By Eleanor Cade Busby
Walt Hilton (center), the self-proclaimed Mayor of McDonald’s, sits with Sean Glendinning (left) and Joe Jacobs, two of dozens of local people who Hilton considers members of “the board” that meets in his “office” – a booth at the Damariscotta restaurant. (Eleanor Cade Busby photo) |
Vikki Hilton is facing medical complications that are threatening her life, but she refuses to be discouraged. “I measure my life by the people I cherish,” she said. “I may not be physically well, but no one could be happier.” (Eleanor Cade Busby photo) |
The community is rallying to support longtime Damariscotta residents Walt and Vikki Hilton. A spaghetti supper and silent auction is planned for Saturday, April 25 beginning at
4:30 p.m. Both of the Hiltons are facing medical challenges that require travel and services that insurances cannot provide. Laura Benner and Judy McLain decided to take matters
into their own hands and help their friends.
“Walt and Vikki have donated their time and talent to so many benefits for our community members and to fundraisers for our veterans,” Benner said. “We just had to
do something for them in return.”
The American Legion Wells-Hussey Post No. 42 is pleased to donate the space, according to Benner.
“Walt and Vikki have been DJ-ing and doing karaoke at the American Legion for years,” she said. “The response from Legion members has been tremendous. If other
people want to help out with food they can cook and bring things along, or call to see what we need.”
Items for the silent auction can be left with the Legion bartender after 4 p.m. weekdays. Pickup can be arranged by calling 563-3492. Donations can be made by check
payable to Vikki or Walt Hilton and mailed to American Legion Post 42, 527 Main St., Damariscotta 04543.
The Hiltons have faced medical challenges for many years. Vikki Hilton had a blood disease as a young woman, which can be genetic. After many years of referrals and
hospitalizations, she has been identified as having a second, even rarer condition that threatens her life.
Systemic auto-inflammatory periodic fever has plagued her for the last 20 years, with innumerable emergency room visits, specialists, and hospitalizations.
“There are invisible illnesses which don’t show on the outside,” she said. “People with these illnesses spend their lives trying to hide them. When no one had
answers for me, I had no answers for others. It was easier to say I was fine.”
While hospitalized for a serious complication in April, Vikki Hilton received word that her husband was being rushed to Maine Medical Center. Walt Hilton has had his
own challenges and must now have a pacemaker put in to regulate his heart.
Walt Hilton was also recently diagnosed with Shy-Drager syndrome, also known as multiple system atrophy. This rare condition results from the degeneration of certain
nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
The Hiltons have been mainstays in the local community. Walt Hilton served as a member of the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen and Vikki volunteered countless hours
as an emergency medical technician and with the CHIP program.
The doors of their home were open to many people over the years. “I can’t begin to count the people who stayed with us,” said Vikki Hilton. “We always had someone on
the couch.”
“We had rules for the kids,” said Walt. “When we had a runaway, and we did sometimes, they had to call home and make a plan. They could stay as long as they went to
school, had permission from home, and made a plan to go back to their family at some point.”
Recently, the couple heard from a young man who had run away from home and been found wandering around by the Hiltons’ children, who brought him home.
“He went home after about a year and we never heard about him again until 20 years later when he found us on Facebook,” Walt Hilton said. “We thought he might have
gotten into trouble again, but he is a successful businessman with a family. The nicest thing was that he said he found his soul in Damariscotta.”
Walt Hilton, a gregarious and outgoing man, has had to come up with ways to see people while his wife is often in relative isolation. He is a fifth-generation
alumnus of Lincoln Academy who has attended every sporting event he could for the last 40 years.
“My ancestor, William Hilton, was one of the founding members of the Alumni Association at Lincoln back in the 1800s,” he said.
Hilton has also become the self-appointed “Mayor of McDonald’s.” He spends time each day at the local spot in his “office” visiting with neighbors and making new
friends.
“We have board meetings once a week,” he said. “That means there are too many of us for a small table and we need a booth.” During an interview at his “office” on
Monday morning, dozens of people came up to laugh with and swap tales with Hilton.
Damariscotta Region Chamber of Commerce member Alan Bebout stopped by to bring Hilton copies of the new Damariscotta Region Guide fresh off the press. “I’m his
assistant,” Bebout said. “So’s everyone,” said Hilton.
Walt and Vikki Hilton have been married for 47 years. They have three children, twin daughters who are registered nurses and take turns providing care to their
mother; and a son who cooks meals and brings them to his parents. They have six grandchildren.
The well-being of the next generation is paramount to both Walt and Vikki Hilton. Vikki’s illness has a strong genetic component and the family has started genetic
testing in Portland.
There are plans for the family to go to the National Institute of Health’s Rare Disease Center for genetic mapping and research purposes. “Some of our children and
grandchildren already have the same syndromes as I do,” said Vikki. “It is our duty to do all we can to help the NIH to find ways to cure and prevent these rare diseases. We
want our grandchildren’s lives to be healthier and stronger.”
Heather Hilton Hartford, one of their twin daughters, said, “I was born with multiple skeletal birth defects and undiagnosed autoimmune disorder. These caused the
trigeminal neuralgia and a Chiari malformation; I live in pain every day.”
Hartford’s teenage daughter Maddy has both Behcet’s syndrome and a form of familial Mediterranean fever. “This is why the genetic testing is so important to us.” she
said. “The children need to know how to have healthy lives with the genetic make-up they have inherited.”
Vikki Hilton is a woman with an indomitable spirit and great faith. “We are overwhelmed that our friends are doing this fundraiser for us,” she said. “It will allow
us to do what we need to do to protect our next generation and to help others.”
She has a message for others who are suffering with invisible illness. “It took many years and the patience of many doctors to get the answers I needed. Now, with
irreversible damage, I have my answers.
“There are a lot of others who are suffering quietly, waiting for answers. It can be lonely and very frightening at times. Don’t give up. There is a medical school
saying: ‘when you hear hoof beats, think of horses.’ Remember that sometimes it’s a zebra. I am a zebra and I am here to tell you there is always hope.”
Organizers Benner and McLain hope to see a big turnout on Saturday at the fundraising dinner and auction. Vikki and Walt Hilton are both planning to attend, although
Vikki will need to be masked and gloved to protect her from exposures.
Walt is humbled by the idea that people want to help him. “We’ve always been the givers,” he said. “It’s wonderful and also hard to learn to be the receivers.”
“I am so excited to see my friends,” Vikki said. “I measure my happiness not by monetary value but the people I cherish. I am overwhelmed at the encouragement and
support this community is giving us both. I may not be physically well, but no one could be happier.”