Manuel presents Agricultural Museum with $8,700 grant

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    LITTLETON — Virginia Manuel, USDA rural development state director, arrived at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum with a gift and a grant Saturday. “I brought a grant of $8,700 from USDA rural development which is going be matched with a little over $16,000 by the museum to purchase a new hot-air system to heat the museum more efficiently,” said Manuel.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photos/Elna Seabrooks
GREAT DAY FOR AG MUSEUM — In the top photo, Karen Donato, left, accepts a framed photo of the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum along with an $8,700 grant toward the new heating system. Virginia Manuel, USDA rural development state director, made the presentation when she visited the museum Saturday during a public supper.
    Ironically, the temperature was somewhere in the mid- to upper- 80s and humid. Karen Donato, the museum’s vice president said: “We don’t need the heat now. But, we will need it very soon. Without that grant, it would have taken so much longer to raise the funds. It has given us the boost to raise the funds.”
    Manuel also presented a framed photo of the museum taken by Presque Isle Area Director Tom Stevens. “We always like to present something to the recipient on the occasion of our funding,” said Manuel who added that, in addition to USDA staff, the museum officials and staff had “worked hard to make this a reality.”
    Donato said she knew Manuel would be presenting the grant, but getting the framed picture with the commemorative plaque was “a total surprise.” And, she added, the new furnace will make a big difference to items housed at the museum. “It eliminates the potential of a hazard. The old furnace was a steam-heat furnace that was exposing our antiques and all of our items to damage from the moisture.” The newly installed system is housed in a separate building attached to the museum.
The newly installed hot-air system was funded in part by stimulus money funneled through the USDA rural development office.
    Funding, said Manuel, was through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as stimulus money. “It’s critical to get funding to rural areas like Littleton. I’m always happy to see money come into Aroostook County because it is one of the rural areas most in need,” added Manuel.
    The presentation was made during a public supper attended by some 150-200 area residents.