Beth and her new husband, Chris, on the Lodge porch at Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop, sitting in chairs made years ago by Beth’s late stepfather, Rev. Walter G. Hartley.
I have written a lot over the past year about the fact that I was engaged to be married. Well, three weeks ago, the wedding took place at a summer camp on a small lake in central Maine, and I am happy to report that we had perfect weather, unlike this past rainy Memorial Day weekend. We were surrounded by family and friends, and spent much of the two weeks prior to the wedding celebrating and finalizing pieces of our big day.
As I went out to get the mail one day the week before the wedding, I was surprised to find an envelope from my father in my mailbox. I thought it might be an early wedding card, but to my delight, when I opened it, I found a lovely note from Dad, along with two photos of me with my grandfather from, I would guess, about 1986. I wasn’t delighted to see my bad hair and horrifying ’80s outfit, but I was thrilled to see these pictures of Grampa Dimond and me, fishing on Echo Lake in Fayette.
For a couple of summers, my grandparents, my sister, my dad and stepmom, and I would rent a cabin, and Grampa and I would do some fishing. Grampa would do all of the hard work—putting the worm on the hook, pulling my hook off the bottom of the lake when I would get it caught in the muck and grass (and one time pulling it from his ear, when one of my casts went terribly wrong). If I did manage to catch a fish, Grampa was responsible for taking it off the hook. You see, I LOVE to fish…I just don’t like touching the slimy worm or fish. I am more of a “caster and reeler-in woman” than a “fisherwoman.”
Beth fishing with her Grampa Dimond in Echo Lake in Fayette in 1986.
My grandfather passed away when I was in college, and after 1991, I didn’t fish again. It’s hard to find someone who is willing to do all of the dirty work while I get all of the “glory” when I catch a fish. Luckily, my husband loves to fish and will bait my hook and remove the fish for me, so fishing is again something I love to do. We got our fishing licenses with some of our wedding gift money and have been out every weekend since we got hitched to try to catch something. So far, not much luck, but it sure has been fun!
We will fish all summer, but I wanted to make sure folks know that the state of Maine offers two annual “free family fishing” weekends. Each year, the State of Maine allows you two opportunities to fish without purchasing a license: once in the winter, and once in the spring.
If you haven’t tried fishing before, or if you haven’t been fishing in years and want to see if you still have what it takes to catch “the big one,” then I encourage you to take advantage of the free fishing opportunity this weekend.
And, if you do catch “the big one,” and it doesn’t get away before you can snap a photo, please send us the pictures of your fish at nrcm@nrcm.org. You don’t have to give away directions to your favorite secret fishing hole, but maybe you can at least give us a hint? I could use the help!
Happy Fishing!
—Beth Comeau, NRCM Communications Manager
Darn, missed it, just saw your post this morning. Will try to remember it for next year – does it happen every year?