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    Big Eddy Campground

    Big Eddy Campground

    Archive

    Anne Leslie

    It’s About the Moment

    By Anne Leslie on August 1, 2019

    “I don’t know if you are a fly fisherman,” says Bob Hamer, Maine Guide, photographer, fly fisherman, and part of the team who takes wounded veterans fly fishing in Maine every summer as part of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, “but fly fishing isn’t really about fishing. It’s about the moment. It’s almost meditation. Each of these guys brings his own baggage, but when their minds are on fly fishing, they’re off their problems. Even if it’s only for a few days.”

    For 14 summers, Hamer and his friend Dan Legere, who owns Maine Guide Fly Shop and Guide Service in Greenville, Maine, have arranged the expedition for the nonprofit organization, which engages these military service veterans in learning about and practicing the sport. The Greenville trip was the very first expedition Healing Waters undertook, with three wounded combat soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center (now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center), back in 2005.

    “Dan arranges the fishing part,” explains Hamer. “I handle the logistics. And then I go along to take photographs,” so the veterans have proof that they’re not telling fish tales.

    On July 17-20, seven Healing Waters participants and two counselors came to Maine from Vermont and Massachusetts. “Greenville rolls out the red carpet,” says Legere. Local restaurants provide meals. This year, Indian Hill Trading Post put on a cookout, Kelly’s Landing provided dinner on Moosehead Lake, and the Kokadjo Store served breakfast. The local American Legion Post prepared a barbecue for the last night. The group stayed at the Kokadjo Sporting Camps on First Roach Pond. 

    One day they fished at the Kennebec River’s East Outlet. The next day, Sarah Sindo, site manager at Chewonki’s Big Eddy Cabins and Campground on the West Branch of the Penobscot River, greeted the group bright and early. They spent the morning “fishing the eddy,” she says, had lunch on the lawn, and then boarded drift boats to fish as they floated down to Salmon Deadwater. 

    “They are always such a great group,” says Sindo. “Always in great spirits, excited to be fishing on the river…Photo time is interesting because there is always a jokester in the group.” 

    This year, luck was with them. “They all caught fish during the day on dry flies,” Sindo says.

    Legere and Hamer created the very first Healing Waters Fly Fishing expedition–the trip to Maine–after bumping into sportsman Ed Nicholson at an outdoors show in Washington, D.C. Legere had guided Nicholson in Maine, and he got excited when Nicholson told him about the organization he was founding. “He had the idea that learning to tie a fly and cast could help in wounded veterans’ rehabilitation,” recalls Legere. “It would develop hand/eye coordination and get them out of rehab”–and into the peace of the wilderness. 

    Healing Waters has grown to be a nationwide program with more than 200 chapters rooted in military hospitals, Veterans Affairs medical centers and clinics, and Warrior Transition Units. Summer fishing days are just one part of the program; during the rest of the year, the veterans who have chosen to participate learn to tie flies and build rods with staff from Trout Unlimited, a fly fishing, and natural resource conservation organization. 

    Like Sindo, Legere and Hamer say the Healing Waters trip is a special part of summer, and they are quick to point out that it wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of local people. “Everything is free for the vets,” says Hamer. “It’s all donated.” “The veterans are always amazed and so appreciative of the generosity of the Greenville people,” Legere notes. “Everyone has such a wonderful time.” 

    All Photos courtesy of Bob Hamer and Healing Waters Fly Fishing.

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    Bringing the Mountain to Chewonki

    By Anne Leslie on June 8, 2019

    Step through the double doors of Chewonki’s Center of Environmental Education and follow the trail markers to Katahdin. Katahdin: Maine’s highest mountain! It is the subject of legends among generations of native peoples and Chewonki folk.
    Above: Gordy Hall, Paul Crowell, David Crowell 
    Thanks to Gordon Hall III (Boys Camp staff 1951-1953; Chewonki trustee 1972-present; chair of the board 1997-2004; past participant in more than 20 Chewonki wilderness expeditions with friends and family; former member of the Committee on Trustees and Advisors and the Maine Coast Semester Advisory Committee) and Paul Crowell (Boys Camp 1977, 1978; Thoreau Wilderness Trip 1980; Boys Camp staff 1981-1984 and 1986; Foundation Advisor 2000-present), we now have our own little Katahdin right here at Chewonki. At a fundraising auction for Friends of Baxter State Park last fall, Crowell and Hall bought a three-dimensional, painted fiberglass model of the mountain showing all the peaks, cirques, and trails. It stood on display at the park’s Roaring Brook ranger station for decades; people tracing the trails with their fingers wore the paint off some of the most popular routes.
    Above: Gordy Hall on Katahdin circa 1950
    Crowell and Hall then gave the model to Chewonki in honor of James Whittlesey Crowell (b. 1925-d. 2014; Boys Camp staff 1971; Chewonki wilderness expeditioner 2005), an adventurer, teacher, and outdoorsman who loved Katahdin and was Gordy Hall’s close friend (they climbed the mountain together) and Paul Crowell’s beloved uncle.   Penobscot Nation historian James Francis shared his people’s perspective on “the great mountain” with us for a small exhibition accompanying the model. Also included are photographs and writings that reveal Katahdin’s important place in Chewonki culture. If you are at Chewonki this summer, be sure to make your way to the entrance hall of the Center of Environmental Education to see this venerable model for yourself. Our big thanks to Gordy Hall and Paul Crowell for their generosity.

    Wilderness Trip Training: the rough and the ready get rolling

    By Anne Leslie on June 26, 2017

    Two weeks before the first students set foot on Chewonki Neck for the summer, 46 energetic, eager young men and women arrive to kick off the season with staff training. Twenty-seven of them will lead backpacking, canoeing, whitewater kayaking, and sea kayaking expeditions for Chewonki Wilderness Trips this summer. Nine are Boys Camp counselors who will take the oldest campers, Ospreys, on extended cabin trips. And the balance, 10, are veteran trip leaders who are training this summer’s crew.

    Chewonki is suddenly buzzing. On the Quad and the lower field, in the Wallace Center, Pack-out, and the Adirondack chairs, groups in Tevas and hiking boots form and reform all day long as staff work through safety protocols, team-building, trip-planning, and a host of other details that prescribe the Chewonki way of leading an outdoor adventure. After a couple of days, the leaders break into five expeditions based on their discipline. It’s time to head into the field for a four-day adventure of their own.

    This year, one group of canoers heads for the St. Croix River while another went to the Easts Branch of the Penobscot River. Whitewater kayakers set forth for Big Eddy and the West Branch of the Penobscot. Backpackers went west to the Appalachian Trail on Saddleback Mountain. And the sea kayakers launched at the Chewonki waterfront, heading for Muscungus Bay.

    Aaron LaFlamme
    Aaron LaFlamme

    Chewonki Wilderness Program Coordinator Aaron Laflamme describes these trip-leader training trips as a way to “get the systems down for leading,” polish skills, and enjoy a bit of bonding.

    “How Chewonki does a wilderness trip is unique,” says Laflamme. Not only are there particular field protocols, but also, “our fundamental focus is on the three tenets of the Chewonki mission: inspiring personal growth; understanding and appreciating nature; and building a strong sense of community. When we’re out there having an amazing time paddling or hiking, we’re also conveying the meaning of that mission to our participants.”

    Jen Adams, who co-led canoe training on the St. Croix, explains that incoming leaders can be excellent in their discipline but new to “the Chewonki way of doing things.” That includes a range of specific practices such as how to chop wood, do dishes, and share meals together. Her group had a great time running the St. Croix’s Little Falls. “They were all really excited about it,” says Jen. “They did it twice, stopped for dinner, and then everyone wanted to run it again.” (They’re trip leaders, after all, because they love having fun with other people outside.)

    Although they come from a wide variety of backgrounds and points on the globe, trip leaders seem to form bonds quickly. Nate Smith, who co-led a canoeing group on the East Branch of the Penobscot, says, “The group formed very quickly. People have varied experiences but feel connected through their passion for canoeing. They were really happy to do all aspects of the training. Definitely truly engaged,” even on a day involving four portages.

    When enthusiasm runs high, however, trip leaders must tend to their least able participant as well as their most accomplished. Training includes some clear reminders of what it means to be a learner as well as a leader. Mateus Da Costa, who co-led the sea kayakers’ training, says, “I think we really want to challenge our leaders. They’re growing, too, and we’re supporting them as they grow.” His group made a strenuous 17-mile paddle from Spectacle Island to Bremen. “At the end of that day, we asked what the leaders took from it, what they will use with their students in the field,” says Da Costa. “They said they felt challenged and humbled.”

    Great trip leaders must have technical skills and experience. They must be knowledgeable about their itinerary, equipment, and supplies. They need to have good strategies for dealing with challenges, from blisters to interpersonal conflicts to homesickness. They must possess competence, compassion, and joy–even in the pouring rain, breathtaking heat, or a cloud of mosquitos. This summer’s Chewonki trip leaders are getting ready. Their training will come to the fore next week, when participants arrive, looking for adventure. Welcome, summer!

    Wilderness Trip Training: the rough and the ready get rolling

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    Wilderness Trip Training: the rough and the ready get rolling

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    Wilderness Trip Training: the rough and the ready get rolling

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    Wilderness Trip Training: the rough and the ready get rolling

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      Chewonki Foundation, 485 Chewonki Neck Road, Wiscasset, ME 04578

      Phone: (207) 882-7323
      Fax: (207) 882-4074
      Confidential Health Center Fax: (207) 882-9564

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