A large photo exhibit honoring veterans appeared earlier in November at WJHS

Around Veterans Day of 2021, ten large posters on stands appeared along the main hallway of Wells Junior High School prominently displaying black and white and color images of American military veterans stretching back from the current era to the Civil War.

Since mask-wearing and social distancing are still required in the Wells-Ogunquit CSD, this hallway exhibit became a safe and casual way for the student body and staff to pass by often and sometimes stop when time permitted to appreciate Veterans Day and learn more about veterans and local history.

This collection of digitized photographs, all mounted on poster board, was a generous gift to the WJHS library from Francine Tanguay owner of Annie’s Book Stop in Wells, and one who often displays photos of veterans in her store for Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

Prior to this exhibit, the collection was used in a local history class in the school’s library. However this year, WJHS Principal Josh Gould wanted the whole school community to be able to view the collection and so gave his support and permission to line the hallway with the entire exhibit for a limited period of time.

“Students really enjoyed stopping and looking at the many amazing veterans with connections to Wells,” commented Gould who also made the poster board stands available for the exhibit.

According to WJHS librarian Lynn Mercier, Tanguay had this photo collection digitized a couple of years ago by Gary Everbeck who volunteered time and expertise to make that happen. Everbeck is a veteran of the US Coast Guard and owner of All Kinds of Signs in Wells.

“Mr. Everbeck…was happy to oblige and formatted all of the photos into this impressive collection,” noted Mercier who added that she, “plans to collect and document the stories that correlate with the photos…” Mercier says that she would like to learn more of the story behind one of the photos that stood out to her. It is not an image of a veteran but that of a wedding dress made from a parachute!