PHILLIPS – The first annual Fly Rod Crosby Days event will kick off tomorrow, with fishing, hiking, gold prospecting and other outdoor pursuits running through the weekend.
The event is being held at Fox Carlton Pond Sporting Camps in Phillips, with hikes, clinics and exhibitions running on May 18, 19 and 20. The events are centered around Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby, the legendary sportswoman, outdoor writer and Phillips native who helped promote outdoor sporting opportunities in Maine in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
To celebrate the inaugural event, Fox Carlton Pond Sporting Camps donated a canvas portrait of Crosby to the Phillips Historical Society. Featuring a famous image of Crosby produced by Paul S. Caruso, the work was colorized by Lori Dunn of Brownfield.
“Our celebration of Phillips Maine’s legendary sports woman, Cornelia ‘Fly Rod’ Crosby, is long overdue,” Jon Pound, owner of the business, said.
Activities will include a number of events with a Crosby theme, including riding on a special train, hiking on the Fly Rod Crosby Trail, fly fishing and tying clinics and gold panning in the Sandy River. There will also be fly fishing for Maine Brook Trout in the Sandy and at the Fox Carlton Pond Sporting Camp’s private pond.
The Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad will be operating the “Fast Fly Fisherman” – a special passenger train that operated when the line first opened in the 1890s. On Saturday, a replica of Steam Engine #4 will power the Fast Fly Fisherman at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., featuring a reenactment of Fly Rod Crosby. The ride will cost $6. More information can be found here.
Other events in the Phillips area include the Phillips Area Community Center holding its annual High End Sale on Depot Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The complete schedule of events can be seen here.
Congratulations & Thank You to all, for reaching this milestone.
What an excellent way to bring people into the western mountains.