My first employment was working for farmer Errol Clark, “the vegetable man” for a few hours each week during July and August in the latter part of the 1960s. Clark sold vegetables grown on his farm in Jefferson from the bed of his pickup truck in Boothbay Harbor in front of the Methodist Church. Clark had built a canopy for the truck bed, tall enough so my younger brothers, Scott and Glenn, who also helped, and I could stand in the back and help bag the vegetables. I think we were around the ages of 11, 10 and 9 at the time.

Clark would show up shortly after noon after spending the morning loading the truck with corn, peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, summer and winter squash, lettuce, beets, beet greens, Swiss chard, cucumbers, radishes and other fresh produce. The corn — the hottest commodity during those two months — was stacked in the back and, if I remember correctly, Clark could stack between 35 and 40 dozen ears of corn there. The other vegetables were placed in wooden baskets and boxes.

After arriving, Clark would open the back of the canopy. If memory serves me right, he had a 2 x 4 secured at the bottom of the burlap sheet on the back of the canopy. He would wrap the burlap around the 2 x 4 and toss it on top of the canopy until it was time to leave.

Then the fun began!

Although it was shaded, the back of that truck got pretty hot some days. Our – the Burnham boys' – main job was to bag the corn (if people bought a dozen, he’d always have us put in 13), as he couldn’t reach the back — which was the purpose of him hiring us, so he wouldn’t have to keep climbing in and out of the bed. When he did have to “crawl” into the back of the truck — usually to fetch an extra basket of vegetables — he would inevitably bang his head on the top of the canopy.

After getting his cash box out of the cab, “Mr. Clark” (which is what we called him) would sit halfway on the tailgate while his left leg touched the ground, waiting for customers to arrive. That position wasn’t seen much from the back of the truck as usually, from noon to about 4 or 5 p.m., a steady stream of cars would pull off the avenue and behind the truck, and out again, while he quickly bagged and sold his goods. People would also park in the church parking lot and wait in line to buy the fresh produce. I remember the customers asking questions about when “such and such” vegetables were going to be ready, where his farm was located, the weather, etc. Mr. Clark would kindly answer their questions, but he would do so while grabbing and bagging the goods and taking their money. The next sale was waiting so he wasted no time.

If there was a lull in the action, he’d hand us some money and send us down to the corner drug store, Mitchell’s (then Wheeler’s), to get a Popsicle, a soda or an ice cream cone.

I really don’t remember what he paid us, but he would usually send us home with a bag of vegetables, which Mom and Dad greatly appreciated, especially having to feed seven kids.

As I “graduated” to my next summer job of mowing lawns and cleaning the bathrooms in the morning at Mario’s — leaving the bagging job to Scott and Glenn — I’d stop by and say hi whenever I could.

By the early to mid ’70s, Mr. Clark was asked (or ordered) not to show up with his truck full of vegetables, due to a few complaints from other business owners. I don’t remember what the entire story was. But it was sad not to see him anymore.

A few years into this job, I received a card from Mr. Clark, congratulating me on working at the newspaper. It was a complete surprise. I think I wrote him back and have always wanted to visit him and his farm. According to what I’ve found on the internet, I think he still lives in Jefferson and is 88 years old.