About Town

What do you find inspiring, rewarding, or challenging about working in town government?

The most rewarding aspect is getting to know the people in the community, helping them resolve their issues, and seeing firsthand the results. Living and working in the same town for over thirty years has allowed me the opportunity to build and maintain meaningful relationships with many different community members, including elected officials, colleagues, partners and volunteers, for which I am very grateful.

The number of dedicated volunteers in Harpswell is truly inspiring. The community benefits beyond measure from the skillsets of so many people who give back to the community by serving on municipal committees and nonprofits and in other less formal ways. These countless contributions have made a difference by bringing people together for the common purpose of making Harpswell a better place to live, work, and recreate.

Divisive issues can be especially tough, particularly in a small town where you often run into your friends and neighbors with strong opinions about a town issue and they don't hesitate to let you know what they think. Always, you appreciate hearing the positive comments about town government.

Developing a budget is both rewarding and challenging, as it involves prioritizing funding requests for projects, personnel, policies, and partnerships and making determinations about what is presented to the elected officials and then to town meeting voters for final decision-making, a great New England tradition. I find that working as an administrator in this form of government has kept me grounded and close to the people who are being served. Additionally, the policies and infrastructure investments that I have participated in developing and implementing impact and shape the community for years to come. I do, however, question if we are doing enough at the municipal level in areas such as supporting our fishing industry, addressing housing affordability, and preserving the qualities that make Harpswell such a special place.

Did you expect to live and work close to your alma mater? What choices did you make along the way in that regard?

Serendipitous moments led me to living and working close to Bowdoin. While at Bowdoin, I lived mostly in the "Bowdoin bubble" and rarely ventured outside of campus, in large part because I didn't have transportation. When I did visit a waterfront location, it would be Reid State Park or Mere Point. Only after meeting my future husband, who had long-standing roots in Harpswell, did I experience life in coastal Harpswell, and I was instantly hooked.

When our two children were young, I was looking for work that would be challenging, rewarding, and close to home, so when I learned of an opening at the Harpswell Town Office, I applied. I had always been interested in local government and have childhood memories of accompanying my father to annual town meetings in my hometown of Thomaston. I was hired by the Town of Harpswell to take minutes of the select board meetings and to administer the assistance programs. My eyes were opened to the multitude of issues that arose, and it immediately appealed to me that so many of them could be solved at the local level. Over time, I became the town administrator.

What brought you to Bowdoin as a student?

In my small Maine high school, there were a couple of students in the class ahead of me who went to Bowdoin. I toured the campus, attended a couple of classes, and was inspired to follow their lead, thinking it might be a long shot. I had a Bowdoin connection in that my grandfather had graduated in 1912. When I received my acceptance letter from Bowdoin, I didn't grasp how life-changing this opportunity would be and how my experiences, academically and socially, would shape me and my future.

Are there ways your academic or extracurricular work at Bowdoin has come into play in your life or work?

I recall an initial feeling of being overwhelmed academically but overall my Bowdoin classes helped me to develop critical thinking skills, improve my writing, and become a better communicator-assets in any field one chooses to pursue. Performing research and listening to various sides of an issue at Bowdoin gave me insight into how to better prepare for tackling and understanding complex, multilayered issues.

I especially liked art history classes at Bowdoin, one of my favorites being with Professor Philip Beam about the life and art of Winslow Homer. I fondly remember taking a trip to Prout's Neck to see Homer's studio on the rocky coast and thinking how fortunate am I that a scholar of Winslow Homer is providing me with greater insight into the meaning of Homer's art. Experiences like this deepened my appreciation for the arts, and I find myself drawn to visiting art galleries, museums, and sculpture gardens when I travel-Vigeland in Oslo is a favorite.

Is there something about your work that others might find surprising?

People who don't work in the public realm are often surprised by how much information is actually available to the public. We have had a couple of Bowdoin interns work with us at the town office, and they were astonished to learn the extent of what is considered public information, such as property tax records and prices of real estate sales transactions.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time or outside of your job?

My favorite activity is boating with family and friends, especially in and around the islands of Casco Bay-Whaleboat, Jewell, and Ragged, to name a few. I enjoy walking and hiking in Maine. Some of my favorite locations are Mitchell Field in Harpswell, the western Maine mountains, and the Camden Hills. I'm always up for visiting bookstores and vintage shops to look for local treasures. And, during the winter months, I'm a fan of Bowdoin women's basketball. Go U Bears!

Best Bowdoin memory, or most-lasting lesson from your Bowdoin days?

By far, it's been establishing lifelong connections and friendships, which have deepened over the years. One of my closest roommates from college has retired to Harpswell, so we now spend lots of time appreciating and exploring Maine together. Last year, we traveled to Alaska for a mini-reunion with another Bowdoin roommate-a time of reminiscing and of new adventures. Had I not been assigned a freshman year roommate from Alaska, I wonder if I ever would have visited, let alone had a personal tour of Anchorage, Homer, Cordova, and Juneau.