Editor’s Note: Elbridge Gagnon, a retired U.S. Customs inspector, just completed a three-day course with Maine author Cathie Pelletier. The course introduced students to the technique of writing one’s memoir. One of the assignments was to write about an interesting individual. Gagnon chose Kenneth Wetmore of New Limerick.
Ken was the optician for Houlton’s father and son optometrists, Drs. Donald and Robert Ellis. The doctors would examine the patients, order the proper lenses and Ken put the lenses in the chosen frames and fit them on the patient. In October, Ken began teaching an adult education class about making cedar canoes at Hodgdon High School.
He seemed nervous and a bit shy standing in front of the five adults who knew nothing about making canoes. But we soon learned he was a practical teacher who taught by example. Ken would show us how to do something and immediately had us try to duplicate his work. At the end of the first lesson, my friend, Craig Bean — who was the CEO of Houlton’s Regional Hospital at that time — said, “Hey, Boo, this is going to be fun.” And it was fun. I’m still using the 33-year old 13-footer that we made during that class. Ken made solid, beautiful canoes, but he also had other skills. He has more experience with Mt. Katahdin and the Allagash River than anyone else I know.
Ken, Louise, and their children have climbed Mt. Katahdin dozens of times. Ken even climbs it in the winter with a pick-axe and boot clamp-ons, equipment that he, of course, made for himself.
One winter day in 1964, Francis Dunn, a Maine Inland Fisheries and Game Department employee, called Ken and asked him for help to take a caribou carcass down from the Mt. Katahdin plateau. Dunn was the man who led the project that resulted in 24 woodland caribou from New Foundland, Canada being placed on Katahdin’s three-mile long plateau. That area was well above the timberline and had plenty of “caribou moss” that the animals needed for food. In spite of these ideal conditions, the caribou survived only two years. Two other men joined Ken and Francis. It was a very difficult climb using a snow sled. When they finally reached the carcass, they found enough predator damage so only the hooves and antlers were salvaged as souvenirs. Ken can truthfully say he was one of the first and only men to climb Katahdin with a motorized land vehicle.
Ken’s first Allagash River experience was as a Boy Scout leader. Ken learned a lot from his guide, Willard Jalbert, Sr. A good guide must know the water and wind conditions, the weight in the canoes must be well distributed at all times, and when you are in whitewater, you have to know when to shift from paddling to poling. Avoiding rocks in rapids is an art in itself. It is important to arrive at your overnight campsite, before an earlier party occupies it. When planning your trip, be sure you arrive at the busiest campsites on weekdays, not weekends.
For years, Louise had been Ken’s bow paddler when he tested a new canoe in the Meduxnekeag River. Ken and Louise became registered Maine guides and were hired by many groups. One of the first parties was a group from Ricker College. There were 18 students and teachers who enjoyed the trip very much. A Ricker publication wrote, “The Allagash trip combined study, research, sports, photography, art, writing — and plenty of fun.” The Wetmore trips began at Telos Lake, through Chamberlain, Eagle and Churchill lakes to the Allagash River at Churchill Dam. They ended in the town of Allagash where the river joins the St. John River. It was a 90-mile lake and river canoe trip.
Another group that the Wetmores enjoyed was the Audobon Society. They were from southern Maine, Massachusetts and New York. Ken said he was amazed how the “birders” in the group identified birds from their birdsong. When they actually saw the birds, their sound ID was always correct.
Once, when I went to return a tool, Ken was outside his garage. “What’s that small wooden structure?” I asked. “That, Boo, is my bacon smoking chimney. I learned that when you smoke bacon, the smoke must not be too hot”, he replied. “So I’ve got a plastic smoke pipe underground that leads downhill to my stone fireplace 50 feet from here.” The chimney was a small wooden structure about 12 square inches and three feet high. The plastic smoke pipe connected at the bottom. “I’ve also learned that apple tree wood makes the bacon taste better so when I prune my apple trees I save the branches and,” Ken smiled and said, “that’s what I’m going to start burning down there this afternoon.” To this day, I don’t know if anyone else has ever smoked bacon in such an ingenious way.
Louise was an excellent New Limerick, Maine town manager for 10 years. I started by saying Ken was Houlton’s renaissance man, I end by saying Ken and Louise are Houlton’s renaissance couple. That is certainly a unique designation for a unique couple.
