At 50, Jim Weston didn’t expect to find himself in a new career path.

The former welder was sick of breathing in fumes and heat. His job as the head of maintenance for a Canadian company in northern Maine had been eliminated. He didn’t really know what he was going to do.

He stopped in at the CareerCenter in Machias, where he was living at the time, and one of the counselors there approached him about going to college.

Weston soon started at University of Maine at Machias. As he was feeling his way around the classes, it hit him.

“I was 46 at the time, so I figured I would be retiring in 20 years, and what do people do when they retire but recreate?” said Weston, currently of Monmouth, as he stood in the parking lot of the Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner. “So I decided on recreation and tourism.” 

Through more contacts at the CareerCenter, Weston learned of a pilot program through the Maine Conservation Corps. Since the Navy veteran had served from 1981-1984, he could become a veteran community leader. He would be trained in outdoor trail maintenance, leadership and other skills that would be helpful in maintaining a state park.

Then he was sent to Androscoggin Riverlands in Turner.

The newest state park, commissioned in 2010, is the first one developed in 20 years. It has no ranger or fee station and is open to hunting in the winter months.

But it also has more than 2,500 acres and 14 miles of multi-use trails to maintain.

“I’ve gone along the main road from the north end to the southern end and cleared out all the blown-down trees,” Weston said.

By the end of June, he will have mapped all the trails.

By the end of July, his goal is to have wooden trail markers up to help guide hikers, bikers and ATV riders.  In August, he hopes to get a crew in to repair three bridges that have fallen to decay.

Starting June 22 at 1 p.m., he will be leading a biweekly historical interpretive tour along the Homestead Trail. Weston will show hikers the old foundations of the homes of farmers who lost their land when the Gulf Island Dam was built and flooded the area. He will show pictures of their homes and talk about what animals they raised and what crops they grew.

“A lot of the farmers around here, these are their ancestors. We need to keep the history rich and alive in this area. The town of Turner does that and does that well.”

Weston will also be giving an occasional class on Leave No Trace, an organization that teaches environmental stewardship on the principles of carry in–carry out, preparedness and respecting wildlife, to name a few.

By the time his 1,700-hour tour of volunteer work is up in December, Weston also hopes to have a strong base of veteran volunteers to maintain the work he has done. 

Weston is working with the Lewiston Career Center, ASPIRE and the Lewiston Vet Center. He is hoping his years of service will help him relate to the men and women who have also served.

“We’re really hoping to work with service members just returning from Iraq or Afghanistan,” Weston said. “Volunteering is one of the strongest methods of reintegrating back into society. When they leave the service, they lose a camaraderie that they can gain back by volunteering.”

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