PARIS – It started out as a few birdhouses to benefit the expansion at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.

Now, 75 birdhouses later and counting, Dennis Sanborn is on a roll.

On Monday, the Oxford selectman donated several dozen of the birdhouses to Market Square Health Care Center, the hospital’s nursing home affiliate.

The residents will get hours of enjoyment painting the birdhouses, said activity director Lynne Whitney.

And when they are sold at the nursing home’s craft fair this November, the money will be put toward the Market Square Residents’ Council, which subsidizes outings and other activities for the residents.

Sanborn said birds love his houses, which come in several designs.

He uses scraps of lumber donated by Record Lumber of Oxford, and it takes him about a half-day to make each house.

“It takes a lot of cutting,” he said.

Whitney said the birdhouses will also be on display at the craft exhibition at this year’s Oxford County Fair.

Tracey Geary, spokesperson for the hospital, said Sanborn has been supplying the hospital’s parent organization, Western Maine Health, with a steady stream of birdhouses for more than a year. He has also made wooden toys and bookcases for the hospital.

“I like to do what I can to help,” said Sanborn. “It keeps me out of trouble.”