Author Archives: George Fergusson

Frances Lorraine Hodsdon December 30, 1926 – December 3, 2022

It was with sadness that I learned of the passing of Frances Hodsdon earlier this month. I had spoken with her brother David just recently knew she was nearing the end of her life, but it still came as a shock. I’ve known this talented artist for many years. She has been a loyal Clary Lake Association supporter for as long as I can remember, and she will be missed. Her obituary which appears below, appeared on line in the Central Maine Papers only early this morning; the picture at left was sent to me by Linda Gallion a few days ago, she is one that Frances’ neighbors. The Clary Lake Association Board offers their condolences and best wishes to her brother David and his wife Jannette Hodson, her son Jeff Howe, and the rest of her surviving family. George Fergusson

Frances Lorraine Hodsdon

JEFFERSON – Frances Lorraine Hodsdon, 95, of Jefferson, died peacefully in her sleep with her loved ones by her side on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at the Sussman Hospice House in Rockport.

She was born in Portland on Dec. 30, 1926, the daughter of Sumner and Hazel (Woodbury) Hodsdon. After growing up in Wilton, the family moved to Massachusetts. She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Mass. This was to be her destiny–producing and teaching her passion of the art of printmaking and drawing.

Marriage to Richardson Howe took her to Delaware where she started a family and continued her education. She followed her passion teaching out of the home. Later going to Ohio where she completed her BFA at Kent State University and took courses toward her Masters. She was on campus in May 1970 when four students were killed during the Kent State peace rally.

Life took a turn after her divorce and passing of her father and she was once again in Maine in 1975 on the family blueberry farm overlooking Clary Lake. Here she thrived–teaching at the University of Maine and Round Top Center for the Arts, all the while working from a home studio and immersing herself into her environment, producing work from views of the lake, blueberries and later bark on the trees. Never content with plain white she took the lowly resin chair to previously undiscovered places starting with fogging black paint on them. This led to her show in 2004, “Frances Hodsdon, Friends and Family” at Roundtop Center for the Arts.

This was not her first exhibition. In the early 1990s, as she became known in the art world, Frances’ work was featured in both solo and group exhibitions at many well-known galleries throughout Maine. Solo exhibitions include the 1991 ”Verticality” exhibit at Unity College Art Gallery, “Maui Series” at Le Va-tout Gallery in 1993 (following her trip to Hawaii), “Death & Memory” and “Paper Works” at Maine Coast Artists in 1996 and 1998, and “Etchings” at Uncas Farms in 2002. Her prints were added to collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Mass., Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Farnsworth Museum of Art, Rockland, and the Portland Museum of Art, Portland. Frances was featured several times in the Portland Press Herald and as recently as September 2021 by The Boston Printmakers.

Her legacy will be the many students she taught that will carry on the love of art she instilled in them.

Frances’ family gives a special thanks to Kim, Darlene and rest of the dedicated team at Waldoboro Green Assisted Living for the wonderful care the last year and a half of her life. Also Lou Bertel of Power Play Training that encouraged her to keep her strength up with his tutelege for her long term health.

She was predeceased by her brother, James S. and wife, Phyllis Hodsdon; and nephew, Christopher A. Hodsdon.

Frances is survived by brother, David M. and his wife, Janette Hodsdon, of Jefferson; sons Jeffrey Howe of Jefferson, Gregory F. and wife Dianne Howe, Elkton Md., Bradley M. Howe, Charleston; and nieces Ann Hodsdon, Hudson, Mass., Cynthia R. Hodsdon, Reading, Pa., nephew, James P. Hodsdon, of Gloucester, Mass.; grandson, Gregory Howe, of Elkton Md.; two grandnieces and a grandnephew; six great-grandnieces and three great-grandnephews.

Services at the gravesite in Jefferson will be held in the spring at the convenience of family.

Arrangements are entrusted with Staples Funeral Home and Cremation Care, 53 Brunswick Ave., Gardiner. Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of the Staples Funeral Home website, http://www.staplesfuneralhome.com

14 December 2022: Clary Lake ALMOST but NOT QUITE Iced Over

Yesterday afternoon Clary appeared to be fully ice covered and I was about to call it, but the bit of snow we received in the night has revealed some open water in the usual spot off the point at the end of Duncan Road, and a seam in the middle of the lake is evident as well, perhaps opened up due to the high wind this morning. In early winter there is often open water off Duncan Point (aka Young’s Point) due to the speed of the current there. We’ll see if the current ice cover will survive the warm and wet coastal storm due to blow through here this coming Friday into Saturday.

We have historical ice-in and ice-out data for Clary Lake going back to 2001. If anyone has data for years prior to 2001 I’d love to hear about it.

8 December 2022: Moon Rising with Mars

Here’s a Clary_cam3 image of the full Moon rising, and just above and to the right you can see Mars. Last night the Moon actually occulted Mars, meaning it passed between the earth and Mars, eclipsing it. Fairly rare. It was cloudy here when the Moon passed in front of Mars about 11PM, but I hear the sky was clear some hours later when Mars finally emerged from behind the moon. Just to the right and slightly lower is Aldebaran, with a magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation Taurus, one of the brightest in the night sky. Continue reading →

November 2022 Water Level Chart Archived

November 2022

I have archived the November water level chart (at left). Our plan at the beginning of the month had been to start dropping the lake to it’s early winter level around 14”-16” below the HWM. November is actually the month with the highest rainfall with an average of 4.58 inches but the first 10 days of the month were rain-free and we really didn’t know what to expect for the rest of the month so we didn’t take any drastic management actions, preferring to let the lake find it’s own happy level. Then the rains started first with a 1.85” rain event on the 11th followed by several more rain storms over the next 5 or 6 days which brought the lake level back up to the top of the dam by the 18th. On the 23rd we pulled the last two stop logs out of the weir and the lake level started dropping again, but two more large rain events towards the end of the month (1 inch on 27th and 1.34 inches on the 30th) brought us to 5.53 inches for the month and despite having opened the gate ¾ of a foot, the lake level rose back up to the top of the dam. We ended the month with a full lake and a full inch above November’s average rainfall. This brings us to 44.29 inches for the year to date, 3.67 inches more than average. Needless to say, the drought is over for this year. Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgiving from the Clary Lake Association Board

Website Changes Ahead

I’ve been running a website for the Clary Lake Association since I was elected President of the organization back in 2007. The first website ran on and old 486 computer in my office with the host name clary.gwi.net. Since then I’ve changed servers several times, each time moving to newer and faster equipment. For the past few years the site has been running on a rented VPS (Virtual Private Server) and honestly, the work involved in administering a unix server has become a drag. I’m now looking to simplify my life in a big way. To that end, we’re getting ready to make one final move, to a Commercial Hosting Provider. System administration will become a SEP (Somebody Else’s Problem, my favorite kind of problem!) and I’ll be able to devote my time to the site and other fun stuff rather than spending time keeping the underlying system running smoothly. This move is slated to take place somewhere around the last week of November. Continue reading →

I Heard There Was a Rainbow Today!

Danny Bell sent me this picture this afternoon. He and his wife Jenna and 3 kids are living in a house on the south shore of Clary Lake.

Larry E. Prescott January 9, 1950 – October 23, 2022

Larry E. Prescott January
9, 1950 – October 23, 2022

November 2, 2022

Larry was a genuinely nice man, a simple man, a man without pretenses, and generous. I liked Larry, and he loved Clary Lake. He has been a loyal Clary Lake Association member for as long as I can remember, and likely long before that too. He never just paid his dues, he always paid his dues AND added a substantial donation too. He was only 72, and his passing came as a great surprise. He will be missed. Here is his obituary. You’ll find this post over on the Members No Longer With Us page. George Fergusson

Larry E. Prescott, 72 of Kings Road, passed away unexpectedly at home on Sunday, October 23, 2022.

He was born January 9, 1950 in York, Maine son of the late Eugene and Madge (Ames) Prescott. He graduated from York High School and had served in the United States Army.

He had worked as a Mechanic for 36 years at Exeter Events & Tents. He later worked for Spinney Shellfish Co. in Eliot, Maine.

He will be remembered as a loving husband, father and brother, a Workaholic and a teacher of Automotive. He loved spending time at his camp on Clary Lake in North Whitefield, ME and recently winters in Leesburg, FL.

He leaves his wife of 49 years, Sandra G. (Jennings) Prescott; a son Christopher R. Prescott and his wife Meredith of Bethlehem, PA; 2 sisters Sylvia E. Cutting of Eliot, ME and Marie Hardy of Rochester, NH; several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be private. Memorial contributions may be made to the York Village Fire Dept. or York Ambulance Assoc. Lucas & Eaton Funeral Home, York, Maine is assisting with arrangements. Visit www.lucaseatonfuneralhome.com for online condolences.

October 2022 Water Level Chart Archived

October 2022

I have archived the October 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). For the third month in a row we received more than the monthly average amount of rain, 1.6 inches more in fact. We’re now 2.72 inches ahead of the game having received 38.76 inches of rain to date. May, June, and July were the only months this year we’ve fallen short of the monthly average. It’s no surprise with all the rain that the lake level which had been below normal for much of the summer is back where it belongs this time of year, maybe even a little higher than usual. We’ll be drawing the lake level down as winter approaches.

The real news for October (as it was in September too) is the ongoing algae bloom. Back in September I was saying it was the “worst since 2013” but it has hung on all of October and it looks like it’s going to drag on into November as well, making this by far the worst and longest duration algae bloom event I can remember, and everyone I’ve talked to about it agrees. DEP is keeping an eye on it. I know I’m not alone in being concerned for our lake’s health and unhappy about the unpleasant green color of our water in late summer and fall and the green scum that has been washing up on our shores for the past two months.

So why did it bloom this year? I think the chart at left pretty much tells the story, and there is no need to get all technical about it: Lots of winter and early spring inflows washed Phosphorus into the lake. This was followed by 4 months of hot dry weather during which there were almost no lake outflows. Nonetheless from around the 1st of May until late August, the lake level fell steadily, losing 1.5 feet of water; this water loss represented a volume loss of almost 15% which is not insignificant. Virtually all the water loss was due to evaporation which concentrated the nutrients that algae feed on, most importantly, Phoshorus. While the ingredients for a bloom were there by the end of August, how the bloom has managed to hang on this long is still mystery to me as I thought it would have burned itself out after a few weeks. I’ll continue my analysis and post more about it at another time.

September 2022 Water Level Chart Archived

September 2022

I have archived the September 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). For the second month in a row we received a little more than the monthly average amount of rain though it wasn’t until the month was a little more than halfway over that the heavier rains finally arrived. This late influx of water allowed us to bring the lake up to a more reasonable level for the time of year We ended up receiving 4.08 inches of rain (normal is 3.84 inches). We’re now 1.14 inches ahead of normal for this date. Had the rain deficit we saw at the beginning of the month continued, we’d have ended the month with the lake level down around -2 feet. Instead, we’re more or less where we should be as we head into fall. We spent much of the summer with a lake level considerably lower than in the previous 3 years. We’re now more or less back to normal. This has allowed us to resume our dam management activities and on the 22nd we removed 4 stop logs in preparation for the winter drawdown. Continue reading →

27 September 2022: Cyanobacteria in Clary Lake

Clary Lake is experiencing an algal bloom this fall and today I was met with an unpleasant, but sadly not unexpected site when I walked down to my dock with a cup of coffee, to savor the morning. Dead blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) slowly swirling around my dock like green smoke. We’ve seen reduced lake transparency due to algae growth since late-August, and it’s only gotten worse. I’ve been expecting to see something like this on my shoreline for a while now. I posted about our declining water quality back on September 5th (Clary Water Quality Declining). This current “bloom” covered an area of about 200′ by 600′. Our last official secchi disk measurement taken on September 3rd was 2.38m (7.8 feet). I’ve taken a few additional secchi disk readings since then and they’ve all been in the 2.2m range. After seeing this mess around my dock I went out with my secchi disk and found the transparency to be 2.30m. Back on September 4th a small patch of green was spotted over at the State Boat launch, and I saw just a hint of it, a few wispy tendrils, yesterday when I was out fishing. Here’s a short video I took this morning to show you what it looked like as I headed out in my boat: Continue reading →

05 September 2022: Clary Water Quality Declining :(

You might have noticed that Clary’s water has been getting cloudy. Sadly, it’s not just your imagination! Last Saturday afternoon Kelsie French and I went out for our twice-monthly water quality monitoring session and we recorded a secchi disk reading (a measure of water transparency) of 2.38m (7.8 feet), down from 3.15m (10.33 feet) two weeks earlier. The next day, Dave Knight who was on CBI duty at the State boat launch, took the picture at left and sent it to me. I was not surprised. What the picture shows is dead blue/green algae (cyanobacteria) which floats to the surface where it’s pushed around by wind and waves. Eventually it sinks to the bottom and decomposes. Less than an hour after he took this picture, the green stuff was gone. Technically, an algae bloom is defined as a secchi disk reading of 2m or less, though in my opinion, anything below 3 meters (9.8 feet) puts you in bloom territory and we’ve been there for a few weeks now. A little dead blue/green algae washes up every year and it’s nothing to be too concerned about, but this year we’re likely to see a good deal more than usual in the next few weeks. In other words, our water transparency is likely to deteriorate further before it starts to clear up later this fall. We’ll be taking another water sample for Phosphorus testing in two weeks and will be monitoring lake transparency weekly until this algae growth winds down. Keep an eye on our Water Quality Data page. Continue reading →

August 2022 Water Level Chart Archived

I have archived the August 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). In August we finally got a reprieve from the drought conditions that have plagued us for the last 4 months. For the first time since April we received more than the average amount of monthly rainfall. All told, we received 3.93″ of rain, 0.6″ more than average. Drought.gov now shows us to be in Moderate Drought which is less droughty than previously, suggesting that ground water supplies are improving but are still somewhat depleted. My own rainfall records show us 0.90″ ahead for this date but that doesn’t speak to groundwater supplies. Continue reading →

The Annual Meeting Happened

The Clary Lake Association’s 2022 Annual Meeting happened, last Saturday at the Clary Lake dam. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect, the meeting was well attended (we even had a quorum this time!) and the food, as usual, was excellent (the baked black crappie and the blueberry pies deserve special mention). Because of the raffle drawing, we didn’t have a main program this year. After introductions, the meeting started with review and acceptance of the 2021 Annual Meeting minutes followed by the Treasurer’s Report and Proposed budget. Elections next, only one spot open this year: Maggie Muth was voted in as a Board member for 3 years, replacing outgoing Board member Kelsie French. Next came the Program and Committee reports: the Annual Loon Count presented by Mary Gingrow-Shaw; the Loon Restoration Project presented by Eleanor Goldberg; the Dam Operations, Courtesy Boat Inspection, and Lake Water Quality Program reports presented by George Fergusson; the Program and Events Committee report presented by Margaret Fergusson; and an update on the Dry Hydrant presented by Steve Cowles. Numerous questions were asked and answered. The only new business was a short statement at the end by Thomas Vigue about his plan to petition the IF&W to stock Clary Lake with Brown Trout. You’ll find a few more meeting pictures in the Spring/Summer 2022 photo gallery. Continue reading →

Annual Meeting Ahead!

2019 Annual Meeting

The 2022 Annual Meeting of the Clary Lake Association is this coming Saturday, August 27th, at 2:00PM at the Clary Lake dam on Route 218 in Whitefield. The weather is supposed to be excellent. We’d like to start on-time so if you’re planning to join or renew your membership for the upcoming 2022/2023 Membership Year at the meeting, please arrive early! We’ll have a registration table setup by 12:30PM. Dues are $25 per member which entitles you to one vote on matters brought before the Membership. You can also signup or renew your membership online using our Secure Paypal gateway (our membership year runs from Annual Meeting to Annual Meeting). We’ll also be selling raffle tickets prior to the start of the meeting at 2PM. The raffle drawing will be held at the conclusion of the business meeting. Here’s some additional information about our Summer 2022 Raffle. Continue reading →

8 August 2022: Drought Deepens

The drought is getting worse. We’re now in Severe Drought, and the 1/2 inch of rain we received in yesterday’s squall, though welcome, actually did little to ease the dry conditions. A month ago we were in Moderate Drought (see: 8 July 2022: Moderate Drought). It’s only gotten worse. We’re supposed to get another 1/4 to 1/2 inch in the next couple of days but as welcome as it is, it won’t do much to relieve the extreme dry conditions; we need an extended period of slow soaking rains to replenish ground water supplies and relieve the parched earth. See Drought.gov for more information.

Banner Highlights

Usually the header image/banner on the website rotates randomly. I’ve decided to highlight specific banner images for a while. I’ll pick one and leave it up for a few days. Today’s banner is from a photograph Carolyn Curtis took this very afternoon at her camp on Hornpout Lane, looking east when a rain squall passed over. Now THAT is a rainbow. Wow. Thank you Carolyn! Here it is again:

03 August 2022: Membership Update

Dave Knight and friends in the flagship of the Clary Lake Association during the Clary Lake Fourth of July parade. Photo CLA member by Donna Roeckel

Sometime around midsummer I like to provide a Membership update, to let people know where we stand and to gently remind people to send in their dues if they’ve forgotten! As for where we stand, we’ve got 129 people signed up for the upcoming membership year so far which puts us 73% of the way towards meeting our 2022/2023 Membership goal of 175. I guess that’s more or less where we should be this time of year. Of that 129 members, 18 are new to the Clary Lake Association. I find it very gratifying that we’re still attracting new members! After all, if you care about Clary Lake and appreciate having a lake full of clean water where you can swim, boat, and fish, you should support the Clary Lake Association! You’ll find plenty of reasons on our Benefits of Membership page. Continue reading →

July 2022 Water Level Chart Archived

July 2022

I have archived the July 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). Easily the most notable thing about the July chart is the steady decline in the lake level for pretty much the whole month! In fact, the lake dropped 28 of the 31 days in July, only rising slightly (or remaining unchanged) on 3 days in response to rainfall received on the 18th, 25th, and the 28th. We ended up with 3.04 inches of rainfall for the month, 1/2 an inch shy of the normal 3.54 inches. To date we’re still 0.30 inches ahead of normal, but don’t be fooled: as I’ve pointed out before, total rainfall doesn’t really give an accurate picture of ground water supplies. We’re currently in moderate drought meaning groundwater supplies are hurting. Here’s a great map of the State: https://www.drought.gov/states/maine. The government site is blocking the Maine Climate Office for some reason which is why our weather page is showing a broken drought graphic 🙁 Continue reading →

28 July 2022: Clary Cam Issues Resolved!

Well at least I sure hope they’re resolved! I’ve installed a new mesh wireless router system, a Netgear Orbi, and I have put Cams 1 & 3 back where they belong, and everything seems to be working fine. I now have, for the first time, excellent Wi-Fi coverage down on my dock which means the webcams which are located even closer to the house have significantly more reliable wireless connections too. I think the problems we’ve been having with Cams 1 & 3 have been due to barely sufficient (and occasionally insufficient) wireless connections. They’ve been operating just fine for the last 3 days sitting in a corner of my office right next to the router. Continue reading →