Stern Section
June 25, 2018
June 25 • Vol 35 • No 12
Page S1
Page S1
Melvin Village Marina, Yesterday and Today From Old White House With Attached Barn to New Ventures By Rosalie Triolo Photos courtesy of Kevin Dubia Beginnings: Bob Moulton Sr. and his wife, Priscilla, in 1955 purchased the old white house with attached barn next to the Willing Workers Hall on Rt. 109 in Melvin Village. Bob drove a school bus and operated a laundromat located in the building behind the Willing Workers Hall. At that time, a man named Mr. Brigden, needing a place for the summer to park his car and launch his boat, and a place in winter to store his boat, made a deal with Bob Moulton. In the 1960s a channel was dredged into Melvin Bay and the first half of the docks were built. Selling Mercury outboard motors and renting dock spaces, Moulton started the beginnings of a boat business. In 1971, Bob Moulton sold the business to Ivan and Coleen Phelps, who moved the service department from the barn to the former laundromat. With room for one 17-foot boat, Ivan restored old wooden boats, and in 1976 expanded the number of docks. Thinking of making a change and wanting to go into his own business,
Draco S U s t a o B is h t g n i Com r Summe
Tom Young, an engineer with Electric Boat Co. in Groton, Connecticut and his wife, Mary, on a warm weekend in midMarch of 1981, visited Lake Winnipesaukee. An unusually warm winter and early “Ice Out,” meant that boats were tied to docks, and the sun was shining. Tom thought to himself, “This isn’t so
bad. Boats are already in the water.” And so, on June 15, 1981 Tom and Mary Young and their family moved from Rhode Island to the old white house with attached barn and became the owners of Melvin Village Marina. At the time, there were two employees: Jerry Heald, service manager and me-
chanic who taught Tom the service and maintenance end of the business, and Dorothy Christenson, office manager, who showed Tom how to run an office. Dorothy said, “He was a fast learner.” • Melvin Village Continued on page S3
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