EXETER, Maine — Girl Scouts of Maine has announced that Kristin Dillon has earned the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award for researching and documenting historical buildings in her hometown of Exeter. The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting and to receive it a girl must commit at least 65 hours to planning, implementing and evaluating a community service project.

Dillon found that many of the older buildings, once rich treasures in the town, had been torn down. Her project goal was to identify and document the remaining buildings so that her community would be aware of the ages of local structures. Her research included working with the Exeter Historical Society, looking through old town records and interviewing area homeowners.

Dillon’s project entailed creating a display board with photos and identifying the locations of many of the 63 buildings which she found were more than 100 years old. She worked with American Nameplate in Brewer to create commemorative plaques that feature each building’s date which have been mounted on area houses, barns, a church, a school and a store. Dillon also took photos of each building to compile in an album for the town.

“Doing this project has given me an appreciation of my community and the folks who came before me.” Dillon said. “I’m so grateful for the support I received and want to thank Deanna Wetzler, my project adviser; the Exeter Historical Society for their generous donation to help offset the cost of the plaques; Peter Wintle, former town manager; native Lewis Leavitt, for his wealth of information; Douglas Pike, for lending me ‘Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn’; the late Stewart Bean, for his previous research; all the homeowners for their cooperation; and my troop adviser and encourager, my mom, Genie Dillon.”

Dillon is the daughter of Paul and Genie Dillon. She is in the 11th grade and is an honor student at Bangor Christian Schools. Dillon is in her 12th year of Girl Scouting and enjoys working with younger Scouts, volunteering at Manna and greeting the soldiers landing at Bangor International Airport. She has traveled to Savannah, Ga., to visit the home of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts, and to London, England to participate at Pax Lodge, an international Girl Scout-Guide Center.

Dillon will receive her Girl Scout Gold Award at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Exeter. Her brothers, both Eagle Boy Scouts, will assist in the ceremony by bagpiping her entrance and reading her Scouting profile. There will be a performance on the harp as well. The community is invited to attend.

For information on Girl Scouts, visit www.girlscoutsofmaine.org.