Growing up on the backside of Adams Pond was a daily adventure I enjoyed with a bunch of neighborhood kids. Our outdoor playground extended for miles and offered entertainment and education outside of the house, unlike today where kids play on cell phones and electronic devices. We skated on Adams Pond, Wade’s Pond, and Shackleton’s Pond. We would go down to the old pumping station and skate along the edge to the north end of Adams Pond. The whole town of Boothbay would come and skate at Shackleton’s, and we enjoyed camp fires on the ice. Holding open our unzipped jackets, we lined-up out at the end of the pond and fly to the other end with the wind in our sails. We’d zip back up, and do it all over again. Such fun. At night, we would go down to Wade’s Pond, build a big bonfire, have something to eat, and skate until we couldn’t skate anymore.

There was only one plow driver in town, so if we got hit with a big snowstorm, we might be snowed in for a couple days before they could get to us. The upside was that all the kids on Adams Pond Road would slide down to Route 27 and wait for dad to come home with the truck. We’d hook all of our sleds to the back of that truck and he’d pull us on home. Adams Pond Road was a very active road with kids on it all the time. Bike riding, sliding, you name it. We could slide from my parent’s house all the way to Charlie Wade’s.

The drive-in theater was across the street from North Star Motel, where the White Anchor Inn now stands on Route 27. I think it was only open for one summer, but we used to walk from my parents’ house on Adams Pond Road up to the drive-in to watch old classics.

When it wasn’t winter, we played baseball. There were enough kids in the neighborhood to form two teams. Other popular games for the neighborhood kids were red light, tag, hide and seek, and catching fireflies.

Summertime also meant Vacation Bible School at the Barters Island Baptist Church with about 30-40 kids attending.

We learned to swim at the public access pool (with an entrance fee), located right before St. Andrews Hospital.

The YMCA was up on Back Narrows Road.

Friday nights, after dad got through working, we would come into town and shop for the week. We shopped at Dave May’s grocery store. There were so many grocery stores in town, but no Hannaford. There was A&P, now Sherman’s Bookstore; Carbone’s, now Tide Pools; First National, that turned into Bob’s Photo, and is now the Popcorn Shop. We had McDougall's on Eastern Avenue, and Brewer’s Market at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Bay Street. We had Welch’s Store and post office at Boothbay Center, and the Trevett Store and post office.

I went to school at the Center School. We had eight grades, four rooms, and two classes to a room. Our play yard was the Boothbay Common, and if we were fortunate enough, we got to wear white bands and stand in the middle of the road directing traffic to let kids cross to play during recess. I remember a big old Baptist church where the roundabout is now. It was as big as the Congo church downtown, and always very cold inside. I remember going there one year at Christmas time and Santa giving us a big bag of candy. I remember Ken McKenzie and his troop came down from Portland and played at the old town hall, which is the same building that has been relocated to the Boothbay Railway Village. We also roller skated in the town hall and played basketball there. We played against Boothbay Harbor, but not in tournaments or anything like that.

The first TV we had in the neighborhood was at Charlie Wade’s, and it was a humongous box with a little bitty screen. And the only programs we had were like 3/4/5 o'clock in the afternoon, and we’d watch “Howdy Doody” and “Mickey Mouse Club.” They had a tremendous library down there at Charlie Wade’s too. They had all the Nancy Drew stories and Hardy Boys. Charlie Wade was the captain/owner of the Balmy Days. He had two boys. One summer he took me out to Monhegan Island for free.

We had a tremendously big garden, and we grew strawberries in which we picked, boxed, and took to the yacht club, where dad was the steward, to sell to boaters. Then we planted corn on the cob with the same process. We were busy kids. We raised thousands and thousands of chickens. And the boys had to feed them and gather the eggs. Jan and I and Mom would wash the eggs with steel wool and grade them (small, medium, large). We would box them, and Cohen Egg Company would come to pick them up in the morning. We had a wood-burning fireplace and 40 acres of land. The boys had to go cut down trees and tend to the land. Across the street from our house was Clayton Dodge’s Lumber Company, and there were always trucks coming and going with lumber. Where Big Al’s Storage is now was a lumber yard, and at the Boothbay Fire Station was another lumber yard.

During the Second World War, there was a fire tower just up Back River Road, just behind Tommy Davis’ house, which used to be Shackleton’s. We would go up there with the person who was on duty, and search for incoming planes.

Back when I was a little kid, I was only three or four years old, I remember this very plainly: I went to my first carnival. It was in East Boothbay, where Lobsterman's Wharf and Hodgdon Yachts is now. Back then, none of those buildings were there and the carnival was held along the water. That’s where I had my first cotton candy – oh man, was that ever good; I had it all over me. 

I went to work when I was 10 as a caddy at the Boothbay Country Club. I made $35 that summer, enough to buy a new bicycle and a pen and pencil for school.

Let’s hear what you remember!

Christine “Chris” (Dickinson) Sproul was born in 1936, has lived in Boothbay all of her life, and has had many fond memories here. She wanted me to reach out in hopes of being able to share some stories of her childhood with the community. --Erica Sproul, granddaughter