Alna has been so good to her, Deputy Town Clerk Lynette Eastman is almost sad to be retiring.
“Almost,” the former Woolwich and Pittston official repeated, laughing. Eastman, in public service 37 years, leaves the Alna job later this year. Selectmen and others lauded and applauded her Sept. 26.
The recognition, at the start of the board meeting at the town office and over Zoom, included a detailed recounting of Eastman’s recent, surprise receipt of a lifetime achievement award from Maine Town & City Clerks’ Association.
The town kept the secret a month, including Town Clerk Sarah Perkins’ close call that stemmed from a pocket dial. Perkins was home, working in her barn, when her phone called the phone of Eastman’s husband George, one of the contacts Perkins had made in connection with the surprise. Then Perkins’ phone rang. “And Lynette’s voice was on the other end of the line. She said, ‘You just called this number?’”
Perkins told her the phone just dialed it and she had no idea why. She didn’t think Eastman would buy it. “I thought, ‘Oh, no … we have totally blown our cover.” But the woman Perkins said is very hard to surprise “with anything,” accepted the apparent fluke.
Eastman said she was very surprised by, and appreciative of, the lifetime achievement award. “I can’t get over it. I really can’t.”
Perkins recalled getting Eastman to go to the event up by signing her up for a class at it. Eastman said she, as a “lame duck” due to her impending retirement, wondered why the town would send her. Perkins insisted she go, saying it was a wonderful class, the two recalled.
Third Selectman Coreysha Stone said Perkins assembled “a crew” of Eastman’s family, friends and past co-workers. Stone said they all hid “behind stage, behind curtains” until the award was announced.
“She has served … with grace, class and professionalism,” Perkins said. “Since 2018, Alna has truly benefited from her hard work and dedication … Lynette, we congratulate you on receiving this award. And though I wish I could keep you forever, Lynette will be retiring in a few short months, and I, for one, will miss her.”
“Well, thank you,” Eastman said. She said of the nomination which officials described as a group effort, “You don’t know how much that means to me … What a shock it was when I heard my name called (at the event) as the honoree … I have never been so honored or so grateful to be working with such thoughtful people. You folks are the best.”
The award came with a certificate and an engraved, handcrafted rocking chair; both are wonderful keepsakes, Eastman said. She noted she and Perkins assembled the “absolutely beautiful” chair Sept. 24.
A letter Stone, board chair Nick Johnston, Second Selectman Steve Graham and former selectman Ed Pentaleri signed as part of the nomination stated, “Although Lynette’s experience and expertise are of the highest order, it’s her character that truly sets her apart … She possesses unwavering integrity and grace, navigating all manner of challenges without drama,” including keeping the office open in the pandemic.
Eastman was Woolwich’s town administrator from 2007 to 2017 and, before that, its tax collector, according to Wiscasset Newspaper files.
Also Sept. 26, the board supported a liquor license renewal for The Alna Store; and — pending voter approval of a proposed tap of American Rescue Plan Act funds at a 6 p.m. Oct. 24 special town meeting at the fire station — selectmen nodded a $30,840 bid from Quality Services of Alna for roadwork on Bailey Road.
Ford Enterprises of Houlton bid $78,400, Johnston said.
