Pleasant Pond’s Birch Point Pavilion evokes magical memories

    Editor’s note: This article on the Birch Point Dance Pavilion on Pleasant Pond in Island Falls is an excerpt from “Life and Times on Pleasant Pond” written by Sandra Newman.
    Dancing was the craze of the Roaring Twenties, and the perfect time for a dance pavilion. As luck would have it, in the enjoyable spring of 1922, Harold Hall had arrived on the scene with the idea of a dance pavilion on Pleasant Pond. Discovering Birch Point, Harold signed a lease with W.F. Edwards, agreeing to pay $150 a year, for three years, for the location. Pavilion construction was completed early August 1922 and the first dance, August 12, 1922, was a raving success attracting 125 decked out couples from all around the area. They arrived driving their new touring cars. They arrived after bouncing along the roads in their horse and buggy, or they paddled up from the lower end of the pond in their Old Town canoe. They didn’t care how they arrived, they were going dancing! And I hear it was a rowdy, totally entertaining, dancing celebration!
Sandra Newman
    Unfortunately, Mr. Hall did not pay for the lumber he had purchased from Northern Woodenware or for the lease of the land at the end of three years. This oversight allowed W.F. Edwards to take over the Dance Pavilion. By paying Northern Woodenware for the lumber Mr. Hall had purchased, W.F. was able to keep the pavilion open. Ask many people in the area, they will tell you that the pavilion became a major area attraction. This was also when Birch Point got its name. The dancers and campers kept calling it Birch Point after the magnificent white birch trees that surrounded the area.
    Dot (Longstaff) Ericson remembered the Pavilion romantically; it is where she met her husband, Winn Ericson. The story goes: Winn was a drummer in the Melody Boys Band. Smitten as he was, he asked her out — Dot’s first date alone in a car with a man. On the way home, he leaned over to give her a kiss just as the Bradford Mill on Fish Stream exploded. Thinking it was her home, the Longstaff Farm, she instantly made Winn take her home. Yes, they were married and lived happily ever after.
    Clara Hathaway, “Oh, I remember the Pavilion! We danced, and danced. Oh, we had such fun! The boys from Houlton would come down, and we danced with them. We never knew their names; we didn’t care. We just danced the night away. Oh, it was fun.”
    Stella Larlee danced many nights away at the Pavilion while working at Camp Roosevelt, along with many people in the area. Just mention the Dance Pavilion and you will hear, “Oh, how I remember the Dance Pavilion. What a wonderful, gay, fun time we all had dancing nights away!”
    The Powers clan — Phil, Peter, Nonnie, Nevil and Denise — paddled up the pond happy to dance the night away many times at the Dance Pavilion.
    Disaster struck in 1955 — excess snow caused the Dance Pavilion to cave in. Joe Edwards remembers, “The Dance Pavilion was located where the camp grounds are now. With people still coming to stay in the cottages needing a restaurant, and place for outdoor water activities, it was decided not to rebuild the Dance Pavilion because we thought the idea of dancing might not be as lucrative as a campground, lodge, and restaurant serving meals to vacationers.”
    For information about “Life and Times on Pleasant Pond,” contact Sandy@onpleasantpond. or log onto www.onpleasant pond.com.
Photo Courtesy of the Island Falls Historical Society
HAIL, HAIL THE BAND’S ALL HERE — Unloading their gear at the Birch Point Pavilion, about 1924, was Fogg’s Famous Dance Band, Brockton, Mass., with proprietor W.F. Edwards on the porch.