We always knew this day would come.
We knew there would come a day when Chester Rice would not be in public office anymore. Sad as it is, we’re happy to see him turn in his keys and walk out under his own power, at a time and place of his own choosing. We hope he enjoys his retirement, although we expect he’ll remain as busy as ever.
For more than 60 years, Rice has been a model of a community leader, someone who sees the need, steps forward to do the job, and hopefully leaves the place in a better condition than he found it. His service has benefited us all in some form and his departure leaves us all the poorer.
We know for a fact that Rice has helped people in his community in ways big and small, and remained defiantly tight lipped about it.
If you’ve met Chester Rice and fallen for his gruff-Uncle routine, it’s probably for the best. He would almost certainly rather you didn’t know how much time, money, and effort he put into helping others. It’s certainly not something you talk about. It’s just something you do.
We’re going to miss that, even if we don’t see it when it’s happening.
Rice’s retirement comes at a strange time in our country’s history. His public service career dates back to a time when fiery budget debates at town meetings were considered a form of indoor entertainment. It was a time when community was a thing people embraced; something you were part of, not something that existed without you.
Nowadays, as local governments increasingly battle for attention and help, many towns have reduced their annual town meeting to secret ballot referendums; dispensing democracy in the manner of a drive thru burger joint.
It’s unfortunate because Maine’s peculiar brand of home rule government is about as close as one gets to an actual democracy.
As men like Chester increasingly take their leave, it does beg the question, who is going to step up. South Bristol is somewhat fortunate in that there is a candidate already declared for Chester’s seat but it is not uncommon to find rural towns begging for candidates.
If you have what it takes to put your community and fellow citizens first, we need you to accept the challenge. Step up and run for local public office.
