In some towns, you find there are people everyone knows, and homes that nearly everyone has been inside. In the Aroostook County town of Cross Lake, Gary Pelletier is one of those people … and his house is one of those places.

On Saturday, more than 100 people gathered at Pelletier’s home for a benefit pig roast that raised money to fight the upcoming referendum that would stop the trapping of bears or the hunting of them with bait or hounds.

Politicians mingled with hunters and warden and members of local fish and game clubs. Pigs were roasted. Moose was marinated. Bear was prepared. The resulting feast was impressive.

Just like it always is when Gary Pelletier has a party. Which is, you quickly find out, quite often.

How often?

“Just about every time we get a chance,” the boisterous Pelletier said.

If a civic organization is having a function … they call Gary. If a friend has an idea … he calls Gary. If someone’s in the mood for some scrumptious bean-hole beans … they call Gary.

“We’ve always been known here for having get-togethers,” Pelletier said. “We just get a bunch of guys together and their wives. Hey, for a hundred bucks you can get an awful lot of grub.”

Pelletier has transformed his home into the ultimate barbecue site. Out back, there’s a pit for roasting pigs. In his picnic shelter, there’s a monstrous industrial-use gas grill. And under another shelter, he has poured a concrete pad that reinforces the permanent hole he uses to prepare his trademark bean-hole beans.

A good rule of thumb in these parts: If you hear there’s a party in Cross Lake, head to Gary Pelletier’s. He’s probably in charge.

Pelletier said his picnic shelter – a large area with a wooden roof structure and removable sides – was a winter project.

“It was 10-below, the 10th of December, three, four years ago,” Pelletier said. “It was blowing wind, and I put this up. Alone. And I enjoyed every minute of it because I knew.”

Knew what? Pelletier gestures at the assembled group milling around in his picnic area.

“Look at the outcome,” he said, smiling proudly.

Last summer, Pelletier ran the feed for his satellite dish to the shelter to provide some added entertainment.

“This is my home away from home, and I’m only 100 feet away from my house,” he said. “Guys drive by and stop for coffee. There’s two coffee pots, and they know there’s coffee here. We were brought up that way.”

And Pelletier always wants his friends – old or new – to feel welcome.

“There’s never any hinges on the doors here,” he said. “It’s always open.”

– . –

At Kelly’s Camps in Allagash, hunters began arriving on Saturday – earlier in some rare cases – and most took some time on Sunday to make sure that they’d be ready when Monday’s opening day of bear season arrived.

Hunters – many of whom have been heading to Allagash to stay with the Kelly family for years – sat in small groups on the porch of Two Rivers Lunch, sharing stories and meeting new friends. Periodically, a few ambled toward their cabins, then returned a few minutes later carrying rifles or bows.

Monday, they’d get to hunt. On Sunday, many of the hunters took a few minutes to head over to the nearby ranges, where they could sight in their weapons.

One by one, firearms hunters fired a few shots, checked their success, adjusted their scopes, then left the range satisfied with the rifle’s accuracy.

According to one hunter, leaving the shooting range with an accurate rifle is great … as long as you realize that there can be some repercussions.

“You know the only problem with having a gun that shoots straight?” Bob Lindberg, an Episcopal priest from Nescopeck, Pa., asked with a grin.

After a brief pause, he delivered the punch line: “No excuses.”

Lindberg, a traditional archer who hoped to take a bear with a longbow, was kidding, of course. Accuracy is the key in any shooting sport, and the bear hunters take that responsibility very seriously.

– . –

At any hunting camp, there are characters who tend to dish out the brunt of the good-natured ribbing. According to custom, those folks are also fair game for any prank or joke their hunting buddies can dream up.

Jim Snyder of Delaware County, Pa., found that out … again … on Sunday night when guide Wade Kelly finished off his camp meeting with a brief presentation.

Snyder, you see, is a veteran practical joker who has produced hours of video to entertain hunters over the years.

Kelly gave Snyder a gift designed to help his longtime friend find his way back from his tree stand at the end of the evening hunt … even if a few pesky bears continued to lurk in the woods.

The gift: A plastic toy bear which, when triggered, opens its mouth and becomes a flashlight … and growls like a bear.

A year ago, as many of the assembled hunters realized, the veteran bowhunter had climbed down from a stand alert to the presence of a sow bear which had been driving bigger males away from the bait he was watching.

Snyder was concerned, and was nearly certain that the aggressive bear would confront him. But Snyder carries a handgun into the woods … just in case … and had an added sense of security as he made his way out of the woods.

When Snyder unloaded his handgun for the trip back to camp, he was in for a surprise.

It was already empty. He’d never loaded it.

“Hey, I’m a bowhunter,” he said on Monday, recounting the tale.

Later on Monday, Snyder accepted the gift bear with a grin, as the assembled hunters erupted in laughter.

– . –

Many of the hunters in camps around Allagash rolled into town with plenty of camouflage gear, along with a rifle or two (or three, in at least one case at Kelly’s). Other pieces of equipment spotted regularly: Fishing rods.

The Allagash River is just a few yards from Two Rivers Lunch, the de facto dining hall, meeting hall, and social center of Kelly’s Camps, and several hunters headed there – or to the nearby St. John River – to cast a few lures for muskies.

Many others said that if they were fortunate enough to bag a bear early in the hunt, they’d spend the rest of their week fishing.

A “cast-and-blast” week in Allagash? Sounds like a lot of fun to me.

– . –

Coming up: All this week I’ll remain in Allagash to cover the first week of bear hunting season. On Monday I headed into the woods for my first day on a stand. On Thursday, I’ll tell you all about the day, and share some stories from other hunters around town.

Stay tuned.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.