Dear Editor:
About 14 years ago, I had the opportunity to spend a “girls day” with my friend and neighbor, Holly Stover. While we were getting pampered at the Senator Inn spa in Augusta, Holly, who then worked as a Regional Director for the Department of Health and Human Services, got a phone call that there had been a shooting, a double murder, in Boothbay. A woman and her daughter had been shot to death in front of the younger woman’s two small children by their father.

We left immediately and drove home to Boothbay. All the way, Holly was on her phone gathering information about who, what, when and where this had happened. Foremost on her mind was the children. Where were they? Who was there to care for them? What did they need at that moment? I vividly remember stopping at a store so Holly could get two stuffed animals to give to the children so that they would have something to hold on to to comfort them.

That day stays starkly etched in my memory not only for the horror of what happened, but for the true heart of Holly Stover that I saw that day. Her only concern was for the victims and for the children and what she could do to help.

Holly is all about helping, helping others in a bad situation, helping others find a solution to whatever is holding them back, whether that is drugs, lack of housing, hunger, or domestic abuse. Holly finds solutions. Her incomparable involvement in her community proves that, from working with the Police Department to combat the opioid crisis, working to provide dental care to children and adults, working against domestic violence and countless other efforts to make our community healthier and safer.

Rarely does a candidate for office come along who excites me.  Holly does. I am thrilled to be able to vote for her for the Maine House of Representatives, and I hope you will join me and vote for Holly on Nov. 6.

Becky Welsh
Boothbay