LIMESTONE, Maine — The Limestone and Caswell Historical Society has a new statue to adorn the museum’s front lawn.
Raymond Beaulieu, who is the Historical Society’s president, spent 65 hours crafting the intricately carved statue of a farmer, which Beaulieu himself happens to be. Beaulieu achieved his goal of finishing the statue before this year’s Fourth of July festivities took place in Limestone.
“It took 65 hours for me to build and then I had to paint it,” said Beaulieu. “I thought painting it would help to preserve it for many years to come.”
The idea for the decorative statue was all thought up by Beaulieu according to Historical Society members Bob and Marilyn King. Bob King is the former president of the Historical Society and has also been a very integral part of the society growth and preservation over the last 20 years.
“The credit certainly goes to Raymond for working so hard on the statue,” the two said. “We certainly don’t want to take credit for his hard work, and we really appreciate him devoting his own time to replacing the old statue.”
The old statue the Kings were speaking of was formerly outside the town office. It was built in 1969 by Tom Cote, with the help of some of his wood carving students, one of which just happened to be Beaulieu. It stood alongside Main Street for a number of years until decades of weathering finally called for the statue to be taken down and placed at the Historical Society, where it still resides, except it now sits behind the vibrant new statue, along with a bevy of Massey and Harris antique farm equipment.
Beaulieu explained the original statue wasn’t made out of the most durable type of wood; however, the new statue is made from western redcedar. The Thuja Plicata, or western redcedar also goes by many other names, like Pacific red cedar, giant cedar or shinglewood. It is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family, and is native to western North America.
“The wood I used to carve the statue from was actually once a piece of a telephone pole that was donated by Maine Public Service Company,” said Beaulieu.
The hovering statue is clearly visible for those driving or walking on Highway 89, in Limestone, as it stands at least seven feet tall, and is brightly painted, wearing a green hat, a bright red long sleeve shirt, a pair of grey overalls and big brown boots. It appears even larger due to the fact Beaulieu built the statue on top of a cement base, securing a pole down into the cement to which the seven-foot farmer is attached.
“It’s a much more weather-resistant wood,” said Beaulieu. “It should and will hopefully be around for a long time.”
