NEW VINEYARD — Shh! It’s sort of an egg secret.
Maine Wood Concepts is making this year’s official colorful, collectible wooden eggs for the White House Easter Egg Roll — but staff members at the company say they are not allowed to talk about it.
Contacted last week, President Doug Fletcher asked his staff to relay that a confidentiality clause prevented the company from speaking to local media.
A second call to the company Friday yielded the same thing: “Doug asked that we say that we’re not able to answer any questions on that. It’s confidential. It’s just what we’ve been asked to do.”
Eight of the past 11 years, the famous eggs have been made by a competitor, Wells Wood Turning and Finishing in Buckfield.
Last year, Wells Vice President Simon Varney spoke at length about what he called the honor of making the thousands of wooden eggs. He told the Sun Journal that he had reached out to the then-new Trump Administration on social media and other channels, winning the contract back at the last minute after a two-year break.
Maine Wood Concepts apparently made the eggs during one or two of those years, because, while he was not talking, Fletcher was posting.
On Feb. 26, he wrote on the website LinkedIn:
“Many would be surprised to learn that Maine Wood Concepts, parent company of Fletchers’ Mill and the Lutz File & Tool Company, does much more than manufacture world-class gourmet cooking tools and file handles. Once again Maine Wood Concepts is the manufacturer for the Official 2018 White House Easter Eggs, created and sold exclusively by The White House Historical Association.”
Fletcher included a link to buy them.
The eggs this year come in yellow, green, pink or blue, with a picture from the presidential seal of an eagle grasping arrows and an olive branch. They selel for $8.50 each.
A bright-gold egg selling for $14.95 includes the words “Seal of the President of the United States.”
Staff Writer Pam Harnden contributed to this report.
The official 2018 White House Easter Eggs are crafted by Maine Wood Concepts in New Vineyard for the White House Historical Association. Company President Doug Fletcher posted the photo of the eggs online last week, but when contacted by the Sun Journal, said a confidentiality agreement prevented him from talking about them. (Online photo)
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