The raffle of a 2000 Mazda 626 sedan has raised more than $2,000 to place American flags on utility poles in Damariscotta, Newcastle, and Nobleboro.
Allen Higgins, of Gardiner, won the car. Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett drew the ticket behind Renys Underground in Damariscotta Sunday afternoon, March 29.
Richard McFarland, of Nobleboro, is leading the volunteer fundraising effort for the flags for a second year. The $2,000-plus from the raffle brings the effort about halfway to the total necessary to complete the project. Higgins, the winner, is McFarland’s stepson.
Tickets were $10 apiece or $50 for six. Tickets were available at the Nobleboro Village Store, where buyers could look at the car for several weeks prior to the raffle. The store’s support was crucial to the raffle’s success, McFarland said.
Rockland Ford donated the car.
Last year, there were flags on utility poles on Main Street in Damariscotta and Newcastle from the intersection with Academy Hill and Mills Road in Newcastle to The American Legion Wells-Hussey Post No. 42 in Damariscotta.
This year, McFarland plans to add flags in Damariscotta from the Legion post to the junction of Business Route 1 and Route 1 and on Biscay Road from Main Street to the fire station; in Newcastle from Main Street to the River Road fire station and along the Route 1 north off-ramp; and in Nobleboro on Center Street from Morgan Hill Road to Nobleboro Central School.
Local fire departments will install the flags May 17.
