Damariscotta History

June 8, 2023 at 2:10 pm Calvin Dodge

I started off this article with great news for all the Maine bird lovers and watchers. One nest of blue birds has hatched and has left their bird house. My son and his wife gave me a blue bird feeder two years ago. It is a wooden framed open box about one square foot one inch wire frame keeps the larger birds out of the box and from eating the dry meal worms which I feed the blue birds.

The two blue birds have brought their four new chicks to the feeder and they now go into the feeder and let their parents feed them all the meal worms I put out each morning and afternoon. It is truly a blessing to be able to see these young blue birds all lined up in the box with their mouths open. Here again I have to thank the good lord I still have good eyesight to see these birds in action.

Now for more news, I have had a pair of tree swallows sitting on the power line which runs from the house to the barn. These tree swallows have been checking out three different bird houses which I have installed along the old picket fence line. They have both been darting in and out of each bird house for the past three days.

Well this morning I saw the female going into one of the houses with a beak full of pine needles and the male was sitting on the top of the roof of this bird house. So I took my lawn chair out and place it on the sidewalk and watched the female dart from the bird house down to the ground near the side of the barn and pick up a bill full of pine needles, this went on for one half hour and the male just sat on the top of the bird house taking it all in, and being satisfied his mate had chosen a pleat to make a nest. There is another nest of tree swallows in a bird house down in the meadow. These tree swallows eat over one or two thousand black flies and mosquitoes a day and are a good bird to have in your backyard.

I now refer back a week when the temperature one night went below freezing. After watching the weather report at 6 p.m. I went out on the porch to look at my hummingbird feeder; the time was around 6:30 p.m. I have to share that event with all of you.

Looking through the dinner porch window I could not believe my eyes, there were so many hummingbirds trying to get a drink of the sugar water out of the feeder. I could not count them. I do not know where they all came from. But Mother Nature must have to service the cold night and freezing temperature that night.

The hummingbirds were not fighting but all taking turns drinking out of the hummingbird feeder. When I checked the feeder the next morning the liquid in the feeder was down halfway in just one day. I would like to hear from anyone who had a hummingbird feeder if they also saw a large amount of hummingbird activity that day.

I also want to report I have a pair of cat birds and they are hungry and eat a large number of suet and grape jelly from my feeder. I also have a large number of male and female cardinals coming to the large box feeder all day long. The male cardinals are so bright red this year and really show their beauty while sitting in the white lilac clusters of white flowers. The American goldfinches are also a real bright yellow this year and are also around my feeder in great numbers.

We also have a pair of common flickers coming to the sweet feeder all day long and taking back bills full of suet to their newly hatched chicks. Once the chicks are able to fly she will bring them to the suet feeder and feed them.

This past week my son, Robert and wife, Stephanie, came home and we uncovered General Grant's statue for the 51st year. He just had a little damage on his tail. I had to do a little masonry on the General's horse, Cincinnati's tail and then waterproof it.

Robert and Stephanie took me to the five cemeteries where all of our family relatives are buried. My wife Marjorie's grandfather, Shepard Buber, was a Civil War veteran from Blair, Maine and was in Company C. 15th Maine Reg. He is buried in a cemetery in Washington. My father Merrill H. Dodge was in the U.S. Navy in World War II and is buried with his wife Nellie in the Cross Cemetery in Pittston.

My grandfather Henry Dodge is buried in the Highland Cemetery located on the Dodge Road in Edgecomb. Henry Dodge was the son of Thomas S. and Annie Cunningham Dodge of Newcastle. He was in the Spanish-American War and was in the cavalry. I have his expert rifleman and auto rifle medal which has been passed down to me through the years.

Next to Henry is buried his son Kenneth M. Dodge who was in World War II and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. Henry Dodge also has a daughter buried in the same lot. Her name is Marguerite Dodge and she was a Navy nurse and worked at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. during World War II and after.

Henry Dodge had four children who served in World War II.

I now report the good news, the statue of General Ulysses S. Grant and his horse, Cincinnati, is now uncovered and proudly will once again represent the area of Round Top on Memorial Day and for the rest of the summer months.

This May marked the 51st year I have helped uncover the statue. The statue was made by William Ordway Partridge in his studio and then sent to New York where it was cast in bronze.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend with all your families and give thanks for all the men and women who served in our armed forces so we all could still be free. Please stay safe and keep an eye open for all the older people around you.

I also want to thank all my friends and members of the Damariscotta Historical Society for their cards, letters, and sweet goodies I received on my birthday this past week. The years have passed by so quickly, but I am blessed to have so many friends and a son who has blessed me with five great grandchildren. They all call me once or twice a week to check on me and let me know what's going on in their lives. One could ask no more.

To stay informed on local happenings, sign up for our newsletter!