Sustaining a Community
Kathy Lipshultz
How Preserving the Belgrade Lakes Goes Beyond the Water
Save the Lakes and Keep ‘em Coming Back
According to the locals, the population in the
Belgrade Lakes region doubles every
summer when tourists and out-of-staters
drive up to spend vacation time in their
camps on the water. They buy trinkets for
back home, eat out at the restaurants in
A happy local fisherman in front
of Day’s Store in downtown
town, and pick up water paraphernalia for
Belgrade Lakes.
immediate use. In doing so, they support
the economy of the region, functioning as a major source of
revenue. As much as natives might not like to admit it, the people
“from away” are a vital part in keeping the Belgrade Lakes alive.
The lakes suffer from increasing water pollution and a growing infestation of non-native plants. Invasive milfoil currently occupies three tributaries of Great Pond, and
nearly half of the water body is at high risk. Phosphates from fertilizers continue to leech into the water with little or no buffer zones to block them, risking creating
algal blooms that suck oxygen from the water. If the plants spread and the fish die, the ecosystem of the Belgrade lakes will be destroyed.
The people of the Belgrade lakes depend on the water; however, some still fail to realize the extent of its importance. As water quality declines, recreational
opportunities disappear, and the surrounding community suffers. Protecting the Belgrade lakes not only preserves a wildlife habitat, but also guarantees the economic
stability of hundreds of people, inspiration for artists from across New England, and a way of life for generations to come. In short, preserving the Belgrade Lakes goes
far beyond the water.
A TOURISM-RELIANT ECONOMY
2011 Employment in the Belgrade Lakes Watershed
AT RIGHT: The table shows the
distribution in employment in the
Belgrade Lakes Watershed. The sector
with the largest number of employers
was the Construction industry, while
Accommodation and Food Services
had the greatest amount of
employees. Both of these, along with
Administrative
Services;
Arts,
Entertainment,
and
Recreation;
Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate;
Manufacturing; Professional Services;
Source: Maine Department of Labor and the 2012 Statistical Abstract of the Belgrade Lakes Watershed
Retail Trade; Transportation and
Warehousing; and Wholesale Trade depend on tourism to the point that the businesses in that industry
would fail without it. Should these businesses decline because tourism subsides, hundreds of people
would lose their jobs.
IF THE LAKES WERE NO LONGER USABLE, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO
TOURISM AND THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE?
“Having had a business in Maine, I’ve heard some shopkeepers say that summer and Christmas are the
times when you make more than 50% of your income – because that’s when people are here. Without
the lakes, people wouldn’t come during those times, shops would close, and it would impact the artists.
It’s a lot of legwork to get art into shops. Most artists don’t use computers or make their own prints, and
if they don’t have shops to put their works in, then all they have are the summer shows here.” –Donna
Asmussen, Belgrade Lakes Multi-Medium Artist
The lakes provide a meeting area for family get-togethers, a quiet escape
for kayaking in the morning, and an opportunity to experience the
serenity of the natural world… A perfect place to build lasting memories.
For many, the Belgrade Lakes region is home, even to those who only pay
an annual visit.
“We had a good week at the camp. The bass were biting well and the sun shone endlessly, day after day. We would be tired at night
and lie down in the accumulated heat of the little bedrooms after the long hot day and the breeze would stir almost imperceptibly
outside and the smell of the swamp would drift in through the rusty screens. Sleep would come easily and in the morning the red
squirrel would be on the roof, tapping out his gay routine. I kept remembering everything, lying in bed in the mornings – the small
steamboat that had a long rounded stern like the lip of a Ubangi, and how quietly she ran on the moonlight sails, when the older boys
played their mandolins and the girls sang and we ate doughnuts dipped in sugar and how sweet the music was on the water in the
shining night.” –E.B. White, excerpt from his essay “Once More to the Lake”
“Belgrade Lakes… I always carry that small town in my heart. And now I am telling my children and grandchildren about it. Our camps
were up on the hill on the left as you would head toward Skowhegan… Each cabin had its own row boat with an outboard motor. We
were almost always filled with fisher folk and most came back year after year… Dave and Dot Lenk [of the Lenk Art Center] stayed in
one of our cabins… Dave bought a CrisCraft and would take my mother and uncle and me out for very speedy rides on Great Pond. As
a middle schooler, I loved it. And after the boat ride, Dave would grill fabulous steaks and what a feast we would have!” –Karin Reath,
past resident of the Belgrade Lakes
“[The Belgrade Lakes Region] has retained its sense of place – when you’re here, you KNOW you’re here. Nature is a very big part.
You can’t avoid the woods and the lakes and nature is bigger than the humans here. You don’t feel that in places that are more urban
or “built up.” You couldn’t get suburbia here if you tried. There are no cookie cutter developments, manicured lawns… Although,
there are a lot of lawn mowers going all the time! -Maureen Miliken, author of Cold Hard News and Belgrade Lakes resident
“I was reading “Summertime in the Belgrades.” Just look at all the ads or
businesses that are somehow related to the Belgrade Lakes. Patios, boats,
boat storage, theatre, coffeehouse… Every single one of these places relies
on people coming in. Without the tourists income, these places would
struggle.” –Matthew Russ, Landscape Artist in the Belgrade Lakes
“My kids would cry when they had to go back to Waterville in the fall. They made friends among the natives. We had a 15 foot
aluminum boat that I taught them to use properly. They’d go over to the rope swing and knew all the nooks and crannies in this lake,
all the little coves and the island. They’d spend overnights camping out and live in tents on the island.” -Earl Smith, author of The
Dam Committee and past Dean at Colby College
“Without tourism, the Belgrade Lakes would become a commuter community rather than a “resort”
community. It would be like the mill towns. Their main industry disappeared, and they had to find a way
to convert. The lakes are an industry. Wilton, Maine had a huge shoe factory and that was the town’s
identity. It’s now a commuter town that’s a bedroom community. They’ve had to completely re-identify
themselves. “ –Susan McPherran, Gallery Director at Spring Gallery
“If you live here year-round, you’re more in rhythm with nature. And living on a farm, fall is important, beautiful, and busy... When
winter comes the land is resting and renewing itself, while at the same time you’re able to snowshoe and cross-country ski. Winter is
hard... Spring you can feel the difference. And summertime is just summertime.” -Kathi Wall, Maine Lakes Resource Center Executive
Director
“My mother always hosted the annual cookout at our house in Smithfield for the [women’s Hockey] team, and they would often take
to skinny dipping in the cool North Pond waters!.” –Tim Downing, President of Duratherm
My son was a city person and hadn’t spent a good deal of time at a lakeside camp. Once we got there, there was some tension. But,
over a period of hours, he melted and relaxed. He got in the water, floated away, and said, “How come you’ve never brought me here
[before]?” -Susan McPherran, Gallery Director at Spring Gallery
“Summer is best and busiest, but at a different pace and with different players. Fall is somewhat depressing as we wonder if we did
all we could possibly squeeze in... Winter we drive by occasionally or force ourselves on the place, and Spring is spent wishing away
time so we can once again get back to camp. – Rick Watson, North Pond Association President
“There was a summer when I lived in Hillside [dorms at Colby] that one of my friends was the caretaker of the Outing Cabin on Great
Pond. The fact that he was out there made it easy for a group of friends and go out there at least once a week and go swimming at
night. Usual college kid night swimming. Clothing optional.” –Matthew Russ, Landscape Artist in the Belgrades
ARTISTS
“Belgrade Lakes has been a mainstay for probably 10 years. I discovered
the area when I was a Colby student… I would join [my friend] Steve for
various outdoor adventures. He took me snowshoeing. It was the middle
of January on Mt. Phillip under full moon. It was incredible. You could see
all of Great Pond and the surrounding hills and I became enchanted by
that area… When I got into painting, I said, ‘I’ve gotta go back…’ Being able to spend a day with my
easel set up is really thrilling. Visually, the qualities of the Belgrade Lakes is beautiful - wide stretches
of water with low hills and great big skies above. I could go back and I’d always find something new to
see.” –Matthew Russ, Landscape Artist (see his painting entitled “View from Blueberry Hill” on left)
“All my works are influenced by having lived near Castle Island Camps
by Elizabeth Arden’s past estate. I rented a little roof piece there and
started to paint. My sister had a camp on Long Pond. We would walk
through Belgrade Lakes and kayak. We have thousands of pictures of
things on Belgrade Lakes. If you go to my website, everything that’s
natural was influenced by living there. All I could do was walk in the
woods - couldn’t listen to music or watch T.V. with my head injury. I got
up with the sun, went to bed with the sun... Now, Belgrade Lakes is the
staple of my business that keeps it afloat. I get calls from camp owners
who want pen and ink of their camps… I had a woman purchase an
original watercolor of the bridge that connects Great pond and Long
pond… I’ve done Day’s Store, Sunset Grill, Lazy Lab Café… everything in
the area. I always go back to the lakes.” –Donna Asmussen, MultiMedium Landscape Artist
SOME CURRENT BELGRADE
LAKES ARTISTS
Jeffrey Spring, Sculptor and
Owner of Spring Gallery;
Catherine Burgess, Landscape
Painter; Rhonda Barnes,
Maine Scenery and House
Sign Artist; CJ Stevens,
Photographer; Alex Wall,
Photographer.
MUSICIANS
SOME CURRENT BELGRADE LAKES
MUSICIANS
The Gawler Family, a folk band
Le Professeur, a guitarist and singer
Sandy River Ramblers, a string band
The Old Crow Indian Band, an older
group that plays marching tunes
The Loons, an a cappella singing group
Maranacook String Band
THE SEVEN LAKES FESTIVAL: 2013 marked the first ever Seven
Lakes Festival, an event designed to promote conservation
through the arts in the Belgrade Lakes. Held at the Maine Lakes
Resource Center, the festival featured musicians from around
Maine – some of whom were from the Belgrade Lakes region.
Two local folk groups, the Gawler Family and the Sandy River
Ramblers sang about Belgrade living. One of the Gawlers even
took to the stage in a water bottle tutu, using ballet and theatre
to evoke the importance of water to sustaining life. The festival
will be an annual occurrence.
WRITERS
“The Dam Committee was certainly influenced by the Belgrade
Lakes. When I lived in Waterville, I had a camp at the lake and have
been there 25 years as a permanent resident. So, of course, when
you write you’re inspired by where you live and the people you
know… The characters are all bits and pieces of people from around
here… The town in my novel is a lot like Belgrade.” –Earl Smith,
author of The Dam Committee
“I think that my mystery novel just didn’t have the flavor it has now
[before I lived in the Belgrade Lakes]… The novel is set north of
here, and just moving here saturated me - there are lot of little
details and philosophical things. I thought the novel was done…
Then it took me months and months to do the revision. Books have
a “big about,” not just the plot. The setting has a lot with how you
say things and the tone of the book.” –Maureen Miliken, author of
Cold Hard News
E.B. White wrote “Once More to the Lake,” an essay published in 1941
about life at Bear Spring Camps on Great Pond (see middle panel).
Eugene O’Neill
spent
the
summer
of
1926 at the
town Belgrade
Lakes, where
he created his
Pulitzer Prize play Strange Interlude (see above).
Belgrade Lakes was an annual
summer destination for Ernest
Thompson, whose visits to Great
Pond inspired his 1979 play On
Golden Pond, which was made
into an Academy Award–winning
movie in 1981.
Erskine Caldwall lived in Mount Vernon in the 1930’s, when he wrote much of "God's Little Acre" and
"Tobacco Road," along with his most famous short story, "The Mating of Marjorie.”
WORKS CITED
"Erskine Caldwell." Erskine Caldwall. Vienna Historical Society, 2013. Web. 10 July 2013.
Painting by Belgrade Lakes Artist,
Rhonda Barnes
“We fish until we can't, we wait till the very last minute to get the boat out and docks out of the water, then we wait for the ice so we
can play pond hockey.” -Jodie Mosher-Towle, Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance board member
“Anyone who drives to my house steps out and says, ‘Wow, I can see why you bother driving six hours.’” -Jeffrey Spring of Spring
Gallery
“Everything here has to do with the lakes. The summer people wouldn’t
come anymore [if the lakes were unusable], and they’re half the town’s population… It would destroy
the economy. It would kill the area. It would just become another place to live. Most of the stores in the
village are gift shops. There are no places to buy a screwdriver or buy a cup of coffee (aside from Day’s)
or sit at a table and use wifi. We have a vibrant little village, but it’s almost solely geared toward
tourism, not toward the people who live here.” –Maureen Miliken, Belgrade author of Cold Hard News
Since the region’s settlement, people
have been drawn to the lakes because
of their serenity and the opportunities
they accord. In turn, whether directly or
indirectly, the lakes have influenced the
people who gather, creating a
community with a rich artistic culture
that remains to this day.
Living la Vida Belgrade
“It would be devastating. It would ruin… [trails off] It would be no different than the rather small sad
inland towns away from the water. The water drives everything… Thousands of people worked along the
water – that’s how the community was built. It really has an economic impact. If you can be on a clean
body of water, you’re going to pay more money. I wouldn’t care to have a place on East Pond – big algae
blooms, milfoil. The businesses would close up, wouldn’t they? There would be a gas station and a
Laundromat… There wouldn’t be the incentive for coming here. People even make a living fixing the lake
houses. Electricians gotta do a renovation on ‘em… There just wouldn’t be any commerce. Day’s Store,
Christy’s, Sunset Grill rely on people passing through. The locals don’t do their weekly shopping at Day’s
– it’s expensive. We might get a milk and a newspaper. It would be awful if the lakes failed.” –Earl Smith,
author of The Dam Committee
"Belgrade Lakes Maine Where Eugene O'Neill and Ernest Thompson (Author of On Golden Pond) Were Inspired: Knowledge Base." Belgrade Lakes Maine Where Eugene O'Neill and Ernest
Thompson (Author of On Golden Pond) Were Inspired .: Knowledge Base. Knowledge Base, 2013. Web. 15 July 2013.
Nurturing Talent: How the Lakes
Influence the Arts
The communities surrounding the Belgrade Lakes were built around the water. For generations, families have created memories on the water, spending years boating,
fishing, and swimming. Businesses have continued to succeed even with a struggling economy, remaining open year after year because of the summer tourism.
Painters, playwrights, and renowned writers have all found a quaint retreat on the Belgrade lakes. However, the lakes currently face severe environmental threats that
could jeopardize many recreational opportunities.
IMAGES
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7741-Belgrade-Lakes-Maine-ME-The-Narrows-Bridge-Water-Rocks-Trees-c1910-/360632331273?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f75cac09
This research was funded by NSF EPSCoR Grant #EPS-0904155
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Days-Store/303338607534?id=303338607534&sk=photos_stream
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/60/Strange_Interlude2.jpg/200px-Strange_Interlude2.jpg