines of her brother Luther Reed, as well as a John Goss lithograph of Church Square .

June Elderkin gave three Anson Cross art instruction books riveted together and an art school flyer. Gwen Brackett donated a Bennett account book including minutes of an art school student group, " Camp Peric ." Olivia Cole brought in a 1958 phone book that included local numbers.

Mark Becker donated items he found in the wall of a house he lived in on Sherman Street . Included were Indian baskets, a 1912 almanac, an Addie Perkins name plate, doll parts, clay marbles, and many other small children's toys. Bruce Wood provided copies from the National Archives of 1795 and 1857 maps.

Loraine Nickerson gave a Helen Gaw watercolor of Ocean Point. Pat Parker gave us a yardstick from Anderson & Gaw. Marie McClellan brought in a number of pencils advertising local businesses, such as Anderson & Gaw, Marine Service, and J. B. Rowe. Chris Cirker donated a copy of William Kenniston's 1897-1909 medical diary and Kenniston photos. Alice Fossett brought in an 1847 Wylie Bible. Bill Leavitt donated a McClintock-Jewett photo album.

Gary Haselton generously arranged to copy 1920s Yacht Club speedboat race movies. Alden Reed and Gary 's extended family at West Harbor have identified many people and features in the video. Peter Branch gave a 1934 booklet about Linekin Bay Camp.

The society bought the Cole book on Newcastle history. We also bought an 1893 Cumberland Bone Factory calendar. Terry Webb gave us a copy of her book Manning the Light, in recognition of the help she got from the society. Judy Davidson gave Lincoln Arts Festival material.

Betty Jean Oliver donated a souvenir plate of the Harbor, and many clippings and obituaries, principally relating to Farnhams of Lobster Cove. Ray Orne donated a 1922-1923 Boothbay Harbor High School photo showing all the students. Paulding Phelps gave a 1938 plan of Barlows Hill properties, material relating to the Rice-Phelps property, the late 1800s village medicinal spring, and pamphlets by Owen Rice.

Evelyn Blake donated Cecil Pierce's lobstering account book from 1967 to 1991 and 1920s and 1930s local photos of the Teel at the Center, now Kenniston Hill Inn. Bea Walker gave a dress form and a wire stool that came from Porter's Drug Store.

John P. Holmes, grandson of Wallace Goudy who was one of the 1920 founding partners of Goudy & Stevens, donated the Army-Navy "E" flag given to Hodgdon Brothers, Goudy & Stevens in November 1943. The yards combined during the Korean War as they'd done during World War II. The flags were awarded for excellence on the job. John also gave some printed material relating to the yards. The stunning nine-foot flag will be on display this winter.

Charles Wright gave two 1930 family letters relating to the art schools and a sketch of snowy trees by art school leader Asa Randall. Nat Wilson gave a 17-inch-long hook used to pull icecakes up an elevator into an icehouse. Susan Bradley gave an auger from the Leishman-Giles place. Bill Welsh sent an index to 1860s-to-1880s logs of family voyages, framed Welsh family memorabilia, and Hutchins Bible family entries.

Jolly Arsenault gave his 1941 Boy Scout First Aid Box. He also gave an award from Gulf for S. E. McDougall's years of service at his filling station which was across from Sea Gate, on the site of the mini-golf. Genevieve Earle brought in mid-1900s photos of workers at the Oake Grove.

Local historical family information has been supplied by: Nancy Weber on the Jacob Fuller family; Sheila Peckham on the Brewers; Katrina Goldberg on the Curriers; Dennis McCuneo on the Briers and Lewises; Alex Marte on the Creamers; Bethe Urban on the Catlands; and Allan and John McCobb on the McCobbs. In mid-November John stopped in and, in a cold museum, left a check dedicated to our boiler problem. Thanks, John!

Florence Harrold brought in a number of local photos. Dorothy Gregory gave us annotated shots of the 1939 installation of the Southport bridge. Hans Borti Salvesen gave us material relating to AMS104, a minesweeper built at Hodgdon Brothers in 1953 which is now a floating museum in Oslo , Norway . Hans, who visited East Boothbay in September, commanded her and helps at the museum.

We appreciate all the gifts that have come our way. Our donors do the hard work of disposing of things in a thoughtful way. Many of the recently given artifacts are on display, and the paper items can be located easily for those who would like to see the new acquisitions.

Faith Meyer, board member and past president, provides a service to the society by recording and cataloging the donations and personally writing nearly all the thank-you notes to the artifact donors.

HOURS

Hours are 10 a.m. to noon on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays during the winter. The hours expand to Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from July 4 to Labor Day.

Barbara Rumsey is normally there to help with any inquiries, and she and others are usually working in the building on Wednesday afternoons, 1:30 to 4 p.m.

•     Phone: 633-0820. Email: brhs@gwi.net

•     Website: www.boothbayhistorical.org

DATES TO  REMEMBER

•   December 6, Holiday Lights open house at the museum, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

  •   May 20, 2004 : Annual meeting at 2 p.m.