Mt. Battie Star returns for the holidays
With hope for the coming year, the Mt. Battie Star is visible all across Camden. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Friends of Mt. Battie Chairman Randy Stearns and daughter Jenna. Jenna got to throw the switch to light the star for the first time thisThanksgiving evening. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
Lincolnville residents Heather and Elizabeth Moran. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Left to right, Victor Alverez, Megan Graffam, Lilly Gronros, Keira Kay, Kim Graffam, Kylli and Leni Gronros, Lea and Mary Compton. Leni Gronros said it is a yearly tradition to be at the top of Mt. Battie for the star lighting. So many years that he has lost count. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Assembly of the star. (Photo from the Penbaypilot archives)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
With hope for the coming year, the Mt. Battie Star is visible all across Camden. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Friends of Mt. Battie Chairman Randy Stearns and daughter Jenna. Jenna got to throw the switch to light the star for the first time thisThanksgiving evening. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
Lincolnville residents Heather and Elizabeth Moran. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Left to right, Victor Alverez, Megan Graffam, Lilly Gronros, Keira Kay, Kim Graffam, Kylli and Leni Gronros, Lea and Mary Compton. Leni Gronros said it is a yearly tradition to be at the top of Mt. Battie for the star lighting. So many years that he has lost count. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Assembly of the star. (Photo from the Penbaypilot archives)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
CAMDEN — A small, but hearty crowd braved the November cold to watch the first lighting of the Mt. Battie Star for 2022. Always at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, the intimate ceremony is a longtime tradition of spreading cheer and goodwill over the region.
Members of the assembly crew erected the star on the World War I Memorial Tower this past week just as a group has for over 50 years. The star is lit from sunset till just before dawn every evening between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
Chairman of the Friends of Mt. Battie Randy Stearns said that the Camden Lions Club, Rankin’s Hardware, and Village Variety are the ones to thank for keeping the star lit and in good working order.
Back in the 1960s, the star was affixed to the side of French and Brawn in downtown Camden. At that time, Bill Brawn’s wooden star was 12 feet tall, with 100 -25-watt bulbs.
The Camden Lions Club move the star to Mt. Battie, and eventually Raymond Drinkwater built a larger steel star. That star was replaced in the 1990s by another steel star. That star has remained in use today.
A hike up Mt. Battie in Camden Hills State Park, 280 Belfast Road, is a New Year's Day tradition for many Camden residents.
Event Date
Address
280 Belfast Road
Camden, ME 04843
United States
