Lehigh Valley Source: Lehigh Valley TRAVEL

Sunset in Wolfeboro, N.H.
Photo by Dan Shope

By DAN SHOPE
Special to Lehigh Valley Source

Allentown, Pa.--The first time I crossed the borough line to Wolfeboro, N.H., I noticed a distinctive white wooden street sign that claimed: “The Oldest Summer Resort in America.”

That was 1965, and I was 12 years old. My goal then was to water ski from the Wolfeboro shores on Lake Winnipesaukee, the third largest lake in New England. “Old” had little meaning.

My family lived in South Jersey, and we were trying to get away from the crowded Jersey Shore, the Poconos and, honestly, a feared repeat of the Phillies famed 1964 crash. The Red Sox couldn‘t be worse.

The town was initially named “Wolfeborough” in honor of British General James Wolfe who had battled in Quebec in 1759. His nephew, Colonial Governor John Wentworth established a summer residence and settled it in 1768—a record, according to an early Wolfeboro public relations team.

We learned about Wolfeboro from a family friend, who had begun his teaching career in New Hampshire, and had plans to return to his favorite town some day. He had bought a plot on ground on the spot where he planned to build a small home.

So when I passed the tourist’s sign again this July, I realized once again that we were there! Sadly, that home still hasn’t been built. But it’s good when life doesn’t move so quickly, as I’ve learned about Wolfeboro.

As usual, I counted in my head all my visits to the lake. Nearly 44 of them. Being from Jersey, it didn’t take much to be hooked on clean air, fresh water, and flat skiing surfaces nearly every morning just before breakfast.

These visits were considered a secret to those of us who ventured to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Sure, some news emerged when Kate Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and his daughter, Jane, made the movie “On Golden Pond” in the 1980s.

But none of my buddies took that flick seriously because there was no waterskiing (just fishing and skinny dipping!) in it—and Henry Fonda’s daughter wasn’t an American patriot to many.

The movie makers were interested in loons—neither wakeboarding nor future X-Game participants. No tourists came to ruin our or the loons’ nests. They came to see the home and water where “On Golden Pond” was filmed and even bought a bunch of bird souvenirs.

Wolfeboro, with a population of 6,083 in the 2000 census, has a median household income of $53,269. And thanks to the movie and added interest to wildlife protection, there are a whole lot more loons. Loons’ nests are protected.

To locals, the best about “On Golden Pond” is that it created some sightseeing jobs around Lake Winnipesaukee and Squam Lake, where the film was shot. There is no “Golden Pond,” so to speak.

And it’s always fun to figure which spots of the lakes were used in the movie. The point where the characters crash their wooden Chris Craft is at a rocky point just outside Wolfeboro Harbor.

It’s no surprise to those of us who spend time on that water that there are some multi-million dollar summer homes there.

In late July, The Granite State News, known to locals as “The Grunter,” listed palaces at $2.49 million and $1.34 million, both by the Yankee Pedlar Realtors.

That’s a bargain compared to current Multiple Listing Service homes at 45 Umbrella Point featuring 43 acres for $12.8 million and Aaron Road, with 21 acres, asking $10.5 million.

Without assistance from a rich uncle, we will likely remain in our same rental cabins we found in 1965, listening to Phillies games on our transistor radio.

Over the years—even before my years growing up as a “baby boomer”—Wolfeboro had found some fame. The town has seen a steady stream of famous individuals visit on vacation, which has helped inflate prices.

Seen in and around Wolfeboro have been the since-deceased Prince Ranier and Princess Grace of Monaco, the Queen of Taiwan, the now-late Kurt Vonnegut, Drew Barrymore, and Jimmy Fallon.

A youngster named Jack Lemmon practiced his piano from his lakeside property, and townsfolk listened. He maintained a lakeside home in Wolfeboro for many of his summers. It’s fiction that he liked it hot!

Kelly, Lemmon, and Barrymore are big names, but they never were able to surprise Wolfeboro as in 2007, when an upcoming presidential election combined with a European president’s vacation brought the paparazzi to town.

I was out in my boat taking pictures, too. We found a U.S. Coast Guard cutter idling just outside the French president’s house, protection from those who might have invited themselves.

Our visit to Wolfeboro in 2007 brought the most surprises. It wasn’t a surprise that so many Republicans visited Caroll County because Wolfeboro is known as a Republican town. When President Obama visited New Hampshire recently for a town meeting, he picked the southern area near Dover.

One afternoon, Rudy Giuliani—the leading candidate for the Republication nomination at the time—ate ice cream, spoke, and shook hands outside a real estate office.

Then, during the weekend, John McCain, the eventual Republican pick, held a town hall meeting.

Drawn by a strong populace of Mormons in the Lakes Region, the Marriott hotel family, known Mormons, has been an influential land buyer in recent years. Mitt Romney settled in Wolfeboro after leaving his post as governor in Massachusetts and running for president.

But in 1993 Romney gained fame as his sons used jet skis to rescue a family of sinking boaters. Now, he has made the 11.74-acre property his full-time home, and he’s often seen jogging or eating ice cream at Bailey’s Bubble, the same popular ice cream stand that Giuliani visited.

But in August 2007, McCain, Giuliani, and Romney weren’t the headliners in Wolfeboro. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was.

All week people talked about a connection between Lake Winnipesaukee and Kennebunkport, Maine, the summer site of the George Bush family. And it eventually happened.

But the real action came in the lake, where photographers battled for position. Sarkozy called them “foul” and jumped into their boat to stop their clicking.

Sarkozy told the Boston Globe that he likes the lake, the forest, and the sense of being a special part of America. Friends, including a former Microsoft executive, rented the house for him.

“It’s very relaxing,” he told the Globe. “It’s exactly what I wanted.”

Dan Shope is a freelance writer who lives in Allentown.