WALDOBORO — The Maine Warden Service, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife awarded Landowner of the Year to the owners of Cider Hill Farm, a 20-acre farm nestled in Waldoboro Village. This annual award goes to a handful of landowners committed to sharing the recreational use of their land and to benefiting their community. This year’s winners will be recognized at an event held in Augusta, on October 20.

To celebrate locally, the award letter was presented to Cider Hill Farm owners’ Jeff Hurd and Vero Howell-Poblete at the farm during the last Waldoboro Farmers Market for the year on Sept. 23. The third owner, Josh Howell, was working on an island and could not attend. The market vendors presented baskets of bounty to Jeff and Vero in order to show their appreciation to the farm owners.

Another highlight of the day, was the antique cider press operated by Ted Wooster and Jeff Hurd.  Fresh cider was pressed for anyone bringing apples to the market. After all, Cider Hill Farm is known for its large historic cider press protected by a community built structure.

According to a recent press release, former executive director of the Medomak Valley Land Trust, Liz Petruska, had nominated the Cider Hill Farm owners, writing in her letter that, “In a short span of time they have transformed a quiet farm on the village outskirts into a center of community activity. The outdoor venue is home to Waldoboro’s newly established Farmers Market and an 18-hole Frisbee golf course. It was the site of a community barn-raising, held in 2012 to build a protective structure for an historic cider press, which was donated to the local historical society by the landowners.” 

Petruska also mentioned the many seasonal uses such as hiking, dog walking, cross-country skiing, sledding and snowshoeing. “It is an amazing recreational resource located in the heart of the village. It is part of the community’s fabric,” she wrote. “Maine has always prided itself on the ‘open access tradition’ and the folks at Cider Hill Farm are a shining example of how best to keep this tradition alive.”