OTISFIELD — The Bell Hill Meetinghouse Association’s effort to restore the only remaining one-room brick schoolhouse in town is being funded in part by the release of a 2013 calendar.

Callie Zilinsky, president of the Bell Hill Meetinghouse Association, said the calendar features pictures of a selection of vintage and new hooked rugs done by locals. The rugs were displayed at the hooked rug exhibit at the meetinghouse in 2011.

“The bright and cheerful calendar with month-appropriate rugs on each page is just in time for the holidays, as a wonderful, inexpensive Christmas gift option,” Zilinsky said.

The money raised from the calendar sale will help supplement a $5,000 grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Historic Preservation Fund that catapulted the planned renovation effort for electrical updates, replacement of interior walls, and refinishing interior walls and floors this past year.

The 1839 brick schoolhouse is next to the Bell Hill Meetinghouse on Bell Hill Road. Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and although the meetinghouse has undergone renovations, this year’s preservation efforts are focused on the schoolhouse.

“In the past the buildings have been used only once a year for the annual service and on occasion for weddings, but the association is now offering more events of broader interest,” Zilinsky explained.

The renovation work has unveiled extensive problems, including years of rodent infestation that left not only a huge mess, but foul odors. Members said that if the rodent problem had not been found, the building’s structure would have eventually been damaged.

In addition to the rodent infestation, workers discovered pinholes in the roof when they removed the ceiling. Both problems have been taken care of, and work to place underground electrical service from the meetinghouse to the schoolhouse is continuing, according to the association.

Next spring workers will return to repair the walls and ceiling, install interior lighting and complete other work that will meet standards set by the Maine Historical Preservation Commission.

Despite the problems, the association reported that they also made some wonderful discoveries, most notably chalkboards dating to the late 19th or early 20th century under interior walls. These will be reinstalled in their “as found” condition and in their original location.

Now, with work stopped, efforts are being stepped up to raise more funds.

Calendars, which include pictures of a wide range of styles and designs from primitives to landscapes, traditional to inventive, may be purchased at Books N Things in Norway, the Mill End Store in Oxford and the Otisfield town office. They can be ordered by sending $15 plus $3.95 for postage and handling to Polly Bartow, 352 Route 121, Otisfield, ME 04270.

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