A Maine crew of reality-television cabin renovators turned their attention this summer to the Pine Tree Camp, a central Maine camp for children and adults with developmental and physical disabilities.
The recreation hall and theater space at the 80-year-old camp in Rome were “totally renovated and revamped” by the TV crew this summer, the camp announced Monday. Results will be revealed on television in two weeks.
The changes upgraded space for music, art and theater programming serving the more than 1,600 campers who visit throughout the year.
In addition to arts activities, campers can go boating, swimming, fishing and hiking; garden, work with farm animals, play sports, learn archery and camp; or snowshoe, sled and ice fish in winter through programs adapted to their needs.
“Camp is one of those places where anybody is able to try anything they want to,” director Dawn Willard-Robinson said, which includes doing skits with their cabinmates or performing dances.
Most of the camp’s buildings have been renovated in the past decade, but the theater building was a garage-style space with a shallow stage where kayaks, canoes and golf carts were stored in the winter, said Adria King, chief development officer of the Pine Tree Society, which raises funds for the camp.
Members of the “Maine Cabin Masters” show had fundraised for them for several years, first connected by a friend of a camp employee’s brother, according to King. Jared “Jedi” Baker and Matthew “Dixie” Dix have snowmobiled with raw eggs inside their suits to raise money at the annual Dysart’s Snowmobile Egg Ride and Ride-In camp fundraiser.
Since 2017, the popular show has followed the family and friends behind the Kennebec Cabin Company as they remodel and renovate family camps and cabins in the woods around the state. The camp was invited to apply to be on the show a few years ago and selected this spring.
Work took place from June through September. Though news of the episode wasn’t public at the time, campers are featured in the show and made an art project with the Cabin Masters, Willard-Robinson said.
The building is in the middle of the property and surrounded by woods and waters, making it a good fit for the project. The Cabin Masters also support the camp’s efforts to make the outdoor activities that are part of Maine life accessible to everyone, according to Willard-Robinson.
The project cost about $200,000, King said, most of it covered by a family charitable foundation. With the show’s name attached, the rest of the funds were raised with unusual speed. It may have taken longer otherwise, she said, as extra projects are in addition to the roughly $2 million raised each year to provide financial aid to everyone.
The episode is also unique because Baker and Dix led the project for the first time, according to King.
The episode, titled “Curtains Up! Theatre for Extraordinary Campers,” airs at 9 p.m. on Feb. 3 on the Magnolia Network. It’s also available for online streaming through the platforms Max and discovery+. The Egg Ride begins at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 1 at the Dysart’s in Hermon.
Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated the date of the Egg Ride.
