Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife presented me with a lifetime achievement award recently at the annual banquet of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. Commissioner Judy Camuso presented the award, along with Deputy Commissioner Tim Peabody.
I thanked them and told them the award meant a lot to me, which it did. There was a big audience there and I told them that it was kind of amusing to receive this award from the department, after I spent a career irritating and aggravating them. That got a good laugh.
But it is true. Throughout my career at the Sportsman’s Alliance we often submitted legislative bills to force the department to do things they did not want to do. I guess in retrospect they realize that a lot of those things were important.
And there’s a lesson here for you. As an individual you can have an impact on all the issues and projects you care about. You can start by joining groups that represent you at the Legislature and elsewhere. You can attend public hearings at the Legislature on bills of interest to you, and I can guarantee that legislators will appreciate your opinions. You can even ask your state representative or senator to sponsor bills for you.
Sen. Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester, sponsored a bill this year for me to expand the turkey season. I am not able to get to the Legislature anymore but I did write some testimony for the bill and a friend of mine delivered it. And IF&W, in response to my bill, agreed to work toward significant expansion of turkey hunting opportunities, which they have done this fall.
You can even get involved with the work of state agencies including IF&W, which often asks us for our opinions on their proposals and recruits us for special projects.
You can also write letters to your newspapers and call in to radio shows like Maine Calling on Maine Public Radio. Yes, your thoughts and opinions matter, and can influence what happens.
If you live in a rural town you probably still have a wonderful chance to attend your annual town meeting and make lots of decisions with other townspeople. When I was a kid, the gymnasium at Winthrop was always packed for town meeting, which I attended with my folks.
One year in Mount Vernon, when I was a selectman, I moderated our town meeting — and I hated that because I could not speak on the issues. That was the only year I was the moderator! Sadly, attendance at town meetings, including ours in Mount Vernon, is much less than in the good old days.
And here is another thing you can do. Volunteer to help people in your community who need help. I feel very fortunate to have so many family members and friends and to live in such a caring community as Mount Vernon. Because of my illness, ALS, lots of people have volunteered to help us whenever we need help.
In early October, Steve DeAngelis, a Maranacook High School teacher, is bringing some senior class members to cut brush and bring in our firewood for the winter. A short time ago, our friends Howard and Brenda Lake spent two hours working with my wife Linda cutting brush on one side of our house. And always, these friends spend time visiting with me.
So please keep that in mind too. A lot of people who live alone are not able to get out much and appreciate and enjoy visits. I have so many friends coming to visit that I have to schedule them now. In August, Gov. Janet Mills came to visit and brought lunch from the Blaine House. As we were eating lunch, I told Janet that I felt like I was getting a tax refund! And both Sen. Angus King and Congressman Jared Golden have visited with me.
Sometimes friends will be visiting for a couple of hours and then say, “George, we do not want to wear you out, so we better leave now.” And I will tell them, absolutely not, because I am having a wonderful time. If you have time to visit with someone, please do.
And of course there’s nothing better than spending time with your kids and grandkids. That should be your highest priority.
George Smith can be reached at 34 Blake Hill Road, Mount Vernon 04352, or georgesmithmaine@gmail.com. Read more of Smith’s writings at www.georgesmithmaine.com.
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