Seventeen members of the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor helped install a 20-foot by 30-foot map of the United States of America at Boothbay Region Elementary School. The new map is where students get off the bus.

“A greeting,” Rotarian Ann Demeranville, who is heading the project, said about the map's location. 

“I want to give a shout out to (BRES Assistant Principal) Tricia Campbell who really helped pull all of this together – and Dave Benner and his crew who helped power-wash the area and set up,” said Demeranville.

The map installation and volunteer work are part of the playground initiative for students from pre-kindergarten to second grade. The initiative began in 2016 when the Parent Teacher Organization decided something must be done about the playground area which was becoming dated and unusable. In November 2017, the PTO enlisted Campbell’s help with bringing the project to the Board of Trustees. The trustees approved $30,000 in a larger loan taken out for various projects. Around the same time, the Rotary donated $5,400 from local fundraising and has recently received a grant from the Rotary Foundation for $5,000. Hammond Lumber discounted the traffic-quality paint and other supplies for the project. 

“It has given the Rotary Club a chance at helping brighten up the school grounds,” said Demeranville. She noted the map is a very small part of the bigger picture. “They can play geography games, ‘Where I went to visit grandma,’ hopscotch, et cetera. They can walk across America on their way to class.”