A Visit to Pineland Farms by Highlands Residents

On August 4, 2011 a group of Highlands residents visited Pineland Farms in the New Gloucester/Pownal area. This is the site of the former Maine School for the Feeble Minded until 40 or 50 years ago when the state moved patients to smaller, scattered settings around the state. The buildings were vacant and deteriorating until Betty Noyce and her Libra Foundation bought the whole campus and has since  redeveloped it into model farms, a business and conference center and a sports venue. It is extremely well done and we enjoyed the visit pictured below.



The Welcome Center is the start for visitors and a place for lunch.





An escorted tour of the Pineland properties, with a well-informed guide, 
is available for $6.



I can see Barbara Thompson, Lois & Bud Simpson, Betty Gibson,
Isabel & Spike Selinger, John Tyler, Marilyn & Don Crandlemire
and Jean Sylvester aboard the tour van.





Jo Atlass couldn't wait to pat one of the cows.





The tour guide is explaining the milking and milk processing procedure. Some of the visitors pictured are Mercie Dunfee, Jeanne Whitten, Louise Cook, Peg Fischer and Peg Fearon.




The cheese making process is being described.




Cheese making has been so successful that it is now a profit making enterprise with cheeses being distributed in many parts of the United States.




This is a panorama of the whole Pineland Farms campus. There are trails which are maintained for hiking and cycling in the summer and groomed for skiing in the winter.