Volunteer earns ticket to president

Lawrence Merrill is not quite sure why he was chosen to meet President George Bush at the Republican rally in Bangor last Tuesday, although he’s certainly grateful for the privilege.

And Merrill, who has practiced law in Bangor for 33 years, was a bit surprised as well to be recognized as “an example of the dedication to volunteer service” that Bush is hoping to instill in all Americans through his USA Freedom Corps initiative.

Until the White House filled him in last week about the coming meeting with Bush, in fact, Merrill hadn’t even heard of the USA Freedom Corps.

“So I guess the whole experience was like winning a lottery without even knowing that you had bought a ticket for it,” Merrill said at his downtown office Friday. “It seems obvious that I was a pawn in the president’s plan to encourage greater volunteerism across the country, which is fine with me. It was hard not to have a large grin on my face the whole time.”

Merrill spends his Friday evenings bringing food to homebound senior citizens as a volunteer driver for the Meals for Me program. He also dedicates several hours every month providing free legal assistance to people who don’t have the money to pay for a lawyer.

“Certainly there are many people out there who do a lot more volunteer work than I do, but I do what I can to help,” he said.

That’s presumably why the Eastern Agency on Aging called Merrill a few days before the GOP rally and asked if he would like to meet with the president.

“I had no idea why I was selected, but I said sure, why not,” said Merrill, who is 58 and a veteran kayak racer. “Later I spoke with a couple of people from the White House and we made the arrangements.”

At the Air National Guard base while waiting for the president’s plane to land, Merrill met with Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, as well as GOP gubernatorial candidate Peter Cianchette and congressional hopeful Kevin Raye.

“We all got frisked, including the senators,” Merrill said. “I guess they don’t trust anyone these days. I always carry a jackknife, but I left it home that day, which was probably a good thing. The whole time I was conscious of the fact that I shouldn’t make any sudden moves.”

Merrill said his meeting with Bush was cordial and brief.

“We didn’t resolve the Iraq situation or anything,” he said with a laugh. “After greeting the important people, the president came over and shook my hand and thanked me for all the volunteer work I do, which isn’t really all that much, and said how important it was. Then his photographer took a picture of us together in front of Air Force One, and that was pretty much it. But no, I didn’t get to go aboard the plane.”

While Merrill said he enjoyed his few moments of fame and appreciates the unexpected presidential accolade, he finds a greater satisfaction in believing that his volunteer work really can make a small difference in someone’s life.

“I have a pretty good life, so I just feel that I should give a little something back,” said Merrill, who grew up in the town of Penobscot and now lives with his wife, Rachel, on Fields Pond in Orrington. “It’s something I was raised with. My parents were both volunteer-oriented. My mother, who is 94, is still doing volunteer work. I suppose that instead of driving meals around to seniors, I could just donate money to charitable programs, but I like the personal involvement of meeting with people.

“For some of them, it’s a high point just to get a visitor, and it makes me feel good, too.”