PIRCTC students build home for local volunteer
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
STUDENTS AT THE PRESQUE ISLE REGIONAL CAREER AND TECHNICAL CENTER, with the help of donated supplies and labor, recently completed a single-floor, ranch-style house built for longtime volunteer Beryl Ayotte, 74, of Presque Isle. Ayotte, who has volunteered more than 15,000 hours to the PIRCTC, was formally presented his new home last Tuesday at a special open house. Gathered in the kitchen of his new home are, seated: Beryl Ayotte. Back row, from left: PIRCTC students Locke Robbins, Ryan Michaels and Matt Freeman, and building trades instructor Spencer Bragan.
PRESQUE ISLE – If a man’s home is his castle, Beryl Ayotte now feels like a king.
The 74-year-old Presque Isle resident, who has volunteered more than 15,000 hours at the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center (PIRCTC), was formally presented a new home last Tuesday that was built by PIRCTC students as a community project.
“Beryl is a volunteer in our industrial and farm mechanics program, and has been volunteering his time on almost a daily basis for the last 17 years, and originally started when Wayne MacFarline was the instructor of that program,” said Larry Fox, PIRCTC director. “Wayne retired three or four years ago, and Beryl continued to volunteer his time.
Photo courtesy of the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center
LUCAS BOUCHER, left, and Jacob Buck, students at the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center, work on putting shingles on the roof of Beryl Ayotte’s new home that was built by the students as a community project.
“About two years ago, our then-building trades instructor Jim Ouellette, and some other folks in the trades, were going to do some work on Beryl’s house. They had some metal roofing and siding that they were going to install, and Jim was going to make that a project for the building trades students here,” Fox said. “However, after realizing the amount of work that needed to be done on the house, Jim, Wayne and some others asked the question, ‘Could we – with all the people we have in the trades and donated supplies – make this a bigger project and actually build a house for Beryl?’”
The answer was a resounding, “Yes.”
After numerous meetings with SAD 1 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson and others – and raising some seed money – the decision was made about a year ago to proceed with the project.
Construction of the house, which measures 14 feet by 32 feet with a 6-foot porch, began in March of this year.
“The folks that we had talked with started getting the materials to us, and I have a list of about 20 local businesses and organizations that have made contributions of materials. Several of them had some of their employees come to our building trades lab and do some work or work with our students, so it got to be a really good project for us,” said Fox. “We’ve also had many individual contributors, as well, including a lot of former students of the technology center and Presque Isle High School. It was very much a grassroots effort.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
BERYL AYOTTE, 74, of Presque Isle, admires the bedroom of his new home, which measures 14 feet by 32 feet with a 6-foot porch, that was built by Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center students as a community project. Construction began in March and took nearly five months to complete. About 20 local businesses and organizations contributed materials, and several of them had employees come to the building trades lab at the school and work with the students.
“Students worked for about three and-a-half months before summer vacation, and from the beginning of this school year until harvest break, and then resumed once we came back from harvest recess,” he said. “It took about five months total to construct the house.”
Spencer Bragan, building trades instructor at PIRCTC, estimates that more than 10,000 student hours went into the project.
“Just like when you’re doing construction, you start out with the floor. Then we did the framing, wall framing and roof framing,” he said. “We had a couple community days where other classes came in and helped when we put the trusses down. We had up to 30-plus students in here at one time working on one part of this building.
“When we make storage buildings and playhouses, you get an aspect of a building, but rarely do you do insulation, vapor barriers, plumbing and electrical, which were included in this project. This was a step beyond a normal project we would do,” said Bragan. “The students got to see a whole housing project come together.”
Students from Northern Maine Community College’s plumbing class worked on the house, as well.
“Our students got to see them work which was good because that’s one trade that we don’t touch here,” said Bragan, “but if there was some blocking that needed to be cut, our students helped out that way. The same with the electrical aspect. Seeing those types of trades was a good experience for them.”
Noting that the structure was built on a trailer frame, Bragan described Ayotte’s new house as a “super mobile home.”
“This has 2-by-8 flooring and 2-by-6 walls. You won’t find a trailer framed with that good of quality. The insulation value in this is really good. With the winters up here, we wanted it to be warm,” he said. “We’re going to have a kerosene monitor mounted in the kitchen/living room area which will heat this whole house without a problem.”
When you enter the home, which features hardwood flooring and tongue-in-groove knotty pine on the ceiling and walls, you’re standing in the kitchen/living room area. Down the hall is a bathroom and in the back is Ayotte’s bedroom.
Photo courtesy of the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center
HERBERT SIMPSON cuts a hole in the floor during the construction of a new home for Presque Isle resident Beryl Ayotte. Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center students built Ayotte, who has volunteered more than 15,000 hours at the PIRCTC, a new single-floor, ranch-style house that measures 13 feet by 32 feet and features a 6-foot porch. The house was delivered to Ayotte’s Chapman Street property last Wednesday.
“We found that with students just learning how to do this type of trade, putting in the tongue-in-groove pine would be easier than Sheetrock, because once you put Sheetrock in, you still have all the mudding that goes with that, which is a trade by itself,” said Bragan. “This was a little quicker, plus it gives you that cabin feel.”
The single-floor, ranch-style house was designed by drafting students at PIRCTC.
“We probably went through a dozen different plans and finally we came up with this one,” said Cameron Adams, drafting instructor. “We knew we had to haul it down the road, so that’s what gave us the idea of a trailer. Fourteen feet wide is more traditional, then it became, ‘What could we fit in a 14-foot width by what length?’ so we adjusted that as we went along because of bedrooms, bathrooms, living room and kitchen … that increased the length as we went. We packed a lot into a small space.
“I’ve watched this at every stage from the frame to the walls to the roof to the interior finishes. When I came in yesterday morning it was a project,” he said, “and by afternoon, once they had it staged and decorated, you could tell it was a home. More importantly, kids did it. I’m amazed at what students can do.”
The structure was hauled to Ayotte’s Chapman Street property last Wednesday morning where crews then hooked up the necessary electrical and plumbing components.
“The home is fully furnished,” said Fox. “We’ve had dishes, glasses, silverware, a stove, refrigerator, washer/dryer combination, water heater, bed and more all donated … everything other than just the very personal kinds of things Beryl will want to bring with him.”
Fox said more than 100 students participated in the project including 40 building trades students, 12 drafting students, as well as participants in the FFA, FBLA and SkillsUSA organizations.
“All of the students in our clubs helped with fundraising and even spent some time doing some entry-level work with carpentry skills,” he said.
“I’m very happy with this project. We didn’t impact the school budget and were able to do something nice for somebody else. The students have developed an appreciation for the importance of doing things for other people and being part of a team,” said Fox, noting that in 2005, Ayotte was presented the Maine Principals’ Association’s Service to Maine Youth Award. “Beryl is very much respected and we’re happy to be able to do this for him.”
Bragan agreed.
“The students got the aspects of the building trades – how to frame up floors, walls, the roof, how to do roofing and siding – but they also knew a customer they were working for, so they wanted to make sure that they did things that pleased that customer,” he said. “In this case, that customer has been here on a daily basis and they’ve had the communication and relationship with him and that worked out really well.
“We’ve had some students from the past that Beryl helped that are related to businesses that have donated time or products to this project,” said Bragan, “and it was because of their relationship with Beryl that they wanted to jump onboard and be a part of it. With some projects, you just want to get it done and wouldn’t do it again; I would do this again in a heartbeat with students because they enjoy it. If they enjoy what they’re doing and are more involved and invested in it, they’ll take it to heart more. It was very rewarding.”
Seniors Ryan Buckley and Branden Plaud were two of the many students who were involved in the project.
“It was a lot more complex with a lot less room for error,” said Buckley. “When we make a shed and there’s just going to be a lawnmower in there, it’s not that big of deal, but with this, there’s an actual person going to live there so there was some added pressure.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
WITH A CABIN-TYPE FEEL, Beryl Ayotte’s new home on Chapman Street is decorated accordingly. The shower curtain even features moose, fish and canoes. The modest home was built by Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center students as a community project as a way of thanking Ayotte for his dedication to the center over the last 17 years.
“Beryl deserves this and has done a lot for this school and the community,” he said. “Before, somebody would come and pick up a shed that we built and we’d never see them again, but we see Beryl every day. It’s nice to know that he has somewhere nice to live now.”
Buckley said he will likely attend NMCC after graduating from PIHS next June.
“Building trades could be in my future,” he said. “I like it a lot. It’s fun and I like the hands-on aspect.”
Plaud said it was “pretty cool” helping Ayotte in this way.
“I helped with some of the framing, and did more with boarding on the walls, plus some finish work and cabinets,” he said. “I personally like doing more of the framing work and putting up the boards on the walls. I helped my Dad do our house just like that.”
Plaud said he may study building trades or automotives at NMCC next fall.
A visibly moved Ayotte was impressed with his new home.
“I think it’s lovely,” he said. “I’m really happy. It’s a big improvement over my previous home. I love everything about it.”
Ayotte has continued to volunteer during the construction process, and said it was nice being able to “see it being built.”
“They’ve done a good job on it,” he said. “There’s plenty of room here for me and my dog, Bruno.
“It means a lot to me knowing that so many people have played a part in this,” said Ayotte, who worked for many years for Delmont Wood in Mapleton. “I appreciate it very much. I’m surprised by everyone’s generosity. There are a lot of nice people around town. I love it.”
