Hermon plans future of ECOTAT Trust land

HERMON – A group formed to preserve acres of gardens and woodlands in Hermon recently received its final, and perhaps most significant, donation from benefactors Howard and Ruth Crosby.

Just before Thanksgiving, the couple turned over their home of 55 years and the final 2 acres of their land atop Miller Hill in Hermon to ECOTAT Trust. The acronym partially blends the words “ecology” and “habitat.” The donation brings to 91 the number of acres given by the Crosbys since they started the process in 1995 as a legacy to the people in the area. Now in their 80s, the Crosbys hope the public will be able to enjoy the beauty of the many gardens, trails and wildlife habitat located on the land they lovingly tended for so many years.

A group of people interested in ECOTAT will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, at the Hermon Town Office to gauge local willingness to invest their ideas and time in ECOTAT Trust activities. The public is invited to the meeting as members are seeking as much input as possible on the future of the Crosby land and home.

Hermon resident Marilyn Soper said the overall goal is to “move forward to the future” with the generous gift from the Crosbys, which includes an 11-room, two-bathroom home that features a seasonal nature library called the Mary Blethen Memorial Library. Meetings and educational outreach programs may be on tap for the two-story home where the Crosbys lived and raised five children.

Soper said other land sanctuaries in Maine provide examples that ECOTAT might wish to review. She gave as examples The Pine Tree State Arboretum in Augusta and the McLaughlin Gardens in the Oxford County town of Norway. Activities will range from preparing for the next planting season to gathering suggestions on managing the home and its outbuildings. Other ideas include possibly renting the second floor of the home for a caretaker’s apartment.

Eventually one-, three- and five-year strategic plans will be developed for the site with a goal of making it an integral, thriving part of the local community.

The Crosbys now live in an apartment in Bangor. They no longer maintain gardens but said they are confident their former home and land will be managed well.

“We hoped it would expand and it appears we have some good people looking out for it,” said Howard Crosby, a retired University of Maine professor.

“This is a very giant step we are taking,” said Gaynor Reynolds, one of five trustees assigned oversight of the ECOTAT Trust. The process began in March 1995 when the Crosbys donated 51 acres of land known as the Old Woods. In 1997, they donated a second parcel of 38 acres with 10 acres of developed gardens and trails.

In a written acknowledgment, Reynolds wrote, “The Crosbys are a generous couple who set an example for all of us. They have five children who have supported their parents’ decision to create this trust and we, as ECOTAT trustees, members and volunteers, thank all of them for entrusting us with this land with the hope that future generations may, in the written words of Ruth Crosby, ‘continue to wander through the garden and enjoy its peacefulness.'”