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In respect to Bald Eagle sightings, I do have a small update from Evie Wilson about just which school it was where she saw a bald eagle. It was the Fred Fifer Middle School on Route 10 in Camden. Must not have been during school hours. Can you imagine the excitement if a student saw a Bald Eagle on school grounds?
As mentioned earlier, Evie is from Wells, Maine, and she sent along information about the Laudholm Trust, which has seven miles of trails in what is called the Wells Reserve. She writes that in walking the trails she has seen coyotes, porcupines and snakes plus a wide variety of birds. Sounds like a great place to visit, and I didn’t even know about it.
*****
Also brought to my attention because of this eagle business is some additional background to Silver Lake in Dover, which has much more of a history than I remembered.
Donald Sauter was kind enough to do some checking and sent along the following from “Tales of Old Dover,” an account written by Bruce Walls in 1977. I remember when Bruce did the booklet but had not remembered the part about Silver Lake:
“William McLintir Shakespeare made a fortune during the Civil War by supplying much needed lumber to the Union Army. In that period his ‘Dover Mills’ produced an annual output of several million feet of heavy ship-building timber.
“The mills, located on Shakespeare’s Pond, became one of the largest and most prominent ship timber manufacturers on the eastern coast. Curious Doverites might find it interesting to know that Shakespeare’s Pond is now Dover’s scenic Silver Lake.”
And further from the Bruce Walls account:
“William M. Shakespeare and his wife were well known for their generous and hospitable nature. Besides having to feed seven ever-growing hungry sons, they regularly kept open house, and rumor has it that every Sunday, come rain or shine, there were no less than twelve chickens cooked for dinner.
“It is no surprise that when Shakespeare met with financial disaster and lost all his money, some of the townspeople said that his friends had literally eaten him out of house and home.”
Historian E. D. Bryan of Dover also wrote about the lake, or pond, in “Mercantile History of Dover” in his book “A Tricentennial View of Dover” published in 1985.
Bryan wrote:
“Water-powered grist mills, which ground flour our housewives needed, were among the earliest forms of commerce. The nearest to Dover was the one built in about 1787 by Charles Hilliard. It stood a short distance northeast of the present Silver Lake dam, fed by a millrace dug from the lake to a point downstream.
“Silver Lake was at different times called Cowgill’s, Sipple’s or Shakespare’s Millpond, depending on the name of the mill’s owner. The place finally came to be called simply Dover Mills, and continued operation until the early 1900’s.
“William M. Shakespeare, who owned it after 1854, also operated a saw mill at the same site and specialized in the manufacture of oak shipbuilding timber. This he exported far and wide, reaching peak production during the military demands of the Civil War.”
Donald Sauter adds that “you can easily find William Shakespeare’s obelisk close to the lake at the north end of Lakeside Cemetery.”
So, we lay that item to rest, unless some reader or I discover an interesting follow-up.
*****
In respect to Bald Eagle sightings, I do have a small update from Evie Wilson about just which school it was where she saw a bald eagle. It was the Fred Fifer Middle School on Route 10 in Camden. Must not have been during school hours. Can you imagine the excitement if a student saw a Bald Eagle on school grounds?
As mentioned earlier, Evie is from Wells, Maine, and she sent along information about the Laudholm Trust, which has seven miles of trails in what is called the Wells Reserve. She writes that in walking the trails she has seen coyotes, porcupines and snakes plus a wide variety of birds. Sounds like a great place to visit, and I didn’t even know about it.
*****
Also brought to my attention because of this eagle business is some additional background to Silver Lake in Dover, which has much more of a history than I remembered.
Donald Sauter was kind enough to do some checking and sent along the following from “Tales of Old Dover,” an account written by Bruce Walls in 1977. I remember when Bruce did the booklet but had not remembered the part about Silver Lake:
“William McLintir Shakespeare made a fortune during the Civil War by supplying much needed lumber to the Union Army. In that period his ‘Dover Mills’ produced an annual output of several million feet of heavy ship-building timber.
“The mills, located on Shakespeare’s Pond, became one of the largest and most prominent ship timber manufacturers on the eastern coast. Curious Doverites might find it interesting to know that Shakespeare’s Pond is now Dover’s scenic Silver Lake.”
And further from the Bruce Walls account:
“William M. Shakespeare and his wife were well known for their generous and hospitable nature. Besides having to feed seven ever-growing hungry sons, they regularly kept open house, and rumor has it that every Sunday, come rain or shine, there were no less than twelve chickens cooked for dinner.
“It is no surprise that when Shakespeare met with financial disaster and lost all his money, some of the townspeople said that his friends had literally eaten him out of house and home.”
Historian E. D. Bryan of Dover also wrote about the lake, or pond, in “Mercantile History of Dover” in his book “A Tricentennial View of Dover” published in 1985.
Bryan wrote:
“Water-powered grist mills, which ground flour our housewives needed, were among the earliest forms of commerce. The nearest to Dover was the one built in about 1787 by Charles Hilliard. It stood a short distance northeast of the present Silver Lake dam, fed by a millrace dug from the lake to a point downstream.
“Silver Lake was at different times called Cowgill’s, Sipple’s or Shakespare’s Millpond, depending on the name of the mill’s owner. The place finally came to be called simply Dover Mills, and continued operation until the early 1900’s.
“William M. Shakespeare, who owned it after 1854, also operated a saw mill at the same site and specialized in the manufacture of oak shipbuilding timber. This he exported far and wide, reaching peak production during the military demands of the Civil War.”
Donald Sauter adds that “you can easily find William Shakespeare’s obelisk close to the lake at the north end of Lakeside Cemetery.”
So, we lay that item to rest, unless some reader or I discover an interesting follow-up.
*****
Like so many other football fans, I had visions of watching intently the final playoff games with the Eagles, the Ravens, the Redskins or the Patriots involved. Didn’t happen, as anyone with any interest in the sport knows.
Somehow the Super Bowl just doesn’t have much interest for me at this point, although I will probably watch at least some of it.
*****
By and large, the weather forecasts have been accurate. If the word is that we will have snow, snow comes. And the temperatures seem to follow closely the predictions.
The recent advance word on cold temperatures didn’t quite make it, though. I saw 13 degrees, but that wasn’t a single digit number.
To see how the forecasts had gone farther up the coast, I called our son David in southern Maine (you note I say “southern.”) The temperature almost always is much warmer in southern Maine and along the Atlantic.
David said the temperature on Monday was 12 below, certainly cold but nowhere near a record. I can remember a Maine temperature of 30 degrees below. My car gauge here showed 13 degrees above.
Cheer up. We’re definitely due for a “January thaw.”
*****
A guy in a Kia pulls up next to a Rolls Royce at a red light and asks, “Hey, is your car equipped with Bluetooth capability?”
The Rolls guy nods “yes.”
“So is mine. Got Wi-Fi?”
The Rolls driver nods again.
“Me too. What about a double bed?”
“No. Do you?” asks the surprised Rolls guy.
“Yep!” And as the light turns, the Kia driver speeds off.
Immediately jealous, the Rolls owner heads at once to his Rolls dealer customizing shop and demands to have a double bed installed. When that’s done he drives all over the city until he finds the Kia guy parked by the side of the road. He gets out and raps on his window. “Guess what” he says. “I got a double bed put in my car too.”
The Kia driver peers out. “You got me out of the shower to tell me that?!”
