The Mapleton Lions Club awarded Lion Wesley Buck the highest recognition that can be given to a member of Lions Clubs International: the granting of a Melvin Jones Fellowship.
The fellowship honors people for dedicated humanitarian service. Buck was selected for this recognition because he is one of the hardest working members of the club. Members often say, “If the Club is working, then Lion Wes is working.”
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
The club presented Buck with the award during a Melvin Jones fellowship dinner. Attending the club dinner with him were his three children, a large portion of the club’s membership and their spouses.
A video montage of Buck at work was shown. He worked all of the club’s major projects such as the annual charity auction, Mapleton Daze chicken barbecue, Mapleton Memorial Day remembrance ceremony and parade, the Northern Maine Fair food booth and the the Crown of Maine Balloon Festival food booth.
Over several years, Buck and Lion Paul Grendell were known as the flag team. They lined Main Street on each holiday with American flags. They did this until the club decided to put the flags up just before Memorial Day and take them down after Veterans Day.
For more than a decade, Buck was third highest individual solicitor for the annual charity auction, which has been the largest fundraising project for the Mapleton Lions Club.
Buck joined the Mapleton Lions Club in 2001 and hit the ground running as he worked on every project that he could. He was also recognized as being the oldest member of the club at age 88. Even though he has slowed some physically, he is always eager to learn about what the club is doing.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
Historical Society dinner
This Saturday, September 19, 2026, the Haystack Historical Society will host its annual fundraising dinner at the Haystack Historical Museum.
The dinner is a longstanding tradition in Mapleton that has been enjoyed by many residents of Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill. This year, folks will be able to dine in the museum or do a drive-thru and take their meals home.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
The traditional menu will include honey baked ham specially ordered and prepared by Ivan Pratt, fresh-made potato salad, baked beans, dessert squares and soft drinks or water. The charge will be $15 for adults and $7 for children under 12. A special children’s roasted hot dog meal will be available for children and youth under 12 at the $7 price that will include hot dog, potato salad or chips, dessert and soft drinks or water.
As always, all funds raised will support the operations of the museum. Everyone is welcome to come for dinner.
School open house
Students and parents poured into the Mapleton Elementary School on Wednesday, Sept. 2, during the school’s annual open house.
Teachers and staff spent many hours cleaning and organizing classrooms. Student desks were set up with each student’s books and materials. As returning students entered the school, they looked around to see what may have changed while racing to their rooms to find their desks and new teacher. New students and their families were welcomed and escorted to their assigned classrooms.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
The biggest change this year for the school is the conversion of the two half-day kindergarten classes to full-day classes. Joining Christi Doyon as the second kindergarten teacher is Maranda Donovan. MSAD 1 was among a handful of the last school districts in Maine to convert to full-day kindergarten.
A second change for the fifth-grade students will come at the end of the school year as they step up to sixth grade at the new Skyway Elementary School. They will complete sixth grade there and then step up to Presque isle Middle School for seventh and eighth grades.
Terry Sandusky is The County’s correspondent for Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill and can be reached at 764-4916 or at starherald.Tsandusky@gmail.com.
