The Saco Valley Freshet

Howdy neighbor!

I was recently talking with someone who for many years lived up the coast a piece, and they told me that in winters like these, which start weak and with only minor snowfalls, it was commonly averred by the old sailors and fisherman that the amount of precipitation due in any given season, almost always came in one form or another, so that if one winter started with a great number of snow storms, it would close out with very few, and vice versa.

Now if that’s true — and I know enough to trust the weather predictions of old salt Yanks whose livelihoods depend on such prognostications — then surely we’re seeing proof of that this year. For our winter which started out moderate with very little snow, saving a few good-natured storms around Christmas, has at last broken its dry-spell and dumped on Bridgton and our vicinity a truly impressive amount of snow in the last two weeks; all the withheld, pent-up storms of December and early January, as the old timers would have it. So, with old man Winter truly showing his teeth, it comes as no surprise then to hear that this coming Saturday it is forecasted to be something like 27 degrees below zero. Now, that’s only a prediction of course, and somehow, I think the mercury won’t dip quite so low, but I expect it won’t matter much either way — even a few degrees below zero feels just about as cold and miserable as twenty or more. We’re in the dead of winter now, almost exactly, that wonderful barren period embracing the last two weeks of January and the first two of February, in which there’s little do but throw another log on the fire and shovel the snow off the roof. At least the ice rink behind the old Town Hall is open.

This week, we’re looking back on a decidedly different sort of year, as revealed by The Bridgton News of Jan. 28, 1910, when an early cold snap and heavy snowfall was followed this week by a warm spell — a classic January thaw — accompanied by severe rains; all of which swelled the nearby streams and rivers and brought flooding all through the valley of the Saco, in a series of ice-jam freshets which nearly did much havoc to the covered bridges of New Hampshire and nearly took out old Weston’s bridge in Fryeburg.

“Fryeburg Special — An unprecedentedly rapid rise of water in the Saco River caused some excitement along its banks Saturday. During Friday night and all-day Saturday, there was a heavy fall of rain from the southwest, which always impels the Saco to rise and show its might.

About noon Saturday, the water began rising and, in an

Not so sweet

To The Editor:

Just wanted to thank Donna Dodge and The Bridgton News for the column, “Sweet Sabotage,” in the Dietitian’s Corner, Jan. 26. Kudos for this important reminder that sugar is not our friend. I am a former American Dietetic Association, Plan IV, Registered Dietitian. I have a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Hawaii, and have had some of the best continuing education opportunities with Bonnie Worthington Roberts, University of Washington, Sam Fomon, University of Iowa, and George Blackburn, Harvard School of Public Health. In addition, I have also worked as a Research Dietitian at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, aka, USARIEM, Natick, Mass.

Prior to my USARIEM assignment, I was a principal clinical investigator of the first, nonphysician, approved Clinical Investigation Research protocol. We studied the effects of prenatal iron supplementation on zinc nutriture and pregnancy outcome. We recruited over 400 pregnant women for this study. Research and education are definitely in my blood. Very grateful for the inquiring mind that I have and the opportunities that I have had as a result.

I am completely blown away by two of the largest studies that prove we have the power to determine our health by the lifestyle choices that we make. Since a year ago January, I became focused on implementing plant-based diversity.

I’ve lost over 40 pounds and no longer need medication to control my blood pressure, cholesterol or Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease, aka, GERD. I am also recovering from Lyme disease and was mostly abed for three years with overwhelming fatigue, brain fog and pain. I attribute my astounding recovery to implementing a plantbased diverse diet. I’m also in the ZOE study and have learned how my body uses glucose and fat. Even though I am not diabetic, I wore a continuous glucose monitor for 14 days and learned how my body uses glucose and fat. It’s been an astounding opportunity to be privy to this groundbreaking information. My life is on track, like it’s never been before. What blows my mind is that most physicians have no clue about either of these stud-

In Ye Olden Times

by Michael Davis BHS Assistant Director

hour, huge cakes of ice were piled up within three feet of the floor of the bridge. The water forced back by the wall of ice, spread out over the intervals to a greater depth than it has done in any freshet for years. In a short time, the road was impassable.

Clarence Ela, who lives in East Conway about one and one-half miles from Fryeburg, insisted on making an attempt to reach home though advised by onlookers at the bridge not to do so. When he reached the lowest point on the road, his horse was swept from his fete buy the swift current and the whole outfit was adrift. However, the horse swam valiantly for a considerable distance and Mr. Ela finally reached home in safety with a sleigh filled with snow and ice to testify to his adventure.

At one time, it was feared that it would be necessary to dynamite the ice in order to save the bridge, which is a long-covered structure, but at 6:20 p.m., the ice jam gave way and in a half hour the river was running clear as far as one could see.