In 1977, Horace Lee, with Ethelyn Giles riding shotgun, helped us buy our first home on upper Kimballtown Road, Barters Island. It was an old close knit neighborhood with lots of character.

I learned about the property from Kathleen Rollins of Southport. She lived on Dogfish Head Road next door to Mr. Alfred Huskins who ran Lusty Lobster pound just across Ebenecook Harbor from what then was Brewer's Boatyard, now a Hodgdon Yacht facility. Mr. Huskins also had a small sawmill behind his house next door to where Kathleen lived. I was a frequent shopper at the mill.

Kathleen and I met at what was the “Pink Cottages” started by Mary Harward and Liz Kiehn, later sold to Marylou and Todd Poole. I did some handyman work for them and Kathleen (helped by me sometimes) was in charge of housekeeping. Kathleen suggested we look at a Kimballtown Road house that might become available for purchase.

We didn't know much about the area but she knew we were looking for a place to buy.

I was reminded of all this the other day when helping some friends on lower Kimballtown Road do some projects that required extra hands. Kimballtown Pond lit up pretty nicely in the afternoon sun. I pulled off the road and parked, recalling a few things about our days in the neighborhood.

Edith Lewis lived at the head of the road and was our mail delivery person. Ambrose “Sonny” Artzer and family lived next door up the hill and the Barter-Littles lived next door down the hill. Across the road were the Burnhams and Soules. Further down the road Victor Carr owned a substantial property which backed up to the pond. That property later was purchased by the Fogarty family. Shannon and Dawn Gilbert family and summer resident Jean Moore were the last houses on the left before the pond. The Roberts family lived across the pond at road's end, and Nat Porter from Winchester, Massachusetts had a large property that stretched a long way up the shore of the Sheepscot River. Part of his property has become the “Porter Preserve.”

In the winter, when the pond froze over, it became a stock car/collision derby gathering spot for local race enthusiasts. There may still be remnants of that era at the bottom of the pond. We still bump into and keep in touch with many of our old neighbors, though many have passed on. It was an exciting time in our lives, never to be forgotten.