By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — As Joanne Huntress described while introducing two of Limestone’s newly named Citizens of the Year, the generosity of Ron and Barb [Gallagher] is well known throughout the Limestone community.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Barbara and Ronald Gallagher, at left, thanked the community for the honor of being two of Limestone’s Citizens of the Year. At right are the Greater Limestone Chamber of Commerce’s President Joe LaPierre, and Vice President Michelle Albert.
“Whether it’s is providing a warm sweater for a youngster, a prayer shawl for one in need, an extra loaf of bread or a plate of cookies left on the front seat of a car after church, their contributions have touched many lives in our rural community,” Huntress said.
The Gallaghers are active members of the Limestone United Methodist Church, avid supporters of the Robert A. Frost Memorial Library, members of the Limestone/Caswell Historical Society and Friends of the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge.
As Ronald and Barbara are respectively president and treasurer of the Limestone Ski Club, the pair has spent countless hours working with youths during the after-school ski program.
“It’s part of their personal mission to introduce skiing to a new generation and to keep cross country skiing alive in Limestone,” Huntress explained. “The kids are convinced that Ron and Barb are only in their ‘forties’, and we have seen them ski circles around the youngsters.”
While too far away to attend, the Gallaghers’ son, Ron, and daughter, Lisa, sent a list they compiled to be read during the award presentation, titled “Top ten things that went through our minds when we found out our parents were named Limestone’s Citizens of the Year,” which contained humorous items like “4) Raising us must have been good inspiration for the Wildlife Center [of the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge],” and sweeter sentiments such as “1) They’ve been Parents of the Year to us for so long I guess we could share them with the whole town for one year.”
The Gallaghers’ 13-year-old grandson, Bryant, wrote a special poem centered around the letters in “citizens” on behalf of himself and his 5-year-old sister, Marissa. The poem’s forward indicated, “Bryant spends most of the summer with his ‘Grammy and Grampy’ and spends the rest of the year talking about it.”
