Damariscotta Selectman Ronn Orenstein presented the town’s Boston Post Cane to Flora Hutchinson on the occasion of her 108th birthday party at Chase Point March 12.
The ceremonial cane denotes its holder as the oldest resident of his or her town.
Hutchinson, after initially exclaiming “No!” with apparent surprise and disdain to find herself the oldest resident of Damariscotta, expressed gratitude for the recognition. “I thank you very, very much,” she said.
Born March 12, 1904 in Medford, Mass., Hutchinson grew up in Utica, N.Y. She graduated from the Forsyth School for Dental Hygiene at Tufts University and moved to Augusta to work as a dental hygienist for a Dr. Hutchinson.
The dentist and the hygienist married four years later. Flora Hutchinson continued to work alongside her husband until the young couple started a family.
Hutchinson had three children: a daughter, Peg, and sons Bob and Bill.
An avid reader, Flora Hutchinson also enjoyed spending summers at the family’s Chamberlain cottage and playing violin in the family orchestra, Bill Hutchinson, on hand for the celebration, said. Her husband also played violin, while the children played clarinet, piano and trumpet.
As a young woman, she attempted to buy a life insurance policy, Bill Hutchinson said, but the insurance agent deemed her “too frail” and thus too high a risk.
Hutchinson lived at Schooner Cove for more than a decade before moving to Chase Point in December 2004, at the age of 100.
“I think everyone here has always admired her wit, her humor,” Chase Point Executive Director Cindy McCrum said.
Hutchinson displayed that wit when McCrum asked her to explain her longevity.
“The Lord doesn’t want me and the devil won’t take me,” she said.
