Martha Landry lives on Commercial Street in Boothbay Harbor, next door to the house she grew up in. She used to walk through Sample's Shipyard regularly. As far as I know she did not sneak cigarettes or hang out with workers at the yard. However, I did not confirm this nor did Martha suggest otherwise. Martha is a wonderful mix of adventure, history and extraordinary compassion. She can also suggest that you find an available hole into which you might climb if she is so inclined.

For many years, Martha and I landed on the “paying the rent” square when she worked with Joselyn Oakes “Bagetts,” a catering and dining enterprise based in the then “Russell House” in Boothbay Harbor. This was a well-oiled machine of high performance individuals who could manage a crowd like traffic lights at a busy intersection. Martha worked with Joselyn for nine years.

While at UMO then Andover College, she waitressed at “Carburs” on Middle Street in Portland. Two floors and a 28-page menu! In the Harbor she worked at “Upstairs Downstairs" and with Hilary and Kathy Heaton at Lobsterman’s in East Boothbay which she still feels was one of her best gigs ever, despite some bizarre episodes.

Martha’s first job as a kiddo was cleaning her grandparents' cottage on Squirrel Island. The Ingrahams were island nobility — grandma went to Wellesley and grandpa attended Bowdoin. Once word got out on the island, she found other cottage work. In 1981 she took a job back in the Harbor and needed a place to stay for the summer. She found some friends had a rental on Juniper Point and joined Betsy Tompkins, Donny Colcord and Smith Climo with whom to share. During this time she met her to be husband, David, at “Boothbay Playhouse” when owned by Bobby Bradley. They married June 5, 1982.

All these years of serving the public in various ways must have fed into Martha’s career as an ed tech for 24 years at Boothbay Region High School. She became a no nonsense compassionate resource for many local individuals, our daughter Megan included.

Like others who interacted with Martha, Cathy Hodgdon, Karen Cronk and others in the school resource room, Megan was wired differently, a genetic “gift” from her parents. Through no fault of her own, Megan processed differently. Martha and her coworkers tuned in quickly with our daughter to create a safe, non-judgmental learning environment. Mae told me that Martha was stern but fair. She and her contemporaries patiently developed helpful approaches to learning. “They helped us recognize our differences and be comfortable with them. They supported and encouraged us. We were lucky to have help,” Mae told me.

And now Martha’s daughter, Ejaye, is following in mom’s footsteps as an ed tech at the high school.

In these challenging times for schools everywhere, we need all the Martha Landrys we can find. Our children are growing up in a quickly evolving world which requires new skills and great compassion. How we learn and where we fit in requires new tools and a more enlightened population. The Landry touch is needed more than ever.