"Logging in the Maine Woods: The Paintings of Alden Grant"
"The
ice was rotten and getting ready to go out," remembers Alden Grant,
83-year-old Maine guide, logging camp clerk, and artist. "My uncle and I
were hauling boom logs across the lake with a pair of little roan
mares. We were walking along, and he was telling me stories about Beaver
Pond. All of a sudden, it seemed as if I was just climbing
right uphill. I looked around, and off in front of the horses, that ice
was rolling right up. My uncle let a yell out and started the horses
running and the ice leveled out. But the ice went out the next day. It's a wonder we didn't have the team in–out in the middle of the lake."
Through
his 19 color paintings reproduced in "Logging in the Maine Woods",
Mr. Grant offers a guided tour of the 1915 to 1928 sporting camps and
logging camps of the Rangeley Lakes region of western Maine. Inspired by
both environmental concerns and the skills of the timbermen, Mr. Grant
shares his knowledge about life in the woods with the men who cut down
the four-foot-wide "pumpkin pine" and the balsam fir to provide lumber
and paper.
"Logging in the Maine Woods"- Book $15
* 80 pages. Includes text by Mr. Grant about each painting.
* 19 full color reproductions of Mr. Grant's paintings, photographed by Mr. Melville McLean, Fine Art Photography, Lewiston, Maine.
* Forward by folklorist Dr. Edward Ives of the Maine Folklife Center, University of Maine, Orono, on Maine's timber heritage.
* Preface by Museum founder, logger Rodney Richard of Rangeley, Maine, on the beginnings of the Museum.
* Introduction by folklorist Dr. Margaret Yocom of the Museum and George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, on Alden Grant's life and painting, on the art of loggers, and on paintings like Mr. Grant's that memorialize lives well spent.
* Edited by Margaret Yocom and Stephen Richard, Museum Festival coordinator. Funded by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, with additional support from Franklin Printing of Farmington, Maine, and the Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society.
__________________________________________________________________________________
"Working the Woods"
In sections arranged by birch, oak, spruce, and more, "Working the Woods"
tells the story of the Northern Forest in Maine through the lives of 21
workers in the woods: basket makers, canoe builders, guides, hunters,
loggers, poets, tinkerers, wood carvers, and more. The artists range throughout
the state of Maine, from Ashland and Presque Isle in the north to Rangeley
and Paris in the west and east to Montville and Old Town, and beyond.
By Margaret Yocom and Kathleen Mundell, with Peggy McKenna. Features photographs by Cedric Chatterley, Jere de Waters, Melville McLean,
Peggy McKenna, and Margaret Yocom. All proceeds go to the work of the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum. Design by Amy Fischer, Camden, Maine. Cover art by Margaret Rizzio.
“It’s not you that handles the wood, it’s
the wood that leads you.” Wolf Sanipass, wood carver.
"Working the Woods" book $3.00
_________________________________________________________

"Rangeley Lakes Region"
Through photographs and ample captions, Rangeley Lakes Region tells
the history of Rangeley, Maine, a town much loved by residents and visitors
alike in Maine's western region of mountains and lakes. Black-and-white photographs throughout the 128 pages. By R. Donald Palmer, President of Rangeley Lakes Historical Society.
Contributing author Margaret Yocom (Chapter 4. “Logging the Timberwoods”). Published by Arcadia (Tempus Publishing, Portsmouth, NH, April 2004).
"Rangeley Lakes Region"
Book $21.00
PLEASE DONATE HERE!
Your donation to the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum helps us to create more programs for the community, curate the information we gather from the families of loggers and the logging industry, make improvements to the Museum in order to have more exhibit and archive space, and grow our annual events that, in turn, help to support our wonderful community in the Western Mountains of Maine. Thank you for your support of the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Your donation may be tax deductible--please check with a tax professional for details.