Not too many years ago, if you mentioned the words “Pickerel Pond,” in certain company, you were likely to get quite an earful.

Pickerel Pond – inconveniently located far enough from Old Town to make law enforcement efforts tough – had a reputation as one of the most rough-and-tumble party spots in Penobscot County.

Sometimes, bikers took over the makeshift campground. Other times, University of Maine students or those from local high schools headed to Pickerel Pond in search of an out-of-the-way venue for assorted youthful activities they’d rather their parents didn’t hear about.

Now, Pickerel Pond is an entirely different place, and those who go there have entirely different goals and ambitions.

Ironically, the extreme behavior that made Pickerel Pond attractive to some in its wilder days was one of the key catalysts that made it what it is today: The headquarters for Maine’s Youth Fish & Game Association.

“Dave [Georgia] is a warden out here, and he has a lot of contacts with a lot of landowners, and he was meeting with [International Paper] about this area and the problems they were having with partiers and abuse,” Matt Dunlap said Tuesday, during a ceremony at the MYFGA clubhouse.

Georgia told the IP officials about an effort that had begun in the Old Town area and was beginning to gather momentum: He and others – including Dunlap, a legislator who is now Maine’s secretary of state – were working to form a youth hunting and fishing club.

And they were looking for a site that the kids could use for activities.

“[The IP officials] got thinking about it and they came back to us and said, ‘Have we got a deal for you,'” Dunlap said.

The deal: A lease on the land around the pond, which would allow the club to eventually build a clubhouse.

That was then.

This is now: On Tuesday, Gary Donovan of IP changed the particulars of that deal in a wonderfully drastic way: He handed over the deed to all 15.68 acres of land, and congratulated the state (along with plenty of volunteers) on efforts to turn a former rural blight into a showplace for the state’s youth.

Dunlap, who along with Georgia and a sizeable throng of original organizers started club activities in earnest back in 2002, said the progress that has taken place has been amazing.

“It’s been [like] hanging onto a runaway train,” Dunlap said. “We didn’t plan any of this. It sort of fell out of the sky.”

In one way, Dunlap is being modest. He and other club officers did have high hopes for the organization.

But they had no idea how strongly the idea of a youth club would resonate with business-owners and volunteers.

“Everything about the place is a magnet for people to volunteer and participate,” Dunlap said. “We’re pretty excited about it. When you first sit back in your lawn chair and you think about it, this is what you’d dream about happening.”

Dream, yes. But expect? Not quite.

“When we first started talking about having a club, we thought that maybe, in 20 or 30 years, we might have enough resources to maybe have a little [clubhouse],” Dunlap said.

That estimate, like most others was wildly conservative.

Mike Hartt of Northern Log Homes heard about the club and donated the materials for a building to put on the IP land.

Sunrise Materials decided to donate a foundation. Mike Thornton of Thornton Construction did all the excavation work.

And that set the tone for everything that followed. The club has become that magnet Dunlap described, and the area’s youths have been the beneficiaries of that generosity.

At first, getting the framework of the club in place took up much of the club’s energy. Now, with a clubhouse, dock, canoes, Adirondack shelters and shooting range in place, and with a generator providing electricity, the facility is fully equipped, and more energy can be spent on providing actual outdoor opportunities to members.

“It’s been quite a ride over the past five years. Now we’re finally able to catch up on our programming to fit the facility,” he said. “We had the day camps open this summer. We have hunter safety education and trapper safety education.”

The gate is always open, Dunlap pointed out. And a membership costs a kid just $1.

“You couldn’t plan something this great,” Dunlap said on Tuesday, looking around the facility at many of the people who pitched in to make it all possible, then sharing the real secret of the club’s success.

“One or two people can’t do it. If you do that, it fails, because people get burned out and you can’t manage it all,” Dunlap said.

But add a few more interested folks, then a few dozen more, then the largely unsolicited support of an entire community, and you could be onto something special.

“It’s been a pretty extraordinary ride,” Dunlap said with a smile.

Youth banquet scheduled

If you’re interested in finding out more about Maine’s Youth Fish & Game Association, or if you just want to lend your support to the group, you’ll get that chance next month.

The club is holding its annual public fundraising event on Sept. 23. The doors open at 5 p.m. at the Old Town Elks Club.

The evening will include dinner, entertainment and a silent auction, and door prizes will be awarded as well.

And you won’t get a better deal: Kids under age 5 get in free, youths 5 to 15 pay only $3 and adults will eat for $5.

See you there!

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