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| Dorothy "Dot" Skolfield, who lives in Windham with her daughter, enjoys a recent spring day in the backyard. Here she is sporting the Boston Post Cane she was awarded in the summer of 2019 by the Town of Weld, her official residence. Skolfield's father was working for the Boston Post when the newspaper instituted the award as part of a publicity tactic. PHOTO BY LORRAINE GLOWCZAK |
In
a recent Letter to the Editor, the American Rosie the Riveter Association
reached out to the Sebago Lakes Region community to try to locate women who
worked for the war efforts during World War II. The intent was to capture as
many stories as possible around the U.S.
“These
women have stories of their WWII experiences that are of historical value and
perhaps have never been told,” the letter said. “American Rosie the Riveter
Association would like to acknowledge these women with a certificate and have
their stories placed in our archives."
We,
here at the Windham Eagle newspaper office invited anyone in the area to also
share their stories with us and one individual responded to that invitation.
“Our
‘Rosie’ is my 97-year-old mother, Dorothy "Dot" Weld Reynolds Skolfield,”
Sharon Bickford wrote in an email to The Windham Eagle newspaper. “My mother
contributed to the war effort in several ways and she has seen many changes in
her years on earth. For her birthday, we are giving her a membership to the
American Rosie the Riveter Association to be recognized and have her story
a part of their archives.”
Skolfield
has lived with her daughter in Windham for the past 10 years. She was born May
14, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the fourth of five children of Howard
Reynolds, a sportswriter and editor for the Boston Post, and to Lottie
Reynolds, a nurse. Although living most of her early years in and around the
Boston area, she and her family spent summers in Weld. Skolfield worked in both
Maine and Massachusetts in her “Rosie the Riveter” role.
“After
I graduated from Newtonville [Massachusetts] High School in 1942, I spent that
summer with my family in Weld,” Skolfield said. “Everyone wanted to help the
war effort in some way and my sister-in-law and I where no different. We both
got a job as volunteers scanning the sky with binoculars, watching for
aircraft, and identifying them. We had access to a telephone and when we
spotted a plane, we would call the central agency. We did this for four hours a
day.
”
Skolfield
and her sister-in-law were part of a citizen volunteer program of the Army Air
Force Ground Observer Corps. The mission was to fill a gap in the country’s air
defenses and security during WWII. There were many observational posts
throughout Maine at that time, with Weld being among them. In addition to
binoculars and a telephone, volunteers were also equipped with a distance
calculator.
Online
Maine Encyclopedia describes the role of the corps volunteer in this way:
“When
any aircraft was seen, the volunteer would dial the operator and say, ‘aircraft
flash [number assigned to post].’ That would identify the post to the ‘filter
center’ at Bangor’s Dow Air Force Base, which tracked use of the air space over
Maine.”
When
the summer 1942 turned into fall and it was time for the family to return to
Massachusetts, Skolfield got a job working for Hoods Rubber Company in
Watertown helping to make deicers for airplanes. She earned $45 a week.
“I
was on the assembly line and we each had our own specific duties,” Skolfield
said. “Mine was to insert a small piece of equipment into one area of the wing
that would inflate and activate the deicer when it was ready to be used.”
This
one seemingly mundane task, however small, was very important. All completed
objects were tested before the wing was attached to the plane to check for precision.
“One
day, I put my piece in backward,” Skolfield said. “It stopped the whole
assembly for many hours until they were able to find and correct the mistake. I
was so mortified and embarrassed.”
But
despite the one error, Skolfield’s calm and even-keeled demeanor may not just
be a genetic character trait but could be a result of the war-time civility and
the American effort to work together during difficult times.
“People
seemed to trust each other more back then, and everyone worked together,” Skolfield
said. “There was a certain love for our Country, and everyone was patriotic. We
all had one common goal and that was to cooperate. No one tried to make money
off the war, and everyone was willing to give up for the greater good. And yes,
there were disagreements, and everyone had their own opinion, but you just
listened to what others had to say – and then you went on quietly following
your own opinion. My mother would always say ‘sticks and stone may break my
bones, but words will never hurt me.’ You never took things personally because
everyone is entitled to their beliefs. Today feels so different. There seems to
be family against family and a lot of fighting. It seems to me that today we have
had it easy for so long that it is more difficult to adjust when adversity
arises.”
Being
there for one another was an expected norm during the days of World War II,
which lasted from 1939 to 1945. Skolfield recalls one way
her mother played a role in being there for servicemen in the community.
“My family lived on something similar to a
cul-de-sac and the Air Force was using it as a base,” Skolfield said. “On the
soldiers’ days off, my mother would invite them for Sunday dinner. Our table
was always surrounded with strangers because my mother wanted to give soldiers
a home-cooked meal.”
Skolfield eventually moved to Atlantic
City, N.J. for a couple of months and worked in sales to be near her sister-in-law
and her brother before he left for overseas. She eventually returned to
Massachusetts and attended Fisher’s Business College in Boston to obtain a
certification as a Foreign Trade Secretary. She admits that it was not
something she wanted to do with her life.
“I went to secretarial school at the encouragement
of my mother, but I was such a tom-boy,” said Skolfield. “I couldn’t wait to
get out of a dress and into jeans. Being a secretary would have been too
confining for me.”
Instead, Skolfield held several other
positions that fit her personality more appropriately. She opened an Ice Cream
Shop in Weld during the summer months and then work in Massachusetts at a dime
store and nursing home.
In 1948, she married Stanley Skolfield of
Weld, making Maine her permanent home. She and her new husband had a son, Tom
(Rep. Tom Skolfield of House District 112) and daughter, Sharon Bickford.
While raising a family, Skolfield would
work a variety of jobs in and around Weld that included pumping gas, working at
Mount Blue State Park, working as a Town Treasurer, Tax Collector, Town Clerk
pro-temp and was elected as the first female Board of Selectpersons for the
Town of Weld.
She acknowledges that although she has
seen difficult times being alive during WWII, she has had a very good life.
“My family growing up was loving and
supportive and I married a loving and supportive husband,” she said. “I have
been incredibly fortunate.”
Her husband passed away 28 years ago. In
the summer of 2019, she was awarded the Boston Post Cane by the Town of Weld.
Although this is a great privilege to anyone who receives this award, it was
extra special for Skolfield.
“My dad worked for the Boston Post when
they instituted this award as part of a publicity tactic,” Skolfield said. “So,
it was truly an honor to get the Gold-headed Boston Post Cane that my father
helped to implement.”
Source:
www.maineanencyclopedia.com/ground-observer-corps/
