OHTM Receives six-figure bequest

Owls Head, Maine - The Owls Head Transportation Museum is pleased to announce the receipt of a generous bequest from the estate of Thomas Appleton Plaisted. Plaisted was a longtime Museum volunteer and a respected member of the Museum community. Plaisted’s gift of more than $125,000 will greatly assist the Museum as it continues to expand its programming and educational outreach initiatives.

The Plaisted family’s connection the Museum is profound. As descendants of the Longfellow family the Plaisteds are connected to one of the jewels of the Museum’s ground vehicle collection: a 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost once owned by Alice Longfellow. The spectacular vehicle recently underwent a mechanical tune up at the hands one of the country’s foremost Rolls-Royce experts and is now among the most frequently demonstrated vehicles in the Museum’s operational collection.

On Monday, March 16 Executive Director Russ Rocknak met with Owls Head resident Dawn Swinton, the niece of the late Mr. Plaisted, for an official check presentation. Mrs. Swinton and her husband, Tom, are the executors of the Plaisted Estate. Mrs. Swinton told Rocknak that her uncle was a soft-spoken man, a highly successful engineer and a great champion of the Museum. She said that she hopes that the Plaisted bequest will inspire others to think about the Museum as they plan for the future.

To learn more about donating to the Owls Head Transportation Museum please contact Niki Janczura at (207) 594-4418 or visit our website at owlshead.org.

Image Caption: OHTM Executive Director Russ Rocknak receives a check for more than $125,000 from Dawn Swinton. Swinton's late uncle, Tom Appleton Plaisted, left the funds in trust for OHTM. Russ and Mrs. Swinton elected to execute the check passing in front of the Museum's 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost which originally belonged to Plaisted's ancestor, Alice Longfellow.