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BATH — A winter snowshoe/ ski outing is being held Sunday in honor of former Friends of Merrymeeting Bay member Ed Benedikt.

Benedikt first organized the winter hike of the Peterson Canal several years ago, bringing attention to the historic landmark, America’s first canal, according to FOMB.

Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and the Bath Historical Society will co-sponsor the outing. Participants should meet at 11 a.m. across from the boat launch to the New Meadows Lake on Old Brunswick Road in Bath, and should allow three hours for the 2.5-mile roundtrip hike.

The Peterson Canal was built around 1790 to connect Merrymeeting Bay with the New Meadows River, facilitating downstream transportation of logs.

“Today, this waterway, once built by men of industry and vision, is little more than a wet scar on the Earth,” Benedikt is quoted in a press release from FOMB.

“That scar, however, does make an excellent jaunt between the lake and the bay,” according to FOMB.



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