Camden Maine 6
by Dick Botkin
Title
Camden Maine 6
Artist
Dick Botkin
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Camden is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,850 at the 2010 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a famous summer colony in the Mid-Coast region of Maine. Similar to Bar Harbor, Nantucket and North Haven, Camden is well known for its summer community of wealthy Northeasterners, mostly from Boston, New York and Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia publishing tycoon, Cyrus Curtis, maintained a summer home and several yachts in Camden. Given the many other magnificent private yachts of the upper class that filled Camden Harbor as well, Curtis decided in 1912 to establish and build the Camden Yacht Club. In 2006, as part of the Club's centennial celebrations, the Club published 'From steam to sail : 100 years of the Camden Yacht Club" [7] Yachting continues to thrive in Camden, particularly during the summer months, with the unique HAJ Boat racing fleet at the Yacht Club with the younger sailors in their turnabouts. In 1936 the cruise schooner business was started by Captain Frank Swift and the windjammer fleet continues to this day.
Music and cultural interests have long flourished in Camden. In 1912, Edna St. Vincent Millay read "Renascence," a poem she wrote from the top of Mt. Battie, to the guests at the Whitehall Inn, one of whom offered to pay her tuition to Vassar. After graduating from Vassar, she went on to write poetry and plays that made her one of the most famous women in America and an inspiration for the Roaring Twenties, winning the Pulitzer Prize. The world famous French harpist, composer and conductor, Carlos Salzedo, founded the internationally renowned Salzedo Summer Harp Colony in Camden and each summer held a Harp Festival in the amphitheater beside the library. Camden/Rockport also is home to the Bay Chamber Concert Company. Theatre productions at the Opera House and Shakespeare in the Amphitheatre enriched the lives of residents and summer visitors for generations. In the 1950s, artists and writers of significant reputation began moving to Camden and neighboring Rockport, where local artists organized Maine Coast Artists. Wayne Doolittle began publishing Down East Magazine in 1954, and in 1956 Carousel was filmed in Camden, followed by Peyton Place in 1957, because the quaint, old town with its extremely picturesque harbor and the beautiful scenery, looked like the picture-perfect American town. Since then Camden's charm and beautiful setting have not gone unnoticed by Hollywood with Steven King's Thinner in 1995, In the Bedroom in 2001, and with the soap opera Passions using Camden for shots depicting the fictional townHarmony.
Camden's many prominent summer and year-round residents have been a valuable resource to the town in many ways over the past 125 years, a tradition of partnership which continues today in many forms, not least by helping to establish some internationally renowned events, namely The Camden Conference and Pop!Tech. The Camden Conference has been held annually for nearly a quarter of a century to foster informed discourse on world issues. Convened in the historic Camden Opera House, the event draws some of the best minds on foreign policy to share their insights and expertise on a range of global issues. The Pop!Tech conference, which takes place each fall, gathers a global community of cutting-edge leaders, thinkers, and doers from many different disciplines to explore the social impact of new technologies, the forces of change shaping our future, and new approaches to solving the world’s most significant challenges.
During the second weekend of February, the annual U.S. National Toboggan Championships are held at the town-owned Camden Snow Bowl. This nationally-known race started as a lark for something to do during the long Maine winters, and more than 20 years later is one of New England's premier cold-weather events. The iced chute is 400 feet (120 m) long, and the four-man teams attain speeds of up to 35 miles (56 km) an hour. Most racers arrive in costume, and 100% percent of race revenue is used to offset operating expenses for this recreation area.
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June 5th, 2016
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