Around a dozen Boothbay region contractors and several community members have risen to the challenge of building birdhouses as a way to keep the region’s students busy and creative during social distancing. Coastal Maintenance’s Steve Lorrain posed the challenge earlier this month with the goal of supplying every student with one or two birdhouses, depending on how many projects are made.

“We're really starting to get some response,” Lorrain said. “I've had some calls just from some people in town who said they'd like to make some, too.”

About 90 birdhouses sit in the Boothbay Region High School cafeteria and about 40 in Lorrain’s shop as he works on particulars with school administrators. The projects are likely to go out with school lunches within the next week, said Lorrain.

The main list of people who have pitched in include Linc Sample, Noel Arrington, Matt Doucett, Jim Greenleaf, Kevin Anthony, Tony Bradley, Randy DeCosta and Pete Viens. Lorrain said others who have pledged more birdhouses include Knickerbocker Group, Marden Builders, Chris Burton, Doug Dickinson, Dan Cusumano, David Murray, Ronnie Campbell, Mark Becker, Richard Hallinan, Craig Barter, Ernie Carver and Chuck House.

Dick Spofford went above and beyond what Lorrain thought would come into his shop for the project.

“Dicky backed his truck up to the shop and hauled in 25 birdhouses ready to go. Then he thanked us for letting him get involved. I said, ‛No, thank you for helping us give the kids something to do.’”

Lorrain said other major contributors include Damariscotta’s Hancock Lumber which has donated over 200 feet of pine to go toward the next batch of birdhouses. Sherwin Williams has provided several sample cans of primary colors and foam brushes. “We're figuring out right now how to distribute some of that and the students can make their own colors from there. We realized many students probably won’t have access to those materials.”

By the end of the school year, Lorrain hopes to see around 600 birdhouses going out to students from Southport to Edgecomb. “Some will be going out as kits for the older students. I've got a few more in the making right now, then I'm designing some more so we can speed-cut everything. Some of those will go out as kits, too. Later on if we have a little more time, we'll dress down some cedar shingles and make a couple with cedar shingle roofs. Just for whimsy.”