Bucksport’s Makeover
I applaud Jeff Clark and Jennifer Smith-Mayo’s article “Reimagining Bucksport.” I grew up in Bucksport, and my wife and I visited it in 2007 and witnessed the transformation in progress. As kids, we would visit the remnants of the old Sullivan Boat Yard on Verona Island, where Commodore Peary’s ship the U.S.S. (Teddy) Roosevelt was built that transported him and crew to the North Pole. A few notables resided in Bucksport, too. Dustin Farnum, the famous Silent Film’s cowboy star; Ivan Brawn, the New England heavyweight wrestling champion of his day; and my childhood friend, Bill Baxter. The surrounding area had so many lakes to fish and play in, mountains to climb and, of course, the lobsters and Ipswich clams.
Bucksport gave me many wonderful childhood memories to carry with me as I travel the globe — six continents and more than ninety countries to date. Next year will be my eightieth. People I meet in my travels, and because of my pronunciation of various words, say, “Are you from Maine?” and I respond, “Ayep” with a smile.

—Gus Gregory,
Santa Cruz, California

Where in Maine?
I was excited to receive the October issue of Down East magazine and see the photo of the cove area of Harrison, Maine. I now live in California, but I lived in the house you see a part of in the upper left corner of the picture from 1937 to 1956. My parents lived there until their deaths in the 1990s. I spent many hours swimming right there by that tree in the foreground, and lots of other times enjoying boating on the lake.
I had the opportunity last summer to spend most of the season there, renting a condo at Secret Harbor. I attended my fifty-fifth reunion at Bridgton Academy, one of the plays at Deertrees, took a cruise down the Songo Locks from Naples, and visited with several old friends and classmates who still live in and around Long Lake.

—Barbara (Holmes) Durbin
San Jose, California

It was with great joy that I was able to identify immediately the October photo.We live at the opposite end of the lake in Naples, but often boat to Harrison to get gas at the marina in the photo. Our lake is so wonderful all year, but never more peaceful, serene, and glorious than in the autumn when Mother Nature dresses the area in brilliant reds and oranges.

—Mary Canavan
Naples, Maine

No Checkpoint
I noticed an error in the October 2008 issue, “Weekend 1: The North Woods.” The gate at Sias Hill is gone and the gatehouse (cabin) has been torn down. There’s no charge to drive onto the Golden Road to Millinocket.

—Craig Loth
Byfield, Massachusetts

Monica’s Mexico
I so much enjoyed Monica Wood’s story “My Mexico” in the October issue. I
confess to being one of the “tourist ladies” she mentions, though I’ve taken no pictures of children there, only the smoking chimneys of the paper mill and the falls on the river. We usually stay in Rumford and enjoy breakfast with the friendly folks at Dick’s Restaurant in Mexico. I’ve always noted the old working-class neighborhoods when driving through but now will have some insight into the lives of those living there.

—Winona Krenzer
Prairie Village, Kansas

Correction
The Sagadahoc County sheriff shown in October’s “What’s in a Picture?” photograph was J. Horace McClure. The article accompanying the photo misstated the sheriff’s first name.

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