The hiking group at the Whitefield Salmon Preserve trailhead. From left: Richard Lownes, Vivian Brodsky, Marc Brodsky, and Valerie Lownes. (Joelle Troiano photo)
On Wednesday, Aug. 1, the Wednesday Walkers hiked the Whitefield Salmon Preserve. The preserve spans 56 beautiful acres along the confluence of the main stem and West Branch of the Sheepscot River. The Wednesday Walkers have been taking weekly hikes throughout the Midcoast for 23 years.
The group was started in 1995 by a man known to his fellow Walkers simply as Dick. Dick, an active member of the Damariscotta River Association, would meet the group at the Friends Meeting House in Damariscotta each Wednesday morning for a hike he had planned and would lead.
Marty Welt, the group’s current president and a member since 1998 – described the group in its early years as “a very good group with a lot of camaraderie.”
Hikes were planned 52 weeks a year at that time. When the snow made walking difficult, members took to snowshoes or cross-country skis.
“In the winter, I remember hikes where you’d have easily a dozen people,” Welt said. “The friendships built up so that you came not only for the hike, but to enjoy the company of your friends.”
It was this possibility of forming friendships that brought many members to the group in the first place.
When Welt and his wife moved to Damariscotta in the late ’90s, they “had no connection here,” Welt said. During their first summer in Damariscotta, they heard about a group called the Wednesday Walkers and decided to join.
Wednesday Walkers on the trail. (Joelle Troiano photo)
“We found it was a great way to meet other active retired people in the area,” Welt said. “We met a lot of people that we’re still friendly with.”
When Dick stepped down from running the club, the group was taken over by another man, but the new presidency didn’t last for long.
“That fellow met another walker and they got married, sold their houses, and moved to Camden,” Welt said. “So the Wednesday Walkers has been good for people’s health and for finding boyfriends and girlfriends.”
Today, while still a great way for retired people to meet and stay active, the Wednesday Walkers is not quite the vibrant social group it was in its early years.
The Whitefield Salmon Preserve hike was attended by just four members: Vivian and Marc Brodsky, who have hiked sporadically with the group since the ’90s, and Valerie and Robert Lownes, dedicated members for just over a year. The walk began with introductions, as the two couples had not met before.
The Brodskys remembered when the walkers were a bigger group of friends, reminiscing on the Wednesday lunches that would follow the morning hikes most weeks. Since those days, the loss of various members has led to a change in the group dynamic.
“Things began to change when Dick aged out (of Wednesday Walkers) and then some of the other hikers aged out of it, so there wasn’t that same sense of camaraderie,” Welt said. “New people would come and they would introduce themselves, but for some reason it didn’t develop as the cohesive group it had been.”
Though this shift may seem disappointing, the modern-day group has its perks too.
Richard Lownes, who led the Aug. 1 hike, said one of the key elements of hiking with the group is the “pooled knowledge.”
Marc Brodsky (left) and Valerie Lownes examine foliage. (Joelle Troiano photo)
At Whitefield Salmon Preserve, the four Walkers would frequently stop to look at and discuss the flora and fauna. One draw of this particular hike was the chance to see American hornbeam trees, also known as “musclewood,” which Richard pointed out along the way. The properties of the wood were discussed as the walking continued.
Although there were only four individuals contributing knowledge to the “pool” on this hike, Richard said that some weeks, “You’ll have one person who knows about plants, and one person who can tell you about the insects, and one person who is an avid birdwatcher.”
Depending on who attends the hike on a given Wednesday, those walking might learn just about anything about the land they walk through and the life that inhabits it.
It is not just group members who get to share knowledge about what is encountered on the Wednesday Walkers hikes. While the Aug. 1 hike was led by a member, many are led by local land trust employees not affiliated with the group.
Welt introduced this method of hike leadership when he took over the presidency in 2009. After one president left, the group was managed by committee for a season, but this did not work well.
“It looked like (the group) was going to end; no one was stepping up to lead it,” Welt said. “I agreed to take over leadership, but not the way it had been going. I had a completely different view of how it should be run.”
A retired computer engineer who still makes an effort to stay up to date, Welt began by improving the group’s use of technology, moving the email list to a Yahoo group and planning the season’s hikes through Google Sheets.
The next order of business was redefining the leadership role. “I didn’t want the fact that I was the leader to mean I led all the hikes,” he said. “So I had an idea.”
Welt used his position on the board of the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association to get area land trusts involved. He knew these organizations already had individuals trained to lead group hikes, so he called the executive directors of 13 land trusts and made his proposal: “I bring the hikers. You select and lead the hike.”
One of many Sheepscot River views along the Whitefield Salmon Preserve trail. (Joelle Troiano photo)
The group has since become affiliated with Midcoast Conservancy, which contributes eight to 10 hikes to the Wednesday Walkers schedule each year.
Having the hikes led by the Midcoast Conservancy and other land trusts has not only taken weight off the group’s leader, it has allowed the walkers to expand their hiking repertoire as well.
Richard and Valerie Lownes said that having hikes at various preserves around the area have allowed them to explore places they likely never would have discovered on their own.
“Some of these places just have a small sign on the roadside that you could easily miss,” Vivian Brodsky said.
Welt agreed with this sentiment. He feels good about his decision to change the way the group is run.
“There are a lot of beautiful hikes out there that none of us knew about,” he said. He takes added enjoyment in the fact that, “often, the person leading the hike might have been someone whose family owned the land and put it in conservation, so there’s a lot of pride. They enjoy showing the land that’s conserved to a group of hikers who enjoy hiking in a new location.”
Now, 23 years after the group’s founding, it may be in its final season.
“The state of it is, I’ve announced to the group that I don’t want to do it anymore,” Welt said. So far, no one has stepped up to take over the role.
Looking back on his two decades with the group, Welt said, “It’s been fun, and it’s been really rewarding.”
