Forty plus years ago I met Gerry Gamage on a cold winter night when he was a plowing for the town of Southport. At the time I was house sitting for the Pink Ladies, Mary Harward and Liz Kiehn, and their long-haired white cat who was prone to large knots of fur and hair balls. Their place was over on the Nickerson Road near the Sprouls, across the cove from Robinson's Wharf. It was a nice spot but a wicked nasty place in winter.

It was very late, or really early, depending upon your point of view. Gerry was trying to clear the upper section of the road and my dear old Betty Ford, 1960s Ford Twin I-beam pickup, was not in a good spot so I went out to move it out of the way. Wild blowing sideways snow fought Gerry with the driver's side window open, to help him stay awake I suspect. I introduced myself and asked him if he had time for a cup of coffee. While he cleaned up avoiding Betty, I made a fresh cup of Joe.

I didn't see Gerry again for years and now I see him all the time here on Southport where we landed in 2001 at the old Lovejoy place, originally built by the reknowned builder, Mr. Luther. Jean Thompson, our next door neighbor, has shared much history with us about the property. Her family built several places here and Jean and Gerry are great friends.

Gerry, as many know, is a person who stays quite busy. He is, and has been for a long time, Southport's fire chief. He is the head select person. In his spare time he hauls and builds runs and floats, opens and closes cottages, and still gets out in winter to do some plowing. Sorry to say that Betty Ford no longer suffers the snowy times — she is long gone. However, I think Bob Pike got the wooden bed I built and some of her body parts are still roaming the region. She was a good old friend.

Now Gerry has a new adventure underway. With applications submitted to the National Park Service and many hoops through which to jump, he and “Friends” are in the process of acquiring the lease of Cuckolds Light off Cape Newagen. It is a long and tedious process but progress is being made. The wheels of government turn slowly but there is hope for future access to the Light making public visits possible. I think Gerry would prefer not to plow there in winter!

Good luck with it all Gerry. Hope it works out.