Little Ann in Chocorua

While the snow has come and mostly gone for now, we know it will be back. 

Many of the ski resorts opened recently and the forecast is good for this weekend after Thanksgiving. One "resort" that will not open is Page Hill in Chocorua, however its history has been captured and is now available at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room.

Just in time for the season we received a donation by the author Ann Albrecht of the first and hopefully, first of many, “Little Ann in Chocorua books” to come.  She even inscribed it to the library with her thanks for "being here" while she attended Kennett High School.

 

As seen in the table of contents, there are three sections to the book. After the heart-warming dedications to family and friends, Ann explains the story behind the story - how and why the book came to be. She also explains the context for combining a section on fiction with a section on history and most importantly how to pronounce "Chocorua."

The children's story section is illustrated with charming artwork by 16 year old Madie Peters and covers bears sliding down the hill, chipmunk adventures, skiing with a tow rope, a giant snow ball (see the cover above) and dancing snow girls.

The history section covers the "lost" ski resort on Page Hill and includes many period photos including the one below with a view of Chocorua from Page Hill. In it you can see the recently burned barn at what is now The Preserve in Chocorua.

The same view was captured by Thomas Cole in 1828 from Page Hill. You can read more about that sketch at this link. You can click on the images to enlarge them and see the buildings in that same clearing so many years ago

Another family photo shows her father, Don Macy with his "Air Force dog" at work on the summit of Mount Washington.

Hopefully, Ann will cover more of the dog story in her next book.