Staci Warren: Her Mainely Girl Adventures

Editor’s note: Staci Warren has joined The Windham Eagle to provide a unique woman’s perspective and column on the outdoors every month. She is a freelance writer whose blog, My Mainely Girl Adventures, is about a woman hunting, fishing, trapping, foraging and living in the Maine outdoors. She also loves camping, star gazing, wildlife watching, and hunting for fossils. She’s an active member and board member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and is a monthly columnist and feature writer for The Maine Sportsman Magazine. In her free time, she enjoys mentoring women hunters and trappers.

By Staci Warren

Welcome to my first column as a writer for The Windham Eagle! I am a woman who is also a hunter, fisherman, forager, and trapper. I was not raised in a hunting family – my father owned five guns that were inherited and sat in the corner of my parents’ closet unused. I never understood the lure of hunting and in fact, could have easily been an anti-hunter had I not met my husband who basically lived and breathed hunting from the time he could hold a shotgun. I considered myself a hunting widow once deer season started and was annoyed with it by the end because while he was out hunting, i.e., having a good time, I was working full-time, caring for kids, the house and pets. I’m sure many women can relate.

Staci Warren with a nice native
brook trout caught by fly
fishing. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

As my kids got older, I was working a full-time job, attending college part-time and still doing all the stuff that moms do, but I actually felt like I had more time on my hands. We started camping in remote parts of Maine and took up fly fishing since the youngest of our children loves to fish. Fly fishing is now my preferred method, although striper fishing with quahogs is a lot of fun too. I hope to try fly fishing for striper soon.

At this time, the turkey hunting lottery also was established. In an effort to increase his chances of getting a permit, my husband asked me to apply. I had held a hunting license long before hunter safety courses were required, just to say I had one, so applying was easy. I ended up getting drawn for the permit. My husband, John, expecting he would be the one shooting, was surprised when I said, I’ll let you shoot if I can’t shoot your shotgun.” Well, I shot it easily, so the hunt was mine. I ended up bagging a turkey 25.5 pounds, just short of the then state record. Then deer season started. John agreed to take me. It required me shooting his .44 rifle and walking into a stand in the dark to get set up before deer started moving. I had never ventured far from home, so this was a big step for me, since I was scared of dark (terrified more like it), and of noises in the dark, so luckily my husband would walk me into my stand -he did that for about two years. I ended up shooting a five-point buck that year! From then on, I used hunting to challenge my fears and insecurities, and I could see the change in myself. I have grown much more confident and am proud of the woman I’ve become.

I began bear hunting in 2016, the same year as the bear referendum. I had helped schlep bait for a couple years for my husband and sons bait sites, but never actually hunted. By now, I was used to walking into and out of the woods at dark, but not with bear around, so once again, I would walk in alone in daylight but would wait for John to retrieve me. This was not because I was scared, but his concern for me should I meet a bear.

In 2018, I shot my first moose and my first bear. I became a bona fide hunter. I never considered myself a woman hunter, huntress, or lady hunter; I am a hunter and a fisherman.

I took up trapping after seeing a fawn and doe followed by a large bobcat minutes later on my game camera. I ended up finding the carcass of the fawn that was evidently killed by the bobcat. The number of deer in our area was significantly lower than past years, as were partridge, turkey and snowshoe hare. I soon realized you can’t take from one end of the game pyramid without balancing it by taking predators as well. I began targeting coyotes and bobcats. We caught four bobcats and two coyotes that first year, and continue to see them on our cameras, but more deer and smaller game have been showing up. We get regular calls to trap nuisance beaver that are destroying trees and flooding camps, but just don’t have time for everything.

Foraging for mushrooms and edibles like fiddleheads and ramps have become a real passion for me and John. When we’re not fishing or hunting, we’re hiking into remote spots and picking wild Maine mushrooms. We pick about eleven different types and my cupboards are bulging with canned fiddleheads and mushrooms! Caution, foraging can be addictive.

As the seasons come, I’ll share with you my adventures and I’ll share recipes from my foraging, and hunting as well as crafts like making soap, body lotion and lip balm from tallow to utilize as much of my harvest as I can.

Bear season will be upon us soon, and I’ll be busy setting up a new bait site and prepping for the opening day in late August. I hope you’ll come along for the adventure, and in the process become inspired to learn more. <

LELT’s new Trail Race Series launches Aug. 3

The 2024 Loon Echo Trail Race Series kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 3.

The inaugural trail running race series takes place across three trail networks owned and managed by Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT). All proceeds from the events support LELT trails and conservation work.

Loon Echo Land Trust will launch a new trail
race series with the Fluvial 5K at Crooked
River Forest in Harrison on Saturday, Aug. 3.
The series will include three different races in
 the area this summer. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

The Fluvial 5K at Crooked River Forest begins at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3 in Harrison. The cost to participate is $25.

This is a good introduction to trail racing and will take participants down to the historic Crooked River and have you exploring the trails of the Crooked River Forest.

Afterward, participants can enjoy some après brews from one of the best craft micro-breweries Maine has to offer at Fluvial Brewing.

The Bald Pate 10K will be held starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 in South Bridgton.

The fee to participate is $35.

During the Bald Pate 10K participants will wind their way through the ancient pitch pine forest and take in beautiful views of Foster Pond and the surrounding area.

Bald Pate is a much beloved mountain and trail network, and this is your chance to experience the best of it.

The trail race series for 2024 wraps up with the Pleasant Mountain Race, a half-marathon, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 in Bridgton.

The cost is $75 if registered before Sept. 1.

This is the second time that the Pleasant Mountain Half Marathon Race will be held.

Participants will be able to take in the spectacular fall foliage as they navigate the technical single-track and traverse across Pleasant Mountain’s iconic ridge.

Runners who sign up for one race in the series will receive $5 off another race in the series.

More information and registration links for all of the trail series races can be found at LELT.org/race-series.

Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT), founded in 1987, is a nonprofit organization that protects land, ensures public access to the outdoors, and builds and maintains recreational trails in Raymond, Casco, Naples, Harrison, Sebago, Bridgton, and Denmark.

For more details about LELT properties, upcoming events, or how to get involved with the land trust, visit LELT.org or find them on Facebook under Loon Echo Land Trust. <

Age Friendly Windham receives AARP Community grant

The Town of Windham has announced that Age Friendly Windham has been selected to receive a 2024 AARP Community Challenge grant. It is one of only 343 grantees selected out of 3,300-plus applications from across all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The AARP Community Challenge grant program funds innovative, quick-action projects that inspire change in areas such as public places, housing, transportation, digital connectivity, community resilience, and more. With additional funding support provided by Toyota Motor North America, the program is also increasing its investment in pedestrian safety projects that will improve streets and sidewalks, create vibrant pedestrian infrastructure, engage community members and other significant projects.

This grant project will recruit, train, and provide incentives to Age Friendly Windham volunteer drivers to support a new on-demand ride service. Transportation options are currently limited for residents who cannot drive or don't have a car to get to medical appointments -- or anywhere else.

“We are incredibly proud that AARP selected AFW for this investment to make Windham more livable for residents of all ages,” said Erica Bell-Watkins, Windham Age Friendly coordinator. “AARP is a nationwide leader in making communities more livable and we are honored that they see the tangible value this project will bring to our area.”

With this quick-action grant, Age Friendly Windham will expand their transportation pilot program, AFWRides which recently celebrated its 100th ride provided to town residents.

Windham launched the transportation program in January to enhance accessibility to healthcare services for older adults residing in Windham. Age-Friendly Windham offers free transportation to medical appointments within the Greater Portland area. This program aims to address the challenges faced by seniors in accessing healthcare, particularly those with limited mobility or transportation options.

AFW is part of AARP's Network of Age-Friendly Communities and was adopted as an official AARP network by the Town of Windham in January 2019. AFW advocates for a livable community for all ages by adopting such features as safe, walkable streets; better housing and transportation options; access to key services; and opportunities for all residents to participate in community activities.

Providing free medical rides is one step toward feasible transportation options, Bell-Watkins said.

We ask for at least a 48-hour notice so we can ensure there is a driver available for you,” Bell-Watkins said.

As AFW continues to grow this initiative, it is the program’s goal to expand transportation options beyond medical appointments including other transportation needs for older adults, such as hair appointments, library events, Windham Parks and Recreation Department activities, and other town-wide happenings.

“AARP Maine is committed to working with local leaders, advocates and policymakers to make our communities better places to live for Mainers of all ages, especially those 50 and older,” said Noël Bonam, AARP Maine State Director. “We are proud to collaborate with this year’s grantees as they make immediate improvements to address long-standing and emerging challenges across our communities.”

Bonam said that the grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for people of all ages, with an emphasis on people ages 50 and older. Since 2017, AARP Maine has awarded 71 grants and $472,438 through the program to nonprofit organizations and government entities across the state.

To request a ride, please call and leave a message at 207-892-4649 and someone will return your call as soon as possible.

For further information about this program or other inquiries about Age-Friendly Windham, send an email to Erica Bell-Watkins at eabellwatkins@windhammaine.us. <

Portland Water District seeks calendar photos for 20th anniversary edition

By Kendra Raymond

Nowadays, virtually everyone has a cell phone in hand, and it is incredibly easy to snap photos at a moment’s notice. For those of us who spend time near the water in the summertime, there are typically many photo opportunities that present themselves. But once we have them, many are left wondering what we can do to make the most of our great photographic moments. The Portland Water District offers a unique opportunity for photographers of all skill levels to compete for selection in their yearly calendar, the Sebago Lake to Casco Bay calendar.

A view of the water looking toward The Notch is an example
of a Portland Water District calendar photo submission.
PHOTO BY KENDRA RAYMOND 

Previously named the Images of Sebago calendar, the 2025 edition will mark the 20th year of its publication.

Carina Brown, PWD Water Resources Specialist, says that the calendar originally started as an outreach project to highlight appreciation of the lake.

“Sebago Lake is the source of drinking water (that) Portland Water District provides to over 200,000 people in the Greater Portland area. After water is distributed and used by our customers, we collect, treat, and return clean water into the Presumpscot River or Casco Bay,” said Brown. “In an effort to develop an awareness, understanding, and appreciation for all the vital services we provide and all the waterways that we’re stewards of, we expanded the scope of the calendar to reflect that.”

This is good news for residents and visitors of several other bodies of water. With the addition of a broader scope of potential areas, photo buffs can get creative nabbing that perfect shot.

“Photos selected have typically been landscapes,” Brown said. “They need to include Sebago Lake or one of its tributaries, the Presumpscot River, or Casco Bay in the photograph. Of course, wildlife and people use these waterways too, so we have, from time to time included photos showcasing that as long as it exemplifies stewardship. “

A selection committee consisting of PWD staff will choose scenic calendar photos based on several considerations. This year the photos will be judged by the Watershed Protection staff.

The calendar has increased in popularity over the years, and Brown says that there is a lot of anticipation for its release late each year, usually by mid-December.

“It’s quite popular. I know at both the Sebago Lake Protection Office and the PWD office in Portland, folks often stop in hoping to get a copy leading up to its publication,” Brown said.

Calendars can be obtained at an outdoor receptacle at the Sebago Lake Protection Office (1 White Rock Road in Standish) and in the customer service lobby at the PWD Douglass Street location in Portland (during business hours). The limit is one per family and once they’re gone…they’re gone.

Chad Thompson, Source Protection Coordinator at PWD is also involved in the calendar project. He said that there was a larger number of calendars left this year, and several copies of the 2024 edition are still available if anyone is interested in obtaining one.

Submitting photos for the calendar is easy. Photos must be taken horizontally to fit the calendar format and must be uncropped. Photographers are invited to submit up to five photos. They should be high-resolution (at least 1 MB). Photos should be in their original state, meaning no filters or color enhancements.

Once submitted, you are giving PWD permission to use your photo in future publications such as newsletters or on social media. If your photo is selected, you will receive a complimentary calendar in the mail. The anticipation can be nerve-wracking. Brown says it is a bit of a “surprise reveal” to find out if your photo made it.

“The calendar is an effective outreach tool to inspire appreciation for vital water and wastewater services and a shared responsibility for valuable water resources,” Brown said.

As PWD has frequently reminded us over the years in their annual request for photos, “keep those cameras handy.”

To send photos for consideration, it is best to send one photo at a time. Email entries to: sebagolake@pwd.org. Include your name, email address, age (if under 21), time of year taken, and location of the photo. <

The deadline to submit photos for the 2025 calendar is Aug. 31.

For more information, visit: https://pwd.org/publications/sebago-lake-calendar <

Opportunist or suitor? Francis Radoux an influential figure in Raymond history

By Ernest H. Knight

Most of the original and early settlers of Raymondtown were native-born Americans one or two generations removed from their immigrant forebearers, but Francis Radoux was a foreigner in fact and nature.

The Richard Manning estate in Raymond was the home of
Francis Radoux and his wife, Manning's widow, Susan
Dingley Manning. Radoux was influential in the
Raymond community and assisted in the design of
a home nearby for Richard Manning's sister,
now known as the Hawthorne House. COURTESY PHOTO 

Francis Radoux came to this country as an unemployed soldier escaping from the debacle of an attempt to restore the French Empire by Napoleon Bonaparte. A lieutenant in the French army defeated by the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Francis came to the United States in 1816 in search of fame or fortune, or both, and a few years later ended up in Portland. Probably because it was of advantage for a French officer to be charming and in possession of the graces of a gentleman, he was a dancing master there teaching the terpsichorean arts to the aspiring ladies of the provincial new state of Maine.

It was a convenient time and situation of golden opportunities.

Richard Manning from Salem, Massachusetts, a proprietors’ agent for the Beverly Proprietors of Raymondtown and a leading landowner and businessman after the town’s incorporation as Raymond, had built his imposing mansion in the location of what is now South Casco and married Susan Dingley, the daughter of the first setter of Raymondtown who had built the first mill on the nearby outlet of Thomas Pond and his homestead buildings across the road from the Manning site.

When Richard died in 1831, leaving Susan with a considerable estate and to choose the course of her future life, she came in contact with Francis Radoux.

As there was little reason for a French dancing master to go to the wilderness of Raymondtown compared to the many reasons for a well-to-do widow to go to Portland, it is likely she first met him there, evidenced by the existence in a Windham collection of papers a bill from Francis Radoux to Susan Manning for lessons.

They were later married and took up residence on the Manning estate in Raymond where he became engaged in the many activities of the community and owner of property, though not without question and controversy from both the local people and members of the Manning and Dingley families.

Francis was never completely absorbed into family relationships or into the hearts of the community, his French background creating suspicions and the feeling that he was more than a little interested in the Manning estate, and among the people as an opportunist inserted into their midst.

But he did work with and for his neighbors as indicated by bills and records, and perhaps his greatest memorial is the church in the community once known as the Radoux Meeting House. Richard Manning, in his concern for the needs of his friends and neighbors, wished for them to have a place of formal worship and left provisions in his will for this to be accomplished.

Perhaps the desire of the executors of the will to bring this about with minimal effect on the estate led them to the conversion of the nearby dwelling built by Manning for his sister Elizabeth Hathorne and nephew Nathaniel, which was then owned by Susan and Francis, into a meeting house under the supervision of Francis Radoux.

The massive chimneys were removed, the room partitions and floor of the second story, except for a portion left for a balcony, removed and wooden pews installed for its use as a church. Established as a “Union” chapel it was not the responsibility of any body or denomination but available to say who wished to use it, and therefore was not given the attention needed to preserve its physical condition.

For many years it was presided over by itinerant preachers, impromptu religious gatherings, or splinter sects such as the Bullockites, Cochranites or Hopkinsians until eventually in the early 1900s it was quite abandoned and ready for destruction.

Saved from this fate by civic-minded local people, mainly of the summer population, it is now the beautifully restored Hawthorne Community House support by the enthusiastic Hawthorne Community Association, still retaining its open interior arrangement for public gatherings.

Little is known of much of the life and activity of Francis Radoux, and he did not remain in the local area after the death of Susan. In the cemetery behind the Manning homestead is the grave of Richard Manning and beside him the grave of “Susan D. wife of Francus Radoux, died Nov. 22, 1852. Age 50” which includes the D. of her Dingley heritage and the name of her second husband but no connection to Richard Manning except the proximity of his grave.

There are other reminders of Francis Radoux in Raymond though, including deeded buildings in the area and records in a book at the Raymond Town Hall of Francis Radoux and seven children born between 1815 and 1826.

There is no knowledge of the final resting place of Francis Radoux but it is believed that he went to Louisiana to reunite with French compatriots there.

This article was written by the late Ernest H. Knight, one of the founders of the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and contained in his book “Historical Gems of Raymond and Casco.” It was submitted by the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and articles about Raymond history from the historical society will appear regularly in The Windham Eagle newspaper. To find out more about the Raymond-Casco Historical Society, call Frank McDermott at 207-310-0340.