We are pleased to announce the arrival of the Fall 2011 CLA Newsletter! Please click here to download it.

In This Issue:

1. President’s Letter
2. Grove Bridge
3. Grove and Island Kiosks
4. Invasive Plants
5. Feeding Survival Guide
6. Tennis Tournament
7. Milfoil Infestation
8. Route 16 Trash Clean-Ups
9. Chocorua Softball
10. Wildlife Notes
11. Get Connected via E-Mail

Labor Day weekend is only two weeks away, which means it’s time to find a partner for the annual Chocorua/Tamworth Labor Day Tennis Tournaments (Mixed Doubles and/or Men’s Doubles).

Please call/email us with your (or a family member’s) doubles team entry (or entries) no later than Wednesday, August 31st (noon). Anyone from Chocorua/Tamworth or neighboring towns (i.e. Madison, Sandwich, Albany) are invited to play. A minimum of eight (8) doubles teams is required for each tournament – the ideal number is 12 teams or 16 teams. Please also provide a phone number at which the players can be reached during Labor Day weekend, and an email address (if available).

(Does anyone want to play in a Women’s Doubles tournament over Labor Day weekend? If there’s enough interest, Emilie Smith will try to organize a women’s doubles tournament or round robin. If you’re interested in playing, please let Emilie know – she can be reached at emilieandsons@comcast.net or 781-237-3484.)

To enter either tournament, or if you have a question, please contact one of the following:

• Kent Hemingway (Tamworth) >> hemingway.k@gmail.com or 603-323-8263 (home)
• Emilie Smith (Wellesley, MA & Chocorua) >> emilieandsons@comcast.net or 781-237-3484 (home)
• John Sedgwick (NYC & Chocorua) >> john@johnsedgwick.biz or 617-840-3220 (cell)

If you want to play in either tournament but need a partner, please let Kent, Emilie or John know, and they may be able to find you a partner.

Based on the success of last year’s structure, the first round of each tournament will be again structured as a round robin. The doubles teams that emerge from the round robin first round will then play traditional elimination round matches on Sunday (best 2 of 3 sets). The finals of both tournaments will be on Monday morning as always. Here’s the round robin schedule:

• Mixed Doubles round robin >> Saturday @ 9am to 12pm
• Men’s Doubles round robin >> Saturday @ 1pm to 4pm

Alex

“Chocorua Day”: Saturday, July 30th, marks this year’s Chocorua Day. Join in the festivities in Chocorua Village from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Chocorua Library will feature a Book and Bake Sale. Stack up on some summer reading materials. Tour the Art Show sponsored by the Tamworth Arts Council in Runnels Hall. Much of the art is available for purchase. Children will enjoy the fire, police and rescue vehicles on display. Get your face painted, enjoy some popcorn and participate in a village wide scavenger hunt with cash prizes of $50 and $25.

The ladies at the Chocorua Community Church are hosting a Christmas in July Sale featuring homemade crafts. Find a Christmas gift for that person who has everything. Hamburgers and hot dogs will also be on sale by church members under the tent on the library lawn. There will be three raffles: one for a carved bear donated by Pee Wee’s Bear in Ossipee, another for a very fancy doll bed and a third 50/50 Raffle by the Chocorua Village Association. Visit the History of Chocorua exhibit inside the church.

The winner of this year’s Chocorua Citizen of the Year Award will be announced on Runnels lawn at 1 p.m. Children can win a huge jar of Jelly Beans by guessing their count. Visti the Tamworth Artisans at Chocorua Village Pottery, get some ice-cream at the Dam Shop, pick up some pastry at Scandanavian Bakery and tour the Red Barn Gifts. Peer through an astronomer’s telescope and learn about village non-profits who will be present to discuss their organizations. There is plenty to interest children of all ages on Chocorua Day.

Upcoming CLA Events – Summer & Fall

• August 13th CLA Community Picnic. Come one, come all! Noon at Wheeler’s field;  August 13th CLA Board meeting, 9:00 am. Hofheinz house.
• August 20th CLA Annual Meeting. 3:00 to 5:00 Runnell’s Hall; Stephen T. Johnson, Speaker. Wine and cheese gathering afterwards.
• August 21st Celebration of Chocolate Moose property (Moose Meadow) acquisition; afternoon time to be announced.
• September 3-5th Tennis Tournament and Labor Day festivities;  September 4th Grove Picnic and Festival of lights, at dusk.
• October 8-10th Columbus Day weekend
  October 8th, CLA Rt. 16 Trash pickup, 9:00 am. Meet at Grove. Volunteers needed.
  Oct. 8th CLA Board meeting, Fryberger’s house, Washington Hill Rd., 11:00 am.

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8:30 a.m. Road Race Ordination Rock to KA Brett School
10:30 a.m. Parade Registration at Old Village Store (Main Street)
11:00 a.m. Parade Tamworth Town House to KA Brett School
12:00 p.m. Family activities begin at the KA Brett School
• Music by the Idol Hands
• Food
• Games
• Face Painting
1:00 p.m. Awards for parade participants at the tent – KA Brett School
1:30 p.m. Family Activities continue at the KA Brett School
• Pie Eating Contest
• Egg Toss
• Sack Races
7:00 p.m. Special band appearance of The White Mountain Boys
9:30 p.m. Fantastic Fireworks Display – KA Brett School

Any questions, please contact Parker Roberts at 603-323-7582.

There are three work options so every level of skill and/or enthusiasm are encouraged to join us.  First priority will be clearing trails on Mt. Chocorua and Paugus (a full-day hiking and working).  For those who might want a less rigorous hike we also have work to be done on the trails for hikers and cross country skiers in CLCF Conservation land (lighter hiking, perhaps 2-3 hours).   And for those who would like to do just a little light raking or culvert clearing lakeside, The Grove and The Island will have a work crew too (no hiking, perhaps 2-3 hours). 

Everyone is welcome at the social hour and dinner (salads/desserts are potluck and BYOB) followed by the CMC Annual Meeting at the Balch Big House (0n Loring Road).  Festivities begin after crews come down off the mountain or around 5:00 pm.  CMC Annual Meeting will start around 7pm.

We hope to see many faces, young and old, at Trail Clearing this year!

Harriet Hofheinz and Susan Kuhnhardt survey the quarry site

As autumn begins and we look back on notable events of the summer, we wanted to make special note of the CLA seminar outing that happened the on August 14 – the “Rock-N-Roll” tour of cellar holes and stone walls. Jim Bowditch dutifully led the tour – he was accompanied by an enthusiastic team of explorers that included Bob Seston, Susan Kuhnhardt, Peter Lewis, David Little, Lydia Smith, Ken Smith, Anne Marie Biernacki-Smith, Ellen Moot, Amey Moot, Kem Stewart , and Harriet Hofheinz. The first stop was at an enigmatic site off route 16 on the Brown lot, which was obviously a small-scale quarry or worksite. The a combination of a cellar hole with the quarry site led to much animated discussion You could clearly see the wing wedges used for splitting the rock – see them in the picture here in a line toward the right side of the rock, still in place in this majestic glacial erratic. Permission from the CLCF to investigate the site further has been granted. 

Kem Stewart, Bob Seston and others contemplate the mill site

The next stop was the Nickerson Mill on Scott Road, purchased by CP Bowditch in 1912 and torn down by him to prevent pollution of the lake. A great deal of the impressive stonework remains, as well as a part of the water wheel assembly still visible in the river. 

The next stop was across the lake, just above the junction of Chocorua Lake Road and Philbrick Neighborhood road, the cellar hole for an old school house. Beyond this was the Engleman house and barn further along Fowlers Mill Road.. This formerly grand estate is now gone, but a good deal of the house foundations and rock garden wall and well remain. Across the road is the most impressive cellar hole, in the area, which was for a huge barn edged with massive granite slabs and a fascinating series of stone walls likely to have to have enclosed livestock.

Foundation wall at the Engleman estate site with visible mortar

The next stop was along Philbrick neighborhood road – where our intrepid adventurers bypassed three cellar holes – one on a hill behind the Cannon house, another at one end of the Loring property on Loring road, and the cellar hole adjacent to the Loring house that is now being used as a sunken rock garden – to investigate the last site at the end of Runnells Lane.

Pete Lewis in the last of the cellar holes

The first irregular hole was just off Philbrick Neighborhood Road, the second was just up Runnels Lane, and the third was an interest complex of cellar hole and radiating stone walls. We know no details about this site. There are certainly more cellar holes and stone walls to be explored in the area – comment here and let us know your favorite, or tell us about one we missed!

Past and present CMC presidents take in the view

As we see leaves beginning to turn and the nip of autumn in the air, we wanted to look back and post on some August events that merit a fond look back.

On Family Day on August 14, the  CMC led a hike up Black Cap Mountain just north of North Conway.  Blackcap is east of Cranmore,  and south of Hurricane Mountain. It’s a nice 45 min. easy hike for all ages, with open ledges on the top with spectacular views.

While the turnout for the hike was small, it was dedicated – Michael Robbins, Ken Smith and Anne Marie Biernacki-Smith bypassed traffic via Westside Road to Rt. 16, to Blackcap along Westside Road from Conway, and enjoyed the hike, a small snack, and terrific views with a dramatic sky in the backdrop. We made it back in time for the cookout at the Wheeler Field followed by Jim Bowditch’s RockNRoll Tour of cellar holes and stone wall features.

Blackcap is a terrific, family friendly hike – easy, great for kids and with 360 degree views that reward the intrepid or the casual visitor equally.

Over the past several years, I have been watching the steady encroachment of Japanese Knotweed up Rte 16 from the village to the entrance to the Grove. You may have noticed the very healthy stand of it running continuously from just north of the Riverbend driveway to the next driveway up. Also, there is a large clump outside Jim Bowditch’s house, a sizeable stand just south of the Welcome to Chocorua sign, and more recently, two smallish clumps have sprouted at the south entrance to the Grove.

As many of you may know, Japanese Knotweed is one of the most invasive non-native plants in the country (second only to Kudzu in the south). You can practically watch it growing! It is on the top of Federal and State lists of invasive species and we are losing acres of valuable land and many native species to this thug.

There is no successful way to eradicate it – yet – but there are several ways to keep it under control:
* Smother it with thick tarps
* Cut it down to the ground and squirt RoundUp (or equivalent) into the
hollow stems, then smother with tarps
* Dig it up on a regular basis, then smother with tarps

None of this will eradicate it. The roots reach down many feet and it takes a bulldozer to get them out. If a tiny piece of root is left, it will sprout right back up. It is so strong it will break through concrete – for those who thought they would pave it over and be done with it! It produces large flowers and hundreds of seeds that spread by wind and birds. Any part of the stem, leaf or flower will propogate easily, so if cuttings are dumped they will sprout a new patch the following season. Enough! You get the idea….

The only good news is that Knotweed prefers open, sunny locations and the Grove is shaded. I don’t believe there is anything we can do to stop it from spreading up and down Rte 16, however, I think we can be vigilant about the clumps at the entrance to the Grove in order to prevent it from spreading into the Grove. Members of the CLA and CLCF feel that it would be worth cutting and bagging the plants on a regular basis – say twice per year, spring and fall – for the next 5 or so years. In this way, we may be able to contain it and prevent its spread into the Grove.

We will always be glad to have volunteers for this chore.

Attention Tennis Players (and relatives of tennis players)

We have decided to try a new format for the 2010 edition of the Chocorua/Tamworth Labor Day doubles tennis tournaments next weekend! After a hundred years of tradition, we are going to try something new this coming weekend and see how everyone likes it. If the new format works, we can use the same format again. If people don’t like the new format, we can try something else or revert back to a traditional tournament format in 2011.

Some people have mentioned in the past few years that they would like the tournaments and individual matches to be more social. Others have said they would have entered a tournament if they could be ensured they’d play more than one match. And others have said it’d be better if they had a more concrete timeframe for their matches because of competing social and/or work obligations during the weekend.

So we are going to try a round robin format for the first round of each tournament, and ask teams to play all of their one-set round robin matches played during a set timeframe next Saturday (9am-12pm for the Mixed Doubles; 1-4pm for the Men’s Doubles). This will ensure that each teams has the opportunity to play a minimum of 2-3 one-set round robin matches. The doubles teams that emerge from the round robin first round will then play traditional elimination round match(es) on Sunday (best 2 of 3 sets). The finals of both tournaments will be on Monday morning as before.

Additional information is provided below and attached.

Please call/email us with your doubles team entries by 12pm this coming Thursday, September 2nd. If you want to play in either tournament but need a partner, please let us know – we may be able to find you a partner. Each doubles team must have one partner who is from Chocorua or Tamworth. A minimum of eight (8) doubles teams is required for each tournament.

To enter either tournament, or if you have a question, please contact Alex Moot at alex@seaflower.com, 603-323-8545 (Chocorua) or 781-526-1572 (cell). Please also provide a phone number at which the players can be reached during Labor Day weekend, and an email address (if available).

Regards,

Alex Moot
& Harriet Hofheinz

_____________________________________________

Mixed Doubles – Tournament Schedule

1. First Round – round robin (see below): Saturday, September 4th at 9am to 12pm
2. Quarterfinals (if necessary): Sunday, September 5th
3. Semifinals: Sunday, September 5th (teams will schedule their own matches)
4. Finals: Monday, September 6th at 9am at Helm court

All teams in the Mixed Doubles tournament should meet at 9am on Saturday 9/4 at the Balch/Wheeler court (Chocorua Lake Rd).

Men’s Doubles – Tournament Schedule

1. First Round – round robin (see below) — Saturday, September 4th at 1pm to 4pm
2. Quarterfinals (if necessary): Sunday, September 5th
3. Semifinals: Sunday, September 5th (teams will schedule their own matches))
4. Finals: Monday, September 6th at ~10:30am at Helm court (following Mixed finals)

All teams in the Men’s Doubles tournament should meet at 1pm on Saturday 9/4 at the Balch/Wheeler court (Chocorua Lake Rd).

* Round Robin format (First Round): The exact format and rules of each tournament’s round robin round will be finalized once the organizers know the number of teams in each tournament. The following is a possible round robin structure:

1. We will try to play most of the round robin matches at the Balch/Wheeler court and two other nearby clay courts (Weld court and Helm court), but some of the round robin groups may be asked to play at other courts in Chocorua or Tamworth.
2. Each team will be assigned to a round robin group of 3-4 teams. A seeded team may be granted a first round bye if necessary to ensure even-sized groups.
3. In each group, each team will play one set versus each of the other teams in the group. Sets will be traditional sets (i.e. first team to win six games by two games wins the set). If a set is tied 6-6, the teams will play a seven-point tiebreaker to determine the victor.
4. One point will be awarded to a team for each set won.
5. After all teams in a group have played each other, the team(s) with the most points will advance out of the first round and play an quarterfinal or semifinal match on Sunday (best 2 of 3 sets). If two (or more) teams in a group are tied for the most points, the tied teams will play a seven-point tiebreaker to determine which team advances out of the first round to play on Sunday.