LITTLETON, Maine — The Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum hosted 19 Bowdoin College students last week. This is the 11th year for the students to venture to Aroostook County to spend three days.
The Bowdoin program sends students in the freshmen class to several destinations throughout the state to experience another part of Maine away from the Brunswick campus and to either do community service projects or explore the vast landscape of the state.
The students arrived Wednesday afternoon and enjoyed a tour of the local museum in Littleton. They learned about the potato industry and living on rural farms in Maine.
While the students were in the area, they stayed at Wilderness Pines campground in Monticello. The college sends the students with a supply of food and they purchase fresh vegetables at roadside stands for their meals.
The group is divided in two smaller groups to volunteer. This year one group worked at the Presque Isle High School Farm, while one was at the agricultural museum. They all picked blueberries at a local farm in the Smyrna area and helped harvest vegetables at the nonprofit Friends of Aroostook farm. The students enjoyed watching local basket-maker, Richard Silliboy demonstrate his art and view his latest project the largest potato basket in Maine and possibly the United States.
This year’s students came not only from throughout the U.S., but also Brazil and China. Several students shared their impressions of the area before they left.
Nicolas Suarez Cardenas from Rockville, Maryland, said, “It was an eye-opening experience to see how small tight-knit communities operate. It really gave me a higher appreciation for the kind of dedication to agricultural work that goes on around here.”
Christian La Montague, a Maine student from Long Island near Portland, said he was fascinated by the amount of commitment and engagement required to keep the museum functioning and thriving. He added that the people who make the museum possible demonstrated to him how committed they are to preserving the past and welcoming the future.
“The community has been very kind and helpful to my Bowdoin classmates. Thanks so much,” said La Montague.
Sarah Corkum of Chelsea said she “had an amazing time at the museum. It was interesting to see various types of farm machinery. I also thought it was really cool how everything was donated. It shows how dedicated the people of Aroostook County are to preserving their agricultural history. Before I had never really thought of how everything we eat comes from farms and the hard work of farmers.”
Students volunteering at the Agricultural Museum moved barrel making equipment and blacksmith tools to a new building constructed by Colby Shaw and others. They also washed windows, tables and chairs and set tables for a public supper.
Former resident and Bowdoin faculty member Allen Delong supervised the students while in the area.
