I drove through Maine and Vermont to get to Dartmouth University in New Hampshire. (Well, I drove across New Hampshire first, and then south through Vermont, and then crossed the river to get back into New Hampshire.) One of the the fascinating parts of the trip in Maine was the town of Rumford.
I was caught by surprise to see a giant lumberjack on the side of the road. I probably wouldn’t have stopped except that it looked exactly like a statue of a man holding a muffler (instead of an ax) that was located on the road near Hollins where I went to college for my bachelor’s. There is such a funny story about that statue and how it mysteriously appeared on campus in the middle of the night one night. And so instead of driving by, I decided to stop and take a quick photo. And that led to all this other cool stuff that was located in the same area.
(BTW, there’s another statue of Paul Bunyon in Maine. It’s in Bangor, but that story is for another day.)
There are flat metal sculptures perched around the park. I assume it’s to artistically remind everyone about the early settlers and the Native Americans who once lived here and yet not impair our view of the river, the falls, and the natural beauty. And there’s a little tribute to Edmund Muskie who grew up in Rumford, Maine. Who knew?! Well, probably plenty of folks, but not me, not until now.
