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Fundraising project seeks to keep time ticking in Phillips

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The Phillips Community Church, prior to last year's renovation of the cupola. (Photo by Kate Dunham)
The Phillips Community Church, prior to last year’s renovation of the cupola. (Photo by Kate Dunham)

PHILLIPS – This summer, a group of residents is seeking to provide the Phillips Community Church with a little more time.

The clock on the Phillips Community Church was shut down late last year after those maintaining the building experienced persistent issues in keeping the 1928 Seth Thomas clock running. It would get jammed at specific times, fundraising organizer Kate Dunham said, requiring frequent resetting and winding.

The culprit was determined to be the wooden numbers, which were pulling away from the clock face and interfering with the hands. Dunham said that the decision to shut the clock down for the year was made in deference to the Seth Thomas mechanism, which the church feared would wear out with the frequent jamming and resetting of the hands.

Despite being mounted on the church, the clock actually belongs to the town. It was purchased and installed in 1990 as part of the Maine Street ’90 project, in which Mainers were challenged to improve their communities in some way. Winona Davenport recalls the local conservation commission taking charge of the project in 1989 and locating a Freeport man through Uncle Henry’s to track down an appropriate clock.

A nine-tune, 1928 Seth Thomas Clock was eventually located in a Florida airport hanger and transported back to Maine to be installed in the Phillips Community Church. The project required $20,000 to be raised locally, with some funding raised through the “sale” of minutes. Davenport said that a big celebration welcomed the town’s new clock in 1990.

The Phillips Community Church decided to fold the clock repair into a 2-year project to renovate the steeple of the church, originally constructed in 1835. Last year’s work focused on the top part of the steeple, including the cupola. This year, the church is hoping to improve the bottom section with some new lumber and fresh paint. One of the more expensive elements of the repair, Dunham noted, were the lifts to allow the contractor to gain access to the steeple.

Fundraising has provided approximately two-thirds of the $9,000 cost of the project. That includes purchasing and installing new, aluminum numbers that will be affixed to the clock’s face.

Despite the fundraising being two-thirds of the way complete, the church decided to schedule the project for September, Dunham said. They were concerned about the impact another winter might have on the aging steeple.

Another $3,000 is needed to complete the renovation. Those wanting to help may make donations at Phillips Hardware or the Little White Church Antiques or by sending a check to Phillips Community Church, P.O. Box 273, Phillips 04966. For more information contact Kate Dunham at 639-2012 or kdunham@tdstelme.net.

“Everyone in town should help; I don’t care if you give $5,” Davenport said of the project. “It’s a beautiful clock.”

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2 Comments

  1. I agree with Winona…if everyone in town could give 5.00 that would give quite a boost.
    Are there any ideas on more fundraisers like a silent auction or something

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