By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — Though some plan to utilize the space for heating up prepared foods while others will create minor culinary masterpieces like stuffed mushrooms with scallops (as Luke Peterson did a couple weeks ago), all students of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics are enjoying the newly renovated and recently dedicated S.W. Collins Kitchen at the Limestone magnet school.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
At left, Tom Giggey and his wife, Jean, from Bowdoin look at the “before” photos of the MSSM dorm kitchen. Their daughter currently attends MSSM and their son was recently accepted into the magnet school; as the family spends a lot of time at MSSM, Tom took time off from his job as a master electrician to rewire the kitchen and install the new cabinets during the school’s January vacation. Tom had help installing the cabinets from fellow parents of MSSM’ers Dave Write and Carole Cifrino.
During a brief ceremony accompanied by classical music and hors d’oeuvres, Executive Director of MSSM Luke Shorty described how the new kitchen came to be.
“Now, thanks to the time, energy and donations of some very generous people, the MSSM dorm kitchen is a place that inspires healthy creativity, friendships and a sense of belonging — a home away from home,” he said.
MSSM students who attended the kitchen’s grand opening on April 27 echoed that “home” element.
“Sometimes school can be pretty high stress, but it doesn’t feel like school in there,” said student Heather Brown about the newly opened kitchen.
Peterson — the student who occasionally makes gourmet dishes in his free time — agreed that MSSM’s rigorous academics can be pretty stressful.
“It’s nice to just relax,” he said, and cooking a meal is one way Peterson likes to unwind.
Multiple students mentioned that they like to bake their own cookies or brew some tea to bring that home-element back to the school, and the S.W. Collins Kitchen truly mimics a home-like environment.
Cutting the ribbon to officially open the S.W. Collins Kitchen was Cindy Dufour, manager of the S.W. Collins Company Home Design Center in Caribou, who Shorty credited as being the first person to answer MSSM’s call for kitchen help.
“Last September, she agreed to visit MSSM and tour the old kitchen. We hoped she might give us some ideas about how to improve it,” Shorty said. “Cindy, it turned out, had much bigger plans. Within just a few weeks, she sent us beautiful perspective drawings of a redesigned kitchen and told us that she had begun contacting her suppliers for donations.” On behalf of the school, Shorty expressed his gratitude to Detour and S.W. Collins for their donations.
“Without them, this project simply would not have happened. For this reason, we are naming this new facility the S.W. Collins Kitchen to memorialize their contributions for future generations of MSSM students, parents and friends.”
Businesses from both near and far contributed to the kitchen, from Plourde Furniture Company in Caribou donating the kitchen table to Mid Continent Cabinetry donating the new cabinetry.
Shorty credited members of the school’s staff as well for their contributions to the kitchen’s creation, as well as Humanities Department Chair Jessica Baker for her perseverance to see the project through.
Referring to her as the genesis and fuel for the entire effort, Shorty said that “[Baker] is the one who saw that MSM students needed a better place together. She rallied other staff members, solicited donations, recruited volunteers and organized the entire effort — even rolling up her sleeves to do the painting,” he said. “MSSM students are truly lucky to have Ms. Baker as their champion and I am truly grateful for all of the time and energy she puts into her work.”
