Maine’s Paper and Heritage Museum will hold a community celebration to honor Livermore Falls’ paper-making heritage on Saturday, August 28. President Greg Bizier is looking forward to meeting with friends and those new to this history. Photo courtesy of Maine’s Paper and Heritage Museum

LIVERMORE FALLS — Maine’s Paper and Heritage Museum is holding the third annual Paper Making Heritage Community Celebration on Saturday, Aug. 28.

At the celebration, there will be a paper-making workshop, lunch, opportunity to tour the museum, a presentation of a model of Livermore Falls’ historic Riley Mansion, a garage sale, and a general chance for people new and old to Maine’s papermaking history to gather.

“I’m hoping that someday this could be something where everybody comes, gets together, talk things over, talk about old times, take a walk through the museum. It’ll bring back a lot of good memories,” museum president Greg Bizier said.

The celebration has gotten larger each year it was held, Bizier noted.

Bizier said both the museum and the community celebration “bring back a lot of good memories for me and I think it would for (the community).”

The celebration will also feature a talk from Will Riley. Will is a descendant of Edwin Riley, the first manager of the the International Paper Company’s Otis Mill, which was based in Livermore Falls and shut down in 2009.

Alongside running the paper mill, Riley also built Riley Mansion, which “dominated Main Street in Livermore Falls” until 1966, when it was torn down.

Bizier said he’d “like to learn a little more” from Will. 

The museum and celebration are more than just the technical history of paper making, Bizier said.

“A lot of it is the heritage of the people who worked in the mills. That’s very important to the area, especially with the mills, the cutbacks over the years,” Bizier said.

Ultimately, Bizier said that “what’s most important for him” is keeping Maine and Livermore Falls’ heritage alive.

“That’s my fun is meeting the people…and teaching them about what our heritage is,” Bizier said. “And the people I’ve known from the mills, talking with them and talking about old times and the future.”