Milfoil Control

The town of Tuftonboro has announced that they are going to be doing some more milfoil control either in May or September. It will be done in Melvin Bay, Nineteen Mile Bay, Winter Harbor Basin and Winter Harbor. What is with this new thing calling the "Basin" "Winter Harbor Basin". Has anybody ever heard that before? Sounds like somebody changed the name.

I don't think that was an intentional attempt to change the name of "The Basin", but just to generally locate it for those folks not familiar with the surroundings of Dishwater Pond.

News Hawk wrote:I don't think that was an intentional attempt to change the name of "The Basin", but just to generally locate it for those folks not familiar with the surroundings of Dishwater Pond.

Could be.

WHL wrote:

News Hawk wrote:I don't think that was an intentional attempt to change the name of "The Basin", but just to generally locate it for those folks not familiar with the surroundings of Dishwater Pond.

Could be.

NH, did you ever go to Ernie Piper's store by boat when you were young? We loved to do that!!

For every "bad" weed there are many more good weeds. I could never understand how the poisons they put into our lake tell the difference.

Was Piper's store where the condos are now? I know that was a marina at one time.

No, if you went by the condos and turned to the right toward the church, you would come to the store/post office. It was always red.

WHL wrote:NH, did you ever go to Ernie Piper's store by boat when you were young? We loved to do that!!

Of course!



It was a long(ish) trek for us just to get a quart of milk—plus, you couldn't use a very large boat due to the shallows.

(In the Narrows).

Besides the skiing slalom course in Johnson's Cove there was one outside the condos—before there were condos.

Shallows...Narrows...Condos...

I think I'm getting dizzy!

The shallows in the narrows? It's not shallow there!

WHL wrote:No, if you went by the condos and turned to the right toward the church, you would come to the store/post office. It was always red.

Ernie's store and post office was never red in Ernie Piper's lifetime. John and Carol Truebe painted Ernie's old place red after they became the owners of the place.

I don't remember the store being red, but when Ernie's closed, I had no reason to go there any longer—by boat or otherwise.

WHL wrote:The shallows in the narrows? It's not shallow there!

By boat, an indication of "shallows" are the Lily-Pads growing whilst approaching Ernie's. Isn't that the area that could be described as the "mouth" of The Narrows.

Oh, ok, it IS very shallow by Ernie's store. (former store) The Narrows goes from the Museum to around WinMir so I suppose you could describe that area by close by 109, the "mouth" or the "foot". They call it the narrows because the strip of land between Winni and Mirror lake is so narrow there. That area in front of Ernie's was once said to have quicksand.

WHL wrote:Oh, ok, it IS very shallow by Ernie's store. (former store) The Narrows goes from the Museum to around WinMir so I suppose you could describe that area by close by 109, the "mouth" or the "foot". They call it the narrows because the strip of land between Winni and Mirror lake is so narrow there. That area in front of Ernie's was once said to have quicksand.

Sounds like something Ernie would say to discourage unwanted visitors.

It does sound like Ernie. He was quite a character. I wish I could remember the whole story but supposedly somebody got stuck out there. It is pretty mucky even now as NH said.

WHL wrote:No, if you went by the condos and turned to the right toward the church, you would come to the store/post office. It was always red.

Here's a photo of the late Burgess Hodges exiting Ernie Piper's very white store.
Photo courtesy of BG Hodges:

You are correct. After seeing your picture, I remember it being white. It has been red for a long, long time.

Now that VW Type-IIs are no longer being manufactured—as of this year—a 60's VW "Kombi" in that condition would be worth $20,000-$30,000 today.

I can't say I remember Ernie, but that figure certainly suggests a distant memory of him. Is that Ernie?



In a period photograph, I'd recognize Melvin Village's Postmistress, Marian Horner Robie!



Mirror Lake TV and Radio repair—dial 809? Wolfeboro was very late in going to the (now) US-standard seven-digit numbers.

News Hawk wrote:I can't say I remember Ernie, but that figure certainly suggests a distant memory of him. Is that Ernie?

No, it's not Ernie. As it indicates above the photo, the person exiting the always white store is Burgess Hodges. Surely, if your memories hark back to Melvin Village, you remember Burgess and Pricilla Hodges.

Mirror Lake TV and Radio repair—dial 809? Wolfeboro was very late in going to the (now) US-standard seven-digit numbers.

Who was that, Norman? I don't remember that name.

Yes, Wolfeboro was one of the last to get dial.

WHL wrote:Mirror Lake TV and Radio repair—dial 809? Wolfeboro was very late in going to the (now) US-standard seven-digit numbers.

Who was that, Norman? I don't remember that name.

Yes, Wolfeboro was one of the last to get dial.

Mirror Lake TV & Radio was Tom Spencer Jr. whose family ran Mirror Lake Lodges which were on Route 109, on the left past 19 Mile Bay and just north of Edgerly's Edge 'O' Lake trailer park.
The Spencer's home and Tom's separate TV shop building were in fact red and were perched on the embankment where the land dropped off sharply from the road. Their cottages were down back on the lakeshore.
Tragically, the senior Mr. Spencer jumped to his death out of a rear house window, circa 1970.

Thanks. I didn't know he did tv work or don't remember. His daughter was Cathy. I think they had a son too.

Norman Wunderlich wrote:"...Here's a photo of the late Burgess Hodges..."

My Dad probably knows the family—and like many in Melvin—may have known them from Kindergarten; however, I'd like to be able to "tease-out" any additional memories of Burgess and Pricilla Hodges.

For example, where (as close as possible) did they live, and what was Pricilla's maiden name?

They lived on the shore at the end of Wharf Rd. in Melvin. Burgess was captain of the US Mail Boat the Grey Ghost. Pricilla ran the Billowfair snack bar. I've no idea what her maiden name was.

I think they moved here when BG was young. Didn't he say that, Norman? I have know BG the son since I was in high school. He had a sign shop for quite a few years, NH. He is quite talented.

Norman Wunderlich wrote:"...Burgess was captain of the US Mail Boat the Grey Ghost..."

There's a boat named The Grey Ghost that is moored nearby to my place. Being 20-feet long, it's unlikely to be used as a modern-day mailboat, but "there it is".