PHILLIPS – Carrie Abbott of Strong remembers playing the evil queen in a modernized version of “Snow White” in 1984 in the old gym in Phillips.
The structure, formerly a maintenance building for the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, was open for viewing Friday. The ZONE Coalition held a basketball free throw contest outside during Phillips Old Home Days to draw attention to the building’s future – a return to its former use as gym and community gathering place. The building’s doors were open for folks to peek in.
Many did and many had memories to share.
Abbott remembered her eighth-grade prom in the building and said she can’t wait for it to reopen.
“We’ll be here when they put up the hoops,” she said referring to her family.
As a 13-year-old, Dave Wurts of Rangeley rode the train bus, a gasoline-powered train, to Farmington on a mail run. He remembers the motorman allowing him to “ding the bell” as they rode over Route 149. Now 81, Wurts is a member of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, an organization dedicated to the history of the narrow gauge rail system that carried mail, timber products and later tourists to the region.
According to Wurts, he took his ride just prior to the railroad’s dismantling in 1936. Its tracks, he said, which stretched from Farmington to Kingfield and Rangeley plus spurs into the woods, sold for $20,000.
Bob Dodge also rode the rail as a child. He said all his uncles worked on the train and he remembers the car shop (maintenance building) and the old gym.
The original roof, he said, was flat and a peaked roof was added when it was converted to a gym and auditorium. The walls began buckling in the mid 1940s, he said, and it was condemned, only to be brought back to life again in later years.
Dodge said the Phillips High School basketball team practiced there until the 1970s when Mt. Abram High School was constructed. He lived two miles away from the unheated gym and would walk home damp from hard play.
“On the way home, (in winter) you could snap your hair off because it would freeze,” he said.
He also remembered the dances and plays.
In 1948, his junior year, he said, the high school juniors traditionally paid for the senior prom. He was convinced that he and his classmates could provide a better prom experience than any before. They hired a 14-piece big band with a vocalist and though by today’s standards they wouldn’t be considered loud, back then, he said, “it was a disaster.”
He also had a memory of an impressive young actress who performed in a play there. He could not recall the play but said that it required the young girl to crank and play a Victrola. When the turntable did not work, without a moment’s hesitation, the actress smashed the album on the stage. The audience thought it was part of the play, he said. This act of creativity was doubly impressive, he said, because the actress had taken the part only a day or two before opening, replacing the original lead, who was sick.
The ZONE Coalition hopes the building will provide memories for future generations.
The next nine months will be focused on getting funding, said David Robie, co-chairman of the coalition.
“It’s the beginning of a long journey,” he said, adding that the group needs to raise $150,000 for the project.
“The kids are great, give em a chance” said Wurts, adding, “We need to help our kids because they are our future.”
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