Dear Sun Spots: I would like to know if you could please find out any information about the bird sanctuary known as Thorncrag on Montell Street in Lewiston? I would like past and current information about it, if possible. My family lives out of state and just recently found out about it and would like to go there on their visit here this summer. I would appreciate knowing more about it as I will be going with them. – No Name, No Town.
Answer: Many many thanks to Gary Mauer from Thorncrag for his response. He notes that Androscoggin County’s treasures – Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary which is owned by the Stanton Bird Club – comprises of 12 separate parcels of land acquired through gift or purchase beginning in 1921 with a 45-acre donation by Alfred Williams Anthony in memory of his colleague at Bates College, Jonathan Stanton. This year’s 45-acre purchase is the subject of a fundraising campaign by the Stanton Bird Club. This year’s purchase completes the protection of the height of land at Thorncrag on all four sides.
For years, Professor Stanton taught an ornithology class at Bates which all students were required to attend. Today, the 357-acre nature sanctuary welcomes all walkers free of charge; dogs on leash please as this is a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife.
The new parking lot will solve a problem that has become increasingly dangerous over the years. Originally, sanctuary visitors would get off the Sabattus trolley at Highland Spring Avenue. More recently, visitors driving and parking along Montello Street created safety concerns for those exiting and entering their cars. Now, thanks to many generous donors (both past and future) and much hard work by volunteers, a safe parking area has been developed which will be opened officially later this month. It will be open to the public from dawn to dusk.
There are many who visit Thorncrag for a variety of reasons but Mauer’s favorite visitors are families. Often parents find it a great place to introduce their children to nature, he said, and grandparents enjoy taking grandkids to the big fireplace near the top. Over several years a great deal of work has been done by volunteers at the East Avenue side, clearing the meadows that once were a part of Michaud farm – the hard work has paid off as we have had both bluebirds and bobolinks this spring.
At an elevation of 510 feet, the highest point in the city, this sanctuary sits as a green capstone, a forested oasis surrounded on three sides by urban and suburban development.
The “Crag,” belonging to the family Thorne in the 1800s, is a familiar and well-loved landmark in Lewiston. The human use of this land over the decades has been as varied as the habitats and wildlife it has always protected. Uses have included: recreation and scientific research by Bates College, a sheep and dairy farm, tuberculosis sanitarium, homestead for the reclusive Elder Thorne, and facility for Highland Spring Bottled Water Co.
The club also owns and manages the 160-acre Woodbury Bird Sanctuary in Monmouth. The club is made up of people from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, but they all share a love of nature in general, and birds in particular. Today there are some 200 club members, including about 40 Junior Naturalists. A Board of Directors oversees the club’s finances and activities, both of which have grown tremendously in the last decade.
Dear Sun Spots: The Lewiston High School Class of 1958 will hold its 50th class reunion Sept. 6 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Auburn. We are missing addresses on the following and hopefully readers can assist here:
John Hartman, Ann Hartford, Carol Hall Heldman, Ruth Johnston, Ruth Adams Jilson, Robert Dufaur, Ruth Ann Katy, Pauline Levesque Blood, Raymond Levesque, Donald Michaud, Diane Mayo, Charles Mareau, Joan Nadeau Masselli, Irene Picard Wantruba, Donald Picard, Sylvia Ray Mercier, Linda Steele Lux and Sandra Whitherell Harrocks.
We would so appreciate any help at all in locating these classmates. Please e-mail Joan Tankey at jtankey827@aol.com or phone Rachel Tardif Cyr at 268-4613. Thank you in advance. – Rachel Tardif Cyr, Lewiston.
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