By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Some people retire and play golf.

Not Vonnie Colvin. She helps paint giant maps of the United States across outdoor surfaces at schools from Virginia and now Maine.

Under a hot, early Friday morning sun, Colvin walked the perimeter of a stenciled USA map located adjacent to the Stevens Brook Elementary School play area.

Staff, along with new Principal Valerie Young, checked the color chart as to whether to use blue, green or red and carefully painted inside the lines. Every hour, Colvin snapped a photo creating a project timeline.

USA maps were also created at Songo Locks Elementary and Crooked River Elementary Schools. Colvin had reached out to friend and fellow college professor Sharon Menegoni, who resides in Bridgton and is the town’s SAD 61 school board member, about taking on the project this summer. Menegoni liked the idea, but had one condition —three USA maps needed to be created, one for each elementary school. Colvin was fully onboard. Work crews were organized, and SAD 61 Director of Facilities Andy Madura purchased 22 gallons of road paint. A “touch up” will likely be needed in four to five years, Colvin predicted.

“We looked at what would be the best place to paint the maps, considering plowing and foot traffic, etc.” Madura said.

Colvin, who was wearing a t-shirt with a USA map on it, came up with the idea while helping out at an elementary school during a sabbatical from Longwood University.

“A PE (physical education) teacher said, ‘I sure want a US map, but it’s pricy to get it going.’ Well, we had a club (at the university) that had too much money, too much help and no project match made in heaven,” Colvin said. “So, we took the project on.”

Word traveled.

“Before I retired, we did the whole county and then every county touching us. I think we did 14 or 16 maps,” Colvin said. “After that, because I still teach part-time for the university, other folks said, ‘Would you do this for us?’ They provide the paint and the help, and I provide the stencils, rollers and brushes.”

As Colvin and local crews create the USA maps, which include directional N, S, E and W painted in school colors (blue and yellow) — bringing her total to 33 (she has three more map projects lined up outside of Richmond, Va. in either late September or October) — the long-time educator says she keeps painting because of the benefits children will gain.

“I just get a kick out of watching kids learn and they don’t realize they’re learning,” she said. “They have fun with it, jumping from state to state, naming them without having to look at the letters (the initial of each state is added)… What a fun way to learn, instead of being stuck in a classroom looking at a screen or something on the board.”

She also enjoyed working with SAD 61 staff members, who despite the heat, exuded with enthusiasm and focus to create a new teaching tool for youngsters.

Over the years, Colvin has improved the map creation process, finding out what works and what doesn’t.

“As I tell them (volunteers), I’ve made every mistake possible, but not twice,” she said. “Wind is your enemy when you are trying to put down the stencils (eight pieces). We’ve had cases where the wind was so severe, we had pans that flipped. Luckily, we could just paint on top. When you paint, you keep it within the state you are working on so if you spill or drip, you can cover it up.”

Temperature has to be right. “We’re pushing it here,” she said. “It can’t go over 90. Humidity is not your friend.”

All three projects progressed nicely, Colvin reported.

“I’ve met some great people,” she said. “It’s been a fun project.”