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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing
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Celebration In Smithfieldby Esther J. Perne When the sun sets on Smithfield, it lights up a unique landmark, which is among the region's oldest. Sunset Camps, an historic, family-oriented cabin community and the only public beach in the Belgrade Lakes chain is 90 years old this summer. "Home," is how the early brochures described the rustic cabins on the shore of North Pond, where early amenities were limited to electric lights, ice (cut from the lake each winter and stored in icehouses in sawdust to last through the summer), and wood for the stoves. Home is what it still is to the families that have vacationed in this conclave, some for as many as fifty seasons. "This is a family camp," state current owners Mike and Ellie Zarcone, who discovered the area starting in 1959, when vacationing with their children, and who purchased Sunset Camps as a "retirement" venture in 1974 and the start of a whole new way of life. The Zarcones have worked tirelessly to upgrade the cabins to more comfortable cottages and have even winterized four of them. Although some cabins remain cold water basic and those guests must walk to the boathouse to shower, that doesn't deter them one bit. From all over the country and the world, with children of all ages, they travel to Smithfield for the same experience that the first owner — who promised his guests, "You'll like this life on the shore of a lake." — described in his brochure:
The beginning of Sunset Camps dates to the great Smithfield fire of 1913, which destroyed twenty-two buildings downtown, including the Simonds Hotel (originally the Smithfield Inn) and stable. In those days Smithfield was dependent on the fire department in Norridgewock, a long 15 miles away, and until it arrived the only means of fighting the fire was a citizens bucket brigade. Although the Simonds heirs received $27.60 for the loss of the hotel, they sold the site the following year to Smithfield resident Ray Groves, who, between 1914 and 1941 when he died, built 19 cottages, a lunchroom, a dance hall, approximately 200 bathhouses (a.k.a. changing rooms), some outhouses, the beach, a picnic house, a dance hall, and a fifty-foot high water toboggan. The latter was built at a cost of $1800 in 1932 and survived until a local twister destroyed it in 1941. Groves even went so far as to bring his family's original summer camp, which was located on the Rome side of North Pone, across the lake by sliding it on the ice and placed it on a small knoll where it remains and is known as Hillview Camp. Groves originally called his complex the New North Pond House Cottages and his ice cream parlor was known as the Box Car. Exactly when the name Sunset was adopted is not known but there is no question why. The spectacular sunsets from this lakeside location are dazzling. Next in line to run Sunset Camps was Louise Groves Holton, one of Ray's two daughters. She and her husband, Hans, ran the camps from 1946 until 1974 when the current owners, Mike and Ellie, bought it, making this their 30th anniversary of owning Sunset Camps. While Mike is a jack-of-all-trades for construction (including a covered bridge over the river), maintenance, and repairs, Ellie keeps the cabins and cottage immaculate, runs the snack bar, does all the bookkeeping, and keeps an eye on the beach where true to a generations-old tradition, Smithfield children learn to swim along with guests and day visitors from the central Maine region. Over the years the Zarcones have added a snack bar, game room, showers, a 3-story fiberglass waterslide (which was discontinued due to insurance costs), motorboats, canoes and paddleboats for rent, and a "wall of fame" were Mike posts photos for all to see the fabulous fish that are caught in North Pond by Sunset's proud fishermen. Every season, Ellie describes, people stop in to reminisce. Some haven't been back for thirty to fifty years. They come with their cameras and all their childhood memories come alive. To celebrate the near century of unbroken Sunset Camp traditions, and their own 30 years of ownership, Mike and Ellie will give gift packs to guests, hold entertainment on special occasions throughout the summer, and maybe put on some of their famous barbecues. But the real celebration will be what it's always been: simply spectacular sunsets. For more information about Sunset Camps, boat rentals, or the beach, call | ||