To all the Friends of the Watermark,

I cannot express to all of you my gratitude and love for the outpouring of well-wishes, in the aftermath of the flood which took our beautiful Watermark. First, I thank God no one was hurt. I do want to thank all the people who set up and donated to the fund for me at the Chelsea Groton Bank. The money has made this transition less stressful, as I had no flood insurance, and my insurance company has denied any claim.
I cannot collect unemployment and Fema has denied any help for individual claims. ( I should have been a corrupt banker!) I also want to thank all the people who left flowers on the steps at the Homestead and at the Watermark on Easter Sunday. It truly looked magical on that misty morning.

Also, to all the people who came to the Watermark in the two weeks that she hung over the river, I was watching from the windows at the Homestead and could see that you shared my loss and pain.
To the North Stonington Fire Dept., who helped get a few things out the windows the day after the flood, and for getting the full tank of heating oil out, so it wouldn't contaminate the river, Thank-you !!! The hours they spent there protecting us all should be commended. All that from a volunteer dept.!!! I do appreciate our volunteers.
Also, the men with the Chrerenzia demolition crew were very nice to me through the process, and even got a few more items out . I was very sad that my father's ashes, in the guardian angel urn that sat on my piano next to his picture, was one of the first things to get swallowed up by the river, along with my mother's quilt wall-hanging that she made of the Watermark.

After all the machines smashing the building and hauling it away to Ohio, I had little hope of finding the urn. The cleaning crew were in the river for two days after the building had been hauled away, and every day I'd ask them if they had found the urn. When all hope was lost, on the second day, they did.!!!! A little stained, and it's hands missing, but still intact. I cannot thank them enough. It was a great relief to my mother and nephew in Florida. They couldn't believe it !!! Two weeks in the water, and there He was on the last day.
Also, other amazing things happened... It was on Holy Saturday that a knock at the Homestead door came, and there was my Saint Francis statue brought back to me by Jim Patton. Saint Francis was a saint, who among other things, gave up all his possessions to follow Our Lord.

Then, when going thru the debris at the dam with Mac Turner, not much was left intact, but the Tibetan Prayer flags were there, which he retrieved for me. These were given to me when we had the Tibetan awareness day at the Watermark . We would have at least eight Tibetans, now living in the area, cook traditional foods and demonstrate their art and music, so they could raise money to send back to people still living in Tibet.
Next, the return of the Wooden Buddha, which means a lot to the meditation group that met at the Watermark. So, even in the destruction, some very special things happened.

On the morning of the flood, I was in the building getting the artist's work out of the gallery at about 8 AM. She asked me if I was going to get my own things out, but the water was so strong under the building that I was afraid to be in there any longer than I already was.
Besides, I told her, "I love and have such strong ties to everything in the building that it would be hard to make that decision."   I was hoping that after 210 years, that the Watermark would stand, and if something happened, someone would come along with a tree and a payloader to help keep it up, like what saved it in the storm of 1982. No such luck for me, True, or the town.

We lost a centerpiece of our community. Even a copy will not have the charm and history that the Watermark did. I was happy to have had the 11 years at the Watermark, we opened on May 1st 1999. I used to live upstairs until last year, when, Thank God, the North Stonington Historical Society voted to give me the job as caretaker across the street, as other wise I would have lost everything .
If anyone needs to find me, that's where I am, and my mailing address and e-mail are the same as before. My phone is 860-245-5322. If you have any pictures of events at the Watermark that you would like to share with me, please send them to my e- mail, Watermarkllc@yahoo.com . All of mine were lost.

As for my future, it is uncertain, this website watermarkcafe.com , should keep you updated. It is designed and serviced by my nephew, Scott , at www.LeadCreativeGroup.com. I'm sure God will have something wonderful for me to do. After being at Caprilands Herb Farm in Coventry, Ct. for 19 years, and now here at the Watermark for 11 years, I'm sure it will be another wonderful adventure.

I will miss seeing you and serving you all at the Watermark. I hope I gave you as much as you have given me. To the Artists, Musicians, Authors, and all the other people who did programs at the Watermark, for little or no money,

 

Thank You.

When someone asks me if I did the Watermark by myself , I'd say, "No, my customers were my partners," because without you coming into the Watermark, it would never have been so special.
Doing the Watermark was like having a house party every day, the hours long , the financial rewards small, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I feel bad to think that all we have now is the cold fast-food places, the artists have one less place to show their works, and the community has one less place to meet their neighbor.

My Love and thanks for all the years,

Laurie Pepin