#barbie-dyer

‘Live while you are living. (But save for the future)’
A farewell to our treasured friend and Camden historian, Barbara F. Dyer
Mon, 02/07/2022 - 10:45am

CAMDEN — Few have loved and honored one’s hometown more steadfastly than Barbara F. Dyer, who died Feb. 2, 2022, peacefully at the Sussman House, the community’s hospice facility in Rockport. She was 97, and had lived fully, with enthusiasm. She left behind a legacy with her books and essays that cover centuries of local history, as well as her apt observations of Camden and its people. I went to visit Barbie D. two days prior to her passing, and she was sleeping comfortably, a small stuffed...
Happy birthday, Barbie D.!
The story of the Barbie D, a little tug that has worked Camden Harbor for 60-plus years
Tue, 05/19/2020 - 12:45pm

There used to be a story for children about Little Toot. It has been a long time since I heard it, but I believe it was about a little train trying to make a big hill. So it kept repeating,”I know I can; I know I can; I know I can” until it finally made it. Now I know a true story about a little tug boat, and compared to most, she is tiny. But it knows it can and does tremendous jobs in Camden Harbor. It is visible around the harbor from early spring to late fall, and almost anytime...
Barbara Dyer: Groupies
Wed, 04/08/2020 - 9:30pm
What are groupies? According to Google, groupies are people, especially young women, who follow music groups in hopes of getting to know them. Well, we certainly heard about them in the different eras of the 1960s and 1970s. After thinking it over, reminiscing with a friend of mine, although we did not know it, I guess we really were “groupies” in the 1940s and1950s. Television had not come to Camden, but we had records and radios and were listening to all of it in the Big Band era. It is now...
Barbara Dyer: A Yarn to tell
Tue, 03/31/2020 - 12:15pm

Today I have a yarn to spin, one that beats any previously created tangled web. It all began several weeks ago, when, as a knitter, I was making winters hats for children. I, personally have only an “old lady, pretty kitty” for a child. But there are many children who have no winter hats for the cold Maine weather. The Camden Public Library places a large Christmas tree in November for knitters to decorate with hats, scarves and mittens, so no local child will be cold. There is one woman in my...
Down to the sea
Barbara Dyer: A love story of long ago
Fri, 02/14/2020 - 2:15pm

Natives and newcomers alike are all familiar with Hosmer Pond. It became more known about 1934, when the Snow Bowl was built and the winter carnivals were held there, as a notable event. That body of water was previously known as Hosmer Lake. The Hosmer family arrived in town as some of the earliest settlers, and that family became an important part of town for years to come. There is a very touching story in their genealogy. Mary Gibbs Hosmer, granddaughter of Capt. Nathaniel Hosmer, wrote it...
Down to the Sea
Barbara Dyer: Camden in 1965
Mon, 01/13/2020 - 6:30am

It is interesting to look back on changes in Camden at what seems to be just a few years ago. A great source is the Camden Herald which was first published in 1869, and when we lost it one year everyone realized how much they valued it. Just 55 years ago we find many changes; the year was 1965. The town meeting was always a great event in town. In fact, it was discussed on the streets and around the barrel in Ayers Fish Market previous to the real meeting. A chowder was always ready for...
Down to the sea
Barbara Dyer: Mary Christmas
Fri, 12/27/2019 - 5:15pm

My desire is to tell you a story, and you probably won't believe it. I guess I am a story teller, but I always tell the truth. This article is about my Great Aunt Mary Christmas. Yes, it is a true story but her name I shall explain. Her husband was killed in Beirut, Syria (now Lebanon), by the Turkish people, as the Middle Eastern people were all at war with each other back then in the late 1800s. She had to make a living, so she came to America, “where the streets were paved with gold,” and...
A poem
Barbara Dyer: Seasons
Sat, 12/07/2019 - 7:15pm

WINTER Again it is winter Everywhere it is snow. Some people so love it, Others wish it would go. Maybe a “White Christmas” About some people have dreams. One can't please them all, Or that is what it seems. Some people go skiing Many others do not. They do shovel all day, And their back aches a lot. Winter is so pretty. As the snowflakes do fall, And the children go sliding. Yes, it's fun after all. SPRING Winter's gone; it isn't summer, But it is a new thing With the sun...
Barbara Dyer: Landmarks of Camden
Wed, 10/23/2019 - 6:00pm

A very familiar landmark in Camden is the Archway on Union Street. It was placed there in July 1926 by the Board of Trade, before we had a Chamber of Commerce. The members felt that in many towns, hundreds of tourists went through, but never knew the town they were entering or leaving. It was called the “Welcoming Arch.” It has been hit several times by trucks, etc., but people come forward to repair it, even though Union Street was no longer the main route, after Elm Street was changed over to...
Barbara F. Dyer: Chitmunk
Sat, 09/21/2019 - 9:45pm

The chipmunk was once called “chitmunk” from the native Ottawa word meaning “red squirrel.” Nothing is any cuter than a chipmunk, unless it’s two chipmunks. Everyone will not agree with me on that. However when I was a very young child, I thought the fuzzy little thing would make a good pet, so my cat helped me catch one living in our stone wall. I was going to take it in to show my Mother but I know she wouldn't have appreciated it. I took her a garter snake and told her I had found a pretty...
Down by the sea
Barbara Dyer: Who was William Conway?
Sun, 09/01/2019 - 8:45pm

It was 113 years ago on August 30 that Camden saw one of its largest parades. The date was August 30, 1906, when the town paid tribute to William Conway, a Civil War veteran, who had been dead since 1865, but this day the town decided to honor him. He was born here about 1805 and when old enough he joined the United States Navy. He served his country for 45years. He was promoted to gunner and later to quartermaster. While he was stationed at Pensacola Navy Yard, on January 10, 1861, his...
Down by the sea
Camden Soldier’s Monument
Sun, 08/04/2019 - 9:15am

How much thought have you given to the “Soldiers' Monument” that stands to attention in Harbor Park, as you pass by it whenever you go through Main Street in Camden? It took only eight women to call a meeting on September 30, 1889, for the purpose of raising money so that Camden could have a Memorial to our men who served in the Civil War. Although it was many years ago, these women will never be forgotten. They were: President, Mrs. M.E. Anderson; Vice-President, Mrs. M. E. Richards; Secretary...
‘that is what you drive if you are not in a nursing home’
Barbara Dyer: My automobiles — Corvair convertible, red Rambler, blue Saab convertible, and 22 more
Sun, 07/14/2019 - 10:15pm

After purchasing at least 25 automobiles of all makes, models, and colors, I retired and decided to trade my van in for a sporty car. The salesman, with whom I had traded many years, said, “I have just the car for you.” We took a test drive in the beautiful light blue Saab, with white leather seats, and it was a convertible. I did like it more than any other I had ever bought. Within a half hour and many dollars later, it was mine. Within a short time, it turned out to be my identity crisis,...
Barbara F. Dyer: College Days
Sat, 06/29/2019 - 8:45pm

June is the month when we recognize the many students who have spent 13 years studying to prepare for college or work. Many students have sent in their applications and made the decision for the college of their choice. Many do not know what they really want for a career, but some work in the summers before graduation at what they think they want. If they do not enjoy it, they work at another job and find one to study. When parents have money, some students stay in college for years, to avoid...
I certainly do not want to start a Revolution
Barbara F. Dyer: The prolific Richards family
Sun, 05/26/2019 - 8:45pm

People keep asking, “Why don't you write about James Richards, because he was the first settler of Camden.” Well I thought everyone knew about him, but because my paternal grandmother was a Richards, I have researched the family a little deeper. She descended from his brother, Dodipher, and the Indian maiden he married, Little Fawn, daughter of Big Thunder. Her name was later changed to Sara. I was able to get Revolutionary War pension paper records of Jonathan, son of Dodipher, who states: “I...
Barbara F. Dyer: Love the lighthouses
Fri, 05/10/2019 - 8:15pm

The “sentinels of the Maine Coast” are numerous, with a lot of history, and they come in various sizes, shapes, colors and vary in height. All are very popular with tourists and Mainers alike. There was a time when the Maine coast was so dark and very difficult to navigate. They did navigate by remembering where the ledges were and hope for just the sight of a small lantern in someone's window. The large ships sailing would use the stars for a guide. In 1969, Maine had 64 operating lighthouses...
Barbara F. Dyer: Looking back at the 1969 Camden-Rockport Bicentennial
Sat, 03/23/2019 - 9:15pm

You need a break from the articles about the 1900s. But a big event happened in 1969 that needs to be remembered, because the first settler, James Richards, arrived in Camden by boat in 1769. Two hundred years later, Camden and Rockport thought they should celebrate, and that we did. There was a steering committee of about 13 people, and 27 people who were chairmen of the events, some of whom were on both groups. After many months of planning, it came to fruition. And I thought nobody would be...
‘I have heard a lot of tourists say that nowhere they have traveled was there a prettier ride than up the Old Penobscot River’
Barbara F. Dyer: Travel on the Boston Boat
Mon, 03/04/2019 - 2:30pm

No, I never did have a ride on the “Boston Boat,” but I do remember going to meet it when my grandfather came back from Boston. He was private captain for Charles Dana Gibson, one of the five top illustrators in his day. Gibson was known for sketches of the “Gibson Girls,” who were his wife and her sister. Grandpa, Charles Dyer Dyer, always smoked a pipe, and one day the doctor found a cancer under his tongue. Cancers were not as common in the mid 1930s as they are today, and the doctor he had...
A lot has happened on this tiny Camden street: industry, romance, business
Barbara Dyer: Tannery Lane in Camden
Fri, 02/15/2019 - 8:30pm

There have been many changes in all of the business district of Camden-by-the-Sea since its first days of incorporation in 1771. One section that has come to mind is Tannery Lane. As it is today, the large and lovely Riverhouse Hotel, owned by David Dickey, with the whole parking area and hotel surrounded with all kinds of beautiful flowers, as David has a “green thumb.” He also owns a little walking bridge that crosses Megunticook River, and an ice cream stand on the Mechanic Street side. It...
Down by the sea
Barbara F. Dyer: The steamer M.& M.
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 1:45pm

In a recent article, “Importance of Advertising,” I mentioned the steamer that I had not before heard about, and maybe because it was in an article printed in 1899. The booklet was Camden by the Sea and Mountains by George W. Morris of Portland, Maine. The M. & M. steamer had a route between Camden and Bangor under the command of Captain W. D. Bennett. Because I have a friend who read my article, now I know all about the steamer. According to the Rockland Courier...
Down to the sea
Barbara Dyer: Importance of advertising
Tue, 12/25/2018 - 10:15pm

All newspapers and booklets depend on advertising to help pay for the publishing, and they have for many years. I believe that the contents of the newspaper depend upon the amount of advertising sold. This has always been the practice. I like to know what the local stores are selling, but there is another important thing that advertising does. It saves history. I recently wrote about J.R.Prescott's books, with the wonderful illustrations of summer cottages that he rented and scenery showing the...
Down by the sea
Barbara F. Dyer: Pleasures and Treasures
Wed, 10/24/2018 - 7:45pm

Summer or winter, Spring and Fall, Camden, Maine Enjoys them all. Our hills and streams, Lakes and sea Are sights for all To come and see. Boats in harbor With their covers, Float gracefully For us and others. Later it rains, Or sleet and hail Comes snow and winter. It never fails. 'Til spring arrives Sun after showers, Buds appear On trees and flowers. Landing alive, Workers are up, Walking in hand With coffee cup. Ready for sailing Skis put away Skies are sunny After the gray. Things for all...