Making More Memories

June 1st. Woke to rain. Greg Gordon (CT), one of the Converse party that was here in May, returned all by himself in search of the elusive land locked salmon. As you can imagine, a camp full of fishermen creates competition. Greg was not about to be bested by his fishing buddy and rival Larry Converse – remember Larry caught that 5 pound lunker last month? Greg was determined to catch a bigger fish, no matter how long it would take. Greg is retired…

Wayne and Grant stated planning boards for new decking to be used in cabins 7 and 8. When I got home from work I found a note telling me they had gone fishing on the 4th. Sitting on the deck enjoying the view at the end of a long day at the print shop I could see Grant’s pontoon boat and Greg’s pretty white “dory” beyond Oak Point. It looked like they were trolling. As the shapes neared it appeared Greg’s small boat was towing Grants “barge”! Apparently they’d (Grant and Wayne) broke down on the lake. Thankfully Greg came to the rescue, responding to Wayne’s “emergency flash light”! We celebrated their safe return around the campfire that night. Greg had good success all week catching 12”-14” brook trout and salmon. Joe Decker (guest at Fish River Lodge for more than 40 years!) arrived on the 7th and Greg departed – there was to be no trophy salmon for Greg, but there’s always “next time”. That night I hosted a race committee meeting for the Eagle Lake sled dog races – it’s not too soon to begin planning for next winter! Dana Davis and friend Wendy arrived to stay in cabin 3 for a few days of fishing. Joe brought in a day’s catch of brook trout and salmon. Edgar Satterfield and his buddies arrived for a long weekend of fishing out of cabin 6. On the 11th Joe brought in a very fat 3 ½ lb salmon. On the 12th Wayne and I paddled a section of the St. John River between Allagash and St. John with Mike Dumond, Steve and Shondelle Daigle and their children Chris and Allie, Heather and Jessie Jandreau, and Allyson. It was a wonderful day on the river with friends. The Pelletier family (Herve, brothers Bob and Al and Al’s wife Karen) arrived for the week. Bob and Al play guitar, Herve plays harmonica and had his handcrafted, jointed wooden dancing man named Jean Pierre. They entertained us several evenings around the campfire with their music and Herve’s skill at making Jean-Pierre dance. He even taught me how to work the little jointed dancing man - I got the hang of it as they played "You Are My Sunshine". Herve is 92 years old and knew my grandpa Armand. My grandpa is now gone, but Herve so reminds me of him – his wit and kind manner.

Wayne and Grant replaced decking on cabin 8.

On the 16th and 17th Wayne and Grant tore down the old addition that housed my office, laundry room and bathroom. It had been poorly constructed and caused us lots of problems. The only way to fix it properly was to tear it down and rebuild. We had been given lots of salvaged lumber to help keep costs down.

The annual moose lottery was held on the 18th. Duane Webber called me at work on the 19th to announce his dad had been drawn! I don’t know who was more excited, he or I? Later that evening Ron Webber called to ask if I would be his guide – the answer of course was YES! On the 22nd I sent our moose brochures to lucky lottery winners in zones 2 and 3. But by then we already had 4 hunts booked! Wayne started rebuilding the addition on the 23rd.

Jane Patterson and sister-in-law Valerie arrived on the 29th. I’d met Jane at Hollywood Slots back in April. After telling her about Fish River Lodge, she vowed she would be up to fish. Well, true to her word, she and Val arrived. That evening I got a red canoe ready for them to use in the morning – hauled it down to the lake, put paddles, life vests, and a throw cushion underneath. It rained hard all night. The morning of the 30th I went down to bale out boats before work. The canoe was gone – Jane and Val were out fishing. But then I saw them fishing out of the green canoe. I figured they may have preferred the longer canoe and paid no more attention to it, until I looked up from my baling to see where they’d put the red canoe. It was no where in sight. Hmmmm…. I continued baling as my eyes gazed from the point, along the shore, back toward the dock, when I spotted the red canoe, upside down in the cove up against the rocks! Apparently last night’s wind had blown the canoe over and off the beach where it came to rest in the cove. In the mean time, Jane and Val thought I’d forgotten to put their canoe out! They dragged the green canoe down to the lake for a day of fishing. At least the life vests and cushion, looped over the paddles, didn’t blow away – they found them on the beach. Later that night we all shared our stories of the missing canoe! We thoroughly enjoyed Jane and Val and look forward to their return next year.

Although times can be tough and running a sporting camp is a lot of work, the reward is the friends we meet along the way. They are friendships we cherish, that add richness to our days, and memories to last a lifetime.