The Piscataquis Passport to Summer Fun
Piscataquis Passport Project
It’s Passport sign-up time again! The Piscataquis Passport Project encourages kids and their families to access activities and healthy food in the Dover-Foxcroft area in the summertime. Participants get their Passports marked at various locations in Dover-Foxcroft: Sedomocha School cafeteria for free breakfast and lunch, the Sedomocha School Garden, free community meals, the Dover Cove Farmers’ Market, Thompson Free Library, and Mayo Regional Hospital. Passports are not required to participate in these activities!
Completed 4-H Enrollment Forms can be returned to the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Piscataquis County office (165 East Main St) in Dover-Foxcroft. Please note spaces for participants, as well as guardians, to sign.
A Passport is required in order to claim $5 in Veggie Vouchers at each of 6 visits to the Dover Cove Farmers’ Market (the Passport will be marked at each visit). Vouchers will not be issued after August 18, but may be spent any time during the outdoor market season 2018.
The Piscataquis Passport Project is administered through University of Maine Cooperative Extension Piscataquis County as a 4-H program. Students 5-18 become enrolled in 4-H when they register for a Passport. Sedomocha School Garden activities and 4-H Fun with Rebecca at Dover Cove Farmers’ Market are UMaine Extension-sponsored; the remainder are collaborations with community partners. To learn more about 4-H in Maine, visit extension.umaine.edu/4h. The University of Maine is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. To request accommodation for disability, please contact Trisha Smith at 207.564.3301 or trisha.smith1@maine.edu.
Anyone 18 and under is eligible to participate in the Piscataquis Passport.
Enrollment forms are available Monday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Piscataquis County office, 165 East Main St, Dover-Foxcroft and on June 18, 21, and 22 from 11 a.m. until noon at SeDoMoCha School, 63 Harrison Ave, Dover-Foxcroft.
Each Passport will be personalized by the student before it is laminated for durability.
Veggie Vouchers are available at Dover Cove Farmers’ Market to students with Passports in hand. Vouchers may be spent at DCFM on fresh vegetables and fruit only.
“4-H Market Kids,” developed by Barb Baker, UMaine Extension 4-H Educator in Penobscot County inspired the Piscataquis Passport. Trisha Smith, Home Horticulture Aide at UMaine Extension Piscataquis, wanted to expand the focus of Barb’s program beyond farmers’ markets. As coordinator of the SeDoMoCha School garden, Trisha was also looking for ways to bring students to the garden in the summer. Other folks were interested in promoting Free Summer Meals at SeDoMoCha and Mayo Regional Hospital, encouraging attendance at Thompson Free Library’s summer programs, and engaging kids at Dover Cove Farmers’ Market. Tapping into the spirit of cooperation central to UMaine Extension, she worked with Piscataquis Healthy Food for All as well as representatives of other concerned organizations to include a wide variety of kids’ activities on the Piscataquis Passport.
In this second year of the Piscataquis Passport, Trisha continues to refine the program and add more opportunities. Other communities and organizations have expressed interest in the Piscataquis Passport as a model and will be watching our experience. We’re optimistic that the Piscataquis Passport will build upon last year’s success and go on to inspire others.