Let’s Go Fishing!

Let’s Go Fishing!

By Sarah Wright

With the recent stay-at-home order, by now you may be feeling a bit stir crazy. Just remember that nature is still open. There are so many outdoor activities available in the area, especially now that the weather is warming up. If you haven’t experienced fishing yet, this could be the perfect time to try it. After all, this is the “Lakes” Region, and that means there are lots of fish to catch. 

Fishing is fun for everyone, and it’s easy to get started. It’s also a great way to bond with family and friends, and share stories and laughs while waiting for a bite. Whether you’re catching dinner, or choosing to “catch and release,” it’ll be a memorable experience for everyone. And, kids under age 16 can fish for free.

The most obvious fishing spots might be the larger lakes, with salmon, trout, and smallmouth bass, but the area also has sparkling streams and rivers, and small ponds that offer many opportunities for fishing. At different times of the year, more than a dozen fish species can be caught from the shores of Lakes Region waters. You might catch a bluegill, cusk, crappie, perch, or pickerel, among others. But before you head out, you’ll need the right gear. A successful fishing day requires a rod and reel (of course); a tackle box with hooks, bobbers, non-lead sinkers, artificial or live bait, and a pair of pliers; a cooler with ice if you’re planning on bringing your catch home; and snacks and drinks for everyone. Basic rod-and-reel fishing poles can be easily found at sporting goods stores and large discount stores, or even yard sales. If you have small children, look for barbless hooks which are easier to remove from clothing, fish, and (hopefully not) fingers. It’s also important to dress for the weather, and pack bug spray, sunscreen, and a hat before you head out. 

Here are some suggestions for local places to fish and what you might catch there.

Scenic Winnisquam Lake has rainbow and lake trout in its waters, along with smallmouth bass and white perch. NH Fish and Game’s accessible boat launch site offers shoreline space to hook a salmon or trout in the early season, and largemouth bass and yellow perch in the summer months. Don’t overlook nearby Opechee Bay, another great place to fish that’s within walking distance of downtown Laconia. There are opportunities here for rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, and yellow perch. Opechee Park is a great place to take kids fishing, with a beach and playground to entertain little ones in the summertime. Another spot with plenty of access is below the Lakeport Dam where there’s shoreline on both sides of the inlet. 

Many of the smaller lakes in the area offer excellent warm and coldwater fishing in a quieter, more peaceful setting. Fish and Game has a cartop access site at Pemigewasset Lake, with a fishing platform that cantilevers out over the lake. Anglers of all abilities can catch six different warm water fish species from this scenic spot, like largemouth bass, black crappie, yellow perch, and pickerel. There is plenty of parking available here, and also at Waukewan Lake as well. The south end of Waukewan provides lots of shoreline next to the railroad. There are many warm-water species here, and also rainbow trout. 

Naturally, the area’s most famous lake, Winnipesaukee, offers endless fishing opportunities. An added bonus is that most towns around the lake have restaurants open for take-out and ice cream for when it’s time for a break. The Meredith town docks at Hesky Park are a popular destination for shoreline fishing. For a quieter spot with access to similar fish species, try the Center Harbor town docks. The far-reaching dock is great for early season salmon and rainbow trout. At other times of the year, you can catch bass, perch, or pickerel. Within walking distance of the Loon Preservation Center in Moultonborough, the Lees Mills Boat Launch is a good spot for fishing for warm-water fish, and there is plenty of shoreline access. The location of the Wolfeboro town docks works well, too, because it’s right where the Smith River flows into Lake Winnipesaukee. The spot is popular in the spring for salmon and rainbow trout, and for perch and smallmouth bass in the summertime. Alton town docks are another great option for those same fish species. Other good possibilities around the region include Newfound Lake for salmon and lake trout, the Governors Island Bridge in Gilford, Weirs Channel in Laconia, or the Long Island Bridge in Moultonborough. Stream fishing is good for trout, and there are opportunities on the Smith, Pemigewasset, and Baker rivers. If you’re into fly-fishing or would like to try it, check out Saltmarsh Pond in Gilford or Upper Hall Pond in Sandwich. 

For those who plan to “catch and release,” the New Hampshire Fish and Game has some tips on how to properly handle fish and best ensure its chances for survival. First, land the fish quickly. Next, remove the hook very carefully by gently backing it out of the fish’s mouth, using pliers if necessary. If you can, release the fish while it’s still in the water. Definitely do not shake a fish off the hook, unhook a fish while it’s suspended in the air, or sharply pull the hook out while the fish is twisting. 

Ever thought about going fishing, but weren’t sure about local license requirements? Look no further than the Sumner Brook Fish Farm in Ossipee. A family owned and operated fish farm and hatchery since 1987, Sumner Brook has lots of trout, including Brown, Brook, and Rainbow. Keep what you catch and pay per fish, with no license required! You can bring your own pole or rent one for just a dollar. Don’t forget to purchase some worms, too. It’s a great opportunity to teach your kids how to fish. The fish farm is located at 277 Route 16 in Ossipee. They are usually open for trout fishing on weekends starting on Memorial Day, but this year’s opening day has not yet been determined. During the off-season, kids are welcome to visit the fish and feed them. For the latest information, visit www.sumnerbrookfishfarm.com or call 603-539-7232. 

Otherwise, everyone in your family who is age 16 or older must have a fishing license. Purchase a temporary license or a seasonal one at www.fishnh.com, at Fish and Game Headquarters in Concord, from licensed agents at bait and tackle shops, retail stores (like Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods) or through local town or city clerk offices. Call ahead to find out which options are available at this time. For a full list of where to buy licenses, visit www.wildlife.state.nh.us and click on the “Fishing” tab. NH Fish and Game also holds fishing classes through its Let’s Go Fishing program. The current class schedule is also on the website, along with helpful resources like a bi-weekly fishing report on conditions across the state and fishing season dates.

There’s nothing like the excitement of getting a bite on your fishing line! 

Painting the Lakes Region with Liane Whittum

Painting the Lakes Region with Liane Whittum

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Photos courtesy Liane Whittum

Tioga River, painting by Liane Whittum

Artist Liane Whittum drives a lot. She also observes a lot and she paints a lot. These things are all part of Liane’s life as an artist, although one might not expect driving would be part of a creative routine.

Liane, who lives in the village of Hill, New Hampshire with her husband and daughter, spends as much time as possible each day in her home studio. These days, the time is cut a bit short as she homeschools her daughter, due to school closures because of the pandemic. 

However, Liane, who is a well-known and sought-after artist in the Newfound Lake area, finds her day-to-day life artistically inspirational. This includes driving her daughter to appointments and even such mundane things as a trip to the store. “I seem to paint things I am around the most,” Liane explains. Some of her observations are inadvertent and can seem quite random; while most of us would drive by an old trailer or swampy area, she is immediately attracted to the colors, the composition and the mood created by the subject matter.

“I am drawn to different parts of New Hampshire. I like the postcard beautiful scenes, but I am interested in the other side as well,” Liane explains. “It is all part of what makes up the places where we live.”

When viewing Liane’s paintings and drawings, her skill and her sharp eye for a scene are readily apparent. We see places we know, and think to ourselves, “Oh yes, I remember that view or that highway, but I never saw how colorful or randomly beautiful it is the way Liane sees it in a painting.”

The paintings evoke not only a recognition of places, but they also prod at our memories and bring back remembrances of a day heading north on I-93 to look at foliage; a farm we passed where the spring mist rose from a field; a trailer park with claustrophobic snowbanks on a cold January evening when the street lamps just came on to cast a pink glow. We recall what the heat of a July day felt like as we drove a country road when the fiery orange sun slid behind the mountains at sunset or the lonely, almost frightening feeling of an old, abandoned home beside a secondary road. 

Liane describes her painting style as “realistic interpretation of the area where I live; sometimes with non-traditional subjects.” Indeed, the subjects range from beautiful landscapes to such things as a roadside parking area with storage trucks or a seemingly simple still life of a pear. Nothing is off limits for Liane and can be a way for her to interpret and learn about the world.

Although she now lives with her husband and daughter in rural Hill, Liane was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved at age five with her family to Contoocook, New Hampshire in 1982. She lived in Contoocook for most of her childhood, graduating from high school there. She began her career at age 19, designing and painting for a furniture company based in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Unlike most young people fresh out of high school and headed to college, Liane has painted many commissioned pieces purchased by private collectors, and her work has been carried in stores across New England, including Pier 1 Imports. Her immediate entry into the world of a professional artist speaks to her immense talent.

In her 30s, Liane fulfilled her lifelong desire to attend art school. “My husband was supportive and he helped me for four years so I could attend New England College. It was a good fit for me as a mom and because of my schedule. I have a degree in studio arts, with a major in painting,” she says. 

Like many artists, Liane has fashioned her life as a creative person to blend with her role as a parent. While she did not choose a traditional career path, Liane often takes on commissions and she is represented in galleries and also teaches private classes. She has a definite following and people all over the Newfound area and far beyond cherish her paintings.

As for her painting style, Liane says, “I am sort of a blended traditionalist, which is realism with a little bit of Impressionism. I focus a lot on realism, and when I do plein air painting, my style is a lot looser because when outside, I have to work quickly.”

She relates stories of particular places she has painted and some are amusing or informative. For example, she saw the trailer park with snow across the street from a gym (her daughter is a competitive gymnast and Liane drives her to the gym often). It might seem like a random thing to paint – a trailer park – but Liane liked the light, the colors and composition. With this subject and many others, she might make sketches of the scene and/or take photographs for reference. It is certainly near to impossible to paint outside in the cold winter, so reference sketches and photos are extremely helpful when Liane gets back to the studio to paint.

Spring in Bridgewater, painting by Liane Whittum

Another drive she took, this time to Jaffrey, New Hampshire to help hang an art show, took her past a factory where she had a moment of inspiration. “I saw the old factory, which was a minty green in color, on an overcast day, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I am going to plein air paint there!’” Certain colors, she explains, feed her and give her a desire to capture what she sees and to share it with others.

Liane sites many influences on her painting, from White Mountain region artist Erik Koepel, because she likes “his traditional way of doing things” to New Hampshire artist Byron Carr. She also loves the art of John Singer Sargent and Ivan Kramskoi, an artist who spearheaded a Russian genre of painting, Edward Hopper to Dutch still life masters. Liane speaks glowingly of instructors from New England College, including Inez McDermott, Daryl Furtkamp, Devin Mozdierz, Peter Granucci and Jay Bordage.

Recently, after learning of some rather discouraging media coverage of the pandemic and its effects on her area, Liane decided it would be her call to action to do something positive at this difficult time. “It made me ask myself what I can do to change the discouraging mindset,” she comments. “We aren’t just victims of our circumstances and I told myself I would get out and paint something nice; something meaningful although the weather wasn’t great. I chose a scene where I once painted and always wanted to return.” The scene, a farm not far from her home, is the subject for her uplifting mindset of doing what she can to project the positive during these pandemic times.

As a full-time artist, Liane has experienced the joys of being her own boss and the freedom to create every day. But it means she must be in charge of a lot of different things and wear many hats. Part of her creativity means challenging herself, such as a recent commission to paint a pet and its owner. She wanted to experiment and do the painting to accept the challenge of something new and she has learned much from the process. 

Talking about individual paintings, Liane starts by saying she often likes to paint unusual things. “I like a lot of man-made structures, such as buildings. I also like light, and sometimes I can see the composition as a painting as I am driving by something. It strikes me – it feels like a painting already and it has key elements, such as a late afternoon atmosphere. I am trying to focus on that golden hour, when light casts shadows. The sun is warm and it gives off a wonderful feeling. And I am interested in painting night scenes - nocturnes - and such things as snowbanks under parking lot lights.”

 Liane painted “Afternoon in Bridgewater” last April. She started first with a sketch on site and then did a plein air painting and finished by taking a lot of photos of the scene at different times of the day. “I recently went back there again and took more photos,” she says.

“January Dream”, the painting of the trailer park with snowbanks was painted using photos, due to the fact that it was wintertime and too cold to paint outside. 

Another painting, called “4th of July”, gives the viewer a front seat in Liane’s car with the road ahead and a very hot sun setting behind the trees. Liane says this very view, when she and her husband and daughter were driving to Andover, New Hampshire, on the 4th of July, inspired the painting. “We were on Rt. 104 in Danbury. It was late afternoon and we were on our way to see the fireworks. There were bugs the ed on windshield of the truck, as often happens in the summer, and the sunshine picked up and reflected off the bugs. I decided to include them in the painting.” Liane recalls the bugs looked rather like little fairies flitting through the air and the painting certainly has a highly atmospheric feeling.

Most of her paintings are smaller in size: 9 x 12 or 12 x 16, although she is now working on a painting of downtown Bristol that is around 14 x 24. No matter the painting’s size, a variety of people collect Liane’s artwork, from locals to out-of-staters and collectors from farther afield. 

Although it is difficult to get studio time, due to temporarily homeschooling her daughter during the pandemic closures, Liane remains positive and grateful for all she has and her many talents. She looks forward to having a presence at the August League of NH Craftsmen Fair at Sunapee, New Hampshire. As a member of the NH Art Association, Liane will be participating in the group’s tent display at the fair during a plein air day.

Always looking ahead, Liane hopes, when things open back up after the pandemic recedes, to get back to New York City and also to keep painting local scenes and perhaps gain entrance to more galleries. 

As she drives the highways and backroads of New Hampshire, spotting places bucolic as well as areas others would view as mundane, Liane embraces and interprets it all, painting with skill and fondness the many scenes of the Lakes Region.

(Liane is a juried member of the NH Art Association. She has won many awards, including the Washington SQ Outdoor Exhibit Award and the Gamblin Material for a Landscape in Oil Award from the Salmagundi Club in New York City. Her work is available at Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery at NH Art Association in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the Prospect Hill Home Gallery in Sunapee, New Hampshire. To see more of Liane’s work, visit www.lianewhittum.com or email liane.whittum@yahoo.com.)

Boaters Looking for Early Launching This Year

Boaters Looking for Early Launching This Year

By Leigh Sharps

As the COVID-19 pandemic is, hopefully, beginning to level off, regional marinas have not missed a beat in starting normal preparations for the upcoming boating season. In fact, those types of recreational-based businesses had no need to stop any of their usual activities since the onset of the pandemic due to the fact they are not publicly active from late fall to early spring.

Ice-out being over on all regional lakes for quite some time now, boaters are probably wondering if this summer’s season is continuing as normal. Established boaters know this popular warm-weather livelihood has always been a social distancing activity anyway. Area lakes also place specific restrictions on rafting (how many boats may be anchored together for social reasons). Of course there are also stringent state laws which keep boats a safe distance, not only from each other, but from the shore-land, water skiers, sail boats, kayakers, etc. (see N.H. Marine Patrol‘s standing laws/regulations for details).

Boats already in for the season

Marinas all over the Lakes Region are experiencing a huge surge in requests from second homeowners to put their boats in the water earlier than usual. Squam Lake Livery, a family-owned business since the turn of the century, located in the channel between Little and Big Lake Squam (and where the boat gas scene was filmed in ‘On Golden Pond’) is doing what all Lakes Region marinas and boat show rooms are doing now: continuing to prepare for what appears to be a booming season for this beloved regional recreational activity. Livery owners Tom and Sally Daigneault say, “In April the request for spring service went up by about 50 percent due to the out-of-state property owners choosing to shelter here in their vacation homes. We are hoping to remove some of our self-imposed restrictions in May so we can give our customers the opportunity to enjoy the lake earlier than usual in this unusual time.”

NH Mobile Marine owners Dan Eaton and Gregg Baker (who also run a division called Tow Boat US on Lake Winnipesaukee) located on Route 3 in Holderness say their business has also ramped up. They say they’re about a month and a half ahead of time for their business. Both have been boat mechanics locally since their teens and now have fulfilled their life-time mutual dream to run their own business. Since that modest beginning on their own just five years ago (after each worked for many marinas over the years) they now have seven full-time, year-round employees and they also add a couple ‘teens’ in the summer. They are ready to open their new Ship Store in just a few weeks.

Greg Baker and Dan Eaton of Mobile Marine

Baker says blocks of boaters arrive at different times of the season according to their particular reason to boat. “The local fishermen start. They’re a big block of the first boaters.” 

Eaton says they send owners of the boats they store or maintain ‘Spring Make Ready” letters so they can establish a maintenance and launch schedule for the year. They store some customer boats in a 16,000 sq. foot building in Ashland with a shrink-wrapped outside storage area at their shop location. With the other vessels they winterize and send home with their owners for the winter, they care for 400 in all.

“Between June and July there’s another group of boaters wanting to go in the water. But with what’s going on with the pandemic, everything has shifted and second-home owners started coming up to stay in March and they want their boats in now.”

Eaton understands the desire for boaters wanting access to the lake as soon as they can, but has to advise them there is a process to get the boats safely ready. “Also, we have to tell those with inboards or stern drives that although they can leave their boats in the water late in the fall while the water temperatures are still in the 50s, right now the water temperatures are freezing or below and it can freeze or damage a motor.” 

But with the water quickly warming, they are expecting the 20 or so boats a week they have serviced, and already put in the water, to increase from 30-40 a week by mid-May.

Like a few other marinas, they are a year-round enterprise and keep their full-time employees by running a winter plowing service. “These days if you want to keep experienced employees you have to offer year-round work.” They have about 70 large plowing contracts and are busy all winter. They sell parts and service other plows all winter, too.

The Tow US division is “just like Triple A except for boats,” explains Eaton. “It’s 24-7 on-the-water assistance on Winnipesaukee.” Eaton started that enterprise a couple decades ago and it continues to be a needed service; busy all summer with not only out-of-gas and boat motor problems, but also with recoveries of sunken boats and boats ashore on rocks. And Mobile Marine, like its name says, will go to boaters anywhere on a lake or where they’re stored.

Barry Gaw, owner/operator and managing member of Riveredge Marina, on Little Squam Lake in Ashland (and also of Squam Lakes Landing event venue and Sippican Partners, LLC construction) is extremely optimistic about the upcoming season despite the current pandemic situation. “We are several months ahead of where we normally are at this time for putting boats back in the water. When the schools closed here in NH and surrounding states, particularly Massachusetts, our (long-standing) customers started moving up here to their second homes and scheduling their ‘Boat Spring Make- Readies’ as we call it. Our April became the new May and May will be the new June.”

Gaw says their approach right now is “continuing to service customer boats and scheduling sales appointments outdoors while keeping our main marina building closed to the public. We are pausing boat rentals, too. Our crew is adhering to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) guidelines for the workplace and we keep following those and we also depend on Dr. Fauci (Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) and Dr. Birx (Dr. Deborah Birx, global health official and Ambassador to the office of the U.S. Vice-President as the Coronavirus Response Coordinator) for the clearest and most up-to-date information on how we are to operate.

 “Many folks who generally arrive in June are already here. Once their schools were closed and education became remote for the rest of the year, an opportunity for them to come up early became viable. Everyone who came up early is staying; they will not be going back and forth.” The parent of two little girls, Ellie and Greta, Gaw said, “We get it – last Sunday we went out in the boat and the girls took a polar plunge in Rattlesnake Cove. It felt great to be on the water, outside in the fresh air, doing something so different and wonderful during this stressful time right now, and we saw at least 15 boats which, believe me, is a lot for this time of year.”

Riveredge employees are lucky, too, as the entire crew is working and there have been no lay-offs. “We’re working hard to get boats in the water and we plan to keep everyone employed throughout the season. We are also fortunate to have other businesses, our Fisher Plow dealership and Sippican Construction that allow us to maintain a year-round base of employees who transition from the fall/winter business to the spring/summer season.” 

Riveredge stores 350 boats and recently built a new storage building, increasing their capacity to 400. There are no slips or day valet spots available for rent as “everything was reserved by the end of February” added Gaw.

The marina began in 1939 as Al’s Marine and Appliance store at a main intersection in Ashland. They sold everything from fishing gear to Zenith TVs at some point. There have been just a few owners: Al and Edie Miner, Alan Dale and Skip Van Sickle and family. It has been under Gaw’s watch since 2005. “It has always been part of the surrounding communities. We try hard to take care of the legacy of helping others enjoy their time here on the lakes.”

Their reception/event venue, Squam River Landing, is closed at this time and they are not scheduling events. They continue, however, to take reservation agreements on their phase II building project expanding their development of second homes overlooking Little Squam. “The homes are beautiful and the community has become truly special. We are very pleased the residents value the culture of Squam just as we do, and they are becoming active in helping others in the community as well.” Thirty boat slips/house boats have been sold in just the past two years, bringing the total to 80 with only 20 slips left.

Gaw offers words of advice, “When we all get back on the water, enjoying time with our families and friends, be grateful for all we have in this beautiful state. Let’s be kind to others and respect everyone’s approach to social distancing and keeping their families safe and sound. Squam is a very respectful lake and we are so fortunate to have it this way!”

(Contact Squam Boat Livery at 968-7721, Mobile Marine and Tow Boat US at 968-8600 and Riveredge: land, boat slip sales and construction projects at 968-7711.)

Lake Remembrances

Lake Remembrances

By Donna Chick

Spending summers on Ossipee Lake was as close to a perfect childhood as one could hope for. Grandparents were there, cousins were there, and all the tension that resided with us in Massachusetts, stayed in Massachusetts as we ran barefoot on pine needles. We didn’t have summer homes, we had rustic camps equipped with outhouses. My cousin and I earned 50 cents (each!) when we volunteered to paint the inside of the privy on the condition that our grandfather first remove the spiders. 

When at camp, we would wake early, put on our bathing suits, chow down some Frosted Flakes, and spend the rest of the day outside. We explored the woods, we built forts with whatever scraps of lumber we could find, and at the first clang of horseshoes we would run behind the neighbor’s house. There we would find the men, consisting of fathers, uncles, neighbors and grandparents, facing off in a high stakes game of horseshoes. We, the cousins, sat on a wooden bench to one side cheering on our fathers. It was the best sporting event I’ve ever been to! To this day, if I hear the clang of horseshoes, I go immediately back in time and enjoy a moment of nostalgia. 

It was in the water, though, where we spent most of our time. Performing cannon balls off the end of the dock while demanding of our mothers, “Watch this one!” we would splash with our arms in a frenzied game of freeze tag or just float on black inner tubes our fathers got from the dump. (We’d always get a rash from the rubber against our legs.)

Growing up, there was a certain amount of waiting. Waiting to be old enough to swim to the raft, waiting to walk to the store without an adult, waiting to sleep in our fort by ourselves (no adult ever offered to chaperone that adventure), waiting to take the rowboat out by ourselves all the way to the lily pads at the far side of the cove, and the biggest wait of all – taking our barge with its 5 HP Evinrude engine out and up the Bear Camp River without an adult overseer. 

Back in the 1950s, we had the Kingfisher, a worthy wooden motorboat owned by our grandfather. It held a respectable position among the other boats moored in Deer Cove, but the boat we truly loved was tied to the left side of the dock. The envy of fishermen far and wide. One of a kind. Homemade. The barge…a large wooden flat-bottomed boat wide enough to handle two webbed lawn chairs side by side and still leave room to inch by to move from stern to bow. It was probably 14 feet long and barn red. And unlike the Titanic, it truly was unsinkable. Rectangular in shape, there was a bow rail set high enough so my cousins and I could slide our legs under it and sit at the front of the boat with the rail across our bellies. Our feet would dangle in the water as the boat plowed forward and, using our toes, we could create interesting designs under the water.

The barge was often taken out before sunrise with fishermen onboard. They would troll the lake while we all slept. It was a great day when they came home with a Pickerel or Bass and, as we’d fly by, after eating our Frosted Flakes, we’d see them cleaning the fish on the wooden board fitted into the V of two trees beside the garage. 

 On other outings, the barge was cleaned out (as best as a flat bottom boat that always had some water in it, mixed with a little gas, could be cleaned out) and we all piled in, bringing lawn chairs for the women. We would head across the lake, and then veer to the right and head up Pine River to the Vagabond House Restaurant. I can’t remember if the food was any good. I can’t remember the inside of the restaurant at all. I do remember the thrill of getting there by boat and rolling down the embankment outside the restaurant. Life just couldn’t get any better – until . . .

  We were finally old enough to take the barge up the Bear Camp River by ourselves. Eight of us, all the cousins. My brother was the oldest, probably age 13 at the time. We all answered respectfully as we received our instructions. “Yes, we know to stay out of the lily pads. Yes, we know where the sand bar is and to swing wide to clear the point. Yes, we know how to pull the engine up if we go over a log in the river.”

Finally, we piled in the barge with life jackets on, a couple of those webbed chairs, and dry towels (which within minutes would carelessly be dropped in the gas infused water on the boat’s floor). Gleefully we waved goodbye to our uneasy parents. We had found freedom! We couldn’t wait to go around the point and be on our own! 

The adventure was all I ever wanted it to be. We went up the Bear Camp to the rope swing where we all took a turn. Further up, we took time to beach the boat and swim. And on the way home, in an uninhabited cove, we decided to explore in and around the lily pads. This would lead to our greatest adventure. I don’t remember which one of us, and I don’t know how, but someone spotted a turtle! It was as big around as a Roman soldier’s shield and we wanted it in the boat. We pulled out the long handled smelting net kept along the inside edge of the boat and chased after that turtle. Eight kids dashed around inside the barge shouting out, “It’s over here!” We’d all dash to look while my brother dipped the net. This went on for a long time until we must have exhausted the poor thing because we finally managed to net it and drag it over the side of the boat. Satisfied with our achievement, we headed home.

I don’t remember who was on the beach when we docked the boat, if anyone, but our shouts and screams had them all running before we tied up the boat. The moms were not impressed with our catch. The dads were. They got it out of the boat (they wouldn’t let us help, which seemed silly as we caught it in the first place). They explained to us it was a snapping turtle and they held a piece of driftwood in front of its powerful beak. The turtle immediately bit just to let us know how upset it was. We admired it for a while and then watched it push with its powerful front flippers toward the water and slip away.

Yes, life didn’t get any better than that!

Carving an Artistic Life

Carving an Artistic Life

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

It started quite modestly. Wes Ripple was helping his wife, Suzanne Connor, with the Evergreen Fair, an event she ran at the University of New Hampshire. Many artisans were selling and exhibiting at the fair, organized by Suzanne, who is a talented quilter and artist (www.suzanneconnor.com). 

“I was there to help Suzanne,” recalls Wes, “and there was a bird carver at the show. I got talking with him about his bird carving and I was interested in what he was doing. He had kits for sale and I bought a chickadee bird carving kit.” The carver was Erwin Flewelling from Maine. (His website is http://www.nestlewoodbirds.com.) He has been a great resource and mentor to Wes over the years.

The first kit was a learning experience for Wes, but he soon realized he could do more if he got additional tools. “I bought a wood burning pen, paint and brushes,” Wes says.

Once his first bird carving was completed, Wes was hooked and he bought another kit. By this time, he began to see the possibilities of artistic wood carving and while he is modest about his skills, saying, “I can’t draw and I am not an artist”, the finished products say otherwise.

Carving by Wes Ripple

One of the first things Wes probably realized as he began to pursue wood carving in earnest was that this is not a hobby or art form for an impatient person. “It takes me about two to three months to complete a bird carving,” he explains in his quiet voice. He adds that while some carvers complete projects much quicker, he enjoys taking his time to research and plan out, as well as carve, each bird. 

From time to time as was speaks, Suzanne joins in to further add encouragement; clearly, this creative couple are a perfect match, with Suzanne being outgoing and husband Wes quiet and measured in his answers to questions about bird carving. 

“I have been doing bird carvings for about 15 years,” Wes goes on to say. “I’ve been retired for 2 ½ years and it gives me more time to dedicate to carving.”

Over those 15 years, Wes has continued to learn more and more about bird carving, talking to other carvers, and studying all he can about the many thousands of birds around the world. He looks at photos of birds online, in books and magazines, and even has traveled to the Cornell School of Ornithology, where one of the world’s largest collections of stuffed birds is housed. That trip, according to both Suzanne and Wes, was an amazing experience, with a huge collection of birds available for Wes to study and measure. That was a great help for his bird carving, because it allowed Wes to get measurements exactly correct and to see many of the lesser-known, as well as popular birds, up close.

Wes has a small studio in his house, which is located in a peaceful, beautiful location right on a pond in the Tilton area. Wildlife is abundant at the pond, which is just steps from Wes and Suzanne’s home. While he works at bird carving, Wes can see birds coming to the bird feeders and visits from wildlife at the pond, right from his studio window. (Suzanne also has a studio in the home for her quilting projects.)

Wes has outfitted his studio space with all the tools necessary for bird carving. If one assumes the studio is a huge shop with all sorts of massive wood cutting machinery, that could not be further from the truth. The tools in the studio are not large and everything fits seamlessly in the modest space where Wes works. 

One of the first pieces of equipment Wes bought as he really got into wood carving was a Dremel, a hand-held rotary tool to aid in finishing a carving. “As I progressed,” he recalls, “I bought more kits and bigger tools, such as a high-speed grinder for detail work. And I have learned air brushing for painting and fine detail painting of the birds I carve. “

All the tools are quite helpful in bird carving, a “hobby” anyone with some time and a desire to do something with their hands could probably accomplish. But Wes is a natural talent and his work long ago was elevated from hobby status to that of a working artist, although he is modest to acknowledge that fact.

Perhaps his philosophy is a key to understanding how he approaches the art form and one of the reasons Wes has won many awards for bird carving. “I am trying to tell a story when I carve a bird,” he explains. “I think about how I want to show the bird and how it should be displayed. I started simple in bird carving, but I now know it is also about storytelling.”

To clarify, Wes uses a bird he carved as an example: A White Breasted Nuthatch perched on a branch with pine cones. A sculptural piece of beauty and grace, the carving won a number of awards at the Ward World Championship in Ocean City, Maryland in 2016. 

The idea for the carving came about a few years before Wes retired. “On my lunch break at work, I would take a walk near my office. One day on my walk, I found a branch with some pine cones attached. I thought to myself that it would be a good branch for a bird to perch on, and later, I remembered it and used that idea as a habitat for the bird I wanted to carve.”

The habitat, or object the carved bird stood on, was an important part of the overall piece. Wes could have simply carved a White Breasted Nuthatch and it would have been acceptable and lovely, probably displayed on a small stand. But, as an artist, he went beyond and imagined a setting for the bird, in this case, the branch with pine cones. This is what Wes means when he says he wants to tell the entire story when he does a bird carving.

Storytelling, or providing a habitat for each bird carving, has led Wes to hone additional skills. He now incorporates carved flowers and vines crafted from copper wire covered in a putty and painted appropriate colors into the overall finished piece. Birds he has carved can be perched on a vine with berries or near large flowers with twisted vines wrapped around a piece of driftwood or a tree stump. 

“Every part of carving is a challenge,” Wes says. “It is all handmade and I have to be a sort of master of all trades to do a carving, but I enjoy all of it.”

The wood used for carving is mostly tupelo, which is a southern hardwood that comes from the swamps of Louisiana. The portion of the tupelo tree that is in the water is what Wes uses, and he surely cannot find this specialized wood in NH. He special orders tupelo wood online and when he can, he buys it from wood vendors at shows.

The wood comes in large blocks and Wes uses every piece as much as possible. For a bird carver such as Wes, a piece of tupelo wood is as desirable as diamonds would be to a jeweler. He explains that when he starts, he must find the grain of the wood and cut the bird template following the grain. It is painstaking work that requires planning and knowing ahead of time what bird he wants to carve, its pose and size.

The most popular birds among collectors are Cardinals and Blue Birds and Wes has created carvings of each. All the birds he carves are incredibly lifelike, but also works of art because of the skill Wes brings to each project. And again, they are works of art because each is placed in a habitat, perched on a birch log or emerging from a hole in a tree or on a berry branch, for example.

Wes refers once more to the memorable trip he and Suzanne took to the Cornell School of Ornithology, spending a few days to see the birds. He reiterates that it was extremely helpful to see just about every stuffed bird species one could imagine and to have the opportunity to measure the birds and take photographs for reference. 

As a skilled carver, Wes creates birds to actual size, almost always knowing what he wants to carve ahead of time. “I plan to carve a Cardinal soon,” he says when asked what projects are upcoming.

Along with the bird carvings, Wes does feather carvings. Because it is illegal to own a real feather, the carved feathers are a great opportunity for someone to have a lifelike feather that has been carved from wood. Those who love nature and birds will appreciate the carved feathers, which are very lifelike. Called Spirit Feathers, each large feather comes with a printed explanation on the back of the display box that tells a story. For example, the Red Tailed Hawk Spirit Feather, the printed information says, symbolizes guardianship, strength, and farsightedness.

The feathers also come in lapel pin size and make great and unusual gifts or pieces of jewelry for nature lovers. Both Spirit Feathers and the smaller feather pins have proven very popular with those who appreciate Wes’ carvings. “I just did a farmer’s market and sold a number of the Spirit Feathers,” he says.

Currently, Wes is between projects, but will start soon on a carving of an Eastern Bluebird, then a Cardinal. His eyes light up as he mentions a bird that is on his carving wish list: a shorebird. One can only imagine what Wes will create when it comes to a shorebird, in its special water habitat.

To view the carvings of Wes Ripple or to purchase his work, visit www.wesripple.com. Wes will be at an open house he hosts with wife Suzanne called Gallery in the Garden on August 1 and 2 on their property (information at www.GalleryintheGardenNH.com.) Wes will also be exhibiting at the Button Factory in Portsmouth, NH on Saturday, December 5 for an artisan event.

What started modestly with a bird carving kit and a small carving knife, has become a passion and art form for Wes Ripple. It encompasses all kinds of skills, the opportunity to travel to bird exhibits and to talk with other bird experts, as well as a passion for the graceful, sometimes elusive, but always fascinating, birds around us.

Meet the Notables (and once famous) People of the Lakes Region

Yesteryear

Meet the Notables (and once famous) People of the Lakes Region

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

When we think of famous people, the names of well-known politicians and movie stars and musicians come to mind. Although it might be hard to believe, those who came before us had their own rock stars of sorts. In the 1700s and 1800s, news traveled much slower. Thus, it took time for people to learn about those who were doing amazing things. 

Maude Ferguson of Bristol, NH served as a state senator in the 1930s. (Photo courtesy Bristol Historical Society)

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire had its share of famous people, and most of them rose to fame by their unusual talents and deeds.

Looking far back in time, New Hampshire’s Royal Governors, and more specifically the Wentworth’s, ruled the state for years leading up the Revolutionary War. After the war and freedom from England’s rule, the Wentworth’s lost the power and position they once enjoyed. However, the name Wentworth is still to be found in the Lakes Region, where the last Royal Governor, John Wentworth, had a summer home, making Wolfeboro the “First Summer Resort in America” in the 1700s. It also is the name of one of the area’s prettiest bodies of water, Lake Wentworth.

The governorship of the Wentworth’s started with John Wentworth, who, according to Wikipedia.org, was born in England in 1671 and died in Dover, New Hampshire in 1730. He was trained as a sea captain and appointed by Queen Anne as a counselor for New Hampshire in 1712. By 1714, he was lieutenant governor of the area. He also reigned over the Province of Massachusetts. After his death, his three sons – Samuel, Benning and Mark Hunking Wentworth – (he had 13 children) rose to prominence over time.

Benning married Abigail Ruck of Boston around 1720; they had three children who all died before their father. After Abigail’s death in 1755, Benning created quite a stir when at the age of 64, he married the family’s youthful housekeeper, Martha Hilton. 

The last of the Wentworth’s to rule New Hampshire was Benning’s nephew, Sir John Wentworth. He is the best known of the Royal Governors, and especially in the Lakes Region where he built his summer mansion on the shores of the lake named for the Wentworth family. Their summer estate was large and they entertained lavishly until the Revolutionary War caused them to flee to Canada. 

And what of another early person of fame, Jeremy Belknap? Exploring and heading into the unknown was what Belknap, an 18th century New Hampshire citizen, seemed to live for and what he did best. Unexplored areas and rough wilderness trails did not daunt him. In the 1780s, Belknap, who was living in Dover, New Hampshire, set off to see for himself what the White Mountain region of the state was like.

   Belknap was born in 1744 and died in 1798, and in his relatively short life was never content with one profession or residence. He was known to be a minister, an historian and a scientist. It was in the title of scientist that Belknap decided to travel through the White Mountain region. He made the dangerous and taxing trip with a group of fellow scientists and called his trip a “genuine tour of the wilderness.”

   Traveling from Conway to the White Mountains was done by way of an 18-mile road (if it could really be called that). Belknap wrote in his journal of this part of the trip as traveling “through an old road; i.e., one that was cut 10 years ago, and has been disused for several years; and ’tis now grown up with bushes as high as a man’s head on horseback, full of wind-fallen trees, deep mires, and broken bridges...” What a rock star of an adventurer!

In the 1700’s, Isaac Lord arrived in the village of Effingham and would soon show the locals what hard work and vision could create. He was not wealthy when he came to town, but his was the story of a true, early-day entrepreneur who rose from obscurity to prominence.

According to information on the Friends of Effingham Library website, Lord was a peddler and this may have been why he stopped in Effingham. With an eye to his future, it didn’t take Lord long to start building up a business and buying property in the area. 

Eventually, Lord built a home on Lord’s Hill. In The Granite Monthly from the early 1900’s, it was written of Lord that he established himself in a comfortable home and had a slave named Cato. (A small rise in the town was later named Cato’s Hill.) 

Lord built a store and a house, which he enlarged over time, according to Tales of Effingham by Lawrence P. Hall. This was followed by a second store, which Lord built across from the first store. He converted his residence into an inn/tavern. Eventually he came to own a store and post office, a tavern and sawmills; quite a success story for a man who started from scratch.

Lord prospered greatly; by 1802 he was reported to have over 1,500 acres of forested land and over 20 acres good for tilling. In a position to provide for a wife, Lord married Susanna Leavitt. But Mrs. Lord found the village too quiet and longed for the social life to be had in Portland, Maine. The couple moved to a mansion in the city but eventually Lord returned to Effingham where he lived out his life in a large home.

Elsewhere, a child was born in faraway Europe. A woman of true royal lineage, Lady Blanche Elizabeth Mary Annunciata Noel was born on March 25, 1845 at Exton Hall in England. She was the daughter of the second Earl of Gainsborough and Lady Ida Harriet Augusta Hay. The Earl and his wife traveled in the same circles as the country’s nobility: Queen Victoria was godmother to little Blanche. 

As a young woman, Blanche met Irish commoner and organist, Thomas Murphy. Hired as a music teacher for young Blanche, it did not take long for romance to blossom. In fact, the attraction may have been instantaneous. Blanche was said to have been pretty, with a charismatic personality. 

Such a match would have been frowned upon due to the differences in their social standing, but perhaps Blanche’s father eventually gave in to a marriage between his daughter and a commoner. Other stories claim the couple eloped. While Blanche found Thomas hard to resist — he was educated, talented, and also very charming — how that charm held up when the couple made a difficult seven-week Atlantic Ocean crossing to reach America is not known, but Blanche later wrote that the trip was taxing. 

Thomas got a job at a Conway, NH area boys’ school in an area called Three Elms. He taught music and French and Blanche, a well-educated lady, filled in for her husband when needed. Blanche loved the Conway area with its woods, mountains and flowers which might have reminded her of Exton, her English childhood home. 

To help make ends meet, Blanche began to submit articles for publication. Certainly, this brought her added fame among her neighbors. Blanche was somewhat of a famous personage in the Conway community, but sadly, she died unexpectedly while only in her 30s in March of 1881 after catching a cold which turned into a serious illness. 

For a woman to enter politics in New Hampshire in the 1930’s was unusual, but that is what Maude Ferguson of Bristol in the Newfound Lake area did. Maude attended the Greeley School of Elocution and Dramatics in Boston, and historical information states that she was an elocutionist, which is the study and practice of oral delivery and the control of voice and gesture. 

She was the chairperson of the Bristol Republican Women’s Committee, and she served on the Bristol Board of Education. Maude moved on to the NH House of Representatives and was given positions on the revision of statutes and the state library. She was the first woman to serve on the Judiciary Committee. Politics must have agreed with Maude, because she rolled up her elegant sleeves and jumped into the race for the Republican nomination for state senator in the fifth district. She beat out two male candidates and was the first woman to serve in the senate. 

For three years, Maude served as state chairperson of the Legal Status of Women of the NH League of Women Voters. She also was past grand matron of the Order of the Eastern Star and past president of the Bristol Woman’s Club, to name but a few of the offices she held.

Maude passed away in 1932, and the entire Bristol community, as well as the state, mourned the loss of this amazing woman. It is a mark of her importance in the community to note that when her funeral was held in Bristol, businesses were closed as a mark of respect. Flags were lowered to half-mast due to her position as senator. Tributes poured in from local groups, as well as the NH Senate, NH Governor Winant and many others. Those who attended her funeral included state senators, Laconia’s mayor, state representatives, and more. The work she did certainly helped open doors for women everywhere.

These are but a few of the people who rose to fame while living in the area; a few more to add to the list were Black magician Richard Potter, and Peyton Place author Grace Metalious, among many others. 

Sweet Maple Weekend

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

It marks the winding down of winter, and it means spring cannot be many weeks away. When you see smoke billowing from the chimney of little sugar shacks all over the Lakes Region, you will know it’s maple syrup season, the sweetest time of year for maple lovers.

Maple syruping is so popular in NH that it has even taken an official flair, with the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association (NHMPA) kicking off NH Maple Month on March 5 at 11:30 am at Mapletree Farm in Concord. At that time, a ceremonial tree-tapping will take place, with Governor Chris Sununu on hand for the Governor’s Tap.

Boiling sap at Big Lake Maple. (Courtesy photo)

According to information provided by NHMPA, for nearly 50 years, the Governor’s Tap has welcomed the start of maple sugaring season in NH. Each year, the event is hosted by a different NH sugar house to highlight the richness of the state’s maple sugaring landscape. 

Most of us love the taste of maple, but as those who make maple syrup will tell you, it is a long process and sometimes you stay up all night tending to the syrup. You watch the weather; you know that certain temperatures and conditions will make for a better season of maple syrup. You tap the trees, you tend to the sap house, you stoke the fire and you do it again and again.

Maple producers in New Hampshire love what they do, from opening up the sap house and getting everything ready for a late winter/spring season of maple syrup production to the first bottle of sweet maple syrup they produce each year.

If you want to learn in-depth about maple syruping, and the history of this centuries-old practice, The New Hampshire Maple Producers Association, Inc. is definitely helpful. The non-profit trade association is dedicated to promoting the high quality of NH’s maple sugaring tradition. The NHMPA organizes several public events throughout the year, including NH Maple Weekend on March 21 and 22 this year, with sugar houses open to the public; NH Maple Sugaring Month; the Felker Prize for NH youth and the tapping of the first maple by the Governor. Learn more at www.nhmapleproducers.com.

New Hampshire Maple Month continues throughout March, celebrating NH’s great maple sugaring tradition. Over the weekends of March 7 and 8, March 14 and 15, March 21 and 22 and March 28 to 29, sugar houses across the state welcome the public to experience the process of maple sugaring, with many offering sugaring demonstrations, free tours, samples and family-friendly activities. The largest event, the 25th annual NH Maple Weekend, takes place on March 21 and 22. 

Sweet maple syrup at Big Lake Maple. (Courtesy photo)

On Maple weekend, visitors can experience the sap boiling process and ask questions. Some of the sugarhouses have been making maple syrup for years. For example, this year marks the 45th year of maple sugaring at Maple Tree Farm’s current location where a state-of-the-art sugarhouse expansion took place in 2017. The sugarhouse sits on the edge of New Hampshire’s largest and, perhaps the only, tapped planted maple orchard. (Mapletree Farm’s sugarmaker Dean Wilber has been making maple syrup for 73 years. He remembers being seven years old and driving his uncle’s horses in his sugarbush. A lot has changed in maple sugaring techniques since then.)

Big Lake Maple in Wolfeboro will take part in Maple Weekend; this is their fifth year of producing maple syrup. Big Lake Maple started in 2015 when owner Ken decided to tap a few of the trees behind his parents’ house as a fun little winter project. Maple sap was collected into milk jugs and boiled in pots on turkey fryers. Ken and his father, Marc, produced enough maple syrup for the family to enjoy. Over the next two years, Ken upgraded the setup to two altered oil drums with hotel pans to boil off syrup. The 50 or so taps produced about 5 to 10 gallons of maple syrup each year. The 2018 season was welcomed with 60 or so taps and small upgrades to the homemade evaporators. Big Lake Maple produced roughly 16 gallons of maple syrup that year. The 2019 season saw massive upgrades to the operation. As we head into the season of tree tapping and maple syrup production, Ken says, “With the 2020 season beginning, we’re excited to see what this season will bring us!”

Big Lake Maple will be open to the public on March 21 from 10 am to 5 pm, during Maple Weekend, with sampling, products for sale, sap production in full swing, and more. “We do a lot with buckets,” Ken adds. “If visitors bring their kids, we let the youngsters help collect the sap in buckets.” This is a fun way for kids to get hands-on learning. With over 300 trees, Big Lake Maple is located at 31 Richard Road in Wolfeboro. Visit www.biglakemaple.com for information, or visit their Facebook page.

In the Tilton area, head to Just Maple at Green Acres Farm for a variety of maple products, and lots of fun during Maple Weekend. Maple syrup production at the farm began over 20 years ago as a 4H project. Just Maple owners Roger and Barbara took a liking to maple syruping and are going strong in the business today! For over 10 years, Just Maple has participated in Maple Weekend and the business is among the most popular on the maple tour. There are tours, free samples, the Just Maple store, information on how to tap trees, and a look inside the sugarhouse where sap is boiled and becomes maple syrup. Just Maple is located at 475 School Street in Tilton; call 603-520-2373.

Tending to the fire for sap production at Big Lake Maple. (Courtesy photo)

Robie’s Sugar House and Sawmill at 217 Town Pound Road in Alexandria is a unique place. Owner Brett Robie is in his 15th year of operating the maple syrup house and will be open on Maple Weekend so the public can stop by, see how syrup is made and sample treats. During the warm weather months, Brett operates a sawmill on the property that was originally run by his grandfather many years ago. For information, call 603-455-2171.

These are but a few of the many sugarhouses that will be open during Maple Weekend in NH. Each has a unique story and many have been in families for generations, with maple sugaring traditions and practices passed down over the years.

According to www.nhmapleexperience.com, Native Americans were the first to discover that sap from maple trees could be turned into maple syrup and sugar. We cannot be certain what the process was like those many years ago, or how the discovery was made, but maple sugaring has been going on for generations.

Today, the maple syrup production season generally runs from mid-February (or a bit later) until mid-April. The process, in simple terms, goes like this: sap in maple trees is frozen during the cold winter and when temperatures rise a bit, the sap in the trees begins to thaw. It then starts to move and builds up pressure in the tree. If you have noticed sticky sap oozing from any cut in a maple tree, this is the sap that is used for maple syrup production. Ideal conditions for the sap to flow are freezing nights and warm, sunny days, which create the pressure for a good sap harvest.

If you drive around the state, you are likely to see buckets and plastic tubing around maple trees here and there. This is how maple producers tap the sugar maples. They drill a small hole in the tree trunk and insert a spout, and then a bucket or plastic tubing is fastened to the spout. If you assume the sap dripping from the tree looks like amber or darker colored maple syrup, you would be wrong. The sap at that point is clear. Once collected, it is taken to the sugarhouse and boiled down in an evaporator over a very hot fire. Steam rises and the sap becomes concentrated until eventually is turns to syrup. It is taken from the evaporator and filtered, graded and bottled. It is not a quick or easy process; it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

Plan to attend Maple Weekend in NH on March 21 and 22 and talk with the experts about how they make maple syrup. You will hear the pride in their voices and share their enthusiasm for maple sugaring, a process that takes patience, diligence and often a respect for an old-time practice passed from one generation to the next.

For information and a list of NH sugarhouses and maple syrup events, visit www.nhmapleproducers.com.

The Sport That Cured Cabin Fever

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Photos courtesy Lakes Region Sled Dog Club

Imagine it is winter in Laconia around 1920. The snow is deep and temperatures have dropped. Residents are busy with the endless cycle of chopping wood, keeping the fires going, fetching water and preparing meals.

Sounds rather trying and monotonous? It might have been, but residents found ways to enliven the long winter months, and one of those ways was a real bright spot: sled dog races.

The actual year of the first sled dog races in the Lakes Region is admittedly confusing. One account, which seems accurate, states that the New England Sled Dog Club was formed in 1924 by a group of sled dog racers and enthusiasts, with famed sled dog owner and racer Arthur Walden of Wonalancet named as president. In 1925, with the headquarters for the club in Meredith, NH, a race was held in that town and also in Newport, NH.

According to historical information at www.lrsdc.org (the website of the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club), the first race was held in Laconia in 1929. But a few years before that date, a race was part of the 1926 Laconia Winter Carnival, and covered in the Laconia Democrat and later, after January 4 of 1926, in the Laconia Evening Citizen. The race followed the 1925 Nome (Alaska) Serum Run, which gained worldwide attention, making sled dog racing quite popular everywhere. Thus, the Laconia Winter Carnival the following year seemed a good place for locals to see a more modest, but exciting, sled dog race in the Lakes Region.

The 1926 race saw a Meredith team compete against Charles Lyman’s team; Mr. Lyman was very knowledgeable about sled dogs, and the Lyman family has long been involved in sled dog racing down through the generations.

Perhaps that first race, which was part of the Winter Carnival, was popular; it would seem to be so, due to the rising interest in sled dog racing. A program from the 1929 race lists the New England Champion Sled Dog Races as the title of the event, which was held on February 11 to 13, 1929 in Laconia. It was sponsored by the New England Sled Dog Club. Instrumental in starting the event was Charles Lyman. As the owner of a Laconia area barber shop, Mr. Lyman often drove his team of sled dogs to work in the winter. He loved the sport and wanted to share it with others, according to his great-granddaughter, Jennifer Hollows.

Jennifer is a club officer with the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club and is proud of her family’s long history in dog sledding in the area. The Lyman family continue to be very involved in the annual sled dog race in Laconia; Jennifer is a helpful go-to person for historical and general information about the race and the club.

“The Lakes Region Sled Dog Club meets monthly at the homes of members,” she explains. As the date of the annual World Championship Sled Dog Race nears, the club members meet more often as they prepare.

The first event (in 1929) featured a well-known sled dog racer: Leonhard Seppala, one of the famous Alaskan Serum Run mushers. Seppala won the Laconia race that year, which brought even more attention to the race outside NH.

The 1929 event certainly had enough happening to stave off cabin fever: horse racing at Lake Opechee on February 9; Circuit Dog Race on February 12 and 13; a Wood Chopping Contest on February 12 at Bank Square; and the Winnipesaukee Ski Club Carnival Ball on February 12 at the Laconia Gardens, with the famous Blue Jay Orchestra.

The races kicked off on February 11 and went for 40 miles. The route took the teams from Laconia to Meredith Center, Hog Island, New Hampton to Bristol, Hill, on to Sanbornton Square, Lochmere, Winnisquam and back to Laconia. The second day of racing, on February 12, took the teams from Laconia to Meredith Center via Lakeport and the Country Club, to Meredith, Center Harbor, the Long Island Bridge, Glendale via Lake Winnipesaukee, to Lakeport and back to Laconia. On the third and last day (February 13), the teams ran from Laconia to Belmont, Gilmanton, Gilmanton Iron Works, Alton, Alton Bay, West Alton, Glendale, Gilford, finishing in Laconia. The starting and finish of the races was in downtown Laconia at the Judge’s Stand in Bank Square. The course was around 42 to 45 miles per day; this was certainly not a quick and easy sled dog race!

For “Doc” Roland Lombard, the 1929 sled dog race was quite advantageous. It was his first big win and the prize money he garnered helped send him to veterinarian school. He won the handicap class with a half Cocker Spaniel/half Collie farm dog. Lombard paid just 75 cents for the dog and it proved to be the best investment he could have made, with the dog his lead on the team. Lombard also had one of Arthur Walden’s Chinook dogs on his team.

A Sled Dog Club Dinner with race prize awards was held at the Laconia Tavern on the evening of February 13, closing out the exciting event.

Things were off and running for sled dog racing in the Lakes Region, and it was an event people looked forward to each winter.

By 1931, the Laconia Sled Dog Club was formed, according to ww.lrsdc.org. The goal of the club was to “produce and promote sled dog racing in the ‘Lake City’ as an annual major winter sporting event.” (By 1957, former members formed the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club, which included citizens from the surrounding area; the club continues to organize the annual World Championship Sled Dog Derby each winter in Laconia.)

In 1934 the Laconia Evening Citizen featured the popular event on the front page; the race was held February 10 and 11 of that year. Every year, the race is dependent upon snowfall and now and then the race date must be postponed or cancelled if there is not enough snow to race the teams.

Teams prepare for the race as soon as there is ample snow; the season typically begins on January 1 if there is a good snow total. Races take place around New England most Saturdays and Sundays sponsored often by the New England Sled Dog Club. This leads up to the big show: the races in Laconia in every February.

By the time World War II came around, the sport was extremely popular and people came from far and wide for the Laconia races. Hotels and motels were full and downtown Laconia was booming with visitors/spectators and racers. But after 1939, sled dogs and their masters were enlisted into service to fight in the war. (When this author read that dogs were enlisted into service, it seemed perplexing, but local historian Warren Huse confirmed that sled dogs were very useful for reaching snowy areas in Europe during the war years.) Some mushers became valuable members of the U.S. Army’s Search and Rescue teams, using their skills with sled dogs to reach places where trucks and other vehicles could not go.

However, no one forgot the popularity of the sled dog races in Laconia and by around 1957 the event was revived. By 1960, the event saw about 29 teams competing, and it was around this time that more women started to race sled dogs.

(No mention of female mushers would be complete without recognizing Florence Clark of Clark’s Trained Bears in the Lincoln, NH area. In April of 1932, Florence drove her sled dog team up Mount Washington, no small accomplishment at a place where weather conditions can be severe. She wanted to prove to herself she could do it, and the sled she used is now at the Clark Museum at Clark’s Trading Post.)

At the February 1967 event, Mrs. Marie Lyman of Gilford was honorary race judge, being called “Laconia’s First Lady of Sled Dog Racing.” Marie was the wife Charles Lyman, the longtime sled dog racer who was so instrumental in getting the races started in the 1920s.  Marie also was a sled dog enthusiast and it was said she always stood waiting at the finish line for the last team to come in, no matter how long it took, showing her sportsmanship and dedication to the races. Her children and grandchildren, through the years, have become sled dog enthusiasts and competed in many races. The Lyman family are key members of the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club, the group that works to produce and promote sled dog racing in Laconia.

A female musher of note is Lakes Regioner Deborah Molburg, who has an impressive history of racing. In 1969, she claimed two fourth places wins and a second-place finish in the Laconia race. She went on, according to “A History of Dog Sledding in New England” by Bruce D. Heald, PhD, to win the Canadian International Championship in 1976. She also won first place in the Laconia Sled Dog Derby in 1979, making her the first woman to ever take the title.

Along with the excitement of the actual races, the event has featured an awards dinner and a popular Musher Queen Contest. (How did a young woman gain the title of Musher Queen? A contest was held and the winner determined by the girl who raised the most money. The Lakes Region Sled Dog Club sponsored the event and recruited six to 20 girls between the ages of 15 and 25 to compete by selling buttons, key chains, raffle tickets and programs for the annual sled dog race event. The winner was crowned Musher Queen at the annual Musher’s Ball, held at such locations as in February of 1977 at Pheasant Ridge Country Club in Gilford.)

Local businesses were enthusiastic about the races, and in 1975, sponsors included Lemay’s Garage, the Laconia Spa, the Citizen Publishing Company, WEMJ and O’Shea’s Department Store. The races were promoted by WEMJ, with announcers interviewing mushers and broadcasting on site.

Those who have seen old postcards and historical photos of the race at Laconia’s downtown Main Street may assume the race starts and ends there as it did in the old days. However, the race now starts and ends at Old North Main Street in Laconia. The Laconia Country Club, at 607 Elm Street in Laconia, will be the gathering place during this year’s race weekend (February 14 to 16, weather permitting), where spectators and competitors can find food, sled dog merchandise and of course, the beloved sled dogs!

When the annual race started in the 1920s, the organizers could not have guessed how the popularity of the wintertime event would grow and grow, bringing mushers and dog sled teams and spectators from all over the country. Before the races came into being, Lakes Regioners got through the long winters as best they could. But once such famous sled dog owners/racers as Leonhard Seppala and Chinook dog breeder/sled dog racer Arthur Walden came to town, winter doldrums in Laconia were a thing of the past.

This year’s World Championship Sled Dog Derby is scheduled for February 14 to 16 in Laconia. Jennifer Hollows says the race sees about 15 teams for the 15-mile open class and 15 to 25 teams for the six-dog class. The start and finish for the race is at the corner of Old North Main Street and Parade Road. For information and updates on the event, please visit www.lrsdc.org.

(Special thanks to Jennifer Hollows and Warren Huse, who provided historical information for this story.)