Trailer makes farm tours safer
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
AARON BUZZA, left, SAD 1 Educational Farm manager, leads Jennifer Espling’s and Kelli Beaulieu’s first-grade classes at Pine Street Elementary School on a tour of the school farm Monday. The school farm received a $4,400 Maine Agriculture in the Classroom grant to make modifications to the 8-foot by 26-foot trailer that’s used to showcase the facility. A canopy, secure seating system and railing have been added to make the trailer safer and more suitable for all types of weather. New access stairs will eventually be added, as well. The grant funding was made possible through the sale of the state’s agriculture license plates.
PRESQUE ISLE – Area schoolchildren who will tour the SAD 1 Educational Farm this month on the district’s trailer will not only stay drier, but be more safe, thanks to a Maine Agriculture in the Classroom grant.
The school farm received a $4,400 grant to make modifications to the 8-foot by 26-foot trailer that’s used to showcase the facility. A canopy, secure seating system, railing and eventually access stairs have been added to make the trailer safer and more suitable for all types of weather.
“We offer ‘wagon rides’ on a trailer that has been modified to accept students to drive around safely,” said Aaron Buzza, farm manager. “Depending on their size, we can take close to 35 people at a time.”
The grant funding, which was made possible through the sale of the state’s agriculture license plates, allowed for the purchase of two 21-foot long benches to allow for more seating.
“Instead of having rickety old chairs, we have what I call ‘athletic benches’ … like a baseball team would sit on,” Buzza said. “The benches are aluminum and the seating is all one unit, so there’s no little crevices to fall down through or a chair upend because a leg got stuck in a hole in the boards. The reason why we’re going with aluminum is that when they get wet, I can just wipe them off. They don’t retain water; maintenance-wise it’s much easier. We also put a brand new deck on the trailer, as well.”
The railing will not only help keep passengers from falling off the trailer, but will also provide viewing opportunities.
“If the kids are getting a lesson off the trailer, the kids can stand up, look over or look through the railing so they can see what’s going on,” Buzza said.
A canopy was also installed which will keep tour-goers out of the elements.
“It’s a professionally designed, galvanized frame with a vinyl canvas specifically built for this system,” Buzza said. “It goes from front to back, side to side. The canopy lets me continue my tours in the rain. Because I have so many groups and so many kids in such a small amount of time, I don’t have room for rain dates. While I may have to get on the tractor with a raincoat on, the kids will be able to stay fairly dry.”
Stairs leading up to and into the trailer will be added for next year’s tour season.
“Instead of people walking up a ramp like they do now,” said Buzza, “we’ll actually have sets of stairs that will be fit for children. Adults going on the tour are more used to the standard tread size, but these stairs will be built smaller for the kids’ feet.”
The canopy structure, Buzza said, was purchased from a local business while the benches were bought from a California company.
Farm mechanic students from the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center – under the direction of Barrett Parks – redecked the trailer and helped make the other modifications.
“I’m really happy that we received the grant,” said Buzza. “That trailer helps me do my job in more ways than one. When I’m on that tractor giving a ride, I’m ultimately responsible for what goes on in that trailer. If I’ve got a system that’s safer from the get-go, it gives me more confidence that every kid that comes here is going to leave here they way they came.
“The modifications weren’t budgeted for and while we probably could have gotten by with what we had for a few more years,” he said, “this is going to make the wagon rides more comfortable and safer, which is my number-one priority.”
Buzza said between now and Sept. 30, between 3,000-3,500 students will visit the school farm. In addition to SAD 1 schools, tours are also planned for schools in Caribou, Mars Hill, Ashland, Washburn and Van Buren, as well as private educational facilities and daycares.
THE SAD 1 EDUCATIONAL FARM’S 8-foot by 26-foot trailer has been modified thanks to a $4,400 Maine Agriculture in the Classroom grant. A canopy, secure seating system and railing have already been added, and access stairs will be installed in the future to make the trailer safer and more suitable for all types of weather. Here, Aaron Buzza, farm manager, leads first-graders in Kelli Beaulieu’s and Jennifer Espling’s classes on a tour Monday which included a stop to look at the farm’s sunflowers.
