To the editor:
Our community has lost a number of our movers and shakers this year. Many of our retirees brought their skills and willingness to help all of the nonprofits that make this part of Midcoast Maine one of the best places to live in these turbulent times.
I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you about my friend Alan Pooley, who was 79 when he died on Aug. 31. A widower for many years, he moved Down East four years ago, where he had found love and companionship in a new marriage.
During his many years in Newcastle, he was always serving numerous area organizations. He was an informed member of the Newcastle Planning Board and recruited me to join him. Alan served on many ordinance revision and comprehensive plan committees, always willing to go to some long meetings on behalf of the better good.
Alan was a very active volunteer with the Damariscotta River Association, serving on the board of trustees and the stewardship committee. He was always there to help me during my nine years, including the presidency.
DRA Executive Director Steven Hufnagel told me that Alan helped lay out the route for the 7-mile River-Link Trail, “doing lots of great recon in the woods.” The previous executive director, Mark DesMueles, told me Alan was the only degreed scientist helping him with water monitoring and horseshoe crab surveys, including the tide-time differential for Great Salt Bay. He spent many a day dipping bags in the river as part of the DRA’s water monitoring effort for the state.
Alan was a board member of Lincoln County Community Theater and helped with maintenance work, including carrying new (used) chairs up the long flight and helping with the installation. A member of the Dinner Group (now defunct) and a lunch group, the ROMEOs (retired old me eating out), he was a communicant of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. He will be remembered by many for his English Channel sailboat with the twin keels, often seen standing in the mud on its mooring at low tide near his home on River Road.
If you have time on your hands, no matter your age or abilities, you can help me keep Alan’s memory alive by finding a group or cause where you can help. You can also donate to the DRA in his memory at damariscottariver.org.
David A. Bailey
Newcastle
