BETHEL – Kent G. Taylor, chairman of the Bethel Historical Society’s Regional History Center Development Committee, has announced receipt of the first Betterment Fund payment for $10,000 of a three-year $30,000 grant to support the operations of a development office at the society.

The creation of the development office and the authority to hire a director were approved last year by the society’s board of trustees following studies of the organization’s operations and its capacity to raise the necessary support to ensure future expansion and growth.

A development director, James Dock, was hired in September with support, in part, from a grant from the Davis Family Foundation.

“The support from the Betterment Fund strengthens our position considerably,” Taylor said, “and puts us on the road to making this a very significant step in moving the society forward.”

The fund was created for charitable purposes by the will of the late William Bingham II, a resident of Bethel who died in 1955. Bingham was a philanthropist with an abiding interest in education and the improvement of health services in Maine.

More information about the society and its activities may be obtained by calling 824-2908 or 800-824-2910.