100 years young - The Elizabeth “Betty” Stetson story by Lorraine Glowczak

Stetson being interviewed by local TV during her birthday celebration

What does Nelson Mandela, Billy Graham, Sam Walton, Betty Ford and Raymond resident Betty Stetson all have in common? They were all born 100 years ago - in 1918!

In case you missed the local pages of last Saturday’s Portland Press Herald or Portland’s television stations’ interviews of the local icon - Elizabeth “Betty” Stetson was the Guest of Honor when she celebrated her 100^th birthday on Wednesday, March 21 in the Roosevelt Room at the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham in Windham from noon to 3 p.m. 

Present were over 50 people, wishing Stetson well including family, friends, Raymond Board of Selectmen who awarded her the Boston Cane Award and Slugger from Portland Seadogs to name a few.

It may come as no surprise that she has a story or two to share with a century of life behind her.

Born in Herkimer, NY to parents who immigrated from Czechoslovakia during World War I, Stetson has seen many life changing innovations and has lived and experienced much throughout her lifetime. Stetson was born in a time when the postage stamp cost three cents, the average weekly income was $25.61, a gallon of gas was only 23 cents per gallon and a new Ford Town Car cost $595.

She, along with her two sisters Anna and Millie (Mildred), grew up on a farm in Western Massachusetts in the town of Hatfield. Tobacco was their main agricultural industry, but they also cultivated and sold onions and potatoes. Her parents’ farm included three pear trees, two plum trees, six Baldwin Apple trees, over 60 chickens, six cows and a pig. “My father was so kind hearted he could not butcher an animal on his own,” explained Stetson. “So, he hired a butcher to come to our place to do the job for him. We [she and her sisters] would run and hide because we couldn’t bear to
see our animals die, either.”

Stetson was only five years old when she began the task of delivering milk to neighbors who were within walking distance from their home. “We sold the milk for 10 cents a quart,” she explained. “I delivered the milk in pails.” 

She reminisces about her milk delivery days. It was usual custom that the neighbors, most of which were French Canadian or of Irish descent, would feed her. “On one occasion, a French-Canadian neighbor gave me a Codfish Potato Pie,” Stetson remembered. “I would probably really like that pie now, but when I was five, I was not fond of it. I usually ate up everything she would offer me when I delivered milk to her, but could not eat another bite of that pie. I told her that I was in a hurry and would eat the pie on my way to the next neighbor. At the bottom of the hill between those two neighbors was an old tobacco shed. I threw the pie in there.”

You could also find Stetson and her sisters out in the tobacco fields on their hands and knees, pulling weeds. When asked if she resented having to work on the farm at such a young age, she replied that work was as normal as breathing. “It was just what I did in life,” she said. “It never occurred to me to be resentful.”

There is one thing she didn’t like about farming, however. “Picking horn worms off the plants and killing them was my least favorite thing required of farming. I did not like horn worms then and I still can’t stand them now.”

Her family spoke in the traditional Czeck language at home, but Stetson was able to learn English by listening to others. Her older sister, Anna, did not learn English as quickly and was having difficulty in school as a result. “Anna’s teacher told my parents that I should go to school with my sister to help her with her studies,” Stetson recalled. “So, I went to school at the age of five, which was a young age to start school back then.”

Stetson’s father, despite being a relatively new immigrant to the U.S., was able to make a very good with the farm. In fact, Stetson states she didn’t experience much of the setbacks that many people experienced during the Great Depression. “With the farm, we were self-sufficient, and we had everything we needed,” she began. “The only way it affected our family is that people would pay us as they could, otherwise, I experienced no direct hardship.”
and successful living

Stetson was active during her teenage years, playing basketball, where she was the captain of her team. She graduated from Smith Academy around 1935. “Smith Academy was started by Sophia Smith, the founder of Smith College,” Stetson said. “Sophia initially wanted the college to be in Hatfield, where she lived in the 1800s, but the locals didn’t want to build a campus there because it would take land away from the farmers. That is why the college is in Northampton.”

All graduates from Smith Academy were offered free tuition to Smith College and Stetson attended for one year, majoring in business courses.

A couple years after her time at Smith College, Stetson met her husband, Maurice Nelson, at a square dance. They married soon after when she was 24 years old. Not long after their marriage, Nelson joined the World War II efforts and Stetson moved to Winchester, NH to live with his parents. After the war and when Nelson returned, they made their home in Tamworth, NH with time also lived in Newport, NH, a two-hour drive south.

At home in Raymond posing with her Boston Cane

During the next 20 years or so, Stetson was busy raising her family and working in the community. But that did not stop her from socializing. She was an active member of the Onaway Bridge Club, the Federated Garden Club and the Congregational Church. 

Tamworth is a town that attracts many well to do families and was the location of President Grover Cleveland’s summer home. “I never got to meet President Cleveland, but his son attended the same church we did, and I was very impressed with him. He was a very nice man.”

From the town of Tamworth, Stetson and her husband moved to Corbin Park - a “fashionable” nature preserve that drew in industry and finance magnets for sport, game and other outdoor recreation. Nelson was hired as the superintendent of the park and Stetson served as its manager.

While working and during her retirement, Stetson made sure to see the world. She has traveled extensively across the U.S. and has visited a number of European Countries such as England, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, Greece, Holland and Italy. But she had a favorite spot. “One of my most memorable travel experiences was my trip back to my family’s homeland in Czechoslovakia; I enjoyed meeting my relatives and being a part of a culture that my parents once knew.”

She loves adventure in many forms. Stetson shared the times she salmon fished in Brunswick, Canada and deep-sea fished off the coast of Florida (catching the biggest sailfish, having to return in back to sea.) She loved the outdoors and hiked many of the mountains in New England including Mount Washington.

Stetson, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 50, has been cancer free for 50 years. She is also the first patient at Maine Medical Center to receive a heart valve transplant at the age of 93.

When asked if she has advice for a long life lived well, of which she gets asked often, she quickly
answers, “For longevity - make sure you eat your greens. Oh! And fruit. Fruit is good for you too.”

But if anyone has spent even just an hour with Stetson, one quickly realizes that eating healthy is not the only thing that has contributed to her long life. Happiness and laughter fill the air in her presence.

Part of her laughter stems from the fact that she enjoys playing a joke or two. Her favorite holiday is April Fool’s Day and she takes every chance she can get to pull a prank on her daughter, Becky Almstrom and son-in-law, Bob - who share their home with Stetson. 

“Every April Fool’s Day, we try to avoid her because we know she has something up her sleeve,” Becky stated. “This year, since turning 100, Bob and I decided Mom can do whatever she wants.”

Stetson smiled at her daughter with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

Black Box Teens brings focus to local teens

In a time when we hear more and more stories about kids in trouble, the Schoolhouse Arts Center is endeavoring to bring focus and direction to local teens through participation in community theater.  
 

The Schoolhouse Arts Center, a local community theater and educational organization, has occupied the old Standish high school building since 1989. Over 15 years ago, they converted a large second-floor room into a small theater space to supplement their main theater which seats almost 150. This small secondary theater was intended to accommodate smaller audiences for one act plays, stand-up comedy shows, and kid’s plays.  

A small stage was built then the walls and floor were painted black. It became known as the Black Box, referring to the type of venue it was expected to become. But the Black Box saw little use except as a rehearsal area when the main stage was in use.

But in 2015, a few of Schoolhouse’s teen-aged performers re-discovered the Black Box and decided that it would be a perfect forum for them to develop skills - not only in performing but organizing, directing and presenting their own shows. They revived a theater club for teens known as the Black Box Teens, originally formed by Francine Morin in 2013. They converted the old Art Room into a Green Room (dressing room) for future Black Box performances and painted folding chairs black to create a more professional look in the underutilized theater space.  

But, this was just the beginning. Their long-term plans for the Black Box included lighting and new risers. But those plans required additional funding.

In March 2016, the Black Box Teens organized and produced their first fundraiser which was a cabaret-style show called “Truly Talented Kids”. The show was a great success and generated more interest and support for the teen program. One by one, new teenagers heard about Black Box Teens and joined the group. They began recruiting the support of adults who were impressed by their enthusiasm for the project.  

In 2016 Board President, Cristina McBreairty took on leadership of the teen program as the group began to focus on their long-term goals. When a new lighting system was purchased for the main theater, the old lights were committed to the Black Box. The teens’ enthusiasm for their Black Box Theater became even stronger.  

Local director Jerry Walker was impressed with the enthusiasm and determination of the Black Box Teens and helped them design a new floor plan for the Black Box. In January 2017 the original small stage was dismantled, and lumber was re-used to construct risers. This would enable the theater to accommodate larger audiences. Eventually permanent theater seats, which the Schoolhouse has in storage, will replace the folding chairs. Throughout the project, the Black Box Teens pulled nails from old lumber, helped assemble the new risers and repainted everything black. The new layout provides more flexibility for the space and comfortably seats about 60 people.  

Many of the Black Box Teens have grown up in acting classes and shows at Schoolhouse Arts Center. In addition to their work on the Black Box Theater, many have taken on more challenging roles in recent main stage plays like “Brighton Beach Memoirs”, “Beauty & the Beast” and “Peter Pan”. As their confidence on the stage grew, it led to a desire to learn more about directing, costuming, props, lighting and other technical aspects of theater. 

When the Black Box Teens are not on the stage, they are often seen at the back of the main theater running the lighting and sound systems. They help paint signs, build sets, organize props and assist with costuming for the main stage shows.  

In 2018 the Black Box Teens spent January and February planning their third annual “Truly Talented Kids” show. They conducted auditions and selected which acts they felt were best for the show, as well as organized rehearsals where more experienced members helped new teens understand how to polish their performance skills. The Black Box Teens wrote scripts for their show narrators, Josh Macri and Reid Anderson. They choregraphed dances and organized props and costumes that would be needed for their various acts as well as painted signs for the show and even designed and printed programs.  

“Truly Talented Kids” will be performed on March 30 and 31 in the newly restored Black Box Theater. Board member Danny Gay recently installed theater lights in the Black Box. This will be the Black Box Teens’ first time that “Truly Talented Kids” will be performed with the new lighting system.

The Schoolhouse Arts Center takes great pride in the Black Box Teens.  But they admit that its success is mainly due to the energy and enthusiasm of the teens themselves.  “All that we did was provide them with a place where they can focus their energies and build their own dreams” says project sponsor Cristina McBreairty. “Then we just step back and watch the magic happen.”

In an age when we are bombarded with stories about teens in trouble, this is a refreshing success story of kids on a mission. The Black Box Teens are a beacon of hope for all of us to believe in.  Given the chance to excel and express themselves, our teenagers are capable of wonderful things. They will always be “Truly Talented Kids”. 

For more information about the Schoolhouse Arts Center or the Black Box Teens, please contact Cristina McBreairty or Black Box Teens’ teen advisor Ashley McBreairty at blackboxteens@gmail.com.

Truly Talented Kids 2017

Local Christians seek understanding of Jewish tradition with an Interfaith Passover Seder by Lorraine Glowczak

Rabbi Chasan leads the participants in song.

The Windham Area Clergy Association (WACA) sponsored an Interfaith Passover Seder on Sunday, March 18, hosted by Faith Lutheran Church (FLC) at 988 Roosevelt Trail in Windham. The Jewish Seder was led by Rabbi Emeritus, Joshua Chasan, of the Ohavi Sedek Synagogue in Burlington, VT.

Rabbi Chasan, who now resides in Portland, led 63 Windham area Christians from area churches in

the Jewish ceremony. Participants included members of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Windham Hill United Church of Christ; as well as members from FLC as they joined together to seek understanding by celebrating a Seder meal together.

Seder is a Jewish ritual feast celebrated on the first day of Passover that includes activities such as reading, drinking wine, telling stories, eating special foods and singing. It marks the anniversary of the Jewish exodus from Egyptian slavery more than 3,000 years ago and, as a result, the theme of the interfaith Seder was, “A Celebration of Freedom.”

Ur'chatz or washing hands is part of the Seder ritual

Unfortunately, many people today across the globe still face oppression and some current Jewish Seder traditions recognize that fact. “Seder is about welcoming the stranger,” Rabbi Chasan explained. “There are people living in Maine who have made their own exodus from tyranny and violence to find their freedom here. To celebrate together like we are doing today is wonderful for our time, because what is at stake for us at the moment - not only in the U.S. but all over the world - is the existence to be free. Violence and hatred undermine our freedom. All of us [Jewish people and Christians] need to come together like we are now with this inter-faith Seder event to celebrate and love one another.”

This happens to be the mission of WACA. Since its reorganization last year by Father Tim Higgins, Rector at St. Ann’s, the association has been focused on creating opportunities for people of faith in Windham to come together for worship, prayer and song.

“Each congregation that belongs to the clergy association has taken a turn hosting a special service,” explained Pastor Jane Field of FLC. “An interfaith Seder held during Lent seemed like a gift we at Faith Lutheran, could offer the community. Our church's deep commitment to hospitality, inclusivity and interfaith dialogue made it a natural fit for us. We, at Faith Lutheran and many Christians everywhere, have deep respect and reverence for our roots in Judaism. Jesus was a deeply faithful Jewish man whose last supper before his death was a Passover Meal. Even though the Seder Passover ritual was developed centuries after Jesus was alive, participating in a Seder is one way Christians can remember that the Last Supper occurred during Passover. During Lent (a season Christians are observing right now), we prepare for Holy Week when the Last Supper is commemorated on Maundy Thursday. This year, the Jewish holy days of Passover will begin on March 30 which overlaps with the end of Holy Week for Christians.”

Pastor Field also stated that the clergy association invited Rabbi Chasan to lead the event because seeking to understand a religion different than one’s own is ethical and respectful. She said that it is important to ask someone of another faith to introduce their rituals and traditions. To do so prevents the possibility of perpetuating stereotypes, fostering misunderstanding, or potentially offending those
of other faiths.

“Imagine if roles were reversed: Christians would be offended (and rightfully so) if a Hindu, Muslim or Jewish congregation ‘borrowed’ our communion service and held their ‘own’ eucharist using our sacramental liturgy, bread and wine,” Pastor Field explained. “Having someone who practices the faith lead you, answer your questions, and represent that faith tradition gives everyone the chance to learn accurate information, develop mutual and trusting relationships based in respect. In the case of a Seder, it is always best for Christians to be the guest of a Jewish family at their Seder - which is usually celebrated at home - but when that is not practical or possible, then inviting a Rabbi (or a Jewish person well-versed in the tradition) to preside for a group of Christians is absolutely essential.”

The celebration of singing and eating together with the desire to understand the Jewish Seder ritual was enjoyed by all who attended the event. One such person was Paula Smithson from Windham Hill UCC. “The whole experience of the Seder was wonderful,” Smithson began. “The history, the music, the Jewish traditions were all new to me and I am thankful to the Faith Lutheran Church and Rabbi Chasan for providing such an educational, fun time.  And, the fellowship of different churches in Windham coming together is a breath of fresh air. I wish to thank all those who worked to put this together.”

 

The idea of reaching across human made boundaries to get to know one another more profoundly

provided the thirst to learn more. Curiosity was on everyone’s mind - wondering if the Seder feast would happen again next year. “We haven't had the chance to talk about next year, yet,” began Pastor Field. “But several people did seek me out as they were leaving to say that they really hoped we would have another Seder next year. It certainly would be our honor at Faith Lutheran to welcome Rabbi Chasan back, and to open our doors to people of faith here in Windham who are eager to experience the sacred tradition of an authentic Seder meal.”

Rabbi Chasan sees no issue in the coming together in such a manner with each individual holding a different perspective in regards to truth. “The problem is in ‘triumphalism’ - those who believe they own the corner on truth,” he stated. “No one owns the whole truth.”

As a result, he was pleased to have been invited and asked to lead the Interfaith Passover Seder as well as to be among people of other faiths. To WACA and all those who participated, he offered, “Thank you for respecting the Jewish tradition with your Seder. I am deeply honored.”