Bath Savings Institution and Downeast Audubon Society announced earlier this year that they would once again provide financial support for Chewonki’s Traveling Natural History Programs in 2013. Both organizations are long-time supporters of the popular hands-on learning program that travels all over Maine and occasionally beyond. 



Traveling Natural History Program director Keith Crowley was thrilled to get the news. “The ongoing support we get from these two organizations is fantastic,” he said. “Their generosity helps us keep down our costs and helps us reach more students.”



Bath Savings Institution, which has nine branches in coastal Maine, will provide $10,000 in operational support the program. Much of this will go toward sponsoring the diesel Volkswagen Jetta that the instructors use to take their lessons on the road. “Helping us cover this kind of overhead cost is critical, because we don’t charge schools the true cost of a program,” said Crowley. 

The 161-year-old bank has a long history of supporting nonprofits in the communities it serves. It has supported this program since 2006, and has even hosted programs for the public at its Bath and Brunswick branches. 



Downeast Audubon, a Maine Audubon chapter-serving residents of Hancock County, has supported this program since at least 2009, but its ties to the program are much older. In the winter of 1984, when the program was nothing more than an idea at Chewonki, wildlife photographer and Downeast Audubon employee Sid Bahrt met with Greg Shute and a few other staff members to help them get the Traveling Natural History Program up and running. 

This year Downeast Audubon will provide $4,000, most of it was raised by the society’s annual bird-a-thon, for Traveling Natural History Program visits to Hancock County schools. Last year Chewonki visited 13 different schools in the county, and Crowley said the instructors were greeted with “tons of enthusiasm” on each visit. “Some schools have never had the opportunity to host Chewonki’s quality programs before, and we are thrilled to make that possible,” said Erich Reed, Downeast Audubon’s education coordinator. 

The Traveling Natural History Program reaches more than 25,000 students a year, most of them in Maine. It currently offers 22 programs, ranging from live-animal presentations to sustainability lessons. 

Each program is geared for 30 or fewer students, involves group participation, and usually lasts about an hour. Limited scholarship funds are available for schools. For more information, contact Keith Crowley at 207-882-7323 or kcrowley@chewonki.org.