The Wrack

Last week I had the chance to rise 750 feet above the Wells Reserve at Laudholm in a 1933-vintage open-cockpit bi-plane piloted by Dave Trucksess of Seacoast Biplane Tours. Less than 5 minutes after our take-off from Sanford Airport, we were over the Webhannet River estuary and for the next 20 minutes I got an eyeful of glistening salt marsh, just-past-peak mixed-forest foliage, and Laudholm's many yellow farm buildings.

Ensconced in the front seat, windproof vest zipped up, aviator hat pulled down, a headset muffling the engine noise and carrying light commentary from my pilot, I gripped tight the camera and started to shoot.

Enthusiastic volunteer and proud mom Eileen Willard had her boy help us understand why music in the Laudholm barn sounds So Darn Good…

The Wells Reserve at Laudholm is special. Not a day passes that we don’t think of this unique place as a gift to those of us who work here, to the wildlife that abounds here, to the coast of Maine and to the international community of estuaries, and of course to our members and to the public.

Because so much of our operating support comes from our members and donors, we believe it is in the best service to you and your gifts that we operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.

I just wanted to let you know that the Wells Reserve came through the storm in good shape, despite wind gusts (according to Jeremy Miller and the SWMP weather station) of up to 58 MPH Monday evening. We were without power beginning at around 8 pm, but regained it around 11 am today.

We lost about 20 shingles on the Laudholm barn and several on the Sheep Barn, but that is it. A dozen or more trees (most small, several large) had fallen across the trails, with one threatening the public entrance. John Speight and volunteer Frank Heller cleared the tree alongside the entrance road and many of those along the trails; they had the gates open by late morning. The Internet was on and the phones working (with some minor glitches) by noon.

On Sunday morning, close to 150 friends, family, and colleagues of the late Michele Dionne gathered at the Maine Coastal Ecology Center to remember her life and to celebrate her influence on people, policy, conservation, and estuarine research. We—the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve and Laudholm Trust—took the opportunity to honor this remarkable woman by renaming her home away from home the "Michele Dio…

The gazebo beside the farmhouse, as iconic as any building on the Laudholm campus, was suffering from aged wood. The very structure was weakened to the point where something had to be done.

The Wells Reserve will soon have a new information kiosk near the parking lot. The one that has served well for more than 15 years is being dismantled and removed. The new kiosk is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

Painting the big barn.

The Wells Reserve weathered the Patriot's Day storm rather well. Manager Paul Dest reports these effects:

The farmhouse shingles get a fresh coat of sealant.