The Boothbay Railway Village continues its 50th anniversary season with a special event on Saturday, Sept. 5, celebrating the one and only, Manley E. Stover Sr. Manley Stover was a key staff member at the Museum for three decades.

Manley Stover joined the staff of the Boothbay Railway Village just a year or two after the Museum first opened. A true jack-of-all-trades, Manley was able to do anything from working on antique cars to servicing the steam train to moving buildings. According to

“Manley learned his trade by doing, a trait that today rarely exists,” Bob Ryan, the museum’s recently retired executive director said. “As much as anything Manley had a passion for the ways things work and preserving history.”

Known to work six to seven days a week, and often staying late into the night, Manley’s dedication to the museum was unwavering. Bob recounts that Manley refused to retire, working right up until the year or so before his death in 1993 at age 69.

The Stover family’s 1926 Ford Model T Roadster pickup is a highlight of our collection and to honor him we’ll offer Model T rides throughout the day on the Village Green. We’ll also be offering rides in the 1925 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Model T Inspection Car on loan from Owls Head Transportation Museum. This 1925 Model T was converted into a crew car for the two-foot gauge Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad at Phillips. A motorized inspection car was a significant upgrade from the earlier hand cars that were used to transport tools and workers to locations on the tracks that needed repair.

Manley Stover Day is sponsored by Topside Inn of Boothbay Harbor. The additional activities are free with regular museum admission of $5 for children 3-18 and $10 for adults. Children under 3 and museum members are free. Although the museum will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Model T activities will take place between 10 and 4. Well-behaved and leashed four-legged friends are welcome. Contact the Boothbay Railway Village for more information at 207-633-4727, or online at www.railwayvillage.org. The Boothbay Railway Village is located at 586 Wiscasset Road, Route 27 in Boothbay.