OQUOSSOC – The Carrie Stevens Weekend and the Oquossoc Lupine Festival will be held on the weekend of June 24 and 25 at the Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society’s Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc.
The Lupine Festival will occur on Saturday only and will feature 23 vendor booths offering a wide variety of art, antiques and crafts for sale. Anyone who shares a receipt for any purchase from these vendors will get their choice of a dollar of any museum admission or five dollars off any new annual membership to the museum.
Also on tap on both Saturday and Sunday inside OSHM, will be the Carrie Stevens Weekend celebrating one of the region’s most well-known personalities and her important contributions to the world of fly tying and fly fishing.
On Saturday at 11 a.m., OSHM will unveil a very important addition to its already impressive collection. The museum has acquired Carrie’s 6 lb. 12 oz. brook trout that was caught at Upper Dam. The widely publicized trout was mounted by the legendary Herb Welch. This famous catch took second place in the 1924 Field and Stream National Fishing Contest. The recognition in Field and Stream, and subsequent newspaper stories, propelled this unassuming local lady’s name into the national spotlight.
“Carrie’s famous brook trout mount is truly one of angling’s crown jewels and is one of the finest examples of the work of master taxidermist, Herb Welch,” shared OSHM Executive Director Bill Pierce.
The museum recently acquired a private collection of 33 Carrie Stevens flies some of which were from the first two years of her legendary tying career, adding significantly to the over 200 Carrie Stevens flies OSHM currently has on display. This special event will feature fly tying demonstrations by eight of the most respected tiers of Carrie’s Streamer patterns in the world and as well as several surprises. There will be a special clinic on the “Stevens Method” from noted expert Leslie Hilyard. The special clinic will share how Carrie’s tying technique evolved over a career spanning 30 years.
Space for this portion of the event is limited and will be by reservation only. OSHM invites all collectors of Carrie Stevens flies to bring their collections to swap or sell or simply share with attendees.
OSHM will have several authentic Carrie Stevens flies available for purchase representing patterns that are already preserved the museum’s collection. Carrie Stevens flies can also be examined for authentication purposes by experts Graydon and Leslie Hilyard, who will be signing copies of their book “Carrie Stevens Maker of Rangeley Favorite Trout and Salmon Flies.”
“By combining the Lupine Festival on our grounds and the Carrie Stevens Weekend events inside, we feel folks are sure to have a great time. We hope folks will come and help us celebrate “All-Things-Carrie and our glorious Lupines on June 24 and 25 here in Rangeley,” added Pierce.
For more information please email RLRHS Executive Director Bill Pierce at: wapierce1@gmail.com or phone 207-491-4771
