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From Magic City Morning Star Local
MILLINOCKET -- The Millinocket Historical Society (MHS) was recently awarded a $25,000 grant, which will assist the group in their efforts to complete the purchase of a museum building. The grant, awarded by the Davis Family Foundation of Falmouth, Maine, was received on September 26, 2008. The Davis Family Foundation is a public charitable foundation established by Phyllis C. Davis and H. Halsey Davis of Falmouth, Maine, to support educational, medical and cultural/arts organizations located primarily in Maine. The foundation was established following Mr. Davis's retirement as President and Chairman of Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc. Their overriding goal for the foundation was simple and straightforward: "to make grants where they will do the most good and where our gifts make a real difference." "We have applied for a number of grants," said MHS president Sally Bouchard. "This grant from the Davis Family Foundation is just wonderful, and hopefully will be the first of several awarded for our museum. This will really boost our efforts to raise the money for our new building." The Town of Millinocket recently purchased a former apartment building (located at 80 Central Street) for use as a museum; however, the agreement states that the $99,000 purchase price must be repaid prior to performing any renovations to the new location. MHS members have diligently worked on a number of successful fundraisers which have included the creation and sale of the 2009 MHS calendar, a Dinner and Auction event, and a number of highly successful yard sales. Rallying to their motto; "Be The Future Of Your Past", the MHS Fundraising Committee continues their efforts. Kathy Gagnon, Fundraising Chairperson for the Society stated, "Two local authors are helping the Society's efforts. David Duplisea, has dedicated a portion of the proceeds from his new book, "Millinocket" which is part of Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, and a portion of the sales of Dorothy Bowler Laverty's "MILLINOCKET Magic City of Maine's Wilderness", are also being added to the building fund coffers. Both publications are available locally." MHS Fundraising Committee member David Cyr added, "We are pleased to say that our fundraising efforts have been very successful and the community at large has been very supportive. We raised just over $10,000 through our efforts. This grant from the Davis Family Foundation puts us over the $35,000 mark, just over one third of our goal. It's simply fabulous." Since its founding in 1979, the Millinocket Historical Society (MHS) has remained dedicated to their mission of preserving, maintaining, and displaying the vast diversity of the town's cultural heritage and history. Through the efforts of these dedicated volunteers, the group has amassed a large collection of historic items and knowledge. Unfortunately, much of this collection remains in storage as their current museum location lacks the space required for displays. "Our Curator, Trudy Wyman, does a tremendous job with our displays in the limited space we currently occupy in the Town's Municipal Building," said Bouchard. "But we are really excited to have this new location and can't wait to begin the renovations that will allow us to showcase our town's history." Cyr, who developed the plans for the new location said, "The unique style of this modern 4 unit apartment building gives us a huge advantage in our renovation plans. Most of the neighborhood buildings have large footprints due to numerous additions to their original structures which, unfortunately also produces changing roof lines and floor elevations. Our building has none of these trappings, giving us extreme flexibility in our design." Cyr added that the concept includes a large meeting room and banquet facility in the building's basement, a large central display area on the first floor and several "Theme Rooms" on the second floor. "The advantage of these large open rooms include; versatile placement of glass showcases for displaying smaller items; walking space needed to place larger, floor bound, items that visitors enjoy inspecting more closely; revolving exhibits that may be exchanged with other museums; and facilities and wall space necessary to display Millinocket's History in motion picture form (through the use of a projector)", said Cyr. "Most importantly, the large open spaces will continue to allow the Millinocket Historical Society to adapt to ever changing exhibits, contributions, and visitor traffic." In an effort to add "Curb Appeal", Cyr added, "We will draw the attention of the traveling public to an attractive 1800's style porch. This will be a large long structure, complete with chairs and will provide an invitation for visitors to rest and relax. This design will also work well with other structures in the area including the Great Northern Hotel just two blocks away." As Millinocket continues its "Downtown Revitalization" efforts, MHS members are confident that their new museum will draw visitors and members of the Katahdin Region's communities to the area; but until that time, the existing museum is open every Thursday from 1-3 pm on the third floor of the Millinocket Municipal building. Residents, visitors, and community members are encouraged to stop in for a visit. "Words cannot accurately begin to describe how elated we all were to hear of your decision to help the Millinocket Historical Society," said fundraising committee member Mark Bigge. "The letter was received on Friday, and is already helping decision makers to move forward with other funding avenues during this time of economic unrest. We thank the Davis Foundation for this grant that has seeded the path towards our eventual home, and look forward to the day when all can enjoy what this investment has brought our area." Donations to the building fund can be sent to P.O. Box 11, Millinocket, Maine 04462. All donations are tax deductable.
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