"Cherryfielders Launch First of Summer Summer Celebrations 2011"

Cherryfield Days

 Kids' Parade Cherryfield days 2011See More Photographs Cherryfield Days 2011 by Joseph Palmer

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Cherryfield Days, celebrated June 24-26, one of the first summer celebrations Down East, sparked memories of traditional small-town life in Washington County. The events on Friday, June 24, were not hampered by misty weather which prevailed during most of the day. Excited parents gathered with 20 to 30 children to kick off the kids' parade. Following this event was the bed race. Anything which had wheels Coolidge enter the race. A the race began began, two beds' wheels fell off and parents with Maine know- how worked on the problem. In the meantime this reporter/photographer almost collided with a speeding four poster.

Saturday's events began with the Donna and David Smith Memorial 5K Race, hosting runners from distant towns and states as distant as Florida.
The heavy downpours on Saturday, June 25, which forced the organizers of East Machias' River Days to postpone their annual town festival to July 16, seemed to stiffen the resolve of spectators to see the entire parade in Cherryfield. Spectators lined Main Street just before the parade began began. I came upon a yard sale, where Kiara Valllispi, 4, assisted her mother, Laura Seavy, by giving wonderful smiles to the customers.
The Parade began shortly after 11 a.m.. Just as quickly, it stopped in its tracks. It was not wheels falling off vehicles this time. Rather, the antique Cherryfield Fire Truck ran out of gas, temporarily halting the parade.
Maine know-how came to rescue again as volunteer firefighter Joe Sproul jump out of the following fire truck and supplied fuel to the stranded one. Wow, that was a close call. Taking shelter under her umbrella, Brady Snate stood near King's concession for her grandmother , Gail Anderson, to give her some food. Neither the rain nor a stopped parade seemed to phase Brady as she waited for her treat.
     Cherryfielders and visitors expressed appreciation to the sponsoring committee ans especially Joanna and Tim DeSchiffart for their leadership. 

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Memorial Day Cherryfield, Maine 2011 Photographs by Joe Palmer with text by Peter Duston

 1LT Peter Duston Bulger for Post 8 Cherryfield, Maine

 LTC Peter Ogden State Director of Veteran Affairs and 1LT Peter Duston.

Members of Cherryfield  Band left to right Rachel Brace, John Cicci,
Lucile Willey,Pam Hatt.

John and Diane Cicci received the Presidents Award for Volunteering to the Books for Soldiers Program. Presentation made by Kathy Upton.

MEMORIAL DAY – CHERRYFIELD, MAINE – 2011

Philip Farnsworth Grant was the son of Mr. Mrs. Fred Grant  and  a 1934 Graduate of Cherryfield Academy.  After graduating from the University of Maine,  he joined the Navy in 1941, training as a carrier pilot and was assigned to the USS Hornet in the early days of the Pacific War. He distinguished himself during the Battle of Midway flying the Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber (SDB) by his aggressive attacks on the enemy ships and by landing on a beach to rescue a fellow pilot who had to ditch his plane.  For his exploits, he was  awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Admiral Nimitz, the Pacific Fleet Commander.  Several months later in October, a major Japanese naval force moved into the Guadalcanal sector with the objective of cutting allied shipping lanes to Australia. Outnumbered 2 to 1, the American fleet met the invading forces in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island.  LT Grant’s  VB-8  Wing consisting of 8 SDB’s went up with other wings of dive bombers to bomb and strafe the Japanese task force of carriers and war ships.  Outnumbered by a vastly larger enemy force of Zeros and dive bombers, the Americans fought hard in what became known as the most intense two hour air and carrier battle of WWII, a battle that cost the Americans dearly but kept the invading Japanese from threatening the vital Richardson Airfield on Guadalcanal .  LT Grant took off from the Hornet with the first strike force at 0755 hours on the morning of 26 Oct 1942.  Approaching the enemy ships, LT Grant’s  flight commander’s plane’s engine seized up and he went into the water at 0926 and LT Grant was shot down approximately 4 minutes later at 0930 hours.  He and his gunner were never recovered.

LT Philip F. Grant will always be 25 years old. His name is inscribed on the Wall of the Missing in the American Battlefield Monuments Cemetery in Manila, the Philippines where they remembered him yesterday at their Memorial Day observances.

LT Grants nephews, Wayne and Philip Grant received the State of Maine Gold Star Medal from the grateful people of Maine for his ultimate sacrifice.

MEMORIAL DAY – CHERRYFIELD – 2011

Embert L. Grant was born in Harrington in 1925, the only child of Leon C. and Henrietta Young Grant.  He was a graduate of Columbia Falls High School, Class of 1943 and enlisted immediately into the US Army.  Following infantry basic training, we think at Camp Croft, SC, Grant was assigned to Easy Company, 318^th Infantry Regiment, 80^th Division.  The Division landed in France at Utah Beach on 5 August 1944 two months after D-Day.  Considered the “Work Horse” of General Patton’s 3^rd Army,  PVT Grant and the 80^th  played a key role in the “breakout” at Avranches and the famous “Dash” across France until gas and supplies ran out.  Following the “Bloody Moselle Crossing, by 8 November, the Division was within 5 miles of Saarbruecken, Germany meeting increased enemy resistance resulting from  Hitler’s “No retreat” order.

The end of November 1944 found Easy Company and the 318^th Infantry  in constant daily combat in the St. Avold area as the preparations were being made for the breach of the German border.  On 29 November, PVT Grant was seriously wounded and on 4 December 1944, he died of his wounds in a US Army Hospital in France.

Embert L. Grant was 19 years old.  His body was returned to the States following the War and was buried with full military honors in the family lot in Harrington in 1946. A large color photograph of his burial hangs on the wall of the Maine Military Funeral Honors Office in Augusta forever remembering his ultimate sacrifice.

Since we were unable to find any local family, Kevin Woodard, Commander of the Harrington Veterans of Foreign Wars Post received the Gold Star Medal and hold it in trust that Private Embert Grant will always be remembered near where he was born.

It's Maurice Moon receiving the State Silver Star Medal to recognize his wounds received during the Korean War.

MEMORIAL DAY – CHERRYFIELD, MAINE - 2011

Signalman 3^rd Class Kenneth Allen Sproul was born 30 Sep 1923, son of Allen and Estah Sproul and the twin of Katherine Sproul Bickford.  A 1941 graduate of Cherryfield Academy, Kenneth was on his third convoy trip overseas serving as a US Navy Guard aboard the Liberty Ship, SS Daniel Chester French. The French sailed from Philadelphia with a destination of Dandar Shapur, Iran and was carrying a lend-lease cargo of vehicles and ammunition for the Russian Army when they were given a course, in error, into an allied mine field in the Mediterranean Sea off Tunisia in North Africa.   At 0720 on the morning of 6 March 1944, Sproul’s ship hit a mine creating two large explosions, causing the ammunition cargo to explode. With the ship in flames, the crew and 87 Army passengers abandoned ship in the 10 minutes before the Daniel Chester French went down.  Sproul and 3 other Navy personnel and 9 merchant marine crew were lost. 

Rest in Peace Signalman 3^rd Class Kenneth Allen Sproul, Lat. 37 17’N; Long. 10 22’ E  30 miles off the coast of Bizerta, Tunisia.  Sproul was 20 years old and will be remembered today at a Memorial Day Program at the American Military Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia where his name appears on the Memorial Wall of the Missing.

Joe Sproul Jr. for the family  received the State of Maine Gold Star Medal in remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice of Kenneth Sproul.

Ingrid Halonen  (front) and Delnna Rau member of the horn section of the Cherryfield Band.

SPC Erika Yates receives the Maine challenge  coin recognizing women veterans. Yates is a combat medic with the 126th Aviation Co. MeARNG.

Preston Smith receives his 50 year pin with Cherryfield American Legion, Post 8 Cherryfield, Maine. Darlene Dowling made the presentation.

Jeremiah Legg 8th grader at Cherryfield Elementary School, read the Gettysburg Address,was recognized by Col. Ogdon State Director of Veteran Affairs Office in Augusta, Maine.

Doug and Darlene Dowling lay a reef at the Civil War Monument  Pine Grove Cemetery in Cherryfield, Maine.  

Post 8 Commander Darlene Dowling cast a wreath in the

Narraguagus River, Cherryfield, Maine  in memory of those who died at sea. 

Left to right: Matt Leighton, Brandon Du Gay,Jonathan Gay and RandY Hibert.

Aeta Tribal Village- A Photographic Tour- Subic Bay- Luzon Island, Philippines; Photographs by Joseph S. Palmer

If there is one thing you should definitely not miss in Subic Bay Freeport, it is the nature tour at the Pamulaklakin Trail. I took the tour. Several days later I visited the Aeta Tribal Village.

The trail is situated along the road to the Binictican housing complex. It is a little obscure and there is a big chance you would miss it on your first pass if you are not paying attention. Once in, you might not find the compound distinct from any park or place.

What is special is the tour, or more appropriately the lesson that the Aeta guide will give you.

An extended family is seen here waiting for their morning ride to take  them to a market to sell their crafts .

A child waiting outside the complex to accompany her mother and extended family, who go daily  to a local super market  to sell their crafts.Wild honey is one of their special items.

When I began my trek toward the tribal village, I wondered what type of clothes would be worn there.
.

Today most Aeta who have been in contact with lowlanders have adopted the T-shirts, pants and rubber sandals .

Example of  a tree growing in the jungle.

Using an Aeta guide we walked almost two hours through the jungle and then on to red dirt road.

Along the trail where two boys collecting nuts to use to invent and play games.

The first dwelling seen on the trail was this thatched roof  house.

Children stop at a family store just to look and possibly day dream about something to eat.

Another dwelling along the trail.

A young girl takes a break from helping her family.

Then from no where cyclists peddled down the trail.
Cycling is a big sport in the Philippines.
I'm assuming that these cyclists were peddling through the village and not residents of the village.

Whitten-Parritt Stream Clean Up: Stream of Consciousness

The Whitten Parritt Stream flows north to south across US Route 1.

At this point on route 1, the stream  forms a boundary line  between Hancock - Township 7- and Washington County
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As you drive East across the stream, the sign reads  Welcome to Washington County. the Sun Rise County.

A trail on the north side of of route 1, next to the concrete culvert, meanders down to a flowing stream. 

Until Wednesday or Thursday of this week, the embankment leading down to the stream was disgracefully cluttered with trash and tires. Friday morning however the tires and trash had been removed from the stream bank, cleaned up and stacked  on route 1 for pick up.  

Who removed the all this clutch? I don't know, but I hope to get a chance to meet them and acknowledge their good deeds. Seeing that the trash and tires were piled up, I drove a short distance not more than 200 yards and turned left into a drive way where a man was working in his garden. The gardener walked to my car window while black flies swirling around him. He wore a bug net over his hat pulled and down over his head disguising his face. Powering down the window, I  shook hands  with him as I introduced myself. He said his name is Ray Blaisdale. 

You know him as Pastor Ray Blaisdale who served as minister  at Weald Bethel of the Maine Sea Coast Mission in Chery Field. He now ministers in the Ashville Church.
My first question to him was do you know who cleaned up the bank leading down to the stream. Ray did not know. Are there fish in the stream I wondered out loud. "Of course" as he smiled."My  land abuts  the stream"," I have walked the trail many times", he admitted. As we talked a pheasant strutted across his drive way. A roadside mystery has developed. Who was this secret gorillas task force who cleaned up the trash and tires which had been haunting this beautiful stream for years? Whoever you are thank you for your community spirit and generous work. Did you find your  work gloves  left on the stump?

See: The Downeast Coastal Press  Vol 23 No. 45 May 17-23 2011 page 10;
Stream of Consciousness: Who Cleaned the Trash from the Whitten Parritt Stream?
Joseph S. Palmer Freelance Contributor



Other Pictures contributed to
The Downeast Coastal Press
as see in May 17-23 issue
by Joseph S. Palmer

Kids spent the morning with their moms looking for periwinkles, rock hopping, and wading at the shore by the Pinkham boat ramp  while the tide ebbed. Here and there were fragments of peanut butter sandwiches and cookies scattered on the beach. A family dog laid on rock weed and noticed all the happenings.Back row, It was a kick back time at the beach. See in this picture is Heather Peters wearing the Roots Tee Shirt, Clarissa West, and her mom Claire West. Resting on the tricycle is Mackenley Peters nearly two years old, and his brother Mackaylon Levi . Cailin Chase wears  a tee shirt "Mom's Little Trouble Maker". Both families frequent the beach on good sunny days and live  in Steuben.

A fishermen is seen casting his net on the Hoi An River, Hoi An, Vietnam as his wife guides the 16 foot boat with a sculling motion at the stern. All the boats  on the Hoi An River have two eyes painted on either side of the bow. The eyes have the power to scare away sea monsters and hopefully chase good fish into the boat. On any good weather day small boats like this one can be seen plowing the waters of the river. Following their daily catch fishermen gather on the following day at dawn to sell their fish at the Hoi An river  market.  This boat was made by local craftsmen with basic hand tools  on an island in the Hoi An River.
Joseph S. Palmer recently visited Vietnam

The first day of Spring was a perfect day along the Narraguagus River.

Spring  arrives very slowly in Washington County Maine.

Winter seems to lay down its coat of snow and cold reluctantly.

Last week this photograph captured the grand old riverfront homes along the East shore of the Narraguagus River in Cherryfield as seen from Wilson Hill Road. In a bygone time, Wilson Hill Road was called US Route 1, many winters ago.

Out & About on Pinkham Bay- Steuben, Maine March 16, 2011

The tide was flooding at the Pinkham Bay Bridge Thursday morning when a lonely looking Canadian goose was spotted in a marsh north of the bridge on Pinkham stream. Periodically it could be heard  making what was I thought was a calling for a mate. Talking with Steve Resotko whose home overlooks some of the marsh reported that he had seen  baby geese swimming in the stream most years, as well as an otter. Steve knows Pinkham Bay its islands and bird life. He and his wife Marty often motor their canoe toward Petite Manan Light.

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Narraguagus River Ice Dam at the Cherryfield Bridge US Rt. 1, March 12, 2011

March 12, 2011 the Narraguagus River, frozen over from a hard Maine Winter, was beginning to break up from rising temperatures and a week  of constant rain. Two concrete bridges built sometime in the 1930s crossing  the river, the Four Corners Bridge referred to by local folks and the Cherryfield  Bridge US Route 1 which goes right through the "center" of town  so to speak. Ice flows floating on the out going tide had jammed against the Cherryfield Bridge today. There seems to be no danger of the ice jam taking out the bridge, although it is possible local flooding may occur and the river banks. Talking with onlookers at the ice dam on the river, they do not recall seeing so much ice at the bridge.  Traveling the river north to the Four Corners I saw mergansers riding the rapids and dodging  ice flows They are quick swimmers and comical in their behavior. A long time ago there was a wooden bridge which crossed the Narraguagus River on US Route 1.My guess is that an ice dam may have taken out that bridge, I'm not sure.  Nothing lasts for ever?