Eaton Town column: Snowvillage Inn reopens June 27

Published Date Written by Nancy E. Williams

I have some big news for everyone — drum roll please — Snowvillage Inn is open again under the new/old ownership of Kevin Flynn. Kevin and Jen Kovach will be the old/new innkeepers, with Karen Kovach on board as well in the office and all over the place. This is the greatest news. I loved going back there again when Matt Burke and Jim Thompson bought it, and their pub nights were wonderful with Karen White cooking and Lindsay Thurston serving. Running an inn is a 24/7 endeavor, and it was more than they had bargained for.

Kevin bought back in and they are opening Wednesday, June 27, at 5:30 p.m. The hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 5:30 to 9 p.m. for dinner in the dining room or pub area. They have a wonderful duo, chef Brian Anderson and his wife Sue as head server. He just relocated from Rangeley, Maine, where he was the chef at the Rangeley Inn. His menu will delight the palate of all who enjoy a flavorful menu, which will include local produce. Stayed tuned to details of his fine menu. Reservations are recommended, but walk-ins are great, too. Call 447-2818 today.

Suzanne Raiche will be running her swim classes once again this summer. Registration is Saturday, June 30, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Eaton Town Beach on our beautiful Crystal Lake. There are registration forms available at the beach, and at the Eaton Village Store, and these can be mailed in. The lessons will run from July 2 to July 27 Monday through Friday. These half hour classes will run from 3 to 5 p.m. Obviously, because the big town picnic is July 4, there will be no lessons that day. Get those registration forms filled out and back to Suzanne this week, because the beginning of July is next week already.

You must join us at the big Fourth of July Picnic at the Eaton Town Beach on Wednesday, July 4, beginning around noon. Hamburgers and hot dogs will be grilled right in front of you by our famous Eaton chefs, Sunni and Ralph Wilkewitz. Condiments will be supplied, also. Please bring along an appetizer, salad, casserole, or dessert to share with your neighbors and friends. This is the most fun picnic ever and keeps getting bigger every year, and you could be the lucky winner of Ralph's 50/50 raffle. Bring your favorite beverage, your kids, other family, and good friends for a day of delicious food, reminiscing with neighbors, and swimming in our lovely lake. Ralph will need his helpers on Tuesday afternoon, July 3rd to set up tables. Many thanks in advance.

We recently lost one of our oldest and dearest residents when Louise Gray passed away peacefully in her sleep on Friday, June 15. Ever since I moved here in 1961, I have known Louise. We once shared a party line and my parents had to speak to me more than a few times about tying up the line with my boy/girl friends, so Louise could make her own calls. We worked together at Rockhouse Mountain Farm one winter and later on, she would generously give my mother rides to the hairdresser or shopping when Dad or I couldn't take her. Eaton will always be her home as she had lived here or 57 years. Yes, Louise was an institution in town, fun to be around, always ready with a retort of some sort, and loved by all.

She and Ann Donahue and others used to hike everywhere in the White Mountains, in Jackson where she was born, to Eaton, Freedom, Conway, North Conway and she especially loved Foss Mountain. She studied local graveyards including one on her former property that abuts ours. She used to weed and clean out that one on Glines Hill every year she was able to. I remember going up there in high school to read or write in its peaceful tranquility. Throughout her life, Louise's family, friends, and faith were all so important to her. There is no doubt that she made the best lemon squares in the valley, and her love of birds and gardening is legendary.

After a moving tribute to her life at her church, the Journey Church in Conway, her family and friends came out to Eaton to the Town Hall for a lovely luncheon, put on by the Eaton Community Circle, of which Louise was a longtime member Thank you, Eaton Community Circle. No one can replace Louise because she was truly one of a kind, and I for one, will miss her deeply, as will many here in town. My condolences go out to her children Carol, Nancy, and Sherwood, and to her son-in-law Dave Bennett, her daughter-in-law Jane Gray, and all the nine grandchildren. Right now, I can easily picture Louise sitting under a tree or around a garden with her husband Lawrence, and her two sons, Mark and David.

Nancy E. Williams can be contact at 447-5635.