West Bath has an ATV club,founded in 2005, and called,

appropriately, “Over the Hill” Rid-ers. This catchy title relates more tothe old song “Over the hills andthrough the woods….” than to thecollective age of its members.Although, to be fair, a few of their 40or so members could be counted inthe over-60 crowd, their ages rangefrom 8 to 80. While all-terrain-vehicles are a

modern invention, the “terrain” thatthey traverse is as old as the hills.

THE MIDDLE GROUNDDaily Life & History of West Bath, Maine

FALL 2015 • PUBLISHED BY THE WEST BATH HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Over theHills …andThroughWest Bath

Past,” written by the late WilliamPurington. And we are working toferret out history from various WestBath families who are among the 25generous private individuals and

Many ATV ridersaround Maine andelsewhere often get avery bad rap from theirseeming indifference tothe ground their hugewheels can dig up –degrading old bogs,logging trails and dis-turbing precious vege-tation and habitats.Not so in the case ofthe Over the Hill gang.Environmental preser-vation is a major partof their mission. Theclub maintains over 21miles of trails, almostall in West Bath, whichcan be used for ATVriders, but also for hikers, bikers andin some cases, horses. Many of theirtrails are carefully carved from thegentle curvatures of the land, andoften include old roads or vestiges offootpaths or carriage trails, and insome cases travel for a bit along thepaved surface of today’s roads,which of course, cover the oldroads of yesteryear.It is the confluence of the

historic byways of West Bathand the ATV trails of todaythat makes for a good historymystery. Where were the oldroads? What are their stories?How can we find out more?From our archives, we do

know some facts. Part of thetrail that goes up behindAustin Road toward Route209, for instance, passes by the“Lilly Pond.” part of land nowowned by The Hyde School. Atone time in the 1900s thatpond was used for ice racingwith horses. We are alsoresearching the chapter on“Roads” from the invaluablebook, “A Look Into West Bath’s

Continued on the next page

Bridge building in progress

Over the Hill club members building a hill-bridge

2 – THE MIDDLE GROUND – Fall 2015

Over the Hills … andThrough West BathContinued

entities, such the Town of West Bathitself, who have agreed to let theOTH club have use of their land.Over the past 8 years or so, mostly

due the diplomatic skills of BillHochgesang, many people havecome around. He has personallyknocked on doors of landownersthroughout the town to make thecase for allowing access. Theselandowners have done so mostlybecause they realize the value ofhaving a group like the OTH Ridersuse their land responsibly for recre-ational purposes, and to maintain itto boot. Bill and his wife, Carol, are the

prime movers behind the club andtheir dedication is an important fac-tor in their success in gaining newlands to ride, walk and keep in trim.

They are careful to build bog bridgesand to skirt environmentally sensi-tive areas, and generally keep an eyeout while they ride for blow-downsor any trail hazards. They also workwith local land trusts, such as KELT(Kennebec Estuary Land Trust) ontrail-building and brush clearing.And the club does other communitywork, such as the bi-annual roadclean-ups they do in West Bath.

“This year, we picked up two bigtrailer-loads of junk!”, says Carol)They are also a fixture in the Memo-rial Day and 4th of July parades inBath.Says one landowner, Sally Graves,

“As a steward of this land, I am glad

Continued on the next page

1858 West Bath map, showing the area from Bull Rock to Mill Cove

Trail in Bittner’s woods

history talk at the Patten FreeLibrary on February 13 at 10 am.Save the date and be sure to come.In the meantime, if any of ourreaders have information on oldroads, please contact one of ourWBHS Board members, or archivistKerry Nelson. s

Fall 2015 – THE MIDDLE GROUND – 3

to have it used by responsible peoplesuch as the ATV group to whom Ihave given written permission andby hunters or hikers to whom I giveverbal permission.” Or from BobBittner, owner of WJTO radio onAustin Road, who owns 220 acres,much of it in “tree growth”conservation, “I consider my land asa gift of nature. Why would anyonenot let a responsible group like thathave fun with the land!”And some tidbits from Purington’s

book: “The earliest transportationmeans was by way of water, butlater, footpaths were cut through thewoods… One of the first roads thatwent through a portion of what isWest Bath today, was built about

1718 for the purpose of having adirect military route between FortGeorge in Brunswick and the Wattsfort on Arrowsic Island…..”We will be exploring more of the

history of the old roads of WestBath, partly in relation to thecurrent ATV trails, in a special

Over the Hills … andThrough West BathContinued

Over the Hill ATV Riders’ 2014 trail map

“Over the Hill” Riders preparing for the Memorial Day parade

4 – THE MIDDLE GROUND – Fall 2015

Fall is all aboutapples. And WestBath cooks, then andnow, have much tooffer in unique and

delicious ways to prepare thisubiquitous autumnal fruit. 2015 hasbeen a bumper year for apples, soroll up your sleeves and get to thestove to make one of the following…

Aunt Nelli’s AppleCinnamon Bundt cakeGrease & flour Bundt pan

Mix together …

1-1/2 cups cake flour

1-1/4 sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs. cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp powdered ginger

Mix well and stir into dryingredients …

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

4 tbs. orange juice or apple cider

1 tsp vanilla

Meanwhile coarsely chop 6 tartapples; stir in:

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbs. cinnamon and

1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Pour half the batter into pan.

Sprinkle apple mixture all aroundand add balance of batter.

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Serve, if you like, with rum sauce:

Melt 1/4 cup sugar in 1-1/2 cupscider plus 3 tbs rum in sauce pan.

Stir 2 tbs. corn starch into 1/2 cupcider & mix well.

Add into sauce and stir untilthickened. s

COOK’S KORNER

Meeting House Getsa Wash n’ Cut

The Old West Bath Meeting Househas been fully restored and main-

tained by the Historical Society since2001. But the old gal still needssome tender loving attention once ina while. This fall, a couple of mainte-nance problems really needed to besolved. Quickly. Thanks to PeteGuild, all were done in short order.For one, a support board was

needed under the back corner of theeves to block critter intrusion. Peteinstalled that himself.

Next was the roof,which has recentlybegun sproutingmoss and other nastyorganisms, mostlydue to the fact thetrees around havegrown so big andleafy that they wereblocking any healthysunlight. Over time,that moss willdegrade the roofstructure. Peterecruited Maine Powerwash Pros tomitigate the situation. In October,the guys brought in their equipment

and gently cleanedthe roof. It was atricky business to getthe moss undercontrol, while notblowing off the roofshingles. The third, and cor-

relative issue, was thetrees themselves,which were sorely inneed of trimming.After evaluating somebids, the Board decid-

ed to go with Timber Tree Trimmingwho got things tidied up in less thana day, and let the sun shine in. Thatwork was done on Nov. 3rd.The fourth maintenance task was

to rehab the original old windowshutters, which badly needed scrap-ing and painting. Enter a generousWest Bath gentleman who volun-teered (and insists on anonymity) totake them down, one by one; thenhand scrape, sand, and repaint eachone. All 16 are now refurbished andre-hung in their forest- green glory.The whole community should thankMr. Anonymous by admiring hishandiwork when driving by! s

The Meeting House getting a roof wash in October

Tree-trimming at the Meeting House in November

Fall 2015 – THE MIDDLE GROUND – 5

News –Madelyn Hennessey hasbeen newly elected to the Board ofSelectmen. We will be doing aprofile on her in the next issue ofMiddle Ground.

• Dog licenses are available now.Register before 1/31/2016 toavoid a late fee

• Rabies Clinic will be held Dec12th, 10-12 at the Fire Hall

• Snowmobile Registrations areavailable

TOWNCRIER

Desmond’s Funeral Home and is cur-rently a Notary Public, specializingin wedding ceremonies. She and Dean are members of

Grace Episcopal Church in Bathwhere she is inaugurating a spiritualdirection ministry and occasionallypreaches at Sunday Services. s

New Addresses forOld Buildings!

For as many years as anyone canremember, the old school houseand the “church”, aka the Old WestBath Meeting House, had alwaysbeen fixtures on Berry’s Mill Road.But ask anyone what the exact streetaddress was for either of them,they’d be stumped as posts!Now, thanks to a joint effort

between the WBHS and the Town ofWest Bath, both of our precious his-torical buildings have an actualstreet number posted on the sides oftheir respective historical signs.Those numbers are, for the record:363 for the Littlefield School and680 for the Meeting House. Next:directions to each will be posted asofficial GPS destinations.

See the photo of Pete Guild on page8 of this issue of Middle Ground. s

Annual CommunityChristmas Service &Carol Sing to BeHeld Thurs. Dec. 17at West BathMeeting House

An old-fashioned Christmas iscoming again to West Bath. A

traditional candlelight yuletide serv-ice will be held at the Old West BathMeeting House on Berry’s Mill Roadon Thursday, December 17 at 7 pm.This beloved holiday celebration is afree community event.Stephanie Batterman will preside

over the service, which is ecumeni-cal and open to all. Carols will besung and scriptures and poems,including a Native American prayerfor peace, will be read by communi-ty members. The historic old pumporgan will be played once again bySusie Knowles. Home-baked goodies& cider will be served afterwards,

courtesy of the West Bath HistoricalSociety, which is hosting the event.The evening’s offering will be sharedwith the Bath Area Food Bank.The West Bath Historical Society is

happy to welcome Stephanie in lead-ing our annual holiday celebrationfor the first time.A Bath native, she returned to the

area in 2007. Since 1967, she andher husband Dean had lived inRochester, N.Y. While there, in addi-tion to raising three daughters, shereceived a Master’s degree in Theol-ogy from the St. Bernard’s School ofTheology and Ministry and workedas an Adult Faith Formation Coordi-nator on a parish staff for manyyears. She taught theology in thereligion teachers program for theDiocese of Rochester. She thenworked at a Spirituality Centerwhere she was trained as a SpiritualDirector; work which she began in1985 and continues to do today. Since returning to Maine, she has

been a volunteer chaplain at MidCoast Hospital. She has alsopresided at memorial services for

Stephanie & Dean Batterman opened a gallery within the LittlefieldSchool this summer, to display and sell their crafts – colorful landscapequilts for her and skillful creations turned in wood for him. The gallerywas open each Saturday and Sunday from July 11 through September 13.This was a new and successful use of our historic schoolhouse. The “pop-up gallery” attracted many visitors, both to buy the Battermans’ waresand to visit the school, some for the first time.

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6 – THE MIDDLE GROUND – Fall 2015

Alice L. Puiia, 98, passed away April19 in North Port, FL, with her familyby her side. She and her family andfriends enjoyed spending summersat her cottage on the New Meadowsin West Bath.

Agnes May Beers, 94, passed peace-fully on May 4. Among her survivorsis daughter Barbara& her husbandRich Ullman, of West Bath.

Diane M. Hathorne, 75, died May30 at Boothbay Green in Boothbay.Among her survivors is her brother,Frank Sparks of West Bath.

Barbara G. Temple, 94, passedaway peacefully at Hill House onMay 25. Among her survivors: herson, Bruce Temple& his wifeSuzanne; and a granddaughter,Michelle Lewis& her partnerDavid, all of West Bath.

Joseph Leopold Jaffrey Madore,94, of Richmond, died June 5 after a

long illness with his family by hisside. Among his survivors is a daugh-ter, Jo Ellen Brillant of West Bath.He was buried beside his wife of 66years, Velma, in Orchard Hill Ceme-tery in West Bath.

Maria C. Hilton, 82, of Campbell’sPond Road, died June 11 at her home.Born in Georgetown in 1933, a daugh-ter of Sumner and Arlene (Hinkley)Mains, she attended local schools andwas a homemaker, as well as a fosterparent. She is survived by her hus-band, Richard K. Hilton, two daugh-ters, and two sons, including Mike&Gwen Palicte of West Bath, and 13grandchildren. She was predeceasedby her brother, Cecil Mains and herex-husband, Fabian Palicte.

Lloyd A. Hill, 86, died June 16 at theMaine Veterans Home. Among hissurvivors is his step-grandsonJoshua Burden of West Bath.

Nina Robichaud, 89, of West Bath,passed away July 18, while living inCopperhill, TN, where she lived withher son Paul Robichaud. She ran asuccessful antique and used furni-ture shop, The Rustic Barn, for 40years and was also a licensed realestate broker. She was predeceasedby another son, Henry Robichaud,who died at age 22, and her hus-band Harry, who passed away in1980. Survivors include her daugh-ter, Judy Robichaud of West Bath.

David A. Dolan, 51, of West Bath,died July 28. He attended Bathschools including Morse High, andloved to play guitar and draw. He issurvived by one son; two brothers;one sister, and many nieces,nephews, aunts and uncles.

Henry Savage Jr., passed away Aug17. His survivors include two broth-ers, George& Kenneth Savage,both of West Bath.

Dana E. Orr, 61, died Aug 18 at hishome in Litchfield. Among his sur-

CROSSING THE BAR

Continued on the next page

David Paul (Beav) Bourget, 59,passed away unexpectedly on Sat-urday, May 23. “Beav” was born inBath in April, 1956, the son of Ray-mond & Jane (Leeman) Bourget.He graduated from Morse High in1974, and always took great pridein being a Morse alumnus, nevermissing a reunion.Though born and raised in Bath,

both West Bath and Phippsburgcould also claim him. Beav was a

member of the Phippsburg Fire &Rescue for over 40 years, at onepoint serving as Assistant FireChief. He was an EMT as well. He will be greatly missed by all at

the fire department, especially hisvery dear friend, Jimma Totman.“Beave made an impression oneveryone,” Totman told the TimesRecord. “…He had a big heart, andhe was always there for anybody.”In 1988, he moved to West Bathwith his wife Patricia (Patty)Bennett and daughter RachelMarie, to a house on QuakerPoint which he built himself. Hefelt strongly about communityservice, and was still serving as aWest Bath selectman, a post hehad held for the past 9 years,until his untimely death. Beav’s faith was important to

him and he was a regular com-municant of St. Mary’s in Bath.According to many reports, helived his faith every day, which

could bewitnessedby his com-mitmentand loyaltyto familyand friendsand by thekindnesswhich healwaysshowed to others. Paula Nelson, chair of the West

Bath selectmen, also praised Beavfor his strong sense of community.“He was just an amazing, amazingindividual. I am so glad to have hadthe opportunity to learn from him.”Besides his wife and his daughter,who now resides in Phippsburg,other survivors include his motherJane Leeman Bourget of Bath, twosisters; his mother in law Rita Ben-nett of Bath and West Bath, as wellas his brother-in-law Tom Bennettalso of West Bath. s

Her dreams for the future includewriting, particularly novels. Andrew Ceglinski, formerly of

West Bath, resides in Bath with hisparents Daniel & Amelia Ceglinski. Hereceived the Yale Book Award, andmany other outstanding achievementkudos. Andrew is a member of Nation-al Honor Society, participates in theLong Reach Swim Club and MorseSwim team, which he helps coach.He’s also employed by the Bath YMCA.Andrew enjoys reading books and arti-cles online, and meditating. He plansto attend Colorado College, possiblydeferring to work on an organic farmin New Zealand. His hope for thefuture is to die with no regrets. s

Fall 2015 – THE MIDDLE GROUND – 7

vivors is a brother, Alan Orr& hiswife Judy of West Bath.

Audrey “Kim” Carpentier, 57, diedat a local Brunswick hospital Aug24. Among her survivors: a step-daughter, Hilary Warren& her hus-band Philip; and grandchildrenAmaiya& Philip Warren Jr. of WestBath.

Clarence A. Warner Jr., 92, diedSept 13 at Hill House. Among hissurvivors is his grandchild, RonaldWarner of West Bath.

Wesley G. Chadbourne, 82, formerlyof Plympton, MA, died peacefully onSept 22 at the Maine Veterans Homein Scarborough. Among his survivorsis his daughter, Suanne C. Snell& herhusband, Rich, of West Bath.

Alice Anita Travis Bowden, 80,passed away at Hawthorne House inFreeport on Sept 23. Among her sur-vivors: her brother John Travis&his wife Kathy of West Bath.

Edward R. Dauphin, 81, of WestBath, died peacefully at homeamong his family on Sept 24. He wasborn in Bath in 1934, the son ofOctave & Mary Lena Dauphin. Heserved in the Navy as gunner’s matein both Korea and Vietnam, retiringafter 20 years. He loved hunting,fishing and spending time outdoorsat his private campground, wherefamily and friends always lookedforward to his gatherings. Hisfavorite hobby was carving duckdecoys. He is survived by his children,

George Dauphin of Bath, Catherine& her husband Samuel Russell, ofWest Bath, as well as three otherchildren; 12 grandchildren, andnine great-grandchildren.

Edit Note: David Hall, a long-timeBath resident and active communitymember, died October 7. Amemorial write up will appear inthe next issue of Middle Ground.Our condolences to his wife, Nancy,and his children. s

Crossing the BarContinued CHANNEL

BUOYSBIRTHSGunnar DavidHughes, born May 14, to Drew &Jenise Hughes, Wiscasset. Hisgrandparents include Jeff Lucas,West Bath.

Benjamin Breton Liberman, bornAug 25, to Jonathan Liberman &Erin Connolly, of West Bath.

Hannah Suanne Wiley, born Sept13, to Nathaniel & Sara (Snell)Wiley, Scarborough. Hergrandparents include Suanne &Richard Snell, West Bath.

WEST BATHSTUDENTACHIEVEMENTSNamed to USM Deans List for the2014-15 Academic year:Morgan Elizabeth McDonough

Graduating from Franklin PierceUniversity: Rachel A. Rossetti, with BA in

Psychology.

Top academic achievers at MorseHigh, Class of 2015, include: Morgan Quigg, who lives with her

parents Rebecca& Michael Quigg,restaurant owners. Morgan receivedthe Wellesley College Award and var-ious other academic awards for out-standing achievement. She has beenan honor roll student all four yearsand is a member of the NationalHonor Society. She was active inmany school and outside pursuits,including cross country, track, MorseDrama, school playwright, AmnestyInternational and the Green Club.She also volunteers with the Art Vanand is employed by Beal Street Bar-beque. In her free time, she enjoysrunning, writing, playing music andsinging. She plans to attend college,hopefully Concordia University inMontreal, to major in Playwriting.

WBHS HoldsOpen House

Both the Littlefield School and OldWest Bath Meeting House were

open to the public from 10-2 pm onSaturday, July 4, during Bath Her-itage Days festivities. Docents greet-ed visitors at each building and weestimate that over 70 people, manywith their children, visited one orboth buildings. The event was freeand light refreshments were avail-able. The WBHS board has decidedto hold such open houses at leastonce every two years. Meanwhile, totour either of our buildings, contactAmy Wesson, President, at 389.4498or awesson59@gmail.com and shecan help arrange a visit. s

Board members Amy Wesson, BethBrewer (front); Leah Zartarian, IvonBoyer (back) ready to greet visitorsat the Meeting House on July 4th.

8 – THE MIDDLE GROUND – Fall 2015

THE MIDDLE GROUNDWest Bath Historical Society

PO Box 394Bath, Maine 04530

THE MIDDLE GROUNDVolume 16, No. 2 • Fall 2015

Published by theWest Bath Historical SocietyPO Box 394, Bath, Maine 04530Board of Trustees & Editors:Amy Wesson, President

Pete Guild, Interim Treasurer/SecretarySally Graves, SecretaryBob Bittner, Raisa Bittner,

Beth Brewer, Ivon Boyer, Sally Graves,Amy Wesson, Leah Zartarian

Avery Meyers, Editor; Kerry Nelson,Archivist; Fran Soverel, Middle Groundcontributor; Betty Fitzjarrald, Littlefield

School AdvisorContributors: Brandi Lohr, Kerry Nelson

Designer: Tim NasonDistribution: Carol & Bill HochgesangWe publish researched historical

materials, local news and events thatmay be of later historical interest.

We do not print gossip, paid advertisingor political opinion.

To provide news items, historical photosor documents, or FMI, contact Avery

(443.4449)or Kerry (443.5118)

Pete Guild at the Old Meeting House sign on Berry’sMill Road, with the new address number (#680)which he has just added to our historical marker. He did the same at the Littlefield School (#363).

• Get involved with a buildingpreservation project(cleaning, painting, carpentry,etc.)

• Provide refreshments for ourpublic events.

And of course, you could alwaysget involved by joining our Boardof Directors. s

Become a Member!

If you are reading this newsletter,you’re probably already a member.(Check insert in this issue, to join, ifyou haven’t.) But you should knowthere are many ways that you canalso help the West Bath HistoricalSociety. If you are interested in anyof the following, or have otherthoughts about getting involved,please give us a call. (Amy Wesson,President, at 389.4498 or TownHall, 443.4342.)

• Donate or lend old photos ordocument for our archives, orjust share memories.

• Research West Bath subjects.

• Help with Middle Ground.

• Take part in an oral historyproject.

Bulletin: Our faithful treasurer,Pete Guild, has gone well beyondhis term of service and asks for askillful replacement ASAP. He willeven train and nurture thisperson. Does anyone want to stepto the plate, or know someonewho would? Please call Amy atthe number above. s