Raymond officials dedicate new Tassel Top concessions building

By Ed Pierce

One of the best hidden gems of the Lakes Region is about to get even better. On Friday, May 16, Raymond Parks and Recreation welcomed guests to Tassel Top Park for a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially dedicating a new concessions building there.

Raymond's new concessions facility at Tassel Top Park was
dedicated during a ceremony on May 16. The new building 
contains a concessions shop, bathrooms, changing rooms 
and showers and is part of a years-long initiative to upgrade 
the park. From left are Tassel Top Facilities Maintenance
Manager Barry Alden, Tassel Top Operations Manager
Karen Alden and Raymond Town Manager Joe Crocker.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE      

It’s the realization of a longstanding dream to have a permanent concessions structure at Tassel Top Park which has significantly upgraded the facility over the past five years. The park itself spans 38 acres off Route 302 in Raymond and features a 900-foot beach, a safe and secure swimming area on Sebago Lake marked off by buoys, picnic tables, outdoor grills, a children’s Story Walk, a mile-long walking and hiking trail, and a convenient parking lot with 108 spaces, including six designated handicapped spaces.

There are renovated cabins available to rent and majestic pine trees towering overhead providing shade. Tassel Top Park is clean and it’s free of ATV and bike traffic, making it a wholesome family experience for all ages.

The upgrades are intended to lure more visitors to the park and this new building will replace the old town boathouse that was used as the park’s snack shack for years. But along with the new space for concessions, the building also includes public bathrooms, changing rooms and showers.

Construction for the new building was performed under the supervision of Michael Meyer of Island Cove Builders.

Tassel Top Operations Manager Karen Alden and her husband, Barry Alden, the park’s Facilities Maintenance Manager, live at Tassel Top year-round and said the new concessions building was the result of a team effort.

“We celebrate this milestone,” Karen Alden said. “Barry was always told it couldn’t be done but look at us today. It’s a game-changer for our patrons.”

Raymond Public Works Director Nathan White said he was amazed at how construction of the new building proceeded this spring.

“I have to thank the crews for doing what they said they would do and on time,” White said. “This was a great experience. It’s been a long time coming.”

Raymond Town Manager Joe Crocker, who also serves as the town’s Parks and Recreation Director, spearheaded the project and praised everyone involved for making it happen.

“Our partners and Raymond Public Works did a great job with this new building,” Crocker said.

Crocker and the Aldens thanked the contractor, members of the Raymond Select Board and all the town committees through the years which approved funding for the park upgrades and helped to obtain bonds and grants to finish the project.

In 1931, Dr. Earl and Margaret Hall purchased the Tassel Top property on Sebago Lake from Charles and Fred Crockett of Raymond for $6,000. Over the years the family cleared some of the property to build a small cabin with living space and sleeping quarters, sauna, boathouse and outhouse. The Hall’s son, James W. Hall, applied in 1989 to the Land of Maine’s Future Program for the state to purchase Tassel Top and lease the property to the Town of Raymond. The name Tassel Top was given to the property by Margaret Hall and refers to the pine trees in the park and the pine needles that look like “tassels.”

During a Raymond Town Meeting, residents voted to develop, manage and maintain Tassel Top as a state-owned municipal park. In 1993, after making some capital improvements, including converting the old town boathouse to serve as a snack bar, Tassel Top Park opened to the public.

For the past 32 years, the park has been able to operate from the revenue taken in each summer from park patrons. <