Raymond Parks and Recreation seeks equipment donations for winter sports loan program

Raymond Parks and Recreation is asking for donations of 
used skis, ice skates and aluminum snowshoes so they can
offer an equipment loan program to residents. Donations
can be dropped off at the Raymond Town Office, 401 Webb
Mills Road during business hours. COURTESY PHOTO  

By Lorraine Glowczak

Raymond residents who enjoy winter sports but do not have easy access to equipment can plan to soon take advantage of a sports equipment loan program that will be offered through Raymond Parks and Recreation.

But before lending out winter gear becomes a reality; the department needs to acquire the equipment first. As a result, they are reaching out to the community for used winter equipment contributions.

“We are asking for donations of used skis, ice skates and aluminum snowshoes so we can offer a winter equipment loan program to residents,” said Joseph Crocker, Raymond Parks and Recreation Director. “We want people to enjoy all the outdoor possibilities Raymond has to offer and we are making it our goal to create opportunities for those who do not have the skis, snowshoes or skates to make that happen.”

For those who appreciate the peaceful and rhythmic feeling ice skating can offer, Raymond Beach off Route 302, is the perfect place to hone those senses.

“As soon as the waters are frozen, we will prepare Raymond Beach for ice skating,” Crocker said. “And we want as many Raymond residents as possible who do not own ice skates to have that experience and visit the [Sebago] lake during the winter months.”

There are also two hidden gems often overlooked during the winter – Tassel Top Park and Raymond Community Forest.

“What a lot of people do not know is that Tassel Top offers more than summertime fun,” Crocker said. “The established trail located there is perfect for beginning snowshoers and cross-country skiers.” 

Tassel Top Park has a 0.90-mile flat trail that beautifully meanders through acres of Maine woods and is clearly marked with points of interest and has benches to offer moments of relaxation. The park is located off Route 302 in Raymond across from the Raymond Shopping Center, and behind Jordan Bay Veterinary Hospital.

The Raymond Community Forest is a 356-acre preserve owned by Loon Echo Land Trust. According to
its website, the community forest contains four miles of multi-use trails and offers exceptional views of and from Pismire Mountain. 

“There are four trails to choose from at Raymond Community Forest, two of which are perfect for snowshoeing and offer opportunities for the more advanced cross-country skier,” Crocker said.

The two trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing that Crocker refer to include the “Spiller Homestead Loop” and “Grape Expectations”. Both are about 1.1 miles in length.

“To have a winter equipment loan program is a great way for Raymond residents to explore outdoors and enjoy the natural recreation Raymond has to offer,” Crocker said. “The benefits are many - fresh air, quiet time in nature while providing a low impact workout. All we need is the equipment to make the lending program happen. We hope people in the area who are no longer using their skis, snowshoes or ice skates would consider donating them to us so others can have opportunities to do so.”

If anyone is interested in donating used (or new) skis, aluminum snowshoes or ice skates, they can do so by dropping the equipment off at the Raymond Town Office, 401 Webb Mills Road during business hours.

The office hours are as follows:

Tuesday - 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Wednesday through Friday - 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday, Saturday and Sunday – Closed

Once established, the equipment loan program will be free of charge. There will be a deposit required in an amount yet to be determined and the deposit will be refunded if equipment is returned in the same condition after use.

For more information about donating winter sports equipment, contact Crocker at joseph.crocker@raymondmaine.org or 207-655-4742 option 2. <

New trail opens in Raymond Community Forest

At the ribbon cutting. The trail, "Grape Expectations",
is named for the wild grapes the grow abundantly in the area

By Briana Bizier

A cold, wintery mix of rain and sleet didn’t stop a group of devoted outdoors-loving hikers and bikers from celebrating the opening of a new trail with a joyful ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday, November 24. The new trail is part of Loon Echo Land Trust’s Raymond Community Forest, a 356 acre permanently conserved area off Conesca Road in Raymond, and it is open to pedestrians and mountain bikes.

“This may not be the best weather,” said Jon Evans, Loon Echo’s Stewardship and Volunteer Coordinator. “But this is a great day for Loon Echo Land Trust.”

Most of the trails on Loon Echo’s land have been inherited from the land’s previous uses, Evans told the crowd. Being able to design and build a trail from the ground up was a very exciting opportunity. This new trail adds a pleasant one-mile extension to the existing Spiller Homestead Loop, a flat and mild trail in the lower Raymond Community Forest that’s easily accessible for even the tamest hikers. 

The new trail expands on the previous loop and offers several bridges over marshy sections of the
community forest.

As the crowd applauded, Evans handed a wooden plaque to Dave Dowler, who spearheaded the trail building efforts. Dowler turned the plaque over and revealed the name of the new trail: Grape Expectations.

When Loon Echo Land Trust analyzed the potential trail site, Evans explained, they discovered an abundance of summer grape, a native grape species. Raymond is on the far northern edge of the wild grape’s habitat, so the trail builders took care to conserve the wild grape vines. In addition to providing a clever name for the trail, these native grapes are an important food source for wildlife.

Grape Expectations was designed to accommodate pedestrians and mountain bikes alike, with gentle curves and plenty of scenic appeal. Evans voiced his hopes that members of the community would make the trip to the Raymond Community Forest to visit the new trail.

“Riding season is not over,” Evans said, as the crowd assembled for the ribbon cutting ceremony. “Fat tire bikes are welcome, mountain bikes are welcome, anything without a motor is welcome here.”

The new trail begins roughly a hundred yards from the parking lot on the Spiller Homestead Loop, and it ends on the Spiller Homestead Loop as well. As the audience of volunteers and Loon Echo Land Trust supporters clustered beneath Grape Expectation’s trail blaze - a yellow diamond with a black circle in the center - Evans spread a red ribbon over the new trailhead. Dowler cut the ribbon, and the crowd applauded.

“Welcome to the coolest new pedestrian trail in the state of Maine,” Evans announced.

In the name of journalism, my five-year-old assistant and I inspected the entire trail. We discovered that Grape Expectations is an easy, enchanting hike that winds through the forest for slightly over a mile, crossing several bridges, climbing gentle hills, and circling a beautiful pool that was just closing over with ice. The ease of following this new trail, even in less than ideal conditions, belies the tremendous effort that must have gone into building the loop. There’s a section cut into a hillside that
is especially beautifully done, and that looks like it would be a heck of a lot of fun on a mountain bike. It would also make a wonderful, family friendly post-Thanksgiving stroll, or the perfect way to avoid the crowds on Black Friday.

If you’d like to check out the coolest new pedestrian trail in the state of Maine, head north from Route 85 on Raymond Hill Road. Turn north on Conesca Road. The trailhead for Raymond Community Forest is just past Hancock Road. Be sure to wear your blaze orange if you hike the trail in November, as hunting is allowed in Raymond Community Forest.

About Loon Echo Land Trust:

Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT) was formed in 1987 to protect land in the northern Sebago Lake region to conserve its natural resources and character for future generations. LELT protects over 6,700 acres in Raymond, Bridgton, Naples, Casco, Sebago, Denmark and Harrison through land acquisition and conservation easements. LELT is a community supported non-profit organization.

Raymond Community Forest offers more than recreational activities By Lorraine Glowczak

A foggy morning stroll

It was a cloudy and foggy winter morning last Saturday, February 25 when Franklin Glowczak of Windham took an early morning walk, in the newly established Raymond Community Forest in Raymond, with his dog Zarah and her four-legged friend, Mallomar.

“This is the first time I have hiked the trails of Raymond Community Forest,” Glowczak stated. “I want to come back this summer and hike it again to see what it looks like in full bloom and without the foot of snow that remains today.”

It was just a year ago, when the Raymond Community Forest was a project - making its transition from the ownership of Hancock Land Company to the stewardship of Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT). With the sale and purchase on June 21, 2016, the 350 acres have been preserved forever and will provide recreational opportunities such as hiking, snowshoeing, biking and hunting.

However, the RCF does not only offer leisure time activities, it also provides Raymond and the surrounding communities, with educational, historical, cultural, environmental and financial advantages too.

“There will be an interpretive trail that offers interesting information, from tree identification to historical and cultural features to watershed quality,” stated Jon Evans, LELT Stewardship Manager. “The Raymond Community Forest will also continue to provide forest products to local mills, supporting the local economy, as it has for decades. Loon Echo elects to pay property taxes on its fee owned lands including Raymond Community Forest.”

Beginning as a dream by local preservationist and members of organizations such as the Raymond

Conservation Commission and LELT, the preserved land is based upon the community forest model.

Per the Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO), the original concept established in 1978 regarding the community forest model includes, but is not limited to: 1) meeting the basic needs at a rural community level, 2) the provision of environmental stability and 3) the ability to generate income and employment for the rural area with the intent of “active participation of the population, with external involvement being of a supportive rather than management nature.”

In regards to watershed and the environmental impact on the drinking water provided to the towns of both Raymond and Windham (as well as the Greater Portland Area), the LELT places high importance on working with those in the Sebago Lake Region to ensure the high standards and quality of the drinking water remains.

“There are 200,000 people who obtain their drinking water from Sebago Lake,” stated Thomas Perkins, Executive Director of LELT. “We work collaboratively with other organizations such as the Portland Water District as well as home and land owners whose land filters water going into Sebago Lake, to ensure the quality of drinking water for 54,000 households.”

To guarantee not only the quality of southern Maine’s drinking water but to continue the recreational, educational, cultural and financial opportunities for the Raymond and Windham areas, community and monetary support is vital to the Raymond Community Forest’s success.

“Membership is what allows us to be stewards of the properties we’ve been given,” Perkins continued. “We are preserving the landscape and the rural characteristics of this area. Our conservation efforts create jobs. For this and many other reasons, Loon Echo is worth supporting.”

Financial support through donations and memberships are always appreciated. Fifty one percent of the operating revenue for LELT goes toward stewardship and the monitoring of 6,700 acres of property (nineteen conservation easements and nine preserves, including the Raymond Community Forest).

One can also support the organization by volunteering time to maintain not only the trails at the Raymond Community Forest but the many other 31 miles of trails that LELT oversee. Also, an individual can participate in the variety of free events that the organization hosts throughout the year - including the upcoming event on Saturday, March 11. The LELT invites the public to join their staff as they hike Pleasant Mountain 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

We do not need to travel far to get a dose of nature with the many trails at the community’s disposal - having the Raymond Community Forest right in our backyard.

“Maybe the most exciting aspect to consider,” Evan explains, “is that 100 years from now, this wonderful forest will be managed as it is today; for the benefit of animal habitat and water quality, while enhancing the quality of life of those that choose to wander through it.”

To learn more about Raymond Community Forest, to become a member, volunteer and to learn about all the events, visit LELT website:  www.loonecholandtrust.org/

Raymond Community Forest Project close to reality - By Walter Lunt

If local land preservationists are successful the view from atop Pismire Mountain in North Raymond will be virtually unchanged 100 plus years from now. Local volunteers, including members of Loon Echo Land Trust and the Raymond Conservation Commission, have worked for more than three years to establish a conservation easement on 350 acres of pristine forest on the east shore of Crescent Lake. Known as the Raymond Community Forest Project, the plan would preserve a rustic forest and mountain area and protect the water quality of lakes and rivers, wildlife habitat, as well as scenic vistas and recreational activity.

Carrie Walia, executive director of Loon Echo Land Trust, said her organization has an intent-to-purchase agreement with the current owner, Hancock Lumber Co., that carries a real estate deadline of June 30, 2016. The property was appraised at $615,000, of which $30,000 still needs to be raised in the next 3 ½ months.

“This significant project is steps away from being completed,” said Walia. “We’re optimistic that the community will help us close (the) gap to buy this special property in Raymond for the benefit of the public.” Almost 95 percent of the purchase price has already been secured from a variety of sources, including the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, private donations, a number of foundations and a “bargain sale” in-kind contribution from Hancock Lumber Co. Another from the Land for Maine’s Future will have to be covered by a loan until the state funds are released.

The sprawling forest land lies within the watershed of Crescent Lake. Walia said the proposed community forest will serve as long term protection of the quality of the lake and the waters downstream to Panther Pond and Sebago Lake, the source of public water for the region.

For outdoor enthusiasts, LELT promises the development of trail networks, at least one to the top of Pismire Mountain. Others would support hiking, walking, mountain biking and cross/back country skiing. Traditional hunting and forestry is also planned. A parking area would be located off Conesca Road.

As recently as last Monday, Walia announced the receipt of a $32,000 grant (pending purchase) from the Maine Recreational Trails Program (Maine State Department of Agriculture).

Loon Echo fliers indicate “…the forest will be a destination point to Raymond and the region, helping support for local tourism and a natural resource based economy.”

Sheila Bourque of the Raymond Community Forest Steering Committee said while Loon Echo will own and pay taxes on the land, she foresees a group of Raymond residents serving in an advisory capacity in the management, trail maintenance, signage and supervision of the public, and youth groups using the property.

“We would act as the eyes and ears of the property,” tending to the day to day, hands-on tasks, Bourque said.

To learn more about the Raymond Community Forest Project and to donate, visit www.LELT.org. Click on “Places to Protect” and “Raymond Community Forest.”