Volunteers rake leaves and other debris from a drainage way on Eagle Lake carriage road.

More than 400 enthusiastic people turned out for the 19th Annual Take Pride in Acadia Day, sponsored by Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park, on Saturday, November 7th. Under a brilliant sun, volunteers new and seasoned spent the morning raking leaves out of drainage ditches and culverts, preparing Acadia’s carriage road system to weather the coming winter. Clogged drainage ways can allow standing water and ice to build up on the surface of the roads, resulting in erosion, washouts, and other costly damage. “Saturday’s work is truly an invaluable service to our park,” noted Terry Begley, projects and events coordinator for Friends of Acadia. “Not only does it save the park service untold dollars in repair and maintenance costs, but it allows the roads to dry more quickly in the spring, permitting bike and foot traffic earlier in the season than would otherwise be possible.”

Over the morning more than 13 miles of carriage roads were cared for. Volunteers returned to park headquarters for a hearty lunch of chili, cornbread, cider, and the annual “carriage road cakes” baked and donated by Janet Anker.

“At our first Take Pride in Acadia Day, back in 1990, we had 40 volunteers,” said Jonathan Gormley, volunteer coordinator for Acadia National Park, to the crowd assembled at park headquarters. “As I remember, we were quite pleased by the turnout. Now, we’ve grown by leaps and bounds, but our mission—caring for Acadia National Park—has not changed since day one.”

The grand prize drawings for the 2009 Acadia Quest followed lunch. This year, 116 teams from ten states registered for the Quest—double the number from 2008, the first year of the program. “The Quest succeeds because of the enthusiasm it inspires in the teams,” said Begley. “It shows them that national parks—and nature generally—are places where you can have a good time, playing and learning and lending a helping hand.” The 2009 grand prize packages were donated by L.L.Bean and awarded to Team Lewis of Marlboro, NJ; Team Burmeister of Ellsworth, ME; and Team Judice of Dayton, ME. Financial sponsors of Take Pride in Acadia Day included Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, The First, and The Knowles Company. Transportation and other support were donated by in-kind gifts from Acadia Bike & Coastal Kayaking, Janet Anker, Downeast Transportation, Mount Desert Island YMCA, National Park Sea Kayak Tours, National Park Tours, and Quietside Café.

—Ian Marquis