Keith Wehmeyer, (GHS ’99) is returning to Maine to help care for one of the state’s great wilderness areas as Transportation and Maintenance Supervisor at Baxter State Park (BSP). It seems fitting that a former Gorham resident will be taking care of the park which was founded by another former Gorham resident, Governor Percival P. Baxter, as a gift to the people of Maine.
According to BSP, Wehmeyer, an outdoors enthusiast, will head the four-member BSP maintenance team which is responsible for the care and maintenance of over 300 buildings, including remote park housing, ranger stations and visitor lodging facilities and the Headquarters compound in Millinocket.
He will maintain a fleet of more than 30 vehicles, 18 snowmobiles, and other heavy equipment, and will oversee off-grid power systems (there are no public utilities in the park) and radio communications for operations and emergency management.
It’s a big job and a culmination of Wehmeyer’s past work experience, both in the outdoors and his more recent experience in commercial property management. “It will be nice to work outdoors and be more hands on again,” he said.
Wehmeyer holds a B.A. degree in Media Communications and Journalism from the University of Pittsburgh where he gained organizational and communications skills necessary in management. Before Wehmeyer earned his degree, he got an education of another kind, working as a carpenter along the East Coast from New Jersey to Maine, experiences which have been key to his career.
Photo Courtesy of Keith WehmeyerKeith, Ellie and Liz Wehmeyer on one of their many canoe trips, are happy to be back in Maine.
Wehmeyer has spent his last 10 years in the Mount Washington Valley area of New Hampshire, working most recently as a Facility and Project Manager at the Settlers Green Outlet Village in North Conway. Prior to that, he led a nine person maintenance team for the Attitash Grand Summit Hotel, in Bartlett.
He also spent four years on the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Construction Crew. Based in Crawford Notch, he maintained the AMC’s Highland Center, and was also carpenter for several reconstruction projects, including the Madison Spring Hut, one of eight high-mountain huts in the White Mountain National Forest. He has served on the Board of the White Mountain Swift Water Rescue Team and the Bartlett, NH. Conservation Commission.
Wehmeyer, along with wife Liz and 4-year old daughter Ellie, recently packed up their belongings, including a herd of 10 goats, (with a couple of pregnant does) and a Great Pyrenees dog, and moved from the Mount Washington Valley to a 16-acre farm they purchased in Benedicta, an unorganized township located about about 30 miles north of Millinocket.
The Wehmeyers are pleased with the remoteness after watching as the Mt. Washington Valley grew overcrowded during the COVID pandemic. “The new house and barn have a beautiful, unobstructed view of Mt. Katahdin,” he said.
The Wehmeyers are also closer to their favorite outdoor getaways. Keith and Liz have paddled the Allagash four times, three times with Ellie, including a 90-mile trip down the river when she was only a year old.
Wehmeyer is also excited to be reunited with his long-time friend, Michael Downing (GHS ‘01) and Downing’s wife Lindsay, who own and operate the Mt. Chase Lodge on Shin Pond. The children of both couples will be in the same school.
“It’s nice to already have friends here. We’re sharing weekly dinners together, and the kids are already calling each other ‘best friends.’” Wehmeyer said.
Until his new job began in mid-January, Wehmeyer had been getting his animals settled in, doing house projects and also taking time for outdoor family adventures in their new area. The Wehmeyers plan to continue sustainable farming as they did in New Hampshire, raising chickens and pigs and growing fruits and vegetables.
“We have always produced a lot of our own food. Our new land will make that even easier.”
The Wehmeyers can be found on Facebook @dundeeridgefarm, or on Instagram @dundee_ridge_farm.