Arlene Cole reacts as Newcastle Selectman Brian Foote (right) announces the dedication of the annual town report to the 50-year ballot clerk and volunteer. (J.W. Oliver photo)
Newcastle has dedicated its annual report to Arlene Cole on the occasion of her 50th year as a ballot clerk.
The Newcastle Board of Selectmen surprised Cole with the announcement of the dedication and presentation of the first town report at its meeting Monday, June 13. The town staff had asked Cole to attend the meeting to talk about the municipal budget.
The meeting was the day before the primary election, where Cole was due to count ballots for a 50th consecutive year.
“I really don’t know what to say,” Cole said after the presentation. “I’ll see you tomorrow at 8 o’clock.”
Arlene Cole attends a meeting of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen at the town office Monday, June 13. The selectmen surprised the steadfast volunteer with their announcement of their dedication of the annual town report in recognition of her service. (J.W. Oliver photo)
On March 20, 1967, Cole was sworn in as a Republican ballot clerk by then-Town Clerk Mildred Cate, according to the dedication. Cole has also held the positions of deputy warden and registrar of voters.
“Arlene is one of the reasons the elections go so smoothly,” Newcastle Town Administrator Lynn Maloney said in the dedication. “She is very dedicated to what she does and keeps everyone on the straight and narrow. Even if she has known you your whole life, she’ll ask you to state your name on election day.”
Cole also serves as the historian and museum curator for the Newcastle Historical Society. She was a member of the organizational committee that formed the society in 1998, and she was the society’s first secretary.
She writes the “Newcastle History” column for The Lincoln County News, and she is the author of two books about town history: “Between Two Rivers” and “History Tales of Newcastle, Maine,” a compilation of columns.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have the historical society and other things like that to work for,” Cole said at the selectmen’s meeting. “You can get wound up in your own self, you know, and not accomplish anything, so this is good for me.”
Cole also contributes weather data to The Lincoln County News. She records the data every day as a cooperative weather observer with the National Weather Service.
She is the recipient of the weather service’s Thomas Jefferson Award – the most prestigious award for its volunteer observers – and its Edward H. Stoll Award for 50 years of service.
Cole is in the Lincoln Academy Sports Hall of Fame and was LA’s Alumna of the Year in 2005, according to the dedication.
She and her late husband, George Cole, ran Cole’s Woodcrafts out of a shop next to their home on Academy Hill, making handmade wooden boats and novelty toys.
