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Well, it wasn't a barn - but within a few days, an 18 foot wide gazebo stood at the edge of the Moosehead Marine Museum parking lot. Lodge Master Gregg Christensen said that the turnout was "incredible - much better than I had anticipated. Duane (Alexander, Greenville's Police Chief) cooked breakfast at 7 AM and at least 20 people showed up right off." The townspeople voted to appropriate $4,500 for the gazebo at the annual town meeting as part of the community efforts to improve the downtown area. The Columbia-Doric Lodge and the Grand Lodge of Maine chipped in with another $1,500 in cash and, more importantly, hundreds of man-hours worth of labor. By Tuesday, the major structure was finished with the exception of the bench seats and a coating of preservative today (Thursday), weather permitting. "There will also be some landscaping done once we've finished," said the lodge master. W.L. "Tony" Bartley of Greenville and Ralph Perkins of Beaver Cove worked nearly every day on the project and Christensen credited Charlie Bosworth for being the "linchpin of the whole project." One of the early setbacks was the groups inexperience with reading building plans, explained Christensen, and the only parts of the gazebo wood inventory that was pre-cut were the beams. "If it hadn't been for Charlie's knowledge, we'd still be there," joked Christensen. He also credited Billy Owens, his son, Scott, and Mike Hutchinson from Moosehead Cedar Log Homes - the lumber supplier - for assisting the Masons. Although some of the workers were a bit out of practice with woodworking and hand tools, there were no injuries except for a few sore muscles. But if something happened, help was only the length of a hammer-handle away. Besides Christensen, a physicians assistant, some of the early volunteers included Dr. Larry DuBien and Geno Murray, the director of C.A. Dean's Emergency and Ambulance Services. Harris Drug Store, Auntie M's and the Moosehead Marine Museum also donated snacks and coffee to the Masonic crew.
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