LIMESTONE, Maine — Since purchasing a historic masonic lodge on Main Street in Limestone last year, Brian and Julie Weston have been hard at work renovating the building for numerous purposes in town.
Currently, it houses Manaus Books and Coffee Shop, and hosts Boy Scout meetings in addition to numerous town gatherings and events.
While the couple has made significant progress remodeling the lodge, there is still a great deal of work to be done, and they are often working on renovations while simultaneously serving coffee to guests.
Brian was working in the lodge’s basement on Dec. 20, where the couple hope to establish a laundromat next year, and found a board signed and dated exactly 100 years ago.
He showed Julie the board just a few minutes before the town’s regularly scheduled Select Board meeting and she decided to present it to them.
“I brought with me this very select board,” she said to board members, showing the board to officials and residents during the meeting. “Brian took down this piece of board paneling and on the back it’s signed by the carpenter who originally installed it. His name is Marshall Raymond Sharpe and the date is December 20th, 1917. It’s 100 years old today.”
Board members were impressed with the find, and joked that they thought Weston had different intentions.
“I thought you were going to do something else with it,” said Devoe, eliciting laughter from board members and guests. “You walked in carrying a board.”
“I’ve been hit by bigger boards,” added Tom Albert.
“Walk softly and carry a heavy stick, right?” Weston said before the board moved onto signing warrants.
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- Limestone resident Julie Weston shows a board found while her husband Brian Weston was renovating the basement of a masonic lodge they purchased last year. The board is dated Dec. 20, 1917 and was found exactly 100 years later, in 2017. (Christopher Bouchard)
