On Nov. 25 in Jefferson, Blanche Emily (Goalby) Westrich was honored with the Jefferson Cane. The cane is presented to the town’s oldest resident and displayed with a plaque at the town office.
Westrich, 98, was born on Aug. 8, 1913. She and her late husband, Enos, had four children, who blessed them with 14 grandchildren, 34 great grandchildren and she is awaiting her second great-great grandchild. Although the family is huge and spread out all over the country, they gather each August in Jefferson to celebrate and honor Westrich.
Her granddaughter, Kathleen Stone nominated Westrich for the cane, and described Westrich as “the one person that connects and binds us together. Gram radiates her love for each one of us and makes us feel special, and as she does, she sets the bar: This is how you treat family!”
Westrich attends St. Patrick’s R.C. Church in Newcastle every Saturday night. She is an active member of the “Shamrocks”: a church-life group that puts on suppers, brunches, hosts concerts, etc. They are currently preparing items to sell at the St. Patrick’s Craft Fair on Dec. 3.
Westrich has been a member of the Jefferson Community since the early 1980s. Many people, who may or may not have realized it, enjoyed her desserts at the Damariscotta Lake Farms restaurant back in the 1980s and ’90s, Stone said. At that time, Westrich’s daughter and son-in-law, Arlene and Harry Robinson, owned the restaurant.
Westrich’s Indian pudding and strawberry shortcake were local favorites. She also helped with the cottage and restaurant laundry. She “manned the fort” most weekends, checking in cottage guests while Arlene and Harry were busy cleaning the cottages and maintaining the grounds, Stone said.
She was also an avid gardener and helped plan and maintain the Farms’ vegetable and flowerbeds.
Before she moved to Maine, Westrich was a long-time member of the Westfield, N.J. Garden Club.
“Her gardening skills are not hereditary, so I am very thankful that Gram is willing and able to share her knowledge of all things green and growing,” Stone said. “As a matter of fact, I am thankful for all of the wisdom and love that Gram shares. These are only a few of the reasons I nominated her for the Jefferson cane.”
Westrich is the second recipient of the Jefferson Cane, a continuation of the 102-year-old tradition of the Boston Post Cane, which many towns still present to their oldest resident.
Jefferson’s original Boston Post Cane is believed to have been lost in a fire years ago. In late 2009, Jefferson selectmen agreed to revive the practice, when Fran Williamson donated a gold-tipped cane, a family heirloom, to the town. Selectmen last presented the cane in March 2010, to then 106-year-old Rebecca Preston.
The tradition of the Boston Post Cane started a circulation promotion for a newspaper. In 1909, Edwin A. Grozier, the publisher of The Boston Post, a newspaper that ceased publication in 1957, passed out canes to towns in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire with the stipulation the canes were to be presented to the town’s oldest citizen, but ownership was to be maintained by the town.
According to “More Boston Post Canes” by Barbara Staples (2002), 700 canes were given out (none have been found in Vermont or Connecticut) and not every town received one. Many have been lost over the years.
