At the mouth of the Moose River, the community of Rockwood overlooks the stunning rhyolite cliffs of Mt. Kineo that drop straight to the waters of the massive Moosehead Lake. It was a thoroughly appropriate location for the first meeting of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail’s Kiosk Committee in Maine.
Cabin at the Birches
The meeting of the Rockwood Kiosk Committee was held at the Birches Resort on January 28, 2011. In attendance along with myself were Paul Johnson and Jerry Stelmok of Maine Woods Forever and the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail, local writer Suzanne AuClair, Kathy Ladd who was representing the Birches owner John Willard, and local guide Mac McClusky.
Rockwood Kiosk Committee Group Photo
The meeting began with introductions, general banter, and an overview of the kiosk development process. With one definite and one potential kiosk location in the area, the conversation quickly moved to the most appropriate sites. The locals all agreed that the Kineo Boat Launch in downtown Rockwood and the Lobster Trip Boat Launch at the convergence of Lobster Stream and the West Branch of the Penobscot River would be most ideally suited for NFCT kiosks.
As stories surrounding the area’s rich natural and cultural history were shared, it was apparent that distilling the region’s essence into two 42” x 42’’ panels was going to be a challenge. Names of several other Rockwood residents were mentioned who could assist with the process of locating dramatic photos and poignant text for that kiosk. The same was done for the Lobster Stream kiosk and became increasingly obvious that two committees were probably going to be needed.
Suzanne AuClair volunteered to lead the Rockwood Committee and Paul Johnson volunteered to assist with the Lobster Stream location. After flushing out some more questions and looking at other kiosk images, the second meeting was set for March 11. That meeting will focus on the images that have been collected in order to start developing the layout of the panel.
In the weeks since that first meeting, Suzanne has organized another Rockwood meeting set for Feb 18. A number of locals will converge to share stories and photos in order to better establish some options and streamline the March 11 meeting.
Paul has taken the lead on the newly forming Lobster Stream Committee and a meeting is pending for the first week in March.
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