Secretary of State Honors Century-Old Bristol Organization

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap presented a centennial award to The Bristol Village Improvement Society in front of the Bristol Mills water trough June 22.

The society first formed Dec. 21, 1915 under the name Bristol Improvement Association, but became a state-recognized society as The Bristol Village Improvement Society in the spring of 1916.

Society President Don Means read the group’s mission statement during the ceremony: “To improve the surrounds, within and without, of the village of Bristol, otherwise known as Bristol Mills, and to solicit, raise, and expend funds and to receive funds donated for that purpose; to also hold and expend same.”

The mission statement has remained unchanged for 100 years.

“A hundred years ago, a lot of things happened,” said Dunlap. The Red Sox won the World Series and, in college football, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland College by a record margin of 222-0.

“And, of course, the Bristol Village Improvement Society was founded,” Dunlap said to society members’ applause.

The society has paid for dam repairs, maintained kerosene streetlights, purchased a piano for the town hall, and raised funds for numerous repairs over the course of its 100 years.

In 2001, the society was responsible for the replacement of the water trough, which fully functions today after decades of neglect and disrepair. In the same year, it repainted the historic liberty pole next to the town hall and dedicated it to veterans.

Dunlap said his department reaches out to corporations every year on the 100th anniversary of their incorporation. The department recognizes about 40 or 50 entities each year, with that number growing as time moves forward.

After reading the centennial award to the society, Dunlap reflected on the importance of village improvement societies.

“(The Department of the Secretary of State) is very happy to present this award and we’ll see you in another hundred years,” he said.