Union bids farewell to Nautica with selfless acts

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Information provided by Phillip Dill Sr., secretary-treasurer of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, or UNITE, was most heartwarming to read, as I am sure you will agree.

Dill wrote that, with the closing of Nautica Enterprises Inc. in Rockland, “the people of our union … met to decide how to spend the money in the union dues fund.”

That fund contained $9,000.

Ideas for how to spend the money ranged from having a banquet or a party to taking a cruise or giving everyone “a share of it,” he wrote.

“But, when it came down to the last meeting on spending the money, we did it the right way.”

After a discussion that, Dill admitted, was heated at times, “the members of the union made us feel real proud to know them.”

He explained, “as a local, we have always been very generous with our money” and always an organization that was there to help others in need.

So it should come as no surprise that UNITE remained true to itself and gave the money away to those who could benefit most from it.

The union authorized that $3,000 to $5,000 be allocated for scholarships in the six towns where Nautica employees reside: Camden, Rockland, Thomaston, Waldoboro, Belfast and Thorndike.

Then union members voted to donate $500 to the animal shelters in Camden and Rockland.

Bob Minot, “a worker who has had some unreal medical bills,” Dill wrote, received $1,000 from the union fund.

The Bob Gagnon Fund (a cancer-helping fund) received $1,500 and the Breanna Colson Fund, for a youngster who has cerebral palsy, received $2,000.

Finally, $500 was allotted Toys for Tots.

“And that was how we spent $9,000 in about a half hour,” Dill wrote. “We think we did a really good job of it.”

I think they did a great job of it, and I commend the members of UNITE for demonstrating such unselfishness and grace during a very difficult time in their own lives.

“We are going to miss a lot, coming to work here in Rockland,” Dill wrote of people who have worked at Nautica for many, many years. But what he is going to miss the most, he said, “is working with the best bunch of people in the world.”

Conductor Jan Cox and members of the Brewer Hometown Band invite you to attend its Holiday Concert, beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22, at the Brewer Auditorium.

Admission is free, and refreshments and prizes will be available.

After the concert, you are invited to view the lighting of Brewer’s community Christmas tree.

Local residents or visitors to our city doing their holiday shopping might like to know that the Bangor Museum and Center for History, which now is located at its new site, 6 State St., is open for your enjoyment and enlightenment.

If that address sounds familiar to some of you not-so-young folks, you might remember doing your banking there, or visiting your attorneys in that building.

As a gift to the community, and with a desire to participate in the cultural renaissance of downtown Bangor, the BMCH board of directors has decided not to charge an admission fee for the duration of the exhibit, “Ruffians, Ruffles, Parasols and Patriots: A Story of Bangor’s History Through Costume.”

The museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and more information can be obtained by calling BMCH at 942-1900.

The historic Thomas A. Hill House also is open for tours Tuesday through Friday at 159 Union St. For information about that facility, call 942-5766.

During its recent annual awards banquet in Bangor, The Penobscot Voiture Locale 427 of the American Legion 40-8 presented 13 nursing scholarships.

The awards, ranging from $400 to $500, went to 12 women and one man who are studying at the University of Maine in Orono, Husson College in Bangor and Eastern Maine Technical College in Bangor.

The awards were presented by Penobscot Voiture Chef de Gare Mike Lamoreau of Hudson, who explained that seven of the scholarships were made possible through locally raised funds and six from funds provided by the national American Legion 40-8.

This marks the 20th year that Penobscot Voiture has been able to assist local nursing students.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.