Little Miss and Mister Woodchip Contest winners from 2019, Susanna Van Ambera and Kayden Jolicouer, both age 8, ride in a parade with chaperone Hailey Medoff. Courtesy Liz Pimentel

RANGELEY — The Maine Forestry Museum has received a $3,000 grant from the Maine Expansion Arts Fund of the Maine Community Foundation to help sponsor the Little Miss and Mister Woodchip Contest and events associated with the museum’s annual Logging Festival Days.

“This grant will help continue the 35-year tradition of providing children the opportunity to perform the recitation of poems or singing before a local audience,” said Mark Beauregard, president. “The winners will be featured in the annual Logging Festival Parade the following day. The contest has allowed children to expand their skills and develop confidence in spoken word and song.”

The grant will help secure bluegrass musicians and clogging entertainers to perform the folk art traditions of music and dance found in the logging culture. The event will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, July 16, at the Rangeley Inn.

The nonprofit Maine Forestry Museum was founded in 1979 with a mission to preserve the heritage of forestry and conservation in the state. Its focus is to educate visitors about the historical and present-day contributions logging families, logging practices and forest management have made to the cultural and economic development of Maine.

For more information, visit maineforestrymuseum.org or call 207-864-3939. To learn more about the Maine Community Foundation, visit mainecf.org.