We are remodeling cabins that have sat vacant for the last 20 years. This has unearthed a mystery.

The cabins were originally located on Ice Pond near where the old ice cream stand sits in Wiscasset; they were then moved to the edge of Newcastle across from the auction house. Finally, the Whitfields bought them and moved them to our lodge.

The Whitfields did a little updating, which included installing paneling and orange shag carpeting. After the Gillies bought the motor lodge, they removed the plumbing and moved the cabins, meaning to completely redo them similar to our other cabins. For whatever reason, the Gillies never got around to restoring these four cabins.

We are restoring them this winter with the goal of having them ready for guests by next spring. When we tore down the paneling, we discovered several signatures from guests who had stayed in the room back in the ’50s when the cabin walls were just bare wood. One of the signatures includes the name “red buttons” and I've tried to authenticate that signature. The signature is not an exact match of Red Buttons, most notably because the first and last name aren’t capitalized.

I have also not been able to verify that Red Buttons was in Maine on June 17, 1953, when his TV show, “The Red Buttons Show,” was at the height of its popularity.

His signature song from that show was “Strange Things are Happening,” which includes a repeated audience call and response of “ha ha, ho ho, he he.” Above the name on the wall are the words: “ha ha, ha ha.”

Red Buttons did have many connections to Maine, including the circuitous connection of “Pete’s Dragon.” Buttons was in the original “Pete’s Dragon” released in 1977. It was supposed to be set at a lighthouse in the fictitious Maine village of Passamaquoddy. However, it was filmed in California.

The Red Buttons reference may be part of a longer section, which starts out referring to a Blond Jim Worden and we’ve not been able to find any information on Worden.

We would love the community’s help in figuring out this mystery — as well as any other contributions they can make to the history of the lodge.

We believe our lodge is the longest continuously operating lodging facility in the Woolwich, Wiscasset, Edgecomb areas, having been built sometime in the late ’20s right as Route 1 was being established. We are compiling a history of the lodge and welcome photos, stories, facts anyone can share of the cabins, the land, or the Bloody Bucket — which was once a bar and dance hall on the southern edge of the property.

Contact me at 882-9002 or Saundra@WiscassetWoods.com.