Town mourns beloved lister

 

by Natalie Hormilla

GLOVER — Glover residents elected a new select board member, left two other elected positions open, added two more members to the cemetery commission, and approved the proposed budget and list of appropriations with just minor changes during their lively Town Meeting here, Tuesday.

Lively though the meeting was, it began on a somber note.

“We’ve lost some important people in this town,” said Moderator Nick Ecker-Racz, “most recently Ted Young and Merle Sr., our unofficial mayor of West Glover.”

Ted Young, who died suddenly just last week, was commemorated with a collection of photos on display at Town Meeting.

“Ted was our lister for, must be over 40 years,” said Mr. Ecker-Racz.

“Forty-five,” corrected Dennis Gibson, who is also a lister, from the front row.

Mr. Ecker-Racz called for a moment of silence before the town got down to business.

The first and only paper ballot decided who would replace outgoing select board member Leanne Harple.  Anne Eldridge defeated Nick Ecker-Racz in that vote, 47-31.

The Warning called for two people to be elected as auditors.  Andrea Carpentier won one position, unopposed, to complete a term left open by Sylvia Cannizzaro.  The other open position, for a term of three years, remains open, with no nominees at Town Meeting.

“It’s a great job,” said Darlene Young, auditor, to a laughing crowd.  She and Ms. Carpentier would be happy to hear from anyone interested in the position, Ms. Young said.

Then came time to elect someone to the position of lister, with Mr. Young’s most recent term being up.

“Unfortunately, the incumbent is not here,” Mr. Ecker-Racz said.

Mr. Gibson rose to address this.

“We lost Ted and it’s a terrible loss, an extremely terrible loss,” Mr. Gibson said, adding that he himself has been a lister for 32 years, “and I don’t know half of what Ted knew.”

The job of lister is extremely complex, requiring good math skills, attention to detail, and a flexible schedule to accommodate the seasonality of the work, said Mr. Gibson, adding that it takes at least three years to get the hang of the job.

“Our suggestion is to not elect a lister right now,” he said.

Rather, he and fellow lister Ned Andrews would prefer if interested people would enquire about the position and learn about it first, in part to avoid electing someone who ultimately decides to leave the post shortly thereafter.

“I just also want to say that it’s not quite as horrible as Dennis says,” added Mr. Andrews.

The room responded with laughter.  Those seated near the front could hear Ms. Young call, “Sell it, Ned, sell it!”

Mr. Andrews said that Mr. Young was proud of the fact that in all his years as lister, the listers have always stayed within the budget allotted by the state.

“They’ve never asked a dime from the town, just saving a tremendous amount of money for the town and maintaining good work with a lot of integrity,” he said.

When Mr. Ecker-Racz called for nominations, he was met with silence from the room.

“The select board will appoint someone,” Mr. Ecker-Racz said.

Townspeople gave a quick yes to the cemetery commission’s request to increase its board from three members to five.

“We just would like to have some more ideas and more energy,” explained Joan Alexander, cemetery commissioner.  “There are four cemeteries in Glover that we keep track of and we would just like to have more input.”

Amy Wright and Deb Mackay were elected to those positions, unopposed.

Phil Brooks, speaking on behalf of the fire department’s board of directors, asked voters to increase the fire department’s proposed budget of $35,000 to $45,000 for some expected costs.  Voters agreed quickly, and passed the budget with little discussion.

Townspeople did have some questions about the list of appropriations.

John Rodgers asked specifically about a new proposed appropriation this year, $50 to “Northern Chapter Great Dane Rescue of New England.”

The room responded with a general confusion over the identity of the organization.

“What about dachshunds?” someone joked.

“I move we strike that $50,” Mr. Rodgers said, and townspeople unanimously agreed.

Resident Chris Braithwaite asked for voters to also reconsider the proposed $500 appropriation to the Pope Memorial Frontier Animal Shelter in Orleans.

“I would move to increase that by $50,” he said. “In case a Great Dane—” and the room exploded with a laugh that rendered the rest of his sentence inaudible.

“There’s a second all over the house,” Mr. Ecker-Racz said in response to all the voices in favor of Mr. Braithwait’s motion.  “Good old Glover.”

Mr. Brooks had one more detail to address on behalf of the fire department, to rescind the department’s request to exempt from taxes the small lot and building it owns on the Town Green.

“We’re still trying to figure out what to do with it,” he said, and they didn’t want to run into any headaches in the future in case some use of the property might interfere with its tax exemption.

“For the record, we’re talking about $22 in taxes,” Mr. Gibson reminded voters, who accepted Mr. Brooks’ proposed change unanimously.

“Costs more to save a Great Dane,” said someone in the crowd.