First North Wayne Schoolhouse Spelling Bee

Contradance

Friday, July 17, 7 p.m.Doug Protsik, popular Maine caller, fiddler, and piano player, along with friends. No skills necessary. Great family fun! $8.00 per person. Children under six free.

Great Americana Sing-a-Long

Sunday, July 19, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.

Join veteran music educator Bonnie Wilder for a rousing afternoon salute to our country’s patriotic past in song. Guaranteed “feel-good” event! Free. Refreshments.

Open Door Days

Saturday, Sunday, August 8-9, 10:00-4:00 p.m.

Our third annual event to open our doors to the general public to see our progress on the preservation of the building. Learn about the new Living History program for grade school children. Take a look at our newly restored early 1900s Ben Hur stage curtain painted by local artists. Videos of interviews with former students. Photo and memorabilia exhibits. Refreshments. Free.

Old Time Movie Night

Wednesday, August 19, 7:00 p.m.

Join us for an evening of old movies from Maine’s past, including “A Downeast Smile-In” featuring Marshall Dodge of “Bert and I” and “Bryant Pond: The Last Ringdown” that looks at America’s last magneto phone company. Also the thrilling chariot scene from “Ben Hur” will honor the newly restored stage curtain. Refreshments.

Admission: $2.00 person.

First Annual Wayne Spelling Bee

Saturday, September 5, 7:00 p.m.

Our big fund-raiser! Teams of 3 adults each compete to become Town Champs. To enter, contestants contribute $25 each or seek sponsorship from businesses or private individuals. To enter spelling bee, call 685-4385 or e-mail plumgoodfarm@aol.com

Admission to event: $5.00 per person.

The Old North Wayne Schoolhouse is located on the Kents Hill Road across the street from the North Wayne Fire Station.

North Wayne Schoolhouse Launches Living History Day

May 29, 2009 At 8:30 AM today, for the first time in over forty years, a schoolbus pulled up to the front of the North Wayne Schoolhouse. Mrs. Wallingford (Linda McKee, click on video below) greeted twenty-seven students in the first to fifth grades at the entryway. Then she led them to their old-fashioned wooden desks in the newly renovated classroom.

Each student read aloud the name and description of a real student who had attended the school in the 1930's. The descriptions gave actual historical details about the person they would be recreating in the classroom. As the lessons proceeded, Mrs. Wallingford taught each grade separately one-by-one, the other students working quietly but also noticing what the teacher was teaching their peers.

The lesson drew to an end at 11 AM, time for recess. As it was misty outside and cold, they went to the second floor stage hall to jump rope, play marbles and jacks, and test out the piano. A brown paper bag lunch of a sandwich and apple followed.

After lunch, Bonnie Wilder conducted old-fashioned musical games and the children participated in a spelling bee. The bus waited overtime while half a dozen of them continued to spell words correctly. Wayne Elementary teacher Jennifer Baack reported that one of the returning students said, "I wish we went to that school all year!"

Ben Hur Restoration Wins Matching Funds

The North Wayne Schoolhouse Preservation Project has been awarded a $2,000 matching grant to help restore its historic “Ben Hur” stage curtain on the second floor of the building. The grant was provided by the Maine State Museum with funds from the State of Maine’s New Century Community Program.

The vivid scene of a Roman charioteer and horses was painted in oils on canvas by local artists Lura Wells and Ellsworth Crosby in the early 1900s. It graced the stage for more than half a century, and many former students remember the strong impression the striking curtain made on them.

Joseph R. Phillips, Museum Director, said, “These grants support community efforts to preserve and share the stories of our people, our towns, our families, and how we lived our lives. Without these objects and buildings, important pieces of our Maine Heritage would be lost.”

The restoration of the curtain, which had been stored by the artist’s niece in a local barn after the school closed in 1961, will be completed by professionals with local help from volunteers in May. More than 100 stage curtains have been restored in the state of Vermont through a state grant program, said Steering Committee chair Linda McKee of Wayne.” We’re just beginning to uncover these gorgeous old relics in our own state,” she said. “We hope to share our experience with other communities who may have similar curtains.”

For more information about the Historical Facilities Grant Program, interested persons may call the Cultural Resources Information Center at 287-7591 or e-mail maine.cric@maine.gov.

Fall 2008 Reunion - North Wayne Schoolhouse

Yesterday over 30 people gathered together to renew acquaintances and share memories of their schooldays at the North Wayne School. Bob McLaughlin and Mary Farnham keyed off and many others joined in with their stories. Chair Linda McKee looked ahead to next year's program. Recreating the community pleasures of the past is its theme, with a box social, spelling bee and croquet tournament on the roster. Proceeds from such annual events will underwrite the recurring costs of keeping the building functioning. She described plans for area schoolchildren to come to the one-room schoolhouse for day-long immersion experiences in its different style of learning. She reviewed the preservation work done to date, looking ahead to the goals that remain. The restoration of the stage curtain and a new belfry will bring the project of preservation to a close. Fundraising for those will begin soon, mostly by mail.

Check out some of the video clips from the reunion!

Open Door Days 2008

EXTRA! NEWS FLASH! JUST IN!
FALL 2008 REUNION EVENT
OCTOBER 12 @ 2 PM
AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE
be ready to meet and greet other attendees,
maybe bring some old photos, memories, stories
Questions? CALL BOB McLAUGHLIN (685-4018) or BOB STEPHENSON (685-9325)

1. Theresa Maxim, Bob McLaughlin, Mary Farnham 2. Guest and Ezra Smith 3. Theresa and Asenath Maxim 4. Elaine Leighton


Around one hundred people attended this summer's North Wayne Schoohouse Open Door Days.
Schoolmates greeted old friends.A group of graduates from the fifties and others.

Bob McLaughlin, Ginger and Francis Scott, Priscilla Stevenson



Local residents, both year-round and seasonal, had a chance to see the changes made to the building. Local historian Ed Kallop stands in the schoolhouse door.

The first floor (see pic #s 3 and 4 above) is a recreation of a classroom with vintage school desks.
Trudy Weymouth and Mary Farnham look at old photographs.

The second floor, with the stage curtain back home, will host a variety of events.Graduates revisit the old stage curtain.

Look for a schedule of 2009 Schoolhouse events here and in your mailbox next Spring!

"Stage Curtains Without Borders" Visits North Wayne Schoolhouse

M. J. Davis of Stage Curtains Without Borders, a Vermont organization that specializes in restoring old stage curtains throughout New England, visited the North Wayne Schoolhouse on Friday, July 25 to inspect the "Ben Hur" curtain recently returned to its original second floor home. Pictured at left, l-r, Eric Morrill, Bob McLaughlin, M.J. Davis, Lois Ault. The Committee learned a great deal about the history and conservation of similar painted stage curtains, of which there are quite a few more than we had thought. In fact, on the same trip, M. J. Davis was visiting both Vienna and Gardiner to advise those towns on their curtains.

In order to determine whether the curtain had been painted in oils or in water-based paint, M. J. Davis applied the "sniff" test.

The result? Oil.


The Committee will be considering the VT organization's conservation proposal soon. If accepted, the conservators would travel to North Wayne bringing their specialized restoration equipment and work for three to four days on location in the schoolhouse while boarding with local residents.