Since 1974, the Dysart’s Snowmobile Ride-in and Q-106.5 Egg Ride to benefit Pine Tree Camp has been a unique annual Maine tradition with snowmobilers riding from Levant Hungry Hollow 76’ers Snowmobile Club and stopping at Sled Hermon with support from Carmel Snowmobile Club before ending the ride at Dysart’s in Hermon.
Register to ride at this link.
Learn more about the history of this unique fundraiser by watching this video.
Participants in Pine Tree Society’s Community Support program in Auburn are getting ready for the Special Olympics winter games and are already psyched for the 
summer games.
“It’s important to stay active in the off-season so you don’t lose your conditioning,” said certified Special Olympics trainer, Deb Cote. “If you’ve never tried Special Olympics before, it’s also the perfect way to get active and meet new friends.”
Deb is a direct support professional for Pine Tree Society’s Community Support Program and helping people train for Special Olympics and meet their goals inspires her.
In the fall, she brings people on hikes a couple of times a week and, when it’s cold, there are also plenty of indoor conditioning activities available like walking, playing basketball and swimming.
“As soon as there is snow, we’ll head to Lost Valley to practice snowshoeing, Nordic and alpine skiing. If someone isn’t a winter competitor, it’s a great chance for them to try snowshoeing to see if they like it.”
In addition to the health benefits, Deb’s favorite aspect of training is that people are exploring their community, learning about each other and making new friends.
Deb sees friendships made that last a lifetime.
“Sometimes, being at Special Olympics is the only time people who live in different parts of the state get to see each other and those friendships are truly special. It gives me goose bumps. They’ve all worked so hard and the comradery is amazing.”
To learn more about Pine Tree Society’s Community Support Program, click here or call 207-386-5927 .
What: On Saturday, November 30 Dysart’s on Broadway is hosting Breakfast with Santa to benefit Pine Tree Camp. Bring your camera, meet Santa, have some breakfast, decorate cookies and get in the holiday spirit. Kids eat free. Adults $10. All proceeds benefit Pine Tree Camp.
When: Saturday, November 30, 2019 from 8:00am – 11:00am
Where: Dysart’s on Broadway, 1110 Broadway, Bangor, Maine
Why: Proceeds from this event will help Maine kids with disabilities attend Pine Tree Camp next summer. Did you know that 99% of campers need tuition assistance? No camper is ever turned away due to their ability to pay and this fundraiser at Dysart’s on Broadway supports Pine Tree Camp’s open door policy through a donation to the Campership Fund.
Did you also know that Dysart’s is the lead sponsor of our annual Snowmobile Ride-in the benefit Pine Tree Camp? This year’s Ride-in is happening on Saturday, February 1, 2020. Read all about it here.
100% of all proceeds from the Dysart’s Ride-in go directly to support Pine Tree Camp’s Campership Fund and help ensure every Maine child who can benefit from Pine Tree Camp is able to attend, regardless of their ability to pay the tuition.
Get Involved!
Sponsor the event. Learn more here.
Start your online fundraiser today. Sign up here.
Come ride with us. Register here.
Pledge to the Q106.5 Egg Ride by calling 207-991-9500.
Let it goat, let it goat, let it gooooaat! Winter, we goat this.
With a little help from our facilities assistant, Peter Halligan, our famous goats Oreo, Dunkin and Stewart are settled into their new barn at Pine Tree Camp where they will be snug during the winter months on the shores of North Pond.
Thanks to the Burger-Roy Family Charitable Trust and Campbell’s True Value, in September this barn was built through a traditional barn raising with a group of volunteers.
Check out the time-lapse of the barn being built at this link.
We’re not yolking when we say this barn gives us all something exciting to cluck about.
It’s much more than just a barn. This new addition to Pine Tree Camp gives us the chance to expand our programming around farm animals and gardening in ways we would not be able to do otherwise. Whether it’s learning how to feed and care for animals or getting their hands dirty in the garden, campers will now have even more opportunities to connect with nature in unique and meaningful ways that impact their lives all year-round.
Please consider supporting this new programming through donating to our annual fund at this link.
This barn was made possible through the Burger-Roy Family Charitable Trust along with donations and support from local partners including: Higgins Construction, Kavestone Construction, Mainely Trusses, TLG Concrete and Mattingly Products. CMP employee volunteers also participated in the barn raising.
Thanks to the Burger-Roy Family Charitable Trust and Campbell’s True Value, on Saturday, September 28, 2019 Pine Tree Camp became home to a brand new barn, built through a traditional barn raising with a group of volunteers.
Watch the barn be built in less than two minutes with this time-lapse video below:
“She has had nothing but powerful, positive experiences with Pine Tree Society since the beginning. The solid foundation they provided helped her to be who she is today. Pine Tree Camp, wow, that’s the icing on the cake.”
Kate’s mom, Deborah, recently shared this with me. In no uncertain terms, Pine Tree Society has transformed Kate’s life.
Kate, who has cerebral palsy, began working with Pine Tree Society when she was in preschool. She could not communicate. Over time, she learned sign language and began using a high-tech device to communicate.
Now as a young woman, she is discovering the magic of Pine Tree Camp.
“It brought tears to my eyes because it was such an authentic experience for her. It’s what every parent wants for their child. The counselors were amazing. The training is phenomenal. They were equipped with the skills to make her feel included, which is no small feat when you don’t know any of the other campers. It’s been a year of growth and independence for her.”
I am so proud that we, you and I, are a part of Kate’s story. You make this possible. I cannot say it enough – our impact is because of you.
The funding Pine Tree Society receives through reimbursement for services only covers a portion of our costs. Families caring for loved ones with disabilities have fewer and fewer resources to turn to for help. You are a critical part of the promise of our mission – a mission that has been in place for more than 80 years.
Your donation will be put to work immediately to impact the lives of Maine children and adults with disabilities and their families. We cannot do it without you. Together, we will help people like Kate discover lives of passion and purpose. Thank you.
Noel J. Sullivan
President & CEO
To many, Pine Tree Camp is known as a summer camp. What might not be so widely known is that Pine Tree Camp is open all year long. About 10 years ago, Pine Tree Camp began offering retreat opportunities, providing the ability for similar organizations to use the beautiful barrier-free campus for their programming.
“It’s always been our goal to support other organizations’ programming,” said Pine Tree Camp director, Dawn Willard-Robinson. “By doing so, we increase our impact dramatically. We have a fully accessible, barrier-free campus with extremely committed staff who work nonstop to make sure people are actively participating in anything they want to do.”
For guests, the use of the campus isn’t the only highlight. Organizations partner with Pine Tree Camp to design and offer dynamic, adaptive programming in which all can meaningfully participate.
“We like to say that we are completely accessible inside and out,” continued Dawn. “By that we mean, our 285-acre campus is fully accessible, and so are we.”
Dozens of special purpose programs call Pine Tree Camp a short-term home. In fact, Pine Tree Camp welcomes close to 2,000 people a year through retreats alone.
From organizations looking for a barrier-free natural setting, to schools building student leadership, to camps and programs with a focus on discovering abilities, the sky is the limit for how Pine Tree Camp’s team can help organizations achieve their goals.
JMG is an example of an organization that utilizes our facility for conferences. Their Leadership Education Conference brings 500 Maine middle and high school students together to explore the skills they have to offer to the Maine workforce. Watch the news story at this link.
Camp No Limits was one of Pine Tree Camp’s very first retreat groups and what started as a retreat for four families has expanded to serve hundreds of people from around the world. Read more at this link.
The experience people have at Pine Tree Camp has a lasting, positive impact in their lives through the confidence and independence they gain from their experiences. From the camp’s fully accessible cabins to the dining hall, tree house, nature trails, and fishing and boating on picturesque North Pond, retreat program attendees actively participate in all the activities for which Maine is famous, experiencing freedom and independence in our uniquely barrier free setting.
For more information about hosting a retreat at Pine Tree Camp, please visit this link.
This year, Pine Tree Society went back to its expansive holiday card archive to offer a special, limited edition rerelease of customer favorites featuring beautiful paintings by two celebrated Maine artists: Sandy Crabtree of
Bath and Marieluise Hutchinson of Cushing.
Crabtree’s paintings have been featured on Pine Tree Society’s holiday cards 11 times. She is a noted children’s book illustrator and a longtime Bath resident who taught at Morse High School for nearly 30 years.
“Pine Tree Society’s art collection is wonderful and I love being a part of it,” she said. “You never know how it strikes people’s hearts. The holiday cards evoke feelings of nostalgia for Maine as a place where you grew up or visited.”
Her painting “Pemaquid Lighthouse” is a captivating watercolor of a beloved Maine lighthouse amidst snow-covered rocks. On a brisk, winter day, softly falling snow coats the landscape in large, white, peaceful flakes.
Cushing artist Marieluise Hutchinson’s paintings have been featured on Pine Tree Society’s holiday cards seven times.
“I call my work traditional realistic rural new England,” she said. “I love farmhouses with connected buildings and barns and village scenes with groups of houses. Winter scenes are my favorite things to paint. I like the warmth. Even though it’s cold, it’s a warm scene.”
Hutchinson is proud to paint what she loves to benefit worthy causes and it means a lot that her work can help Pine Tree Society fulfill it’s mission to serve Maine people with disabilities.
“Pine Tree Society does so much for adults and children alike and it’s an honor to use what I can do to help people,” she said.
Her painting captures a quintessential Maine farmhouse under a fresh blanket of snow. This scene is based on a favorite setting in Wiscasset Village where the perfect snowman and classically lit evergreens adorn the house and barn.
One hundred percent of proceeds from annual holiday card sales support Pine Tree Society’s programs. For more 50 years, sales of these cards has raised over $3 million dollars to support and transform the lives of Maine people with disabilities.
Cards are available in two formats, folding and postcards, and each purchase has a very important purpose: to help Maine people with disabilities lead richer, more socially connected lives.
Holiday cards can be ordered online at www.pinetreesociety.org or by calling 207-443-3341.
“I don’t want to do something I can do anywhere. I want to do something I can’t do anywhere else.”
That’s how one of our counselors described w
hy she chose to work at Pine Tree Camp this summer.
Our assistant camp director, Mary Schafhauser, couldn’t agree more. “It’s the best experience I’ve ever had. Every day, I get to help someone experience something new. Every day, someone does something incredible they’d never tried before. That knocks my socks off.”
Helping Maine kids and adults with disabilities have experiences they would otherwise not be able to have is what makes Pine Tree Camp so unique. Counselors and program staff seamlessly integrate hundreds of adaptations to traditional camp activities to ensure all campers can fully participate. From providing a larger ball for soccer, to giving verbal descriptions of activities for campers who are visually impaired, to adding sound to disc golf baskets, Pine Tree Camp staff finds creative ways to ensure activities are accessible for everyone.
Mary recalled how enthusiastic a camper was about all the new things she was trying. “She kept saying ‘Oh wow! I’ve never done this!” and when she got a certificate for one of her achievements she broke down crying because she’d never received anything like that before.”
Camp director Dawn Willard-Robinson said “Our motto for the season was ‘Purpose guides you. Mission drives you. Vision is what you aspire to. Impact is what matters. And we put that motto into action and took advantage of every opportunity for campers to fully participate in whatever they were doing. For example, when we went to the overnight camping area, campers packed their own backpacks, decided what they wanted to have for food, then prepped and cooked all the food together. Not only was it a fun experience, they were building decision making, communication and teamwork skills at every step.”
Dawn remembered a girl who came to camp last year who was very shy. “She was a little girl and her suitcase was bigger than her. She was timid and unsure of herself. But when her parents came to pick her up, she said ‘I’m coming back next year.’ This summer, she was the queen of her cabin. She taught the other girls how to sign and showed them that you don’t have to talk to communicate. It was so cool to see that interaction. She gave them something they might not have ever had the opportunity to experience otherwise.”
Next summer when campers return, there will be a new archery pavilion and mini-barn to check out.
“Archery is really popular and our current shooting station will expand to include a bench, a railing to put your bow on and storage space for all the equipment,” continued Dawn. “And our new mini-barn will allow us to create stalls for our goats and expand the number of chickens we have. Campers will get the chance to clean out the stalls, take care of the animals and actively learn about growing and caring for a garden.”
Opportunities like these build confidence and independence and form the foundation for interests that can last a lifetime. The independence, friendships and confidence gained at Pine Tree Camp has a positive impact in the lives of campers and their families that extends long after summer is over.
This year, Pine Tree Camp welcomed 475 returning campers and 167 new campers ranging in age from six to 75. Campers came from every single county in Maine and some travelled from out of state to have the unique experience that only Pine Tree Camp can provide. Of those nearly 650 campers, 99% required tuition assistance, which was covered by more than $960,000 in donations, which made this Maine summer camp experience possible for hundreds of families.
Next year is the 75th anniversary of Pine Tree Camp and staff will be energized and ready to do something they can’t do anywhere else, which is transforming lives of Maine people with disabilities and discovering abilities together with every camper who comes down the hill.