Saturday, July 2, 2011

Frost Country



In the little town of Rangeley, Maine, where the winter season seems to be the longest, the word, and name Frost are well known.

Dick Frost was a resident of Rangeley for many years. He owned a fly shop and was a fine fly tyer. He is the creator of the streamer Frosts Blue Smelt.
Dick and his wife Joan were the owners of the Rangeley Region Sport Shop, and the many people who stopped in the shop were always greeted with a warm hello. Dick was someone who could be counted on to give you sound advice on the fishing in the many wonderful lakes and streams in the area.

Joan was an artist, and her many paintings were a pleasure to view. She was a wonderful lady to talk with, and had many stories of the times in Rangeley.

In later years Dick took ill, and the fly shop was sold. Joan had a little gift shop on route 4 on the Rangeley town line. Frost Country. The shop had many of her paintings, along with the complete tying desk of her husband Dick.
I had the pleasure of buying one of her paintings,a brook trout painted on a map of the area.

The last time I talked to Joan she was watering flowers at her home. My wife and I conversed with her for a spell and then said good bye.




This small booklet was written by Dick. Although it was not a large volume, it was very concise. It was a companion to the poster above.




An old photo of Dick, who was also a fine skier.


A painting by Joan. It sits on a small table in our living room.


This is a sign along a small stream that flows close to the house, .......... in Frost Country

6 comments:

  1. Glad to see that there are others, like you, Brk Trt, that obviously feel that people are a very important part of our fly fishing life. Couldn't agree more! Nice post.
    Gary

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  2. Amen brother. Great post and I'm liking joans painting.

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  3. Gary,
    Thanks.
    Those that did so much for our passion, will always have a special place.


    AYearOnTheFly,
    Thanks.
    She was quite a lady, she had so many fine paintings in that little shop.

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  4. Thanks for the great history lesson. They sound like wonderful people to know. The painting of the Brookie is great. I need to get some of those signs and start posting them. Tight Lines.

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  5. I was surprised and pleased to come across this blog post. Dick Frost was my uncle. I was raised in Connecticut so did not see uncle Dick and aunt Joan often but my parents visited with them in Rangeley, later in life. My mother has many large furniture pieces painted by Joan. I am on my own hunt for one of uncle Dick's flies. Cheryln (Frost) Gates

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    Replies
    1. Cheryln,
      Thanks.
      I'm sorry it's taken me a year to respond to your comment. I must have missed it somehow. Both your uncle and aunt were wonderful people. Both gifted artists, and not bashful about sharing their knowledge. Those furniture pieces must be very nice. As far as a Dick Frost fly I can check with some followers of the vintage flies and see if I can locate one for you.
      If you happen to check this post I would like you to email me my name is Alan....uppahdam@aol.com

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