Three Benches Donated To Ease Hikers' Way On Land Trust Trails

Three Benches Donated To Ease Hikers' Way On Land Trust Trails Reprinted with permission of the Boothbay Register

First published in the Boothbay Register January 2002

The Boothbay Region Land Trust has received gifts of three new benches for hikers' use on three of its properties. The Linekin Bay Bed & Breakfast, owned by Larry Brown and Marti Booth, donated a bench for the Linekin Preserve, off Route 96 in East Boothbay, opposite the B & B. The bench overlooks the Damariscotta River and will provide a resting spot for tired hikers, or those who wish to sit and admire the view. Friends and family of the late Laura Kelley Hull donated a bench in her memory. The bench has been placed near Kelly Brook at the Saunders Memorial Preserve off Pleasant Cove Road. The brook was named for the Kelley family which has been in the Boothbay region for at least 230 years. The third bench, given by friends and family in memory in memory of the late Nola Herman, is located at Lobster Cove Meadow, a preserve that stretches from Route 96 to Lobster Cove. The bench overlooks the wetland at the meadow for the use of hikers and bird watchers. These properties are just three of the Boothbay Region Land Trust preserves offering trails for the use of residents and visitors to the region. Linekin Preserve, a 94-acre property, was given to the land trust by the Levinson family. It includes 651 feet of frontage on the Damariscotta River and 2.35 miles of hiking trails. Larry Brown, who is a dedicated stewardship volunteer for the land trust, said the gift of the bench is "just a way of paying back the land trust for all the enjoyment people get from the BUT trails." Many of his B & B guests hike at Linekin and other land trust preserves. The Marshall E. Saunders Memorial Park is a 22.5-acre parcel on the Damariscotta River where Kelley Brook flows into Pleasant Cove. According to research by Barbara Rumsey, director of the Boothbay Region Historical Society, the Kelley family owned much of the Pleasant Cove area back into the 1700s and operated a mill and brick yard there. Later members of the Kelley family ran the town newspaper, the Boothbay Register, in the mid-20th Century. The new bench there honors the memory of Laura Kelley Hull, whose daughter, Judy Marshall, is president of the Boothbay Region Land Trust. Mrs. Hull was the only known descendant of the Kelley family still living in the area. Lobster Cove Meadow, a 46.8-acre properly, was bought by the BRLT in 2000 with money raised in a capital fund campaign. Consisting of forested uplands, fields and wetlands, this property is a refuge for many waterfowl and wading birds; more than 90 species of birds have been identified there. The bench there honors the memory of Nola Herman who was a BRLT member and volunteer and lived adjacent to the meadow. Altogether, the BRLT now owns or maintains more than 900 acres of shoreline properties, islands, woodland, meadows and wetlands in the Boothbay region. There are 18 miles of trails open all year round for hiking, with no admission charge. During the summer, guided tours led by nature experts are conducted at many of the properties. More information on hiking areas and the land trust's work is available at the land trust office, 1 Oak Street, or by calling 6334818. (Above) ADMIRING THE VIEW. Three Shelties, from left, Finny, Goldie and Cubby, belonging to Larry Brown and Marti Booth who own Linekin Bay Bed and Breakfast, test the bench donated by the B & B at the Boothbay Region Land Trust's Linekin Preserve.