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NORRIDGEWOCK — The town is searching for its oldest resident, so it can bestow the Boston Post cane.
Irene Damren, who had held the cane, passed away Feb 12 at 102.
Anyone who believes they are, or know of, the town’s oldest resident is asked to contact the Town Office, Town Manager Richard LaBelle said.
The town clerk will review all submissions against current records to determine the town’s oldest resident and next recipient of the Boston Post Cane.
Eligible candidates must have been a resident of the town for a minimum of 25 of the previous 40 years. Candidates currently living outside the town with family or in an assisted living or nursing facility must also meet the 25/40 requirements. Should the Board of Selectmen deem a person’s contributions to the community so extraordinary, such residency requirements may be waived.
Town Clerk Sharon Dodge may be reached at 207-634-2252 or by email at sharon@townofnorridgewock.com.
The Boston Post Cane began as a newspaper promotion in 1909, when the newspaper gave the gold-headed ebony canes to towns across New England, with the request that it be presented to the oldest male resident of the town, to be used by him as long as he lives (or moves from the town), and at his death handed down to the next oldestresident of the town. The cane would belong to the town and not the man who received it, according to the Maynard, Mass., website, which has done extensive study on the cane’s history. In 1930, women were also included.
The website says as many as 700 canes were originally conferred, and 517 towns in New England have reported they still bestow it.
PHOTO: The head of a Boston Post Cane. (web.maynard.ma.us photo)
