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There are many well-known landmarks along Route 1 in the midcoast, such as the massive shipbuilding operation in Bath, or the lobster shack with long lines in Wiscasset, or the small mountains rising over Camden.
Plenty of other sites along the coastal highway are less well-known to anyone who doesn’t drive along it regularly — but no less meaningful for the people who put them there, or adopted them as their own.
Such as is the case with the black bear that’s on the right side of Route 1 for any northbound drivers en route from Damariscotta to Waldoboro, just before the road passes Pemaquid Pond in Nobleboro.
It’s not a real bear, but a carved, lifelike sculpture standing about as tall as an average-sized person. Depending on the time of year, it might be dressed in seasonally specific costumes, such as tinsel during Christmas, a green bowler hat for St. Patrick’s Day or an American flag shirt for the Fourth of July.
The bear may not appear in any Maine guidebook, and it’s unlikely to make the Instagram feeds of seasonal visitors. But for people like Diane Morrison, who lives on the quiet street whose entrance is guarded by the ursid, it’s a symbol that she’s almost home.
“It’s a landmark for people,” Morrison said.
“The bear,” as it’s simply known to Morrison, has been there since before she and her husband Mark first bought their property on Checkerberry Road several years ago.
Even for them, its origin is still shrouded in mystery. Diane Morrison claimed there are a few matching bear statues around the midcoast, and that the man who carved them is still alive. She suggested a reporter head to an appliance store in Rockland to ask about the carver.
None of the employees at the appliance store knew who the carver was.
But while the bear’s origins are unclear, it remains a point of joy for the Morrisons, who have since taken on the role of its stewards. Mark Morrison said he’s put down a few spotlights to keep the bear lit at night.
Passing strangers have also developed a fondness for the animal, dressing it in their own costumes over the years. Beyond the holidays, it held a stick with a heart on it during the early years of the pandemic.
And when that section of Route 1 was under construction a few years back, workers bestowed it with a hi-vis vest and a hard hat.
Diane Morrison said some passersby leave anonymous gifts, like jars of honey. In one instance, someone left a beautiful watercolor painting of the bear at its feet.
The Morrison family collects the various shirts and costumes and dresses the sculpture accordingly.
Shirts in the bear’s size aren’t easy to come by, though. Diane Morrison said it wears an 8XL, and they can only get its outfits online at bigdudeclothing.com.