Charlie Graham — Camden Resident
I was shocked and baffled by the letter, published in the April 18 Free Press and other local publications, from a Mr. Robert Wasserstrom.
His long accusatory letter maligns the motives, actions, and characters of the members of the Save The Dam Falls (STDF) group, who are contesting the ongoing attempt by Camden’s Select Board to remove three historic dams on Camden’s Megunticook River.
I am not a member of that group, but I know most of its members. They are sincere, honest people, many of them with properties or businesses on the river by the Montgomery Dam falls, so they have a direct and valid interest in saving and repairing that traditional feature of Camden’s downtown.
Many of them, including Ray Andresen, whom Wasserstrom singles out for particular vilification, are people who are notable for their tireless work with local causes, town committees, and volunteer organizations beneficial to our community. I do not know Mr. Wasserstrom, except by his unseemly letters in local papers (which are understandably obliged to give space to all opinions, no matter how mean-spirited). If I were in favor of removing the dams, I would be embarrassed to have Mr. Wasserstrom as a spokesman.
As for his arguments, Wasserstrom emphasis on various small amounts connected to one tiny aspect of a total project, estimated in a recent consultants’ report to cost over $5,000,000. This tactic indicates to me that he is more focused on discrediting honest people than on making an honest case for his alleged cause.
