The Waterford Fish and Game Association is a small local club with a friendly atmosphere.  It was officially started in 1952.  We have recently upgraded all our ranges and built a new clubhouse.  We have rifle and pistol ranges and a skeet range.  We are located in Waterford, Maine, Oxford County USA. 

 The following is a story taken from the Advertiser Democrat and is a great history ABOUT US.

By Maureen M. Heath

Advertiser Democrat

Waterford ----- Recently I received some correspondence and a history written by Rodney “Digger” Cummings.  Many of you know him as he was born and reared in North Waterford and lived here until 1963.  He currently lives in Arizona.

            The story he sent is the “History of the Waterford Fish and Game,” which he thought may be of interest to many of you, especially with hunting season coming right up.  Here is the story as written by Rodney “Digger” Cummings.


            “In the mid-1940s, me and three friends decided that because we did a lot of hunting and fishing, that we would like to start an official Hunting and Fishing Club to service the areas in which we lived.  John Pike lived in East Waterford and owned and operated the Blue Clothing Store on Main Street in Norway.  Alton White lived in Stoneham and later owned and operated White’s Marina, located on Norway Lake.  Harold Springer owned a larger farm in East Waterford for years.  I, Rodney Cummings, later owned and operated the Crooked River Dowel Company, located in North Waterford.

            “The four of us came up with the idea of putting on a night of boxing matches, with young men from around the local townships to raise money to purchase some land and create a building in which to hold meetings to other sporting advocates, once or twice each month. 

            “We distributed posters at the towns of Bethel, Lovell, Norway, Paris and all of the Waterfords.  We were trying to recruit young men between the ages of 10 and 20 years, who would like to participate in boxing matches for a trophy.  Soon we had about 50 young men who were interested in participating in this event.  After logging their ages, weights, and other pertinent information, we decided to get permission from the Odd Fellow organization’s hall in North Waterford to be the location of this fund raising event.

            “Doc Hubbard agreed to act as the ringside physician as most of these young men were brought into this world by him!

            “I already owned two pairs of eight-ounce boxing gloves and two pairs of 12-ounce boxing gloves.  We were able to purchase boxing trophies at a wholesale cost.  We then erected a 16-foot boxing ring in the Odd Fellow Hall, and we were ready to put on our event.

            “The night of the big event had arrived and there was a huge crowd of spectators, standing room only.  The event held about 20 matches, each lasting 2 to 3 minutes each round.  The result was that no one got seriously injured with the exception of their pride and a few black eyes.  Even Doc Hubbard said that it was the best fun he had had in a long time.

            The night resulted in enough money to purchase a few acres of land on the road from North Waterford to Norway, to level the land to build a clubhouse, design a running deer target and a skeet range.  There was also enough money left over to put in the treasury.

“After the club was operational it drew good crowds each weekend for both target ranges.  I’ve never forgotten the first shoot we had; most of the people knew me from my guiding days in hunting and fishing.  When I went up to the shoot, someone hollered, ‘Let’s see you knock this one down Rod.”  The very first shot I made cut the telephone wire that ran behind the back area on the deer target, and down it went.  This brought quite a roar from the crowd.”

 

                        Hopefully, you found this story written by Digger Cummings an interesting one, or a good memory if you were a part of the original beginning.  The Waterford Fish and Game remains active today in the same location, on the Norway road here in Waterford.