On Saturday morning, the New Gloucester Historical Society opened its new exhibit “The History of Opportunity Farm, 1910-2011” at the History Barn, the town’s museum behind Town Hall. Rainy skies didn’t dampen turnout or spirits.
On hand for the opening were special guests: former Opportunity Farm residents, some of whom traveled for the occasion. Brad Gerrish, at the Farm from the late ‘40s into the ‘50s, was deeply touched by the invitation and the exhibit. “I appreciate it all,” Gerrish said quietly.
Gerrish had come from Connecticut for the opening and hoped to visit the New Gloucester Library—it was the High School in his day—before heading home. The June 7 opening also drew alumni who remained in the area after their Farm days were done.
Historical Society President Beverly Cadigan led the months-long effort to collect, select and present the wealth of material. For her, the exhibition was “a labor of love,” Cadigan said, as her husband Richard Cadigan was himself a Farm boy.
The exhibit brings together a rich variety of items—photos, newsletters, videos from old home movies, property deeds and a survey, news accounts, scrapbooks, correspondence and much more. Together, the materials trace the evolution of the Farm on Gloucester Hill from its founding as a place for underprivileged boys to gain “instruction in being honest, obedient, industrious, frugal and self-reliant,” growing over the decades as residence, school and working farm for hundreds of boys from varied challenging circumstances, to later serving girls, starting in 2003.
In a display at the exhibit, Beverly Cadigan credits Pat Rogers and Stephanie Dow for making it possible. Pat and Fred Rogers were house parents at the Farm in the 1960s; Pat’s collection of newsletters, articles and other items passed to the Historical Society on her death. Stephanie Dow of the Morrison Center, which acquired the property in 2018, reached out before its sale in 2024. The result was “car loads of Opportunity Farm materials,” some dating to its earliest years, coming to the Historical Society, Cadigan wrote.
At the special opening event, visitors enjoyed refreshments and additional displays in a Meetinghouse transformed for the occasion. There, some former Farm boys reminisced, swapped stories, and posed for photos. Jerry Stone, a Farm boy from 1959 to 1966, pored over a laminated photo—Sharpie pens on the table encouraged alumni to label unidentified classmates. Stone, from Camden, peered at a photo of a dance in 1959 with boys and girls in their finest. “Those dances were special,” Stone said with a smile.
The exhibit will be up for the next two years in the History Barn, providing ample opportunities for anyone who missed the opening celebration to experience the rich history of Opportunity Farm — and for those who did attend, the chance to return to learn more. The History Barn is open the first Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon.
— Joanne Cole
