A project meant to honor Dolly Reed, wife of the late Walter Reed, will feature both a 17-foot tall clock, as well as a flower garden.
“Dolly spent her whole life trying to make Fort Fairfield look pretty,” said Scott Fields, member of the Fort Fairfield Arbor Committee. “She was the real impetus behind the arbor committee for years and years.
“Dolly died a couple of years ago, so we decided we wanted to do something in her memory,” he said. “Dolly liked things very nice but low-key, so we decided we’d have a nice, little flower garden with a couple of granite benches.”
Around the same time, Fields was talking to Town Manager Dan Foster and Dave McCrea, a member of the Town Council and the arbor committee, and learned they were considering buying a town clock.
“I said, ‘Why don’t we put this together as one project because to stick a town clock somewhere without anything around it doesn’t look that good, and we already have the plans for a nice flower garden with a brick walkway around it?’” said Fields, “so we decided to combine the two projects.”
The garden will be in memory of Reed, while the clock will be termed the community clock. Both will be positioned on Fields Lane property on the opposite side of the bandstand near the senior citizens housing project.
“It’s a two-sided clock, so whether you’re coming into or leaving town, you’ll be able to see the time,” said Fields. “It will stand 17-feet high, and the face of the clock is 3-feet in diameter and will feature Roman numerals.
“To match the light poles on Main Street, the clock will be black, and at the top of the clock will be a header saying ‘Fort Fairfield,’” he said. “The clock will be illuminated and have an automated sensor, so when it gets dark, the back light will come on and you’ll be able to see the dials.”
The flower garden will measure 20-feet by 20-feet and will directly abut the sidewalk.
“As you’re walking down the street,” said Fields, “there will be a little park area with a brick walkway … the clock will sit in the middle of the walkway, and on two sides will be two granite benches, and the rest will be all flowers and a few small trees.”
Randy Martin, owner of The King’s Gardener in Presque Isle, will plant the flowers.
“We worked with Dolly over the years, so we all came to know her quite well and her favorite color was pink,” said Martin, “so there’s going to be a lot of pinks in there. There’s a new tree rose that was released this year, which is actually a small tree that has roses on it, and we’re going to put a pink one in the flower garden as a focal point, and then plant assorted perennials around it.
“I’m going to plant them so that some bloom early in the spring, some mid spring, late spring, early summer, mid summer, late summer … so there will be a sequence of blooms,” he said. “There will be color all season.”
The total project cost is $22,000. The arbor committee contributed $14,000 to the project, $9,000 was raised from the community, and the Town Council has pledged $3,000. Surplus money will go toward upkeep, as well as a future arbor committee project.
The clock is expected to arrive in the next couple weeks.
Fields said the clock/garden project will make Fort Fairfield a “much nicer community.”
“When you first drive into town, the first thing you’re going to see is the clock and the second thing you’re going to see is the bandstand. I think that should set the tone,” he said. “If we can attract peoples’ eyes to the good points, maybe people won’t notice the empty storefronts.
“I think this is going to be a nice attraction to the town,” said Fields. “This will be a nice tribute to Dolly.”
A formal dedication ceremony will be held next summer during the Maine Potato Blossom Festival.
