Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s (FOMB) second presentation of their 28th annual Winter Speaker Series, James Madison Kendall’s Wonderful Water Wheel features raconteur Bud Warren, maritime historian and co-founder of the Tide Mill Institute. Winter Speaker Series presentations are again being held via Zoom and are accessible via hyperlink at the top of the FOMB web page: www.fomb.org. This event takes place Wednesday, November 13th at 7 pm.
It was huge. It was unique. And this mill operated successfully for decades under the Cathance River Bridge in Bowdoinham. It was the creation of James Madison Kendall, born in 1816 to a milling family in Fairfield and dying in 1905 at 88 in Bowdoinham. This mill provided power for the Kendall Plaster and Grain Mills and Sagadahoc Fertilizer Company for well over 40 years. Today there’s little trace of it left. This is the tale of an unusual tide mill, enhanced by historical documents and photographs.
Massive driveshaft for two sash-type (up-down) saws
Bud Warren is a popular lecturer, raconteur and co-founder and former president of the Tide Mill Institute which now has a subcommittee studying this evening’s peculiar bit of Maine’s coastal industrial history. A native of the coast, Warren knows Maine well. For nearly forty years he’s led heritage tours of the area for Smithsonian Associates, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Road Scholar and other significant groups. He’s studied, written and lectured about the region’s maritime history, its geography, its environment and culture. Bud works by poking behind the scenes to understand Maine’s people and their way of life and then finding ways to share that appreciation with visitors. A former resident of the mid-coast, he now will be coming to us live from the wilds of Millinocket.
FOMB hosts their Winter Speaker Series October-May, on the second Wednesday of each month. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic and ability for participants to attend from out of the area, the series continues via Zoom. The FOMB December 11th presentation: Our Town! Adventures in Richmond History, features the Piti Theatre Company and Marcia Buker Elementary School’s 4th grade classes of 2023-2024. This event takes place at 7:00 pm with the Zoom registration link available at www.fomb.org a week or so prior to the presentation.
Speaker Series presentations are free, open to the public. Visit www.fomb.org to see speaker biographies, full event schedules, video recordings of past presentations, become a member, and learn more about how you can help protect beautiful Merrymeeting Bay and the Gulf of Maine.
Bud Warren celebrating 90th Birthday
