Nobleboro Board of Selectmen Al Lewis and Dick Spear recently nominated Treasurer, Town Clerk and Tax Collector Mary Ellen Anderson for the Ethel M. Kelly Memorial Award.
The award, the most prestigious award given by the Maine Municipal Association is presented annually to a person who has served local government for 20 years or more with a selfless concern for others in their community.
The nominee must also have a demonstrated record of “holding the community together,” and be one who has not received full recognition for their service to local government.
Mary Ellen Anderson has served as Nobleboro’s Treasurer, Town Clerk and Tax Collector since she was first appointed to the then part-time position in 1983. Up until 1982, when Nobleboro voters approved the change, the position was an elected office. Anderson was the first appointment to the new position.
“I thought I would do it for awhile, and here I am, starting my thirtieth year this January,” Anderson said.
Anderson has maintained continuity through many different Boards of Selectmen over the years. She reports directly to the Board of Selectmen, making them her “boss,” she said.
Asked about how she coped with an ever changing hierarchy she said, “They have all been great to work for. It’s been a really fine place to work.”
She started out at a few hours a week and gradually, as budgets allowed, increased not only the hours she worked but the operating hours of the town office to five days a week. These days, three people staff the town office and Anderson no longer has to post a note on the door, as in the past, when she might have an emergency or an appointment.
Over the years, Anderson has been part of many changes and improvements for the Town Of Nobleboro.
She has seen the days of typing with carbon copies give way to digitized filing systems and computers. The purchase of land for and construction of the Transfer Station in 1987 led to the closing of the old dump in Nobleboro’s bicentennial year, 1988.
The elementary school was remodeled, a ball field was completed, and the five-year restoration of the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder was begun. Ordinances were introduced and passed, ranging from a timber harvesting ordinance in 1986 to the latest amendments to the Land Use Ordinances in 2010.
Besides her long commitment to her town, Anderson finds other ways to improve things in the local community. She volunteers for the Special Olympics with adult participants and makes quilts that are often raffled for various benefits.
The Ethel N. Kelly Award will be announced at the Maine Municipal Award luncheon on Wed., Oct. 5.
“The last person to be nominated from Nobleboro was George Dow,” Anderson said, speaking of the town’s late, highly esteemed historian. “I am proud to be in his company and honored to be nominated.”
