The Boathouse Next Door. Southport, Maine

When we were kicking around the decision to move to Maine, we got many different reactions.

Wow!

Cool!

What?!

And there was a lot of the need to offer advice and input on our decision.  Everything from making sure we took into account the amount of snow we’d get (often less than here in Dunstable, actually), to wouldn’t we miss our friends (nope, we plan on importing them), and the big one…

But you’ll be so remote!

Well, sure, we won’t be in the big city of Dunstable (not many skyscrapers here… but the cows can certainly clog the streets on any given morning when Mr. McGovern’s fence breaks).

And, yes, the area we will live in Maine is seasonal, its population swelling in the summer (including one very cute porcupine, if you recall) and ebbing in the winter (it’s a seasonal tide thing).

But I’m a small town girl, always have been.

And yesterday, I read in my ‘local’ – okay, soon to be local – paper (The Registah) about something that happened in my new-small-town-to-be… and it made my heart sing.

Shelby and Herbert had run into hard times. I don’t know the details, and the article shared only a few, but they did not pay their local tax bill.

What started as a $160.92 bill ballooned, as tax bills will, over the course of five years.  Finally, the town of Southport had no choice.

The house and three-acre property was taken, and was up for auction at the Selectmen’s meeting on October 21st.

The Selectmen themselves wrung their hands.  One said he hated being in this position, and ‘didn’t want any part of it.’

The town hall was standing room only when the auction was about to begin.

The minimum bid was…

$1500.

Shelby and Herbert were there, along with their little girl (and her teddy bear – and, yes, the newspaper reported this).

When the selectmen asked Shelby and Herbert if they had any more information, Herbert turned to the room and said that he had brought with him $1500 in cash.

He asked the crowd to allow him to buy back his home.

Anyone in the room could have made a killing.

Anyone in the room could have bought a house and three acres for $1500.

$1500.

When the selectmen asked the room how they would like to proceed, the answer was unanimous… and quoted.

“We won’t bid against a neighbor.”

Yep.

And, with those six words, a family got to go home.

Their home.

Seems like a pretty good place to live to me.

Thanks for readin’.

Special thanks to the Boothbay Register and News Contributor Jane Carpenter for writing an article that reached out and hugged my heart

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