Who Is Reimond Grignon ?
I was born in Burnham, Maine, November 30 1953, on the edge of a large
Marsh teeming with wildlife. From the very beginning I was fascinated
by all the wildlife that God has created. My father was a woodsman and
would take his four young sons to the woods with him even in the middle
of the winter during some of the coldest days of the year. At the very
tender age of 9-12 I soon learned the art of survival in the woods no
matter what the weather was or how cold it was. I would fascinate and
stun my boyhood friends in school by showing them how to light a fire
using only my pocket knife and a shoestring. A trick my dad taught me.
Man, did I ever get in trouble for lighting a fire at school.
My father also taught me how not to get lost in the woods and how to always find my way back even without a compass. This gift I still have, having never been lost in the woods. Now getting lost in a city is another thing! It was common for me to go exploring in the Maine woods and staying overnight for two or three days at a time even in the middle of the winter before I was seventeen years old. I used to do a lot of trapping and once stayed for several days and nights on a beaver bog, miles back in the woods setting beaver traps during January when the nights averaged twenty below zero, without even a tent or other modern necessities. It was really wicked cold. I wouldn't do this today for anybody. I'm not that young and foolish anymore!
My family soon moved to Pittsfield, Maine where I grew up. During those days I read every book about the outdoors and wildlife I could find. By the time I was 12 years old I started doing taxidermy work for people and mounting the game they shot in the basement of my parents home and got to be quite an accomplished taxidermist by the time I was sixteen. Even at this age many folks were bringing me lots of specimens to mount. Later I won numerous awards in National, International, and World Taxidermy competitions. My mounts are extremely life like in every sense, and am still sought after by museums, and customers still send me work from all over the world. My small museum is considered a must see by the people in this area.
I really loved wildlife and I soon had over 30 bee hives in the back yard of my parents home. You should have seen the air black with bees! Scared my mother half to death! I put them only 50 feet from our back door! That was a mistake! I sold beautiful comb honey, which was rare in those days. Later I grew to have alot more bee hives in various locations though-out Maine. I can proudly state that I brought my wife’s wedding ring with my "Honey Money." That is why her ring is so small. Now a days, she wants me to buy her a bigger one, but I keep telling her I was married to my honey bees first!
At eighteen I became a professional Maine Guide. I guided sportsmen from various parts of the United States all over Maine hunting and fishing and for photography trips, especially to Maine's fine waterfalls. I have wonderful slides of almost every waterfall in Maine, some hidden miles back into the woods. I always carried a camera while guiding. My clients always had a good time and I soon earned my "Master" Maine Guides license.
I also joined my uncle Amos Grignon in the carpentry trade where I refined my second love, that of wood working. There really is nothing I cannot build if I think about it enough. Later, I built my own home, my own shop and business, right down to the last nail, all by myself. This includes all the beautiful kitchen cabinets, stairs, and interior finish work. Many people who visit me do not realize that everything you see made out of wood at my home or business, I built it from scratch! Not satisfied with that, I even did all the electrical wiring and plumping. I always enjoyed being challenged. This includes my really large taxidermy shop.
Back
when I was twenty four, I took up flying and within a year had both my
pilots license and an airplane, a neat little old two seat Taylorcraft
cub. I quickly found a way to remove the door and window from my plane
so I could shoot pictures out of it. Flying out of little grass strips
and shooting pictures from the air has been my hobby for many years, my
aerial pictures are very sharp and beautiful. I have worked hard on them.
Today
I fly a larger fully instrument equipped plane that I use to take many
aerial pictures. This plane has all the latest instrument gear and is
capable of taking me just about anywhere. I fly the plane sometimes for
6 or more hours during the day when I am on one of my aerial "shoots".
I could live right there in the plane and just come out on bad days. Sometimes
I wish I was a bird like an eagle, except I like my food cooked!
In 2002 I flew this plane west around the United States just for the fun of it. I spent quite a while flying around the countryside. It was neat seeing the west and seeing the tall rocky mountains from the air but my favorite place is still New England where all the pretty blue water is.
God made me interested in so many things! I became interested in going underwater, being brought up watching Lloyd Bridges on TV. I took courses in scuba diving and have ending up diving all over the coast of Maine and al over the Caribbean. I now hold a Rescue Diver Rating, a Dive Master Rating, and am one of the very few people in Maine that holds the distinguished "Master Scuba Diver Rating," plus many other dive ratings. I have collected many underwater artifacts and bottles. There is a display of these in my small museum. I took up commercial diving for a short time catching Scallops and Sea Urgins but again my love of photography spewed forth and soon I was taking many underwater videos of my diving trips as well.
I love photography. I like my pictures to be stunning, different, and very sharp. I love the Maine Coast and have numerous pictures of the coast of Maine, and the old schooners, many taken from my sailing vessel the "Deborah Jean." I have some of the finest shots of the Maine Coast to be seen, many of which are completely different from what is usually seen. I like to document Maine scenes which are fast fading from view being eaten up by the fast paced development which is taking place along the coast of Maine.
One
of my most interesting talents is my gift of playing a guitar and violins
and singing my old gospel songs which I love very much. I have sung gospel
songs in churches, hospitals, rehab units and nursing homes all over central
Maine. I love songs of faith and love. I still take requests to do some
of these gospel songs for various churches, but presently only in the
state of Maine. I come all by myself with just my old Martin guitar and
my own sound system. I like the small places best. Most churches in Maine
are small anyway!
The above picture is a performance I did at Maine's Veterans Home. I don't come trying to do some kind of great concert or anything like that. I come only as someone with the message of God in my songs. Each of my songs is not meant to be a performance but is meant to give God's message to his people. I find no one is singing the type of songs I do anymore. The songs I do aren't the modern type of songs that repeat one or two verses over and over. The songs I do are all story type songs that contain a message from God. Today it seems most bands are only interested in giving a good performance. I am not into that at all, the songs I come with contain a message from God, it's as simple as that. In the past I have given well over a hundred gospel performances in a year.
Examples of a few of the songs I used to sing are:
The Prayer Weapon
The Battle of Armageddon
The Way of The Cross Leads Home
Walk Through This World With God
Who Made The Mountains ?
Are You Building A Home In Heaven ?
There's No Excuses
Is This You Last Chance To Pray ?
Come Meet Jesus
Now adays I mostly play hymns on my Hammered Dulcimer, Mountain Dulcimer, Recorders and my Violin. I am master of none. But hey, God has given me eternity to work on them. Each year I play three hours each night for the Canaan Babtist Church over the first week end in December, when they have the Christmas Bethleham event. This is quite the event. Over 500 people attended last year! They take the whole lower story of the church and turn it into the old city of Bethleham. There are people like potters, bread makers and many other "stores" all set up to look like ancient Bethlehem include animals and people in costume. It is a great treat to take your kids to this and it is all Free!
If want a would like to have a Hammered Dulcimer and Mountain Dulcimer player at your church event just give me a call at 207-487-2754. I only play gospel music - mostly hymns aand I usually play for free!
I believe in God with all my heart and soul and mind and spirit. I have made billions of mistakes in this life. Jesus has forgiven me for all of them just as he will you too if you only but ask. He loves me and I love him. I hope you do too! And if you catch me singing in the shop, walk right on in!
The motto I live by is " be your best, do your best, look your best; be all that God wants you to be."
