Staff photo/Scott Mitchell JohnsonCREWS COMPLETED the installation of a two-sided clock last Tuesday on Fields Lane property near the senior citizens housing project in Fort Fairfield. The clock, which stands 17-feet high, is part of a project meant to honor Dolly Reed, wife of the late Walter Reed. The face of the clock is 3-feet in diameter and features Roman numerals. The clock is illuminated and has an automated sensor, so when it gets dark, the back light comes on making the dials visible. The total project cost $25,000, and was spearheaded by the arbor committee and the town.
Staff Writer
FORT FAIRFIELD – Motorists heading into or leaving Fort Fairfield will now be able to glance out their window to check the time.
Last Tuesday, crews completed the installation of a two-sided clock on Fields Lane property near the senior citizens housing project. The clock, which stands 17 feet high, is part of a project meant to honor the late Dolly (Mrs. Walter) Reed. The project also includes 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.”
At about 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 flower garden measures 20-feet by 20-feet and directly abuts the sidewalk. The small park area features a brick walkway, with the clock positioned in the middle. Flowers and a few small trees were planted by Randy Martin, owner of The King’s Gardener in Presque Isle. The flowers primarily feature Reed’s favorite color, pink. At a later date, two granite benches will be added to the park.
The face of the clock is 3-feet in diameter and features Roman numerals.
“The clock is illuminated and has an automated sensor, so when it gets dark, the back light will come on and you can see the dials,” Fields said.
The total project cost $25,000. The arbor committee contributed $13,000 to the project, $10,000 was raised from the community, and the Town Council pledged $3,000. Surplus money will go toward upkeep, as well as a future arbor committee project.
“The clock was the most expensive piece of the project,” said Fields. “It was between $17,000 and $18,000.”
Once volunteers knew when the clock would arrive and Bruce Hardness of the Verdin Co., the company who built the clock, would be available to oversee the installation process, the town had the concrete base poured.
“That was done about a month ago,” said Fields. “Then we had Randy Martin come over and do the ground work.”
Last Tuesday, Hardness, who drove up from Massachusetts, helped program the clock, which is all done electronically. Stev Rogeski, who did the initial electrical work, donated the use of his bucket truck to raise the clock and lower it onto its post, while his employee, Michael Greenlaw, did the last-minute wiring. Members of the town’s Public Works Department also assisted by transporting the clock to the site and unloading it.
Fields called the clock “a great addition to the town.”
“When you come into town,” he said, “it draws your eyes to a nice area. Unfortunately, the town has suffered some economic problems, so a lot of the storefronts are vacant, and the arbor committee is trying to make the town look like a very nice, little community.
“The arbor committee looked at different options to put the clock and memorial park, and we decided this was the best spot,” said Fields. “The Housing Authority was very receptive and gave us an easement to put it in. We appreciate everyone’s support. The committee is very happy, and next summer we’ll have a formal dedication ceremony probably during the Maine Potato Blossom Festival.”
Foster was equally pleased with the finished project calling it “another great project for Fort Fairfield.”
“We continue to try to make our Main Street look attractive, and it’s the third project in a row that we have gone to citizens and asked for financial support,” he said. “They continue to be generous.
“We had talked about having our own town clock, along with the bandstand, which has been used a lot, and it’s a great thing for the community,” Foster said. “Town clocks like this aren’t overly common in Aroostook County, so it’s nice to be able to have one here.”
The project, Foster said, is a testament to the hard work and commitment shown by local volunteer organizations.
“The volunteer organizations and the non-profits like the Fort Fairfield Housing Authority have been very generous,” he said. “It will be Wayne Troicke and his crew that take care of the flowers and they do that as part of their commitment to the community … the arbor committee, which is all volunteers, who worked to raise the money to put this project together, and the citizens as a whole … everyone works well together, and it’s a good thing.”
