Winter 2011 Volume 16 No
Winter 2011 Volume 16 No. 3
A Magazine about Acadia National Park and Surrounding Communities PURCHASE YOUR PARK PASS! Even in winter, your park pass purchase helps make possible vital maintenance projects in Acadia. Eighty percent of all fees paid in the park stay in the park…and park passes make a thoughtful gift!
The Acadia National Park $40 annual pass and $20 weekly pass ($10 in the shoulder seasons) are available all winter at the Acadia National Park Winter Visitors Center at Park Headquarters on the Eagle Lake Road in Bar Harbor.
In addition, annual passes are offered for $20 each in the month of December only at these locations: Acadia National Park Winter Visitors Center Town Office of Mount Desert Town Office of Tremont Town Office of Gouldsboro
For more information visit www.friendsofacadia.org President’s Column
WINTER REFLECTIONS
inter in Acadia is a relatively ing to Norumbega Mountain trails. On the quiet season—a time for skiing west side of Mount Desert Island, 17 acres Wsilent roads and discovering new on the shores of remote Round Pond, in the vistas through forests bare of leaves. And Long Pond watershed, were protected. Since winter is a time for reflection, celebration, 2005 FOA, MCHT, and other partners have and planning. Reflecting on the gift of work- protected 17 privately-owned parcels within ing with an organization like Friends of Acadia’s boundary. Acadia, I am grateful for the inspiration of Advocacy remains a key component our members. Each year FOA receives letters to FOA’s stewardship of Acadia. This year from members around the country, sharing FOA staff and members took numerous favorite experiences as well as hopes and con- opportunities to reach out to state and fed- cerns for the park. This year, I was moved eral legislators and communicate the park’s by the number of young people who became need for adequate federal funding. For our members and sent notes to explain how they members, advocacy is an opportunity to share saved or earned the money in order to take your commitment to the ongoing steward- part in the care of this amazing place. ship of Acadia’s priceless resources, and to This was a banner year for young people express your expectation that this steward- engaged directly in the business of Acadia’s ship must be a partnership effort. Private phil- stewardship, as well. Millicent Green spent Hogan Noreen anthropy plays a critical role in the long-term her summer college break as an FOA intern care of Acadia, but it should enhance and not working on our annual benefit (page 5). Anna Advocacy is an opportunity to replace the obligation of the federal govern- Adams became an FOA field crew leader this ment to care for our national parks. (Read summer and reflected on the path that led share your commitment to more about how you can help, on page 26.) to her growing professional career as a stew- the ongoing stewardship of I look back on this year of partnership con- ard of Acadia (page 7). The new Acadia Youth Acadia’s priceless resources, servation and stewardship with tremendous Technology Team of high school and college pride. Programs inspiring young people, students explored the potential of technolo- and to express your expecta- alternative transportation reducing traffic gy to benefit Acadia and its visitors (page 8). tion that this stewardship must congestion and pollution, conservation of George Hertzog, National Park Service be a partnership effort. lands within the park’s boundary, and advo- director from 1964–1972, once wrote, “The cacy are all vital to creating a strong future national park idea has been nurtured by for Acadia, and are excellent examples of what each succeeding generation of Americans. efits the park and the region. The Island individuals can accomplish when they work Today…each park contributes to a deeper Explorer system provides alternatives to together. At the inauguration of the new understanding of the history of the United driving personal vehicles into the park, SERC campus at Schoodic this summer, States and our way of life; of the natural reducing congestion and pollution. And this Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski said, processes which have given form to our land, fall, Phase I of the Acadia Gateway Center, “Each and every one of us makes a difference, and to the enrichment of the environment the maintenance facility and offices for but working together we make change.” in which we live.” FOA and Acadia National management of the Island Explorer system, Thank you for helping to ensure a strong Park are working together to ensure that was completed. A celebration is planned in future for Acadia National Park. this and following generations are prepared early 2012. and inspired to nurture the national park idea Partnership efforts led to important land at Acadia. conservation this year. Two key parcels, It was a year of milestones for the Island privately owned within Acadia’s boundaries, Explorer bus system. The 4-millionth pas- were protected through the combined efforts —Marla S. O’Byrne senger climbed aboard in August (page 23) of Friends of Acadia and Maine Coast and L.L.Bean renewed its commitment to the Heritage Trust. The Lower Hadlock Pond In November, Marla O’Byrne announced Island Explorer system, granting $1 million property protects a public water supply for that she will leave Friends of Acadia in over the next five years toward the operations the Town of Mount Desert and historic March 2012 after 16 years with the of the buses. L.L.Bean’s support greatly ben- hiking trails around the pond and connect- organization. –Ed. Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 1 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Edward L. Samek, Chair John Fassak, Vice Chair Ed Lipkin, Treasurer Michael Siklosi, Secretary
Emily Beck Fred Benson Brownie Carson Gail Clark Hannah Sistare Clark Andrew Davis Winter 2011 Nathaniel Fenton Anne Green Volume 16 No. 3 Cookie Horner Jack Kelley Barbara McLeod A Magazine about Acadia National Park and Surrounding Communities Meredith Moriarty Marla S. O’Byrne Lili Pew Donna Reis Jack Russell Nonie Sullivan Christiaan van Heerden Dick Wolf Bill Zoellick
HONORARY TRUSTEES Eleanor Ames Robert and Anne Bass Curtis and Patricia Blake Robert and Sylvia Blake Frederic A. Bourke Jr. Tristram and Ruth Colket Gail Cook Shelby and Gale Davis Dianna Emory Frances Fitzgerald FEATURE ARTICLES Sheldon Goldthwait 7 Nothing Could Be Better Anna Adams Neva Goodwin Paul and Eileen Growald Friends of Acadia youth programs have a lasting impact John and Polly Guth Paul Haertel Lee Judd 8 The Acadia Youth Technology Team Aimee Beal Church Debby Lash Local teens guide Acadia’s digital future Linda Lewis Liz Martinez Julia Merck Gerrish and Phoebe Milliken 10 Bed Springs and a Passion Charles Wray George J. and Heather Mitchell The start of winter grooming in Acadia Joseph Murphy Janneke Neilson Nancy Nimick Jack Perkins 12 Shipwreck! Rebecca Cole-Will Nancy Pyne An archaeology field school takes place at low tide Nathaniel P. Reed Ann R. Roberts David Rockefeller Jeannine Ross Patricia Scull ACTIVITIES/HIGHLIGHTS Howard Solomon 5 Special Person: Millicent Green Erwin Soule Diana Davis Spencer 14 The 22nd Annual Benefit Auction
EMERITUS TRUSTEES 15 Acadia Quest W. Kent Olson 18 Updates Charles R. Tyson Jr. 26 Advocacy Corner FRIENDS OF ACADIA STAFF 27 Book Reviews Theresa Begley, Projects & Events Coordinator Mary Boëchat, Development Assistant Sharon Broom, Development Officer Sheree Castonguay, Accounting & Administrative Associate Aimee Beal Church, Communications & Outreach Coordinator DEPARTMENTS Stephanie Clement, Conservation Director 1 President’s Column Winter Reflections Marla S. O’Byrne Lisa Horsch Clark, Director of Development Diana R. McDowell, Director of Finance & Administration 3 Superintendent’s View A Community Call to Action Sheridan Steele Marla S. O’Byrne, President Mike Staggs, Office Manager 6 Poem Coming Back in the Fog from Isle au Haut Christian Barter 28 Chariman’s Letter Unfinished Business Edward L. Samek
2 Winter 2011 Superintendent’s View
A COMMUNITY CALL TO ACTION: JOIN USINPREPARING FOR 2016
e’re coming up on a double cel- oping some new approaches to engaging ebration in 2016: the 100th youth in Acadia. Wanniversary of both Acadia The key to the continuing success of National Park and the National Park Service. Acadia National Park is strengthening our It’s an opportunity to reflect on the great ideas shared common goals and programs with and dedicated efforts that created the Acadia FOA. Solutions are created and imple- we know and love today, and to look ahead mented with the people and communities to the future of Acadia in its second century. that most care about our parks. The Volunteers, donors, and Friends of Acadia National Park Service Director John Jarvis have been instrumental in the great success has released a “Call to Action,” identifying of this park. Innumerable private contribu- the many ways he sees this to be possible. tions throughout Acadia’s history have pro- He reinforced the need to build our future tected important land and natural and cul- on the legacies of our past and create tural resources, have built and maintained excitement and enthusiasm across all gen- essential park facilities, and allowed us to offer erations including those yet unborn. In meaningful visitor services for the millions of Acadia, I see this being achieved by con- people who love Acadia National Park. tinuing our resource protection efforts, Charles Eliot and George B. Dorr paved focusing on ways to assure that park visi- the way, preserving and protecting the best tors have quality experiences across the of Mount Desert Island and Schoodic. John park, and assuring that Acadia becomes
D. Rockefeller, Jr. also preserved thousands Peter Travers the most youth-friendly and engaging of acres, and developed the incomparable national park in the country. Private fund- system of carriage roads and scenic Park and the results to be meaningful—as they ing will continue to be essential to provide Loop Road. Early volunteers formed village certainly are in Acadia. FOA funds two the margin of excellence we enjoy today improvement societies, building marvelous paid crew leaders and supports numerous and develop innovative new efforts to and unique trails like the Precipice, Jordan volunteer crew leaders. Volunteers also engage Americans of all ages. I also think a Cliffs, and the Perpendicular Trail, now assist with visitor programs, visitor orien- new endowment to support education, tra- maintained as historic resources. tation, and small maintenance projects. ditional ranger guided activities, and inter- Over the last 25 years, Friends of Acadia Other examples of programs that likely pretation will be necessary to continue to led the way to restore the carriage roads to would be reduced or eliminated without provide meaningful experiences that help their former glory and establish an endow- FOA support include the Wild Gardens of create an emotional bond with this very ment to maintain them. A similar approach Acadia, the Island Explorer, educational special place. focused on the 130 miles of renowned hik- efforts for Maine schools and students, the As we approach 2016, join me and ing trails with the Acadia Trails Forever accessible carriages at Wildwood, and the Friends of Acadia as we create opportuni- campaign. The artistry and craftsmanship Village Connector Trail program. ties for area residents and visitors to dis- of the stonework and the challenge of the As we approach our second century at cover the many things that make Acadia so iron rungs and hand holds continue to Acadia, we must identify and address crit- special, to be inspired by its beauty and impress and inspire visitors today. Without ical issues affecting our future. Certainly history of personal dedication, and to be a FOA’s commitment and contributions, the the need to engage youth in the national true friend of Acadia, sharing in the com- trails and carriage roads would likely be parks and the great outdoors is of growing mitment to care for Acadia now and into deteriorating for lack of attention (and concern to me as a conservationist and the future. funding). park manager. Young people seem to have With more than 3,000 individuals annu- less time and interest in nature, and they ally volunteering more than 40,000 hours are missing wonderful experiences that can to park improvements, we are indeed the shape their lives in many positive ways. envy of parks everywhere. A program of FOA helped us enlist local youth for a new this magnitude requires considerable time “Acadia Youth Tech Team” and with grant and attention for volunteers to feel useful funding this team spent the summer devel- —Sheridan Steele
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 3 Notes from Friends
Family Friends Young Friend I just want to tell you how much our entire I earned a quarter every time I did my family enjoyed meeting up with you [Lisa chores and a dollar every time I read a Horsch Clark] again and getting to meet book. I want to donate $3.00 to you. I Winter 2011 Volume 16 No. 3 Marla. What a thrill it was for us! We have picked Friends of Acadia because my fam- been coming to Acadia for a very long time ily goes there on vacation almost every A Magazine about Acadia National Park and now we are sharing that love with our year. We love to climb mountains and and Surrounding Communities children. Mark and I appreciate the time swim in the ocean. Hope you use the Friends of Acadia preserves, protects, and you and Marla took to educate us and our money to make the park better than it promotes stewardship of the outstanding children on what you do for Acadia and already is. natural beauty, ecological vitality, and distinctive cultural resources of how we can become better stewards of this —Jimmy Suiter beautiful park. Acadia National Park and surrounding New York communities for the inspiration Once again we had a wonderful time in and enjoyment of current and Acadia, hiking the beautiful trails, shop- future generations. ping and walking in town, climbing moun- Family Fun Bonus tains by foot and on bikes, looking for One week each summer we visit MDI—we The Journal is published three times a year. Submissions are welcome. sand dollars on the beach. As long as we are lucky to have family in Bar Harbor (but are able, we will continue to come back would probably make the trip even if we Opinions expressed are the authors’. and appreciate this beautiful land and sea didn’t). There’s always so much to see and You may write us at and we promise to continue to support do and our two young children just love to 43 Cottage Street / PO Box 45 Friends of Acadia. explore. But…this particular week stood out Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 As you can see in the picture, the kids from recent years because we were lucky to or contact us at (and we) proudly wore our new friends of be in the area for “Family Fun Day.” To say 207-288-3340 Acadia gear around town, and we thank it was well done is an understatement. From 800-625-0321 you for that! the enthusiastic volunteers to the thought www.friendsofacadia.org that went into each activity station—it’s email: [email protected] —Bonnie Atwood EDITOR New York something we’ll be talking about for years to come. Thank you!!! Aimee Beal Church —The Tighe Family POETRY EDITOR Pennsylvania Christian Barter DESIGN Mahan Graphics PHOTOGRAPHER AT LARGE Tom Blagden PRINTING Penmor Lithographers PUBLISHER Marla S. O’Byrne
Hunters Beach in Winter by Tom Blagden
This Journal is printed on paper made with 100% recycled fiber and 60% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine free, and manufactured in the USA with
Bonnie Atwood 100% Green-e certified renewable energy. Printed with Some young members of the Atwood family show off their new FOA gear in Bar Harbor. soy-based ink, using wind power. 4 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal Special Person
MILLICENT GREEN: INTERN EXTRAORDINAIRE
I was personally amazed by Millicent’s Millicent’s hard work was not all that impeccable computer skills and attention she gave to the office. Development Officer to detail. I could give Millicent a task upon Sharon Broom noted, “In addition to all of arrival in the morning, thinking it would the ways they assist the staff, interns bring take her most of her day. In a short time, a fresh perspective to our work and help us she would pop into my office saying she better connect with young adults. Working was done. I’ve watched her at the comput- with Millicent each day gave us a valuable er. Even with the old dog of a computer at insight into the interests and preferences the intern’s desk, Millicent would take of twenty-somethings.” As we continue shortcuts and quick steps to get the job our work with the Young Friends of done fast. And anyone who has visited the Acadia, Millicent and her friends will be Millicent Green busy FOA office in the summer knows that critical to our success. good and fast is an asset. onfident, friendly, focused, thought- Keeping us fresh is important but what I Millicent also has a remarkable intuitive ful, funny—all words used by the miss the most about Millicent is Millicent. sense. She would often hand me a draft staff of Friends of Acadia to describe Her cheery smile and great sense of humor C before I asked for it or bring something to always brightened my day. ❧ our fantastic summer intern Millicent a meeting saying, “I thought you might Green. To say the very least, we were fortu- need this.” nate to have Millicent with us during the —Lisa Horsch Clark busy summer season. This talented young woman made life easier for everyone at 43 Cottage Street. Millicent joined the staff on July 1st as an intern in the development office with a focus on event management. Much of Millicent’s time was spent working on the Annual Benefit. Whether attending plan- ning meetings, working on the database, drafting text for the catalog, or answering the phone, Millicent accomplished tasks with skill, grace, efficiency, and a smile on her face. Millicent, a junior at Elon University currently studying in Florence, Italy, has visited Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island every year of her life. She comes from a long line of Friends of Acadia members. Grandparents Bill and Maura Benjamin have been members since the early 90s and her parents Anne and Jim Green are active volunteers with Friends of Acadia. Anne serves on the board of direc- tors and the benefit committee. Both of her parents have been leaders in the Next Generation initiative at FOA. Clearly her
love for Acadia and FOA has been nur- (2) Anne Green tured for many years. Millicent Green’s love for Acadia started early.
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 5 Submissions are invited for the 2012 Poem FRIENDS OF ACADIA POETRY PRIZE Coming Back in the Fog from Isle au Haut “The future of this world lies in the relationship we have with it. Poetry helps develop an understanding and appreciation of—and a connection with—the world around us.” The water shines and, definite as it is, slips under the fog and goes, sending up —Kate Barnes former Maine Poet Laureate an island now and then from farther out— great tufts of dark nailed down by the same roots FRIENDS OF ACADIA POETRY PRIZE Established in 1998, the Friends of Acadia Poetry that spring strange halls in dreams and cliffs that tip Prize is awarded biannually to promote and recog- nize distinctive nature poetry. Three winning poems with height beyond the towns that closed behind you. will be published in the Friends of Acadia Journal A mother has picked her son up off the deck (print and online), and awarded prizes by category: to make sure of his flesh and the women from the party ~ 1st place: $350 ~ 2nd place: $250 have stopped shouting up from the bottoms of their wells, ~ 3rd place: $150 stare in whatever direction they were left pointing,
GUIDELINES except for one, who presses at a cell phone Submit up to three nature-based poems, each of 30 lines or fewer. Entries must be original and like someone trying to push an ice cube down. unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are A town appears, as ruins first, then rises. permitted; please notify us immediately if a poem is accepted for publication elsewhere. The coming back meets its mist and slides under it. There is no fee to enter. Postmark deadline: January 30, 2012 —Christian Barter FORMAT Submit each poem on a separate page. Include a cover sheet with your name, address, and the titles of the poems you are submitting. Do not include your name on manuscript(s).
For notification of results, include a business-sized Christian Barter’s first book, The Singers I Prefer, was a finalist for the 2006 Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets and his second SASE. Manuscripts will not be returned. book is forthcoming in 2012. His work has appeared in journals including Ploughshares, The Literary Review, North American Review, Georgia Review, and If you wish to receive a copy of the Friends of The American Scholar and has been featured on Poetry Daily and The Writer’s Acadia Journal in which the first-place poem is Almanac. He lives in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he is a supervisor for the trail published, include a self-addressed envelope, at least crew at Acadia National Park, an editor at The Beloit Poetry Journal, and poetry 9” x 12”, with $2.00 postage attached. (This is in editor of the Friends of Acadia Journal. addition to a business-sized SASE for notification.)
Please send all entries to: Editor, Friends of Acadia Journal PO Box 45, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 or [email protected]
6 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal Yo u t h
NOTHING COULD BE BETTER Anna Adams
This speech was given at the 2011 Friends of Acadia Annual Meeting, on July 13th in Bar Harbor.
’m sure you all remember your very first job. I know I do. I remember very clear- Ily driving up to the park’s trail shop and looking at my fellow Youth Conservation Corps workers and telling my dad “Those guys are huge!” I was so nervous about doing well, and my fears weren’t assuaged any on our first project. We were high lining, which is when we use cables to move rocks up and down mountains. Part of the process is that someone has to be operating what we call the “griphoist,” which is like a giant crank that increases tension on the cable. Well, I was the griphoist operator, or at least, I was trying to be. I was using all of my weight to pull back on the handle, and then throwing myself onto it to try and push it forward. Eventually my supervisor came up to see what was wrong,
because obviously nothing was happening. Robin Farrin He watched me struggle for a few minutes Anna Adams speaking at the 2011 Friends of Acadia Annual Meeting. and said “You know, I don’t think you eat enough for this job.” As my graduation approached more and yourself?” It wasn’t until I heard about this I like to think that my success, or at least more people began asking me what I was job with Friends of Acadia that I found why I’m still working at Acadia today, has going to do with the rest of my life (simple the right fit. I truly believe that Friends a lot to do with the second sandwich I question of course). I never could quite of Acadia’s programs helped shaped the packed from that day on. find the right answer, until I got a pam- course of my life. Nothing could be Throughout that summer I got stronger phlet in the mail from the University of better than getting to help others work and more confident doing the work the Maine at Machias. I read about their pro- in this beautiful place, and get to know it YCC does to help out the trail crew. One of grams and I remember shouting down to for themselves. I know that we are all our last projects that season was a log haul my parents “Did you know, you can get a counting the big accomplishments that up a mountain. We spent the whole day degree in Park Management?!?!?” That was Friends can lay claim to over these past going up and down hauling bog walk it; nothing had ever felt so right. So I twenty-five years, but I ask you to try material, and I remember asking myself if I went to UMM and got my bachelors degree and think about all the small ways in wanted to come back and do this job again. in Environmental Recreation Management which this organization has had an When I reached the summit I had my and Park Management (which is a fancy impact, both on this park and those who answer: of course I would. Looking out on way of saying “gets paid to play outside”). love it. Thank you for allowing me to be a the park I had grown to love, I knew that I I worked on the trail crew a few summers part of all that you do. ❧ wasn’t ready to quit working my butt off to as well as for Maine Coast Heritage Trust. help make it better. So I worked another Sooner than I expected, another gradu- summer on YCC, and then signed on to ation was upon me and I was again being ANNA ADAMS is a field crew leader at Friends join the trail crew after high school. asked: “What are you going to do with of Acadia.
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 7 Youth Stewardship
THE ACADIA YOUTH TECHNOLOGY TEAM: LOCAL TEENS GUIDE ACADIA’S DIGITAL FUTURE Aimee Beal Church
icture this: you’re nearing a moun- taintop in Acadia, hiking up a trail of Ppink granite ledge with glorious views of unspoiled forest reaching down to a sparkling, island-dotted sea. Maybe a pere- grine falcon wheels overhead. Approaching the classic wooden sign marking the summit, you see four teenagers sitting with heads down and eyes glued to the screen of an iPad on his or her lap. What do you think? Maybe you feel sorry for the kids, for their apparent lack of connection to the natural beauty around them. Maybe you’re annoyed to be remind- ed of the “outside world.” Maybe you won- der, “Hey, can I get a cell phone signal up here?” Then one of them hops up and approaches you with a smile, and you
notice that her T-shirt reads Acadia Youth Acadia National Park Technology Team. The Acadia Youth Technology Team examined opportunities for technology to enhance park experiences This past summer, those four teenagers of all kinds, by land, and by sea. From left to right, Sophia Krevans, Audyn Curless, Ryann Rourke, Liam Torrey, and John Carll. were MDI high school students Audyn Curless, Sophia Krevans, Ryann Rourk, “According to the Kaiser Family Found- creates a model for how the park service— and Liam Torrey. Along with Team Leader ation, kids under age 18 are spending more at Acadia and elsewhere—can work with Colin MacArthur, Assistant Team Leader than 7.5 hours per day, or more than 50 youth on similar questions. John Carll, and volunteer contributing hours per week, using electronic media. Through a $25,000 gift made in honor scholar Fabio Fraticelli, they spent 10 What will happen to national parks when of FOA’s 25th anniversary, Friends of weeks learning, brainstorming, and exper- people don’t have time for nature and the Acadia hired the four teen interns and imenting with technology like iPads, digi- real world outdoors?” By reframing tech- assistant team leader and purchased the tal cameras, smart phones, webcams, QR nology as a portal into the park rather than iPads and apps necessary for their research. codes, apps, and the like. They thought a barrier, and asking youth directly what Says Marla O’Byrne, president of Friends of about how these programs and devices they find most interesting, the park can Acadia, “We were fortunate to gather such might enhance a visitor’s experience— create new and uniquely effective tools to a talented, energetic team of young people, especially young visitors for whom tech- awaken kids, teenagers, and young adults and delighted to support this innovative nology is an integral and familiar part of to the treasures of Acadia. pilot project that is so important for the their world. Much of that work was done Lynne Dominy, chief of interpretation at future of the park.” FOA funding was outside in Acadia, where they also spoke Acadia, knew this would be a challenge. matched by the park, which hired the team with dozens of visitors about their use of She had been researching similar initiatives leader and organized and hosted the pro- technology in the park. in other national parks to find a model for gram. The Acadia Youth Technology Team was a youth-focused and youth-powered The team was immersed in the park vis- jointly funded by Friends of Acadia and “think tank.” She found nothing, so she itor experience, from which they generated Acadia National Park, motivated by the and the interpretive staff designed the pro- ideas about how technology could meet park’s commitment to engage youth in ject from scratch. In addition to providing two park-wide goals: engaging youth in their national parks and the natural world. meaningful insights into how to engage Acadia and improving the visitor experi- As Superintendent Sheridan Steele notes, youth using technology, this pilot program ence. Each week focused on a particular
8 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal sort of technology or electronic media. report’s proposals as budgeting allows. Two Schoodic Education and Research Center, Their days might begin with a ranger-led proposals may be taken on by MDI High took a cruise to Baker Island, hiked miles program or hike, continue with a discus- School Students during the current school of trails and carriage roads, and more. sion of the place’s meanings, deepen with year for their “Senior Exhibition” service- They met with park employees, research- visitor interviews, and conclude with learning projects. Says Lynne Dominy, ers, and visitors to see the park from brainstorming technology project ideas. At “Service learning is a terrific resource for different perspectives. Liam, Ryann, the end of each week, the team hosted a Acadia, because it’s a fully supported pro- Sophia, and Audyn already shared a fond meeting to gather feedback from park and gram already in place in area schools—the familiarity with Acadia, but all agreed Friends of Acadia personnel. students are required to do it, and their that the summer greatly deepened their service is free to the park. And, park staff is connection to the park and their under- THE PLAN more than happy to host these young stew- standing of its value and vulnerabilities. At the end of the summer, the team pro- ards of our park resources.” In fact, the Acadia Youth Technology duced a 72-page report including specific One potential project open to this Team was itself a highly successful pro- proposals for technology projects, includ- spring’s seniors is to help the park set up gram to engage youth as stewards of ing cost breakdowns and incremental several digital video cameras and use them Acadia. The four local high school students development stages where appropriate. to host a competition for by-youth, for- took great pride in the idea that their work The proposals range in scope, from easy— youth videos about Acadia. Another proj- would truly benefit the park. Said Ryann, such as enabling FourSquare.com check- “Being a member of the Youth Technology ins at park locations that already have Team has truly been a once in a lifetime wireless access—to ambitious—such as We should not assume provid- opportunity and a dream summer job for a creating a comprehensive web-based data- ing youth with technology person my age. I’ve enjoyed traveling base of information about Acadia that about the park, seeing places I’ve never includes park-generated and user-generat- engages them in the park. seen, learning about the park, and working ed content, accessible via QR codes placed Instead, we should always with motivated people. But, the thing on existing wayside signs throughout specify the specific way I’ve enjoyed most is being a part of and the park. contributing to a master plan of ideas and The team also developed general princi- youth-targeted technology suggestions of how the park can integrate ples that should guide the park in any new will encourage stewardship. technology into their programs in non- technology project. They wrote, “Any time intrusive ways.” Audyn added, “I am con- we use technology to interact with the vinced that the work we did this summer public…we should use technology to meet ect would involve working with the park’s will have a lasting impact on the park.” key park goals….The technology we use Raptor Rangers to set up a “digital media Some team members expressed interest should facilitate, not replace or discourage, interpretation kit,” including a digiscope in working in the park service in the experiences with the trails, plants, arti- adapter and 24” television screen, to be future. For Liam, “working in National facts, animals and people of the park….We attached to one of the high-powered Parks in the future has gone from a minute should not assume providing youth with scopes at the base of Champlain Mountain. possibility to a hope and aspiration.” Of technology engages them in the park. This will allow many more visitors to view course, one needn’t be a park employee to Instead, we should always specify the spe- a live feed of the peregrine falcons nesting be a park steward! Sophia observed, cific way youth-targeted technology will along the Precipice Trail, and allow rangers “Living here, I have always used the park, encourage stewardship.” The plan states to show interpretive slideshows and but simply as an enormous, very well that any technology project should include recorded footage of the falcons on foggy kept backyard. Throughout this summer, such key ingredients as involvement of tar- days. Next summer, the park hopes to hire as I have gained more and more knowl- get audiences and park staff and provisions a “2012 youth team” to continue to imple- edge about the park, I have developed a for maintaining the project. An appendix ment selected youth-driven projects. deeper respect for the cultural and geo- to the report includes a map of cell phone For park youth coordinator Ardrianna logical history of the landscape as well as reception along the roads on MDI and the McLane, “This pilot project has opened the the way the park is run and maintained. Schoodic Peninsula, which the team creat- door to stronger connections with the high Working in the park made me realize what ed by driving around and checking recep- school, new youth leadership opportuni- an important resource Acadia is and why tion every half mile. ties, and a greater emphasis upon youth- it is imperative to protect it for the next generated programming with the park.” generation.” ❧ NEXT STEPS The report was completed by the time ENGAGED PARK STEWARDS team members returned to school, but the Throughout all this, the team explored the project doesn’t end there. The park already native plants in the Wild Gardens of AIMEE BEAL CHURCH is the communications has plans to begin implementing the Acadia, participated in a bio blitz at the and outreach coordinator at Friends of Acadia.
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 9 Volunteers
BED SPRINGS AND A PASSION: THE START OF WINTER GROOMING IN ACADIA Charles Wray
t took a champion, a diplomat, an innkeeper, and two superintendents. IDuring the last 25 years the grooming of Acadia’s carriage roads for cross-country ski- ing has grown from two volunteers and two or three carriage roads into a multifaceted, well-coordinated activity in Acadia National Park. Today, nearly twenty cold-tolerant vol- unteers eagerly await each new snowfall to set down classic and skating tracks from the Amphitheater to Witch Hole, from Jordan Pond to the highest carriage road on the west- ern side of Sargent Mountain, transforming the snow covered trails into some of the best cross country skiing anywhere. Friends of Acadia coordinates the grooming and funds the program, and Acadia National Park main- tains four low-emission snowmobiles and nearly a dozen grooming track setters. One cannot think of the ski trails with- out thinking of Dr. Bob Massucco, the
champion volunteer groomer, who settled Bob Massucco in Somesville in the early 1970s. Having Then, as now, AWTA volunteers often went out in pairs. Here, grooming champion Bob Massucco (left) works the Amphitheatre with fellow volunteer Dirck Bradt in the early 1990s. been an avid skier, high school ski coach, and dentist in Aspen, Colorado, Bob— together with his wife Mimi, their family, athletic adventures, from paddling and Hole. In the early years bed springs with and friends—made many, many trips to sculling to hiking and eventually cross- concrete weights loaded on top were used the former Squaw Mountain near Green- country skiing. In an effort to extend the to initially pack each trail. After dragging ville to pursue their passion for skiing. season of his bed-and-breakfast, Joe and the Rube Goldberg bedspring over the Tiring of nearly weekly trips to Squaw Bob Massucco developed a plan to provide trail, a track setter—made from two-by- Mountain, Bob realized that some of the groomed carriage paths for local skiers four and two-by-six lumber and metal best cross-country skiing in New England and visitors. In 1987, Joe and Bob first guides—was used to set classic ski tracks. could be found minutes away in Acadia approached Acadia National Park about To advise ANP staff on the new experi- National Park. At that time, cross-country using snowmobiles for grooming. mental grooming efforts and assess the ski tracks on Acadia’s carriage roads were Fortunately for a generation of skiers future of the carriage roads, Super- created by the skiers who got out first after in Acadia, the champion and innkeeper intendent Hauptman formed an Acadia each snowfall. Bob and Henry Agnese of met with like-minded ANP staff: Super- Trails Committee. In the early years some Northeast Harbor would be some of the intendent Jack Hauptman and Deputy skiers felt grooming was disruptive; how- first skiers out to break trail, and the late Superintendent Len Bobinchock. Acadia ever, the pundits’ ski tracks suggested that Elizabeth (Leila) Bright would eagerly National Park issued an experimental they sometimes preferred the groomed trail await news from the trail breakers before special use permit to “Drag carriage roads to the occasionally heavy, untracked, setting out herself. to provide a suitable base of snow for vari- coastal snow. As grooming became popu- During the 1980s and early 1990s ous winter activities.” Using his own and lar, skiers began donating cash on the innkeeper Joseph Striefel of Bar Harbor wife Mimi’s snowmobiles, Bob and Joe trails to offset the costs that were com- provided his guests with a variety of began grooming Hadlock Pond and Witch pletely covered by champion groomer Bob
10 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal Massucco. Uncomfortable as MacDonald, Bill Jenkins, and a cashier and groomer, Bob Dirck Bradt. The bed springs welcomed the assistance of and concrete blocks were Stan MacDonald, who gradually replaced with state- assumed chairmanship of the of-the-art Tidd Tech drag now formalized Acadia groomers and the original Winter Trails Association snowmobiles were replaced. (AWTA). The ranks of volunteers ex- The vice president of Bar panded and the numbers of Harbor Bank and Trust, Stan skiers out on the carriage MacDonald became the trails rapidly grew. In 2003, diplomat for grooming in the Bob Massucco and Stan Park. Despite the tremendous MacDonald were presented grooming efforts of Bob, Stan, with the Excellence in Volun- Bill Jenkins, Dirck Bradt, teerism Award at the FOA Herb Watson, Frank Braley annual meeting. In 2005, in and YMCA Program Director appreciation for the great Eric Hanson, grooming re- skiing in ANP, the family of mained controversial within Leila Bright generously the halls of ANP head- donated $250,000 in her quarters. Led by Bob memory to support groom- Massucco, the hardy trail ing activities. The Elizabeth groomers defended their R. Bright Endowment pro- grooming independence and vides equipment, fuel, safety were somewhat reluctant to training and equipment, and be managed by a committee This 1989 special use permit from Acadia National Park granted Bob operating support, and has or organization. Massucco permission to groom selected carriage roads. allowed grooming to expand By a stroke of luck, Paul significantly. Haertel, himself an avid cross-country from all over Maine. By 1994, the annual Through the efforts of the champion vol- skier previously posted at Denali race reached nearly 100 skiers despite unteer Bob Massucco and the support of National Park, became superintendent warm conditions at Little Long Pond and an innkeeper, a diplomat, and two super- at Acadia. With Stan MacDonald at the frozen conditions at Jordan Pond. While intendents, the cross-country ski trails in helm of AWTA and Paul Haertel and the Acadia Crossing Race did not continue, Acadia National Park now attract hundreds Len Bobinchock leading ANP, grooming Bob Massucco was dubbed “Acadia’s of skiers every week to Acadia. Today, trails became a formal volunteer activity Winter Caretaker.” Meanwhile FOA the AWTA volunteer cadre totals and the Winter Trails Association dev- assisted the AWTA volunteers’ efforts, 18 dedicated men and women, and each eloped a budget and held regularly sched- raising financial support for grooming season when the snow flies they log uled meetings. Joe Striefel had moved equipment and fuel, and AWTA estab- hundreds of hours laying skate and away from Mount Desert Island, but Bob lished cross-country skiing as a significant classic tracks. The group has been featured Massucco remained the heart and soul winter activity within ANP. As word spread in several newspapers around the state of the grooming effort. After seeing his across New England about the tremendous and on MPBN’s Bill Green’s Maine. dental patients, Bob Massucco cleared skiing in Acadia, the phone began to ring Trail conditions are available online at trails late into the evening, cut away trees at the Massucco’s house. After storms, www.friendsofacadia.org/projects/awta. blown down in winter storms, and kept Bob and Mimi would answer call after shtml. While snow is sometimes fickle in the trails in remarkable shape. After the call reporting on snow conditions and Acadia, the loyalty of the winter grooming biggest wind-driven snowstorms, Bob grooming status. crew remains unwavering, just as Dr. Bob recalls using his chainsaw to cut through In 1990 the Acadia Winter Trails Massucco wanted. ❧ massive snowdrifts to get the snow- Association became a committee of Friends mobiles across the carriage road on the east of Acadia, formally partnering with FOA flank of Penobscot Mountain, just west of and ANP by jointly signing a Memo- Jordan Pond. randum of Agreement between the three In 1990, the skiing was so popular that groups to manage volunteer efforts in the CHARLES WRAY is a staff scientist and director the 15-km Acadia Crossing Ski Tour and park. FOA and AWTA began providing of science resources at the MDI Biological Laboratory and has been an Acadia Winter Race, from Little Long Pond to Jordan regular financial and fundraising assistance Trails Association volunteer groomer for over a Pond via the Amphitheater, attracted skiers to loyal groomers Bob Massucco, Stan decade.
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 11 Resource Management
SHIPWRECK! Rebecca Cole-Will
cadia National Park is surrounded by water and much of its history A and resources relate to its mar- itime location. It should be no surprise, then, that there are many shipwrecks in the waters around the park. When maritime archeologist Franklin Price began research to document historic shipwrecks in the area, he spent a lot of time listening to fishermen, who, after all, know these waters better than anyone. Price grew up in Bernard and worked at lobster fishing for a time. He studied histo- ry as an undergraduate and then received his Master of Arts degree in maritime stud- ies at East Carolina University. Price’s research has taken him to exotic and famous locales. He worked on the project National Park Service to document Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Field school team members measure off an established baseline. Left to right: Franklin Price, Tony Menziette, Anne’s Revenge, off the North Carolina and Charles Bowdoin. coast. He spent time in Cyprus, studying an ancient Greek vessel and assisted on wreck in the Seal Cove area intrigued him. (The National Park Service does not man- documenting Vasa, a 1628 Swedish war- He recalled seeing it as a kid, and when he age shipwrecks or other resources beyond ship. Currently, Price is a senior archaeolo- revisited it during this project it was still the intertidal zone, but does work with gist with the State of Florida, where he there. The wreck is remarkably preserved, partners—the state, other federal agencies, coordinates diving operations and manages lying up in the cove against the bank, landowners, and land conservation organi- the state’s Underwater Archaeological where it is exposed at low water and pro- zations—to protect and steward them.) As Preserve program. But he is drawn back to tected from severe storms that would dis- an archaeologist and specialist in cultural Mount Desert Island, and tries to get home articulate the wooden skeleton. resources at Acadia, I worked with Price, in when possible. Says Price, “Recording vessels like this partnership with the Town of Tremont and From his interviews with local fisher- one is important because each represents a landowners, to develop the project with men, Price heard about historic wreck stage in wooden boat building technology. two primary goals. We wanted to reach out locations. From there, he combed old Wood was the material of choice in vessel to interested local residents, park staff, stu- newspaper accounts of wrecks and bad construction for millennia, but now this dents, and partner organizations to offer a storms. These provide information about has been eclipsed by fiberglass and steel. It hands-on learning experience to document when and possibly where wrecks occurred. is important to get all of the information an underwater archeological resource. Insurance claims and maritime records we can from these old vessels while there And I was interested in building capacity at often document the size of a wrecked ves- is still enough left of them to study. This the park to handle this sort of project in sel and particulars of its cargo, or other cir- is especially important in the inter-tidal the future. Resources like this wreck are cumstances of the event. He eventually zone where exposure to air and ice slowly dotted all around the island and could be assembled a database of nearly 150 known degrades the wooden structure.” uncovered in the park as a result of storms. wrecks in the waters surrounding MDI, Price proposed the idea of a field school We might develop a local “swat” team with from Penobscot to Frenchman Bays, to document the site. Acadia National Park some training to document wrecks after reporting on the project with support from doesn’t own the property but holds a con- unexpected exposures. This scenario has an L.L. Bean Acadia Research Fellowship servation easement on it, where its juris- played out at other coastal national parks. through the SERC Institute and NPS. One diction extends to the low water mark. At Cape Cod National Seashore, for exam-
12 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal ple, storms frequently rework and erode only a few minutes before water rushes with our hands, feeling carefully for its whole stretches of the vulnerable sand into the cove and the site is underwater. shape. beaches. There, wrecks are sometimes Price and Bowdoin prepared the site for Afterward, participants agreed that it exposed for no more than one tide cycle mapping by running a datum line along was a great experience. Local high school and park staff must respond quickly to the keel from stem to stern, or what was student Kate Pontbriand is interested in document and protect them. left of them. The goals were to map the site pursuing archaeology as a career, and Partial funding was secured from the using tape and compass. While this may noted, “From drawing the sketch of the Submerged Resources Center of the seem very low-tech in these days of laser ship to digging around in the mud meas- National Park Service and from the non- scanning technology, remote sensing, uring the planks of the ship, everything profit Institute of Maritime History. Price satellite imagery, etc., it is tried and true. interested me! I think the most memorable enlisted Charles Bowdoin, a graduate stu- Archeologists in underwater or remote thing about this was being able to apply dent from his alma mater, to assist with locations cannot always rely on technology. concepts I learned in my math classes at project management. We put out a call for They are often left with a pencil, tape, school to actual work. We triangulated participants—“No experience required!”— and graph paper to produce a scale map of pieces of wood from the base line we had and many community members joined us, a site. set up in order to get accurate drawings of including Friends of Acadia volunteers, Teams of two or three worked together the ship. You sit in these math classes and Muriel Trask Davisson, a member of the to measure and map the structural compo- always think ‘When will I ever use this!?!’ Tremont Historical Society Board of nents of the vessel. We learned about how Real-world applications are rare and being Directors, and Otter Creek resident Karen wooden vessels were put together—this able to have this experience was priceless.” Zimmerman, who came out for a day and one has a hewn timber keel, frames (the “Documenting shipwrecks in the Town wrote a blog about her experience (at ribs), and trunnels (literally “tree nails,” or of Tremont is important for the Tremont www.fromthecreek.com). Park staff partic- wooden pegs) and iron spike fasteners. Historical Society, because they are part of ipated as well, including Youth in Parks We mapped each of these features, using Tremont’s history,” said Muriel Trask summer seasonals Kate Pontbriand and basic geometry to plot points on water- Davisson. “It was a great learning experi- Clare Anderson and staff from the proof mylar. Gradually, a scale map of the ence to participate and see how marine Resource Management and Resource wreck emerged. archeology is done.” Protection divisions. In all, 20 people were On the last day, we literally played in Bowdoin will give a presentation about involved in various capacities—drawing, the muck. I learned that underwater arch- the field school at the Society for Historical measuring, photographing, or taking eologists do not excavate sites the way I Archaeology’s annual meeting in January notes. was taught as a traditional terrestrial 2012, and Bowdoin and Price will contin- We had to work with the tide. The site is archeologist. Trowels do not work in the ue research to learn about the wreck. Price only exposed for about three hours around thick, mucky sediment clinging to the observes, “This particular vessel will be low tide. Once it begins to turn, it takes wreck. To expose the keel, we dug it out very difficult to identify. At the moment there are a couple of candidates that wrecked in Seal Cove in the late 1800s, both wooden schooners. Rinaldo wrecked in 1876 and Levant wrecked in 1883. Zach Whalen, a recent COA graduate, shared his research on them with the project. I fear that Rinaldo is too small to be this vessel, and I doubt we will be able to know conclusively if Levant was or not. Further research into the vessel’s construction techniques will need to be done. Dendro- chronology (counting tree rings) might also provide answers, but it is not part of the current project. Perhaps in the future we will learn more about this wreck.” ❧
REBECCA COLE-WILL is the cultural resources program manager at Acadia National Park, and
Franklin Price an archaeologist specializing in pre-European The field school produced this site plan of the Seal Cove shipwreck, documenting the remaining structural contact archeology of New England and the components of the vessel. Arctic.
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 13 Development
22ND ANNUAL FRIENDS OF ACADIA BENEFIT AUCTION
nce a year, a dedicated group of purchase of the Northeast Harbor property. FOA members kick off their hik- The paddle donations were increased by a Oing boots and put on their finest 50% match from The Pew Charitable cocktail attire to attend the Friends of Trusts and Davis Family Challenge. The Acadia Benefit Auction. Always held the parcel was protected in September, in second Saturday in August, the benefit is partnership with Maine Coast Heritage an opportunity for park lovers to enjoy a Trust, ensuring it will remain open to pub- wonderful social event, bid on special and lic access in perpetuity, and helping to unique offerings, and support FOA’s mis- protect the pond as a water supply for sion to preserve and protect Acadia Northeast Harbor. National Park. Martha Stewart served as honorary chair This year’s benefit week kicked off on for the benefit. Event Chair Margaret Monday, August 8th, with a preview party Hamner and Vice-Chair Noelle Wolf led for auction patrons hosted by Ruth and a corps of more than 125 volunteers who Tris Colket at their Bar Harbor home, planned the benefit, assisted by FOA Kenarden. The preview party generated Director of Development Lisa Horsch excitement around the live auction items Clark. and inspired record patron contributions “We are grateful to all who made this before the main event. benefit such a success: including the event Robin Farrin On Saturday, August 13th, more than 500 sponsors and underwriters; the many How Much Is Enough? people attended the Benefit Auction, businesses, artists, and individuals who Someone recently asked me, (in refer- exceeding the record set last year as donated auction items; and everyone who ence to Friends of Acadia’s fundraising), the largest turnout in the event’s history. attended the benefit and took part in the “How much is enough?” I didn’t have an Attendees’ generosity raised a net auction,” said O’Byrne. “Their generosity answer for him at the time but upon $650,000 for FOA’s conservation work. makes it possible for FOA to do its best reflection I realized we still have more “In 2011, FOA will grant more than $1.5 work of protecting Acadia.” than 100 privately-owned parcels of million to youth initiatives and conserva- The event was underwritten by land within the park boundary that need tion projects in Acadia and the surround- Antoinette and Ben Brewster, Ildiko and Gil permanent protection, six miles of ing communities,” said FOA President and Butler, Gail and Ham Clark, Ruth and Tris carriage roads around Eagle Lake that CEO Marla O’Byrne. “The auction helps us Colket, Leslie and Joe Fogg, Anne and need to be restored, a vibrant volunteer support these efforts and provides critical Jim Green, Laura and Berno Hamilton, program always expanding in size and unrestricted funding for the organization.” Margaret and Clay Hamner, Elizabeth and activities, and talented staff at FOA The evening began with an energetic Arthur Martinez, Nonie and John Sullivan, and the park brimming with ideas on silent auction of over 100 items, including Julia and Hans Utsch, Lynne Wheat, and how to engage young people in explor- original art, unique experiences, one- Noelle and Dick Wolf. Listings of all ing Acadia. of-a-kind jewelry, and items for the home patrons, sponsors, committee members, With the centennial of Acadia and children. Following an elegant dinner and auction item donors can be found on National Park in five short years, we served by the Asticou, Sotheby’s Auction- the FOA website, www.friendsofacadia.org, won’t rest on the success of our spring eer Hugh Hildesley led a spirited live along with photos of the evening. membership drive, our recent Annual auction of unique items including a walk- For more information about the Friends Fund campaign, or our benefit auction. on role on Law and Order: SVU, special of Acadia Annual Benefit Auction, or to The staff of Friends of Acadia will trips, and a family of three bears carved by find out how to contribute to next year’s continue to brainstorm for new and celebrated local artist Dan Falt. event, contact Friends of Acadia Director exciting ways to raise money because FOA Board Member Andrew Davis of Development Lisa Horsch Clark at when it comes to Acadia, there is still introduced the auction’s paddle raise to [email protected] or 207- much to be done. protect land within Acadia’s boundary at 288-3340. ❧ Lower Hadlock Pond. By the end of the —Lisa Horsch Clark evening, 63 people raised their paddles to Friends of Acadia Director of Development contribute more than $180,000 toward the —Lisa Horsch Clark 14 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal Youth Programs
ACADIA QUEST ON FACEBOOK
cadia Quest is a series of youth- and family-oriented experiences in AAcadia National Park that encourage young people and families to explore, learn, and protect national parks and other conserved lands. In the Quest’s fourth season, a new approach and new activities got teams “moving outside” in Acadia while interact- ing with the park from a variety of per- spectives: biking on the carriage roads, swimming in Echo Lake, photographing the stone bridges, completing a scavenger hunt in the Wild Gardens, or volunteering on at a park stewardship event. For the first time this year, teams were invited to report on their activities via Facebook, sharing their adventures with other teams and Friends of Acadia online fans. Here is just a tiny selection of the ter- Looking out over Somes Sound and Great Harbor from Acadia Mountain. rific questing that happened this year.
“We are happily Questing away! This year is proving to be a great opportunity for the girls to experience different parts of the park. We tend to go to the same places each summer, so now they have some new favorites.” —Team Turner Trio
“We vacationed in Acadia for a week and Biking Aunt Betty’s loop. completed the quest. For the Boat/Swim combo, we kayaked in the ocean. The 4 of pond as well as finding a small dead bait us went out with a group out of Bar fish on shore to examine. We were the only Harbor. We paddled in front of Bar Island ones there but unfortunately couldn’t stay and Sheep Porcupine Island and landed on long due to the arrival of a very scary look- Burnt Porcupine Island. The view of ing rain cloud front. Will definitely be Enjoying the view from Flying Mountain summit. Cadillac Mt along with the other peaks was heading back there this summer. This has beautiful. But the best sight was when we been so much fun so far!” paddled back we spotted a baby harbor —Team 12th Night “Team Fingerlow attended their very seal sunning on the rocks on the backside first [Friends of Acadia] annual meeting, of Sheep Porcupine Island.” “Witch Hole Pond, via Route 3 from Bar which offered an inside look at what the —Team Ferreira Harbor to carriage roads. This was a hard organization has done over the past 25 bike ride for us, but we made it! We years, and more importantly, what we “Swim in Lake Wood. I have lived on the enjoyed stopping at 2 bridges and explor- together can accomplish for the future. island for 9 years and off island in Lamoine ing the streams under them. We were Speakers stressed the importance of our for an additional 5 years and had never amazed by how the bridges looked from youth. Our two junior team members, known about this place!! The water was below.” Delenn and Torin, enthusiastically agree.” warm and the girls loved the side frog —Team Hicks —Team Fingerlow ❧ Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 15 New Members
We are pleased to welcome Elizabeth D’Errico our newest friends: Elsie Dickty Sharon and Gordon Dicosola Karen and Andrew Dietz David Aitchison Richard Dost Jane Alavi Steven Dropsho John Anderson Kristin Droste Diana and Gary Ansley Rick Dunlop Priscilla and James Applegate James Dunlop Jane Harper and Mark Tucker Doug Arnold Jon Edmondson Chérie Harrington Kellen Arnold Bernadette Byrne Lynn and Jeffrey Eggert Dr. Kevin Hart Christopher Athaide Gennaro Camelio Elsie and Don Ehman Brenda and Steven Hartford Pat and Gan Avery John Campbell Marion Ehrlich Barb and Merlin Heinze Carl Bain Lloyd Candell Robert Ellis Laura and Hewitt Heiserman Nancy Ballantyne David Cappillo Sheila and Mike Elser Louisa Henzler Mary and Al Banfield Rebecca Cariño John Engdahl Jennifer Heywood and Robert Abisla Cheryl Barber and Sarah Andrews Susan and David Carlisle Sarah English and Jennifer and David Higgins Sharon and William Baridon Tracy Carroll Alfons van Heerwaarden Joshua Hildreth and Rick Robinson Jeanne and Daniel Barnwell Patricia and Donald Carter Heather Evans Ana Hill Pamela and Walt Barry Catherine and Peter Casson Sandra Falsey Leon Hirth Kathy and Dan Baummer Rebecca and Grant Castle Donnalee and Kip Farris Barbara Hobbs Beverly and Michael Becker Ann Caswell Diane Fatheree Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hoffman Susan Ceurvels Maureen and Matthew Feddern Linda and William Hoge Alta and Basil Chadbourne Scott FitzGerald Paul Holliday Brenda and Dick Chapin Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick Jane Hood and Neal Boyle Lucia and Alan Chapman Sarah Flynn Natasha and Stephen Hope Kathleen Vignos Folsom Beth and Jim Horn Lisa de Paula Fonseca Hannah Hoster Jennifer Foster Lona Hough Linda Fountain Ruth House Debra Fox and Ruth Arnold Amy and Andrew Hout Michael Bennett Sara and Skip Fraley Nancy and Brian Hughes Donna and Lee Bensey Brian Freyermuth Betty and Steve Hunter Amy Berlin Susan Orban and Rupert Friday Stephen Hyde Claire Best Lisa and Rick Fritz Paula Ingalls Christopher Bever Wanchin Chou Suzy and Steve Gagnon Jacqueline Jacobs Constance Beverley Athena Christakis Paul Galardy Theodore Jakubiak Katrina Bianchi Michael Clements Maria Garcia Thomas Jakubiak Johanna and Sean Billings Sheila Cochran Michael Garner Dona Jewell and Samuel Eddy Elizabeth Bird Hannah and Robert Cohen Helen and Jack Garrity Dr. Judy Johnston Melissa and Perot Bissell Sally Cohen-Alameno Sharon Garroway Kimberley Jones Peggy and Jim Black Kim Collier Veronica and Anthony Gauker June and Don Jordet Glen Blair Kay Lee Collins John Gearns Charles Jucius Judith Blake The Community Foundation Beth and David Geduld Suzanne and Alfred Judd Emogene and George Bland for the National Capital Region GEI Consultants, Inc. Susan Kaminski Hannah Blunt Francis Conway Jeanne and Tommy George Katherine Kane Sarah Boggs Annette Cook Nancy Gibbens Holly and Mark Karinen Penny Bohac-Cardello Connie and Ken Cookson Steve Gilb Annette and Daniel Kasle Mary-Glynn and John Boies Jennifer Cory and Rocco Morrongiello Angela and Jason Gilbert Lewis Katz Sandra and Steven Borgerson Sean Cotter Timothy Gill Lynn Kelly Mary and Warren Bowen Andrea Coursey Sylvia Gillett Joan and Jack Kelly Pamela and Keith Bowie Story Cowles Carol Glynn Carolyn and Jim Kepoun Kathy and Charles Boyd Anna and Alain Creissen Susan and Martin Gosman Sophie Kernan Denise and Dave Boyer Greg Crocker Barbara Graham and Hugh Delehanty Acadia Keyes Jill Brammer Nancy and Mark Cuddihy Kathleen Graham and Robert Cook Deb and Rod Kime Thomas Breitenbeck Lucy Daniel Alice Grant and Matthew Faulkner Jean Kindleberger Judi and Chuck Brett Julie D’Aoust Nancy Davis Griffin and Glenn Griffin Tina King and Barry Teater Doris Bridge Emily Davidson Sean Grindall Meagan and Jake King Kaye Bright Heather and Arthur Davis Geoffrey Groesbeck Margaret and Michael Klein Heather and Bob Brinton Susan and James Davis Joan Grosser Gordon Klofstad Brookfield/Burke Foundation Yvonne Davis Joseph Haas Colleen and Thomas Kowalczyk Jill and Todd Brown Jerome Davis Kai Hagen Veronica and Jon Kraus Norman Bruce Lorraine and Scott Davison Jane and Bruce Hakanson Dieter Krieg Susan Brustein Ann and Vince Defabio Anna Hargraves Hall Carole and Hal Kroeger Anissa Buckley Ralph DeFlorio Caroline and Mark Hall Sharon Kulp Michael Bucklin Noreen and Michael Delorey Kay Hallenbeck Kathy and Dave Laffoon Lester Burbic John Dennis Martha and Alan Hamblen Joan Lancourt Nancy and Duncan Burke Sheila and Bruce Denny-Brown David Hamilton Karen Landis Gretchen Butera and George Maughan Felicia and Bruce DePaola
16 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal New Members
Stella and Ray Landry Paul McArdle Patricia Rice Carson Lappetito Brian McAuliffe Elizabeth Robinson Belinda and Chuck Lawrence Jim McVay Ruben Roca Donna Merkel Louise Rockwell Bonnie and Albert Meyer Dr. Maria Rodrigues Pam Meyers and Mike Waters James Rosenquist Karen, Jon, Jimmy and Jess Suiter Suzanne Mills Erika and Art Rublin Lyn Tan Amanda and Anthony Modrovsky Mary Rudis Robyn Tarantino and Tim Guilfoyle Rita Mondragon Vickie and Jim Ruffing Thomas Tash Linda and Allen Moore Ryan Ruigrok Wendy Taylor Barbara and Ronald Moreland Ned Sacktor Ashley Thames SaddleBrooke Lady Niners Ann Thoits John Lazzarotti The Saint Paul Foundation Sam Thompson Barbara and Warren Lee Michelle and Donald Salva Ali Thompson-Kassels and Lorraine Lee Bill Samek Steven Kassels David Lee Jose Santiago Estrid and Karl Thuge Beth Lee Thomas Sapontzis David Thuroff Marilyn Sass-Lehrer and Sande Lehrer Sean and Maurisha Tighe Lucy and Michael Schaud Joseph Tilleman Angela and Nathan Scheigert Laura and David Timby Carolyn and Andrew Schilly Peggy and Ernest Todd Vickie and Francis Schlosser Dr. Henry L. Tomashevski Tracy and Daniel Schofield Shirley Tourigny Kathy and Jack Morgan Elizabeth Schreffler and Trenton General Store Linda Morrison David Thompson Irene and John Trzaskos Loretta and Scott Morschauser Mary Schultheis Cheryl and Terry Turk Sara and John Moser Amy Schuman and Larry Stoler Mr. and Mrs. Samuel H. Turner Sr. Luanne and David Moskowitz Dale Schusterman Nick Uniontowski Mudhillun MuQaribu Joseph Scirico Georgia Van Dusen Muriel and Edward Murphy Frank Sclafani Jessica Vasil Tammy Murray Mary and Keith Scott Suzanne Vilandré Noelle Lehrman Judy and Roy Murray Urling and Robert Searle Janet and Philip Vitiello Maggie and Zach Leinen Jody Naimark Jeff Seinwill Anthony Vittoria Karen and Larry Lenz Tricia and Hod Nalle The Sherlock Family Roseanne Levin Victoria Neely Andrea Sewall Gina and Lynn Lewis Mr. and Mrs. Lewis L. Neilson Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Scott O. Shaffer Kristin Lindgren and Alex Pearson Edgar Nelson Kathleen and James Sheilds Laurie and Greg Lindsay Hetty Nerod Dave Sherman John Lindsay Fred Newman Melanie and Madison Shmalo Karen Linnell Andrew Nicholson Reuben Silvers Leila Lituchy Christopher O’Brien Virginia and Donald Sink Gail and Craig Llewellyn Christine Ochsner and John Carroll Greg Sinn Leslie Longfield and Michael Robinson Wilma O’Connell Donna Loringer Kathleen O’Connell Jo Loudenslager Debbie and Larry Onie Mathew Waldron Susan and John LoVerso Rosalind and Anthony Orofino Peter Ward Anita and Peter Lucsky James Otis Stephanie Watson and Ian Voparil Kelly Lynch and Gary Kanter Tara and Jack Packo Renee Weber Megan Lyon Phyllis Palma Lucy Nalle Weed Cathy and Lou MacDonald M. Jane and Robert Palmer Rochelle Wehrfritz Jane MacElree Roberta and Joseph Palmiotto Sandra and Paul Weisblatt Jennifer Mackiewicz Susan and James Pantoleon Suzanne Skidmore Eric Weitze Maine Commercial Photography, Inc. Marianne and Keith Pendlebury Dr. Stephanie Small Sarah Wharton Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Malkin Christine and Dennis Perham and Dr. Kurt Kelley William Wheeler Martha and Frank Manley Julia Perlman Alec Smith Mary White Nancy Margolis Joan Peterson Kent Sokmensuer Anna Wieckowski Sheldon Marks Heather Peterson Edith Sontag Deborah Wiggs and Phillip Norris Chari Marron Jen Petras Sorrento Dental Associates Marsha Wiles Trish and Owen Marx Raphael Picard Linda and Michael Soukup Beth Ann Williams Joe Masi John Pickard Donna Spadaro Sherri and David Wilson Barbara and Charles Pierce Mark Spaulding Lydia and Gary Winderman Mr. and Mrs. Richard Pileggi Christine and Robert Spaziani Jim Winton Drs. Barbara and Stuart Pizer Marci Spiegle Nancy Wohlgemuth Roberta Porter William Springer Ruth, Chuck, and Aaron Yeiser Sarah Powell and Noah Tapley Cathryn Stein and David Seldin Drs. Mary and Richard Yoo Denise and Edward Prusak Harvey Steiner Thomas Yu Jonathan Rabon Karen and Kirk Steinhoff Clara Zenteno and Oscar Macias Stephen Ramponi Stanley Stillman Vanessa Zoll and Jay Tillotson Wade Rankin Leslie and Neil Stone Mary Ellen Zwirner Christina Mauceri Pam and Ron Reis Kenneth May Carol and Ira Reznikoff June 1–September 20, 2011
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 17 Updates
Participants enjoyed the sights from the Islesford ferry during Friends of Acadia’s Mano en Mano weekend.
Good Friends Honored Mano en Mano Weekend at Annual Meeting In July, Friends of Acadia hosted forty At the 25th Anniversary Annual Meeting of adults and children from the Milbridge Friends of Acadia on July 13th, outgoing organization Mano en Mano on a two-day board chair Lili Pew was honored with the exploration of Acadia as part of a youth Marianne Edwards Distinguished Service and diversity pilot program funded by the Tours Daily at 10:00 a.m. Award. During the presentation, FOA Unilever United States Foundation, Inc. and 2:00 p.m. President Marla O’Byrne noted Pew’s great The families camped, visited Islesford, vol- 207-288-0300 commitment to Acadia and her “extraordi- unteered in the park, and explored the nary ability to engage, entertain, challenge, coastline. The goal of the pilot program and inspire each and every person she was to encourage Maine’s culturally diverse meets.” Lili Pew has served on the board population to begin lifelong relationships for the past six years, and was board chair with one of Maine’s greatest outdoor assets, from 2007 to 2011. Established in 1991, Acadia National Park. Ian Jaffe, executive the Marianne Edwards Award was named director of Mano en Mano reported, “this
ÿ Á for the late founder of Friends of Acadia. was a positive experience for the families  ÃÄ Ã Honorees at the Annual Meeting also that will encourage many of them to included outgoing board member Debby explore the outdoors again in the future Lash, who received the President’s Award and become stewards of the natural envi- ÿ ÁÂÃÃÂÄÄ for Damn Good Work in recognition of her ronment. I know that many families are work as initiator and chair of the interested in camping again this season.” Governance Committee. Retiring Acadia National Park Chief of Maintenance Jim More than 250 New Members Vekasi received the Friends of Acadia Join at the Membership Table Award for Distinguished Public Service, Thanks to 21 knowledgeable and enthusi- and Glen Mittelhauser of the Maine astic volunteers, the Friends of Acadia Natural History Observatory and Ann membership table at Jordan Pond House Kinney of the Garden Club of Mount gained 252 new memberships this summer Proudly serving Northeast Desert jointly received the Conservation and $17,922 in contributions from new Harbor since 1883. Colleague Award for their partnership with members and others. During the fifth sea- Serving from noon to close daily. Friends of Acadia to publish the Plants of son for the membership table program, the Tel: 207-276-3344 www.asticou.com Acadia National Park. group logged 320 hours from late June to
18 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal mid-September. They brought the total includes the abandoned 1926 Canada new members gained at the table to 1,482, Cliffs Cutoff and a new section along the plus 264 additional contributions. Echo Lake Beach access road. The trail The membership table program gives passes through sections of historic value, Acadia National Park visitors the opportu- sensitive plant areas, a challenging boulder nity to learn one-on-one about FOA and its field, and previously undeveloped forest. mission. Often, visitors tell the volunteers In all, almost 200 stone steps were reset or they are happy to join Friends of Acadia as added, over 1,000 feet of stone tread or a way to give back to Acadia for all of the causeway were built, and log cribwork fun and meaningful experiences they have and log checks stabilize tread in soft forest enjoyed in the park over the years. The floors. membership table is a convenient way to join FOA, and many current members stop Valley Cove, Great Notch, Flying by to renew their membership. To see Mountain…do you like hiking photos of new members from 2011, visit the Westside of Acadia? www.facebook/friendsofacadia. In fall 2009, an anonymous FOA member challenged members to raise $5,000 to Canada Cliffs Inauguration support the rehabilitation of trails on the On September 29th, FOA celebrated the Westside of the island. In November 2010, completion of the Canada Cliffs Connector members met the challenge. With the Trail with an inaugural hike led by Acadia funds, FOA helped the park complete National Park Trails Foreman Gary work on Canada Cliffs, the West Ridge Stellpflug. Through the coordinated efforts Trail, and Flying Mountain this year. Our of Footloose Friends, an anonymous Fernald Point friend was so please with the donor, the Acadia Youth Conservation results she issued another challenge—this Corps, park trail crews, and FOA volun- time for $10,000—for Westside trails. teers—under the umbrella of the Acadia Extensive work is scheduled for the Valley Trails Forever (ATF) program—the trail Cove area in 2012. connects Canada Cliffs to Echo Lake via Response to the 2011 Westside the Lurvey Spring Road, creating a loop Challenge has been great, with more than that allows hikers access to Beech $9 ,000 received. To join the effort and Mountain trails from Echo Lake without make a contribution to be matched, simply tackling the Beech Cliff Trail’s formidable mail a check, made payable to Friends of descent. Over 3,300 feet long, the trail Acadia, and enclose it in the envelope pro-
birchbayvillage.us 207 288-8014 Hikers wind up the steps on the new Canada Cliffs Connector during the trail’s inaugural event. Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 19 FORESIGHT & GENEROSITY Tom Blagden Tom WAYS YOU CAN GIVE “One of the greatest satisfactions in doing any sound work for an institution, a town, or a city, or for the nation, is that good work done for the public lasts, endures through the generations; and the little bit of work that any individual of the passing generation is enabled to do gains the association with such collective activities an immortality of its own.”
—Charles W. Eliot, Sieur de Monts Celebration, 1916
Please consider these options for providing essential financial support to Friends of Acadia:
Gift of Cash or Marketable Securities. Mail a check, payable to Friends of Acadia, to P.O. Box 45, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, or visit www.friendsofacadia.org/support.shtml to make a secure gift using your credit card. Call 800-625-0321 or visit our website for instructions on giving appreciated securities, which can offer income tax benefits, as well as savings on capital gains.
Gift of Retirement Assets CLAREMONT HOTEL Designate FOA as a beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), or other retirement asset,
For over 126119 summerssummers upholding the traditions and pass funds to Friends of Acadia free of taxes. ofof hospitalityhospitality and leisureleisure on on the the coast coast of of Maine. Maine. {www.theclaremonthotel.com}{www.theclaremonthotel.com} 1-800-244-50361-800-244-5036 Gift of Property
FINE DINING - COTTAGES- SUMMER HOTEL Give real estate, boats, artwork, or other property to Friends of Acadia and you may avoid capital gains in addition to providing much-needed funds for the park.
Gift Through a Bequest in Your Will Add Friends of Acadia as a beneficiary in your will.
For more information, contact Lisa Horsch Clark at &23/21 $662&,$7(6 207-288-3340 or 800-625-0321, /DQGVFDSH$UFKLWHFWXUHDQG3ODQQLQJ email [email protected], ZZZFRSORQDVVRFLDWHVFRP _%DU+DUERU0DLQH or visit our website at www.friendsofacadia.org.
20 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal Members of the George B. Dorr Society enjoyed Acadia by sea aboard the Starfish Enterprise. vided with this Journal. Or, if you prefer, Clean Water, Clean Shores call the office at 800-625-0321 or visit our Hundreds of volunteers spent the morning secure website at www.friendsofacadia.org of Saturday, September 17th cleaning 25 to charge your gift. Be sure to note that the sites on shorelines from MDI to Schoodic gift is for the Westside Challenge. and islands in between. Participating towns included Tremont, Bar Harbor, Southwest Cruising Acadia Harbor, Mt. Desert, Lamoine, and Goulds- More than forty guests gathered for the 7th boro and the island communities of Gotts, Annual George B. Dorr Society event in Swans, Baker and Cranberry. Volunteers September for a morning cruise across collected over 8,000 pounds of trash, Frenchman’s Bay to explore the coast of the including a pesticide applicator, propane Schoodic Peninsula. Society members, tanks, balloons, floating drums, fishing line joined by FOA President Marla O’Byrne and about 215 lobster traps. Of that, 3,300 and Superintendent Sheridan Steele, pounds of trash were recycled through the cruised aboard the Starfish Enterprise and cooperation of the Department of Marine picnicked between Ned Island and Frazer Resources and the generosity of the Gulf of Point. The meal was catered by the Jordan Maine Lobsterman’s Association. Pond House. Highlights of the cruise included nature interpretation by ANP Trenton Trails Community Social Ranger Todd Miller, land protection details On September 18th FOA hosted a Trenton by ANP Land Resource Specialist Emily Community Trail Volunteer Social. Seger Pagan, and a posing American bald Volunteers brushed out the trail and began eagle just off the boat’s port side. limbing the trees along the route, and were The George B. Dorr Society was estab- treated to a cookout immediately following ,UNCH $INNER lished in 2005 to recognize those members the volunteer project. Friends of Acadia &RESH SEAFOOD HAND CUT STEAKS EXTENSIVE WINE LIST LOCAL BEERS COCKTAILS and friends who have documented pro- continues to work with the Trenton Village visions for Friends of Acadia in their estate Connector Trail Committee and Burnham plans. The Dorr Society honors George Martin of the National Park Service’s Rivers Bucknam Dorr, gentleman, scholar, and and Trails Conservation Assistance Program lover of nature, whose dedication to pre- on planning the trail. FOA will be working WWWGALYNSBARHARBORCOM s -AIN 3TREET "AR (ARBOR serving Mount Desert Island helped create with area high school students on interpre- Acadia National Park. Each year members tive aspects of the trail, such as identifying of the Dorr Society gather for a special natural features along the trail route, sig- appreciation event. nage for interpretive panels on the board- If you have made provisions for FOA walk and at the viewing platform, and how in your estate plans or would like infor- to apply current interactive technology on mation about joining the George B. Dorr the trail, such as a “Trenton app” or geo- Society, please contact Lisa Horsch Clark, caching. The 1.8 mile trail loop has been director of development and donor rela- finalized, and volunteers have been brush- tions at 207-288-3340. ing out sections of the trail since June. FOA
Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 21 Serving the Downeast community since 1883 In Gratitude
IN-KIND DONORS Karol Hagberg Claudia and Carey Turnbull Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Priscilla and Jack Hirschenhofer Nancy Turner %DUU\.0LOOV0HOLVVD0+DOH BerryDunn Susan Hokansson Cody van Heerden Cookie Horner Jan Varnum -XVWLQ0%HQQHWW6DOO\10LOOV Michelle Bierman Joe and Kathy Bonaventura James Kaiser Michaeleen Ward Alison M. King Chris’s Farm Stand Barbara Loveland Jill Weber Dr. Doug Coleman Anne Molavi Mavis Weinberger 6WDWH6WUHHW(OOVZRUWK0( Fernwood Georgia Munsell Ruth and Sandy Werier )$; Flying Change Webs & Graphics Judy and Peter Obbard Marilyn and Al Wiberley ZZZKDOHKDPOLQFRP Greenrock Company Anne Pomeroy Pauline Angione Home Depot of Ellsworth Valerie Thaler and Robert Petrie Helen and Philip Koch Rita and Mel Timmons FAMILY FUN DAY HANNAFORD Mount Desert Land and Garden Diane and Frank Zito IN-KIND DONORS Preserve AND VOLUNTEERS SUPERMARKETS Queen Anne’s Flower Shop WILD GARDENS OF The Abbe Museum Schoodic Education and Research ACADIA VOLUNTEERS Acadia National Park 86 Cottage Street Center Institute Pauline Angione American Park Network Ann Smith Connie Blaney Barbara Arter Bar Harbor Paul Sullivan Jason Bosworth Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Surry Gardens Becky Brush Bar Harbor Whale Watch Sweet Pea’s Farm Store Jordan Chalfant Camp Beech Cliff Where Shopping is a Pleasure. Barbara Cole Evie & Sam Cook BENEFIT VOLUNTEERS Dr. Doug Coleman Deb Deal ATM Major Credit Cards In addition to the 154 members Lucy Creevey Iron Slipper Farm of the Benefit Committee, the following Leah Donahue Island Explorer volunteers helped make the Benefit Floy Ervin The Jackson Laboratory Auction a success. David and Judith Fischer Zack Klyver Lynne Blair Lois Frazier Mollie Sosa Jeff Castonguay Margot Haertel Peter Steenstra Jenn Donaldson Mary Ann Handel Calvin Tweedie Marshall Ginn Helen Koch U.S. Fish & Wildlife Millicent Green Anne Kozak Kate Vanoff Don Lenahan Susan Leiter Wallace Tent & Party Rental Dee Lustusky Muriel Lindquist The Wild Gardens of Acadia Adrienne Redhair Eileen Linnane Committee Jane and Bob Sanderson Isabel Mancinelli and Sam Coplon Lynne Staggs Anne Molavi FAMILY FUN DAY Rita and Mel Timmons Mary Opdyke SPONSORS Sara Yeterian Pam Parvin Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Diane and Frank Zito Carole Plenty The Bluenose Inn Julia Zito Kate Pontbriand The First Barbara Rappaport Hale & Hamlin MEMBERSHIP TABLE Abbie Savage The Knowles Company VOLUNTEERS Kathy Shultz The Vanoff Family Len Berkowitz Don and Joan Smith Window Panes Jeff Dunn Margaret Stern Peg Emple Barbara Tennent Margot Haertel Genie Thorndike Distinctive properties. Legendary service. Real estate professionals since 1898. • I hereby bequeath $______to Friends www.KNOWLESCO.com ACADIA FOREVER of Acadia, Inc., a Maine charitable corpo- 207 276 3322 ration, P.O. Box 45, Bar Harbor, Maine Estate Planning—Supporting the Mission of 04609, for its charitable purposes. ONE SUMMIT ROAD • NORTHEAST HARBOR, MAINE 04662 Friends of Acadia • I hereby devise the following property to reserving and protecting the outstanding Friends of Acadia, Inc., a Maine charitable P natural beauty, ecological vitality, and cul- corporation, P.O. Box 45, Bar Harbor, tural distinctiveness of Acadia National Park Maine 04609, for its charitable purposes: and the surrounding communities is a wise [legal description of property]. investment. Your concern and appreciation for Acadia It’s simple. Add only one of the following and Mount Desert Island will be a lasting lega- sentences to your will, or a codicil: cy, enriching the lives of millions now and • I hereby give ______% of my residuary estate in the future. For more information, call 800- to Friends of Acadia, Inc., a Maine charita- 625-0321, email the director of development ble corporation, P.O. Box 45, Bar Harbor, at [email protected], or visit our Maine 04609, for its charitable purposes. website at www.friendsofacadia.org.
22 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal Celebrating the 4-millionth passengers on the Island Explorer (left to right): Stephanie Clement, FOA conservation director; Paul Murphy, general manager of Downeast Transportation; Ryan Sherlock, age 12; Kim Sherlock; Amanda Sherlock, age 9; Mike Sherlock; and Len Bobinchock, ANP deputy superintendent. is currently applying for permitting for Island Explorer bridge work over streams, as well as a Carries Four Million Riders boardwalk that will lead to and overlook On August 19th, the Sherlock family from the heath. Cherry Hill, NJ was surprised with the news that they were the 4-millionth pas- Teens to Trails sengers on the Island Explorer bus. Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park Camping in an RV at Blackwoods co-hosted the Teens to Trails Outing Club Campground, the family estimated that Rendezvous over the Columbus Day week- they had ridden five of the eight routes end. Schools that participated in the week- offered by the Island Explorer. They were end of outdoors activities included headed for a day of hiking on Cadillac Boothbay Region High School, Cape Mountain, but paused at the Bar Harbor Elizabeth High School, Cheverus High Village Green for a press conference where School, Cony High School, Kents Hill they were presented with a gift member- School, Lake Region High School, Mount ship to Friends of Acadia and a gift tote and Desert Island High School, South Portland gift card from L.L.Bean. High School, Thornton Academy, and Wiscasset High School—each recognizing Be a Trailblazer the importance of outdoor experiences in with a Monthly Gift to FOA their students’ lives. Teens spent Saturday Did you know that you can conserve natu- afternoon volunteering on park trails that ral resources by using your checking they then explored the following day— account or credit card to make a monthly camping, hiking, biking, and rock climbing membership gift to FOA? The Trailblazer outdoors all day Sunday. For many of these monthly giving program makes it safe and teenagers, it was their very first trip to convenient to support FOA’s work year Acadia and their first night sleeping under round. Trailblazer members’ dollars go far- the stars. Teens To Trails is a nonprofit, all- ther toward preserving and protecting volunteer organization engaging teens in Acadia by saving paper and postage costs. the Maine outdoors. The Teens to Trails As a Trailblazer member, you will avoid goal is to establish an outing club in every receiving membership renewal notices in Maine high school community, to promote the mail and you will never have to mail outdoor adventures and healthy lifestyles, your renewal payment. And your member- and nurture next generation of caring stew- ship will always be current! ards for Maine’s precious natural resources. Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 23 GIVE THE GIFT OF ACADIA
BRUCE JOHN R LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
27 PINE STREET BAR HARBOR, MAINE 04609 De Wolfe George 207.266.5450 Looking for the perfect gift idea throughout the year ? Creative & Innovative Landscape Architecture for Residential & Estate Gardens Introduce someone you love to Acadia with a gift membership in Friends of Acadia. www.landartdesigner.com Please send a special $40 gift package* to: MICHAEL L ROSS ATTORNEY AT LAW Name
[email protected] Address City State Zip 953 Bar Harbor Road Trenton, Maine 04605 Telephone Number 207-667-1373 Message you would like on the card:
*Gift package includes: • Summit Blocks on Acadia Mountain and other classic scenes, a packet of six lovely note cards featuring the photos of former Friends of Acadia artist-in-residence George De Wolf • A one-year (three issues) subscription to the Friends of Acadia Journal WINE & CHEESE • A Friends of Acadia window decal 244-3317 • The satisfaction of knowing that membership in Friends of Acadia helps to preserve the remarkable beauty of Acadia National Park 353 Main Street, Southwest Harbor, Maine 04679 To give a gift membership, simply mail the above form (or a photocopy), along with a check made payable to Friends of Acadia, in the envelope provided or visit www.friendsofacadia.org
All contributions to Friends of Acadia are used to preserve, protect, and promote steward- ship of the outstanding natural beauty, ecological vitality, and distinctive cultural resources of Acadia National Park and the surrounding communities. All gifts are tax deductible.
Friends of Acadia P.O. Box 45 • Bar Harbor, ME 04609 www.friendsofacadia.org 207-288-3340 • 800-625-0321
24 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal TENTS DANCE FLOOR LINENS CANOPIES BAND STAGES GLASSWARE/DISHWARE TABLES & CHAIRS GRILLS CATERING EQUIPMENT
Telephone or Fax: 667-6210 35 Commerce Park, Bar Harbor Road P.O. Box 552, Ellsworth, ME 04605
Pianist Paul Sullivan and soprano Rose Upton performed a night sky-themed concert at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor as a benefit for the Acadia Night Sky Festival and Schoodic Arts for All. Friends of Acadia’s contributions to the festival helped make this event possible.
When you sign up for the program, you 26th with great success. Although the fog can choose to set up an automatic deduc- caused several star parties and night-time tion from your checking account or an interpretive boat cruises to be canceled, the automatic charge to your credit card on the arts events and lectures drew rave reviews first business day of each month. We wel- from participants. The opening keynote come any monthly payment of $10 or speech was provided by Dr. H. John Wood I &/$66,& more. You can change or cancel your of the Goddard Space Center with images Trailblazer membership any time by con- from the Hubble telescope. Other high- tacting FOA. To become a Trailblazer mem- lights included an outdoor viewing of the ber, contact Sharon Broom, development movie Wall-E on the Bar Harbor Village FODVVLF VW\OHV officer, at 207-288-3340 or sharon@friend- Green, a night-sky themed concert by FRPIRUWDEOH OLYLQJ« sofacadia.org. renowned pianist Paul Sullivan and sopra- no Rose Upton, and presentations by window Celebrating Acadia’s Night Skies author, astronomer, and physicist Dr. Tyler panes The Third Annual Acadia Night Sky Nordgren relating features found in I HOME & GARDEN Q 0DLQ 6WUHHW %DU +DUERU Festival, co-sponsored by Friends of America’s national parks like geysers and Acadia, concluded on Monday, September the tides to astronomical phenomena.
Friends of Acadia Conservation Director Stephanie Clement briefed a visiting delegation from the Chinese State Forestry Administration in September about nonprofit friends organizations and the relationship between Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia. The group was guided through Acadia by Division Chief of Resource Management David Manski and representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 25 IN MEMORIAM Advocacy Corner We gratefully acknowledge gifts received in memory of: THE ACADIA ADVOCACY NETWORK Harvey Aiges Andrew Alameno EEDS YOUR ELP Robert Ames N H ! Hilary Athaide s Congress battles over the budget Winnie Atkins over the next two years, our nation- Please contact your members Carolyn Barber Margaret Maher Barry Aal parks, including Acadia, will like- of Congress and share your Diane Bennett ly be affected by spending cuts intended to personal Acadia story, encour- Tom Bianchi reduce the national debt. Friends of Acadia Charles Bird aging your delegation to help Brandy needs your help to ensure that Congress hears protect our nation’s most Karen Bridge often about the value and importance of George Buck national parks to the American people and important natural and cultural Rebecca Burkhart resources by ensuring that Timothy Carroll their communities. David Caswell While FOA understands that federal national park appropriations Bobbie Cook budget reductions are bound to be part of remain strong. Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Cook any balanced debt reduction package, we David and Kitzi Crofoot Anna Marie Ferrato are concerned about the scale of cuts that in Washington, helping to tell Acadia’s Florence Young Frederick may be made and their effects on Acadia story. In the spring of 2011, FOA called Nicholas Gervasio National Park which already performs effi- upon a member in the Washington, D.C. Mary Giller John Hartwell ciently on a lean budget. Under a budget area to attend a national fly-in of conserva- Nancy Hiestand amendment, federal agencies have been tion advocates working to encourage Diane Hind directed to operate with 1.5% less than Congress to preserve the Land and Water Deanie Hodgkins George Huskins they had in the previous fiscal year—at Conservation Fund. FOA staff and board F. Peter Jordan least through November 18th, the date members visited with the Maine Eric Keller when the existing continuing resolution Congressional delegation earlier that Marie Lathrop expires in Congress. Acadia has also been year—we were told how important it was Estelle Lehrer Ann Macauley asked by the National Park Service to pro- to hear from many constituents. Thanks to Thomas McCoy ject labor and non-labor costs through the reinforcing messages of that member Jennie Michaloski 2016 and estimate deficits the park would and the FOA staff, board, and partners, Marion Migrin Marie Morrison face if the budget is reduced by 3%, 5%, Acadia received $1.7 million in 2011 to William Newman 7% or 10%. acquire a conservation easement on a 39- Walter O’Connell Acadia’s operating budget in Fiscal Year acre parcel bordering Lower Hadlock Pond. Robert Palmer Joseph Paolino 2011 was just over $7.9 million, and a cut Now, we need your assistance. Please Marie Perkins of 10% in FY 2012 would mean a deficit of contact your members of Congress and Ric Pfeffer $709,518. This is of great concern because share your personal Acadia story, encourag- Spencer Porter we understand that the FY 2012 budget ing your delegation to help protect our David Rabasca James Roberts will likely set the base for the next three to nation’s most important natural and cultur- June and Bert Sacktor four years, with little hope of reparation for al resources by ensuring that national park Sol and Rose Sadek cuts made that builds a legacy of deficient appropriations remain strong. If you have a Irene Schneiderman Irma Sibilia funding. Additionally, a 10% cut would be personal relationship with a member(s) of David Towle roughly equivalent to the annual cost of the Congress and would be willing to set up an Sarah Trafton park’s seasonal staff. Acadia could never appointment for you and an FOA staff Theresa Waldron Chrysandra Walter eliminate its seasonal personnel since they member to visit, please contact Happy and John White are the front line employees who staff Conservation Director Stephanie Clement Thomas Witt information desks, build and maintain at [email protected] to let her trails, operate the campgrounds, staff the know. June 1–September 30, 2011 entrance stations, and ensure visitor safety. We are facing a critical time for national Acadia would likely have to weigh all parks, and it is up to all of us who love possible budget cuts when already there are Acadia to ensure Congress remembers that 15 unfunded permanent staff positions at national parks are public places of inspira- the park. tion and enjoyment—that they embody our Your voice matters! For 25 years, Friends national heritage and truly are “America’s of Acadia members have made a difference best idea.” 26 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal Book Reviews IN NOMINE We gratefully acknowledge gifts received in memory of: Pond Babies Jo MacDonald Saw a Pond by Cathryn Falwell by Mary Quattlebaum Gerald Berlin Daphne and Laurence Birdsey Down East Books, 2011 Dawn Publications, 2011 Louise Black 32 pp., Hardbound 32 pp., Softcover Bucky and Maureen Brooks The Buchanan and Boggs Families Eric Christensen Stephanie Clement t’s never too early to begin sharing a love the frog a fine green frog with its tadpole Owen Craighead Elizabeth, Knox, and Eli and appreciation for the natural world sprouting two hind legs. All are common Susan Frost with children, and you don’t need to take in Maine, where author/illustrator Cathryn Henry and Oscar Gilmore I Jenny and Ron Green them to the ends of the earth to find nature. Falwell lives. Even the plants in and around Margaret Hamner In fact, the close and familiar may be the the pond are not generic greenery, but sen- Harper and Karsten best place to start. Richard Louv, author of sitive fern, pickerel weed, white pine, and Nanette Herbst Last Child in the Woods, points out that when so on. Robert and Kay Hulen nature is unfamiliar, it feels scary to children, A parents’ guide at the end offers sug- Patricia Kelly Bob and Traci Lampkin leading them to retreat inside to their iPods gestions on ways to engage all five senses Ann Lazzarotti and computer or television screens. For when exploring the natural world, clearly Life, Liberty, and Constitutional Law children in many regions of the U.S., a pond encouraging families to head outside when Leila Lituchy Ned and Mary Mitchell may be a perfect place to find the adventure reading time is done. Lucy Johnson Palmer and mystery of nature on a small and non- The lively Jo MacDonald Saw a Pond, by Lili Pew threatening scale. author Mary Quattlebaum and illustrator Donna and David Reis Alan Rosenquist and Cora Olgyay Two recent children’s books focus on Laura J. Bryant, is aimed at a slightly older Ed and Martie Samek ponds as a gateway for young naturalists. audience, but five-year-old Julia proved to Mary Lou and Andrew Schreffler We found some young reviewers who be a tough critic. While Maia delighted in Carolyn Suchy-Dicey and David Jennings could offer their opinions. the lovely watercolor illustrations and fun Jane Ingraham Thomas “Quack, quack, mama, duck, quack, re-imagining of the classic children’s song June 1–September 30, 2011 quack, mama, duck” chanted Grace as she “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” the picture flipped through the pages of Pond Babies. book format didn’t immediately draw in At 18 months old, Grace’s vocabulary is her older friend. However, Maia requested limited but her enthusiasm for Pond Babies several more sing-throughs after Julia went was evident as she and her parents read home, and enjoyed the surprise ending. through the new release from Downeast Like Pond Babies, this book offers careful Books. Not a board book but still small depictions of specific animal species; and enough for little hands, the book has brief though they are called reeds, fish, or birds in text and captivating and colorful illus- the text, the back pages offer interesting trations—perfect for her age and beyond. and age-appropriate descriptions of cattails, As an outdoor family, her parents loved bluegills, red-winged blackbirds, and so that it introduced in a simple way the crea- on. Throughout the book, the illustrations tures of the natural world and their home show Jo recording her observations in a environments. notebook. This is explained at the end with Four-year-old Maia delighted in answer- an activity inviting readers to match Jo’s ing the repeated question, “Whose baby is animal drawings to the sounds the animals this?” before the page turn revealed a moth- made in the song, and a section on “how to er duck, turtle, frog, deer, or loon. When be a naturalist like Jo” offering suggestions asked, she declared that her favorite part of creative ways to pay attention to and was the pages at the end where the reader record interactions with nature. The activi- is invited to wiggle like a tadpole, dive and ties largely depend on reading and drawing pop up like a loon chick, and act out the abilities beyond most pre-schoolers—mak- other pond babies in the book. Her mom ing this book well poised to grow along appreciated the accuracy of the collage with a developing naturalist. illustrations—the ducks (both mama and baby) clearly identifiable as mallards, the —Lisa Horsch Clark
turtles certainly eastern painted turtles, and Aimee Beal Church Sydney Rockefeller Roberts Friends of Acadia Journal Winter 2011 27 Chairman’s Letter
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
s young adults, my wife and I dis- covered the stunning natural beauty Aand wonders of Acadia National Park. We fell in love instantly, not only because of the spectacular scenery and views, but also because of the myriad of recreation- al opportunities. In time, we returned to Mount Desert Island and Acadia with our three daugh- ters, Anne, Meg, and Liz, and now we have been joined by our sons-in-law and grand- children. Every summer the entire family group, now sixteen in number, gathers for an extended time on MDI and in the park. Each person in the family seems to have a favorite hike or trail or view! Acadia has become the center of our family life togeth-
er—a treasure for each of us, as we know it Samek Family photo Martie and Ed Samek with their grandchildren on MDI. is, also, for many others. Whether you are a first-time or regular has also been a major force for protecting as the beneficiaries of all that good work visitor, a year-round or summer resident, and preserving the park in such milestone and care we have an obligation to assure a you know that Acadia is a special place—a accomplishments as the creation and strong future! The accomplishments of our place that feels like it has been here forev- support of the propane-fueled Island time of responsibility will stand as our er and that you can depend on to be here Explorer bus system and the Acadia legacy for future generations. forever, too, for you, your children, and Gateway Center; the Acadia Land Legacy Friends of Acadia, working with you— the many generations to come. That is part partnership, which is helping to protect our partners, volunteers, and donors—and of its mystery and magnificence. It recalls many privately-held parcels of land within recognizing that we are dealing with unfin- eternity, in the way its long history blends the park’s boundary; preventing clear- ished business, will continue the successes into its glorious present, with promises to cutting on Schoodic; among numerous of the past. We will focus additionally on remain, unchanged, well into the future. other efforts. the challenges of the future; challenges that However, much has changed since even But, our work and accomplishments to include recognizing and helping mitigate the founding of the park in 1916. Natural date are only the beginning. Our work is the effects of congestion in the park, as forces and human presence have both pro- really that of unfinished business. We well as the important task of inspiring tected and eroded the natural and cultural stand on the shoulders of those who began and engaging future generations of park resources of our beloved park. The the successful and important work of stewards. National Park Service, with its remarkably Friends of Acadia, and we are the shoul- Friends of Acadia has inspired and talented and caring staff, does a great job of ders upon which our successors will stand engaged me, as I believe it has you. I invite protecting and preserving Acadia National as they continue to preserve and protect each of you to continue your support, love, Park and the visitor experience it offers. the park and the visitor experience— and appreciation for Acadia and to join me And, fortunately, in 1986 Friends of Acadia which we all love. in reaching out to the next generation— was founded as a nonprofit partner for the As the eighth board chair of Friends of who will someday be required to continue park service, with shared goals for Acadia. Acadia, my challenge and responsibility is our work just as we continue the work of FOA initially focused on the deteriorated to help FOA continue the good work of those who came before us! carriage roads and hiking trails. Our part- those who have preceded us while helping nership has been highly successful, as we to prepare FOA for the future. While we all can see in the meticulously restored and deeply appreciate and respect the accom- maintained carriage roads and trails. FOA plishments of the past, we recognize that —Edward L. Samek
28 Winter 2011 Friends of Acadia Journal FRIENDS OF ACADIA—25 YEARS OF PROTECTING ACADIA As our 25th anniversary year comes to a close, Friends of Acadia would like to say Thank You to the remarkable leaders who have guided and inspired our efforts to protect the splendor of Acadia.
FRIENDS OF ACADIA FOUNDING COMMITTEE Marianne Edwards Chair Joe Abrell ANP Chief of Operations Seldon Bernstein John Kauffmann John March Michael Ross Bob Rothe ANP Volunteer Coordinator Lois Winter ANP Ranger Ron Wrye ANP Superintendent Granite ledges near Ocean Drive. FRIENDS OF ACADIA FRIENDS OF ACADIA ACADIA NATIONAL BOARD CHAIRS CHIEF EXECUTIVES PARK SUPERINTENDENTS John Kauffmann Jim Batchelder Ronald Wrye 1986–1989 Executive Director 1981–1986 Jeannine Ross 1988–1989 Joseph Abrell 1989–1991 Duane Pierson, President 1986–1987 (Acting) Charles R. Tyson, Jr. 1989–1995 Jack Hauptman 1991–1993 Charles R. Tyson, Jr., President 1987–1991 Linda Lewis 1995 (Interim) Robert Reynolds 1993–1997 Ken Olson 1991–1994 Lee Judd President and CEO Len Bobinchok 1997–2002 1995–2006 1994 (Acting) Dianna Emory John Courtin Paul Haertel 2002–2007 President and CEO 1994–2002 Lili Pew 2006 Len Bobinchok 2007–2011 Marla S. O’Byrne 2002–2003 (Acting) Edward L. Samek President and CEO Sheridan Steele 2011–present 2006–present 2003–present PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID LEWISTON, MAINE PERMIT #82 Friends of Acadia Earl Brechlin
First Snow on Eagle Lake
Mission Friends of Acadia preserves, protects, and promotes stewardship of the outstanding natural beauty, ecological vitality, and distinctive cultural resources of Acadia National Park and surrounding communities for the inspiration and enjoyment of current and future generations.
Friends of Acadia 43 Cottage Street PO Box 45 Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 207-288-3340 800-625-0321