Somerville Fire Chief Mike Dostie has been such an integral part of his community for so long it might be hard to believe he ever lived anywhere else.

There’s local and then there is B.J. Russell local.
In the crush of summer time, whenever Russell wants to get away, he and his wife Lori Crook can always decamp for their summer home, a seaside cottage in Pemaquid about six miles from their home in Round Pond.

Almost every evening he’s at home in Boothbay, usually beginning sometime around 7 p.m., Garry Blackman Sr. starts livestreaming on his personal Facebook page. For a half-hour or more Blackman plays a virtual DJ, spinning a selection of songs chosen from the 20,000 or so 45 rpm records in his collection.

Together for 35 years now, Bob and Lynne Plourde talk on the telephone maybe 10 times a day. Each conversation could be a few seconds or many minutes, but no matter how many times they talk or for how long, they still make it a point to say “I love you” before the end of almost every call.

Twice a day, the Great Salt Bay Community School student body flows past Samantha Adickes’ desk, located just inside the Damariscotta school’s main entrance. According to Adickes, the organized chaos of arrival and dismissal is just a small part of what can a very busy job.

Jim Cosgrove didn’t really want to move to Maine in 1987 and once he did, he certainly never expected to stay.

Born in Damariscotta and raised in Alna, Alna Fire Chief Mike Trask has quietly devoted more than half his life to the service of his hometown. Within the past year, he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his election as Alna’s fire chief and he returned to public office, beginning his second tenure as the town’s road commissioner.