Maine Day Slated for April 30

Maine Day, the annual campus-wide spring cleanup tradition, is slated for April 30. University of Maine students, faculty, staff and alumni will come together to complete a variety of volunteer projects aimed at sprucing up the campus, enjoy a barbecue, and compete for the oozeball — mud volleyball — championship.

On the agenda this year are many recurring projects, from riverbank cleanup along the Stillwater River to Greek house beautification along College Avenue. New projects will include landscaping around the new UMaine entrance signs and a fresh coat of paint for Nutting Hall. More than 75 projects are planned.

Festivities will begin at 8 a.m. with a “Red, White and GO BLUE!” themed parade featuring student organizations, residence halls, fraternities and sororities. The parade will travel from the Hilltop area to York Hall and finish on the Mall.

Volunteers can register and obtain cleanup equipment on the Mall when the parade finishes around 8:30 or 9 a.m. Projects will continue until lunchtime, when the annual barbecue will take place in the Steam Plant Lot from noon to 1 p.m.

After lunch will be a 1k run to benefit the Ronald McDonald House and get participants warmed up for the annual oozeball championship. Oozeball, a UMaine tradition, looks like a regular game of volleyball, except the court is filled with mud.

Other activities that will take place in the Steam Plant Lot from noon to 3 p.m. include: a battle of the bands, pedal go-karts, a dunk tank, henna tattoos, tie-dyeing, an inflatable obstacle course, a pitching cage, football toss, a Humvee pull and the St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event hosted by UMaine Circle K International.

President Arthur Hauck first inaugurated Maine Day in 1935. It is traditionally held on the last regular Wednesday of the spring semester. Classes with three or more weekly meetings are canceled to allow students to participate in volunteerism.

The Maine Day Committee organizes the event, and funding is provided from The University of Maine President’s Office, the Division of Student Affairs, the Vice President for Administration and Finance, Facilities Management and Black Bear Dining.

More information, including a list of projects, is available on the Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism website. Questions about Maine Day should be directed to EJ Roach at ej.roach@umit.maine.edu.

Some of the scheduled Maine Day activities include:

8 a.m.

  • “Red, White and GO BLUE!” parade.

8:30–9:00 a.m. (after parade)

  • Projects begin; volunteers register and pick up equipment on the Mall.

10–11:30 a.m.

  • Mechanical engineering technology seniors will demonstrate their restoration of a Lombard steam log hauler at Leonard’s Mills in Bradley. The log hauler was invented and built in Waterville between 1910 and 1917, and was the first successful tracked vehicle. Six student teams restored the log hauler to working condition, one of only three in the world. The public is invited to learn about each team’s project and for a Lombard demonstration with compressed air at 11 a.m. More information about the project is online.

12–3 p.m.

  • Barbecue in the Steam Plant Lot — a zero waste event — from noon to 1 p.m.
  • St. Baldrick’s head-shaving in Steam Plant Lot (rain location: Memorial Gym) hosted by UMaine Circle K International
  • Battle of the bands; six bands performing for 20 minutes each on stage in Steam Plant Lot
  •  1k run to benefit Ronald McDonald House
  •  Oozeball begins after the run, continuing until 3 p.m.
  • Other activities in Steam Plant Lot include: pedal go-karts, a dunk tank, henna tattoos, tie-dyeing, an inflatable obstacle course, a pitching cage, football toss and a Humvee pull

4 p.m.

  • Male Athletes Against Violence “Unwrapping the not-so-sweet truth of relationship violence” Guinness World Record attempt at the Alfond Arena. More information on this event is online.