Judy Cleaves, Weston, ME
First Settler's Lodge is more than just a cozy country inn that overlooks the East Grand Lake in Weston, Maine. For Elbridge and Judy Cleaves, being the innkeepers was in their blood.
Nearly 150 years, ago the town's first settler was a Cleaves. The modern-day Cleaveses built and opened their lodge on the edge of what is still a wilderness, and survived like the rest of Weston on a limited economy funded by tourists seeking rustic outdoor adventures.
Judy says even after 12 years of hard work, it wasn't until a new tourist attraction began to draw curious visitors that she saw the lodge's business boom-even in the off-season. The new attraction was a wind farm on Stetson Mountain in nearby Danforth, Maine. The influx of business - from engineers, developers, construction workers, utility workers, and tourists curious about the turbines - insured that the lodge would live on as a reminder of Weston's history, in parallel with the newly erected turbines shining from the Maine mountaintops.
Today, the First Settler's Lodge's keys have been turned over to new owners, Stephen and Susan Mine, and Judy and Elbridge are looking forward to a well-earned retirement in Florida.
