EASTON, Maine — The Francis Malcolm Science Center, home of Aroostook County’s lone planetarium, is looking at a brighter future after teetering on the edge of closure late last year.
An estimated 500 people came to the Easton museum and nature center’s recent open house showcasing a new digital projector. There were rocket launches at the edge of a potato field and thanked small and large donors and volunteers who have given support.
“We’ve got a lot of work going forward, but we’ve got a good structure in place,” said Jim Orser, the center’s trustee and the great-great nephew of the original donor, Easton-born educator Francis Malcolm.
The center recently received a $40,000 contribution from Lili Nelms and Robert Ingram, Houston residents and friends of the Orsers who felt inspired to contribute to the center’s cause. The bulk of that donation allowed the planetarium to replace its 30-year-old projector with a digital system from ASH Enterprises that features astronomy, geology and other science programming.
The center is now “having a yearly campaign for about $120,000 and we’re doing really nicely against that challenge,” said Orser. “We’re hoping the launch will excite people about the digital system for the community.”
The center also recently received support from Diane and Roger Libby, two engineers with links to the region who donated $10,000 as part of a matching campaign initiative.
“When we came back and I was a substitute teacher in Easton, I came to the center, I sat there and thought, ‘Wow, this is what we need in this area,’” said Diane Libby, a Mars Hill native. She and her husband, who grew up in Auburn, now divide their time between Mars Hill and Florida.
They were impressed with the center’s blend of exhibits, planetarium, forest trails and activities.
“This is a unique center,” said Roger Libby, who’s also a part of a new volunteer board formed by the center to help guide it “We need to have our children experience the vast beauties of all the different types of a science.”
Phil Christensen, a retired agricultural engineer from Fort Fairfield, also on the new board, said he learned something new — that light pollution is reducing human connections to the night sky around the world.
“I didn’t realize it was such a significant problem,” Christensen said. “I’ll bet you that because of today some people are going to turn their lights off.”
