Another mostly beautiful week, lots of visitors to the colony, and lots of activities. I think that almost all of us are very glad to be here rather than our off-summer residences at this time!

Tom Meyer recently finished hiking the full length of the Appalachian Trail, beginning at Springer Mountain, Ga., early in March, and finishing at the summit of Mt. Katahdin in Maine on July 12.  He's looking forward to spending the rest of the summer in Sprucewold. Nancy and Michael Strong will be arriving later than usual, at the end of August, after Nancy's knee replacement. We are sorry to report that Jim and Hobbie Trefrey will not be in Sprucewold at all this summer, for health reasons.

George Carlisle has recently published a short story, “Nicknames,” and a book, “Whiskey, Sun and Fish: The Early Years of Fortescue,” about a small fishing village on Delaware Bay where George spent time as a young man, both very much worth reading!

This year's Sprucewold beach attendant is Alex Hallenbeck, from Edmond, Okla. He is the LaBelles' grandson, and in addition to taking care of the beach, Alex is a great magician! Please introduce yourselves to him when you sign in. In order for Alex to be able to properly care for each of us, he needs to know who we all are.

As most of you know, the annual fundraiser to support Nahanada Park this year is a quilt raffle.  Gail Kimball has made a quilt featuring a traditional pattern using colorful batik fabrics. The drawing will be held at a Sprucewold Association lobster bake scheduled for August 16 on the Green (tickets available from Suzanne Roche, Dottie Reilly, Ralph Kimball and Gretchen Murray).

There will be several association meetings during the next two weekends: Linekin Heights Association on August 2 at 9 a.m. on the Green, followed immediately after by the Sprucewold Association at 10 a.m. in the Sprucewold Lodge Dining Room. Please attend, as there is a very important and significant election to be held. The following week, the Sprucewold Beach Club will meet on August 9 at 9 a.m. at the Carousel Marina on Atlantic Avenue. Please note that the place and time of this meeting has changed from past practice — and that parking at the marina is very limited (car pool!).

This year is the 87th anniversary of the association, first called the Sprucewold Property Owners Association, which first met on August 19, 1927. In attendance were 24 cabin owners out of a total of 41 at the time. Many of the cabins were owned for rental by Alonzo Nickerson (including the Fisher cabin at 34 Crooked Pine). It is interesting that of the original members, only one had the family name of a current member of the association: Trefrey.  

The agenda of that first meeting included these issues: to get the town to take over the water pipes in the area covered by the association; the question of a bathing beach; condition of the roads; installation of two fire alarm boxes; having the roads oiled; extension of the Crooked Pine Road north to Crest Avenue; the matter of securing a watchman or a blanket burglary policy; the lights at the crossroads near the Jones house; and widening the archway near the entrance to the property and moving the same downhill toward the north.

Olin Potter Geer (1886-1959) was the association's first president. His activities on behalf of the association for more than 30 years gives him the right to be considered one of the, if not the founding father. The Geer cabin is currently owned by Bev and Mike Kahn (28 Birch Road). Geer graduated from Williams College in 1907, from Columbia University Law School in 1910, and practiced law in New York for the rest of his life. His daughter, Blanche (1920-1993), lived in the Geer cabin for a number of years after her father's death. Some of us remember seeing Blanche sailing on Linekin Bay in her small classic sailing dinghy. Blanche taught sociology at Northeastern University after receiving her doctorate from Johns Hopkins.

Olin Geer was an amateur cinematographer, making at least one film about a law firm in New York; he took more than 7,000 ft. of movie film in Sprucewold between 1929 and 1956. This treasure trove was given by Blanche to Northeast Historic Film located in Bucksport. Perhaps someone will visit the archive and report on the contents of Geer's movies?

Ralph Kimball still has some copies of the history of our colony ("Rusticators in Sprucewold: Stories of a Log Cabin Colony in Boothbay Harbor, Maine") for $15.

Anyone who has information or announcements for this column should please send them to Ralph Kimball or me (Alan Fisher) so that the next columnist may include them.