Lakeside Roller Rink Dates To 1922
According to a news story at the time, "a stand could be made by the citizens whose only means of fighting the flames was by forming bucket brigades...The Norridgewock department was summoned and arrived in time to put the final touches to the flames and prevent a fresh outbreak...With the large hotel building roaring like a furnace it was impossible to get near enough to save the next nearest buildings and so the fire raged until it reached a clear space in the village street." But the town bounced back, as described in the sesquicentennial History of Smithfield, and the village was soon rebuilt. To encourage this rebuilding of some of the structures lost in the fire, the town of Smithfield gave huge tax abatements. Fairview Grange received $13.80. Alice Sawyer of Sawyer's Store on Main Street, $29.90 for the building and H.L. Sawyer $18.40 for loss of stock. The Simonds heirs received $27.60 for the loss of the hotel. The Cunliff family built a new store and later sold it to the Carpenters in the early twenties. The Carpenters also build a dance pavilion which was known for a time as the North Pond Casino. One young resident of the time remembers how the members of the Grange helped to raise money for their new hall by hiring a brass band and holding a dance in the new pavilion. Later it became the North Pond roller skating rink. Roller skating was seven days a week, with three sessions on Sunday. Admission was 25 cents, only ten cents for spectators. Town children skated free. Out of town children were not charged if they didn't have the quarter. Today the North Pond Casino/roller skating rink, billed as Maine's Open Air Rink on North Pond, is in its 81st year. Named Sunbeam Roller Rink, it has been owned by the Bulmers of Smithfield for 25 years. Admission is $5 to skate, $3 to be a spectator, and free for parents who are spectators. In the summer it is open Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Rentals of regular skates are available, and roller blades are welcome. The rink is also available for birthday parties. On Saturday, July 26, Sunbeam will hold a Roller Skating Karaoke Night from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Admission is $4 for both skaters and spectators. For more information about skating and about this unique building on the shores of North Pond on Route 8 in Smithfield, contact
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October 1913: Smithfield, on North Pond, suffered the worst fire of its history. The fire apparently started in the Hotel (where Sunset Camps is now situated) or in the hotel shed. Most of the village was destroyed.