Remember Watson Hall?

Just a note to let you know that Alvah Watson’s daughter, Grace
Wendell, passed away last night at the age of 93 or 94. She was a neighbor
of ours on the lake and a friend for years.  Grace had many memories of
Kennebec, Roger and Beanie. You may want to let Hart know. I think he would
have memories of Grace and her husband, Ray Wendell who enjoyed many summer
vacations next to the Gatehouse along the lake shore. She would often tell
us about the many buildings that her Dad built at camp. She was proud of
Kennebec but disdainful of the years after Hart’s ownership. Much of Modin
is on land leased from the Watson Family Trust.
   Grace was healthy until the moment of her passing as she hosted her
children and grandchildren for the holidays. She had recently returned from
the Middle East and was planning a trip to South America. She was a world
traveler until the end. Grace’s husband was an executive with American Water
and they lived in Bryn Mawr for many years and raised their children there
and “on the  farm” on  North Belgrade.
   A memorial service is planned for July 3rd on the shores of Salmon Lake.

                       Mal Dawson

new book: Notes on a Lost Flute: A Field Guide to the Wabanaki

Hi Kennebeckers – Happy (almost) New Year.  FYI in case this book might interest you and/or others you know (see below or http://northernwoodlands.org/wood_lit/winter-2009)

Notes on a Lost Flute: A Field Guide to the Wabanaki

By Kerry Hardy
Down East Books, 2009

N. Scott Momaday writes, in The Man Made of Words, “The storyteller’s place, within the context of his language, must include both geographical and mythic frame of reference. Within that frame of reference is the freedom of infinite possibility.”

In Notes on a Lost Flute, Kerry Hardy’s first book, infinite possibility abounds. A fine storyteller and ardent researcher, his essays incorporate philological scholarship and linguistics that are evidenced in the current language and place names of New England’s – and especially Maine’s – once primary inhabitants, the native Wabanaki tribes. The esoteric and the mundane become, on every gloriously illustrated page, fertile fodder for him. He is eager to share his fascination with language, forestry, gardening, environmental science, and old Native American customs and knowledge that can be relevant to our lives today.

Hardy challenges the reader in enjoyable ways. Instead of footnotes, Hardy enriches the text with sidebars, photos, and drawings that enchant: a subtle urge to readers to flip the pages slowly. The book contains elements of language, cultural history, and vital information, such as how to build a mobile home (a wigwam), the names for the moons of each month, a Hardy-imagined chart showing the Wabanaki food for each month depending on availability, plant medicines, the fur trade, and how to fish for that now-too-rare delicacy, the sturgeon. There are numerous notings on different trees and their uses and on edible plants.

His prose is inventive: “If I had to choose just one place to tell the story of Maine’s human history, I’d take Damariscotta. That very name is enough to send archaeologists into raptures… Damariscotta, along with the rest of mid-coast Maine is the landform equivalent of ribbon candy.”

Where does the title come from? “I wanted something cryptic,” Hardy says. “Something that left an unanswered question.” Hardy includes a sidebar about what many consider the world’s oldest musical instrument. A recent Wall Street Journal article describes the discovery of what is believed to be a 35,000-year-old flute made from a wing bone – highlighting “a prehistoric moment when the mind learned to soar on flights of melody and rhythm.”

Notes on a Lost Flute is filled with Hardy’s irrepressible sense of wonder, with the challenge of life once lived in ways that have brought us to the present moment. “What fun,” he writes, “to wander through time each night, filling notebooks with nuggets of history as easily as one might forage mushrooms while rambling in his own woodlot. In the pages that follow, I will collect, jiggle, sort…share glimpses of a vanished people and their landscape.”

Hannah Merker

Purchase this book:
IndieBound | Powell’s Books | Amazon

 Regards – Russ Cohen (CK 1967-72)

Memorial Service for Uncle Harry

Just a brief report on the very fitting memorial service for Uncle Harry held on Friday, October 30, 2009, at 12:30 pm at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.  There was an excellent turnout of Kennebecers, too numerous to mention them all here.  I’ll name just a few:  Mickey Langsfeld, Maury Garten, Mal Dawson, Jeff Binswanger, Jack Adler, Jeff Sternfeld, Mickey Snellenberg, Bernie Lemonick.  The Alumni Association sent a very nice flower arrangement with a placard showing the CK Logo and a photo of Harry in his maroon CK T-shirt.   Kennebec and Harry’s positive influence on it were mentioned several times and there were several marvelous photographs of Harry in full Indian dress and war paint as the Sachem.  Gene and Hank Meyers along with three grandchildren spoke movingly about their father and grandfather.  It was a very nice tribute.  We will all miss him.

Kennebec Reborn?

I was visiting camp a few days ago with my  daughter and grandson.  Joel was most welcoming (as he always is when we walk or canoe to camp from Passy Beach).  During the conversation with Joel I noticed many members of the staff wearing Kennebec t-shirts.  Joel mentioned that beginning next season he was going to revive the Kennebec brand name and possibly move the camp activities closer to the Kennebec we all remember.  The camp will remain co-ed.

Bill Brandeis

Annual Kennebec Reunion

I just spent three great days in Maine, attending the annual “reunion” on the last Saturday night in July.  It is essentially a pot luck dinner at the Belgrade Center for All Seasons, near the town of Belgrade Lakes.   The reunion started for counselors who still have summer homes in the Belgrade area.  There were lots of people there….about 35-50 men plus spouses.  More former campers are starting to show up as the word spreads.  Among the familiar counselor and camper names in attendance were:  Perry Lakin, Mal Dawson; Pete Geiger, Ed Brunswick, Artie Clark, Adam Goldstein, Danny Alexander, Hal Weisbein, Joe Rader, Bruce Trumper, Moxie Rogers, Richie Stotter, and more…..

The event, as always, was a huge success. 

Walking on the Moon

Andy,

I too remember the moon landing in 69. I was an uncle in cabin 12. We were so excited about them bringing in the television to wigwam and everyone got to stay up late. When the 40th anniversary came and all the TV stuff, I remembered that night as if it were yesterday. I still can’t believe the campers are 40 years older as well as myself. I missed the reunion because I had knee replacement. Maybe the next one.

Uncle Wayne