Meals for Me volunteer amazes people around her

Grace Smart’s bright pink jacket doesn’t hold a candle to the brightness of her eyes. And just try to catch her without a smile on her face.

Grace has been a staple at the Newport Meals for Me site, volunteering for 19 years.

“My husband had just died and I wanted to do something,” she said. But at 95, she has decided to retire. Probably.

“I’ll still come to meals even if I’m not working,” she said. And she’ll “help out” a little if needed. “I like the company and I like the meal. If I didn’t eat that meal, I’d eat a sandwich or something or I’d head for McDonald’s,” she added with a wink.

Some of her fellow volunteers are a bit skeptical of her plans to stop doing the work she loves.

“I asked her when she was going to retire and she said she was going to hang around to aggravate people,” Paul Reynolds, 73, said with a hearty laugh. He has volunteered with Grace for six years. “Grace is like a magnet.” Everyone loves her, he added.

While Grace and Paul may be the Bobbsey Twins of mischief, delighting in giving dining room manager Maggie Newcomb a hard time, it’s all in good fun and a day’s work.

“They’re a good crowd to work with,” said Newcomb. She often shakes her head at the duo but knows she can rely on them. “I expect them to do what they’re supposed to do, and they do it. And if I have a day off, I put Grace in charge.”

Good idea. Grace knows her stuff. “She does everything at the meal site,” said Maggie. “She washes the tables, then sets them up, eats, then usually washes the dishes.” There are 14 volunteers at this site, but all agree that Grace is special.

But it’s not all work. Grace loves to play bingo until the meals arrive at the site from the Meals for Me kitchen in Dexter or Bangor.

Being 95 has not really slowed her down much.

“She still drives her own car,” said Paul.

“Well, how else would I get down here,” Grace replied.

She does get around. When not volunteering, Grace is a member of the group the Old Geezer and the Scalawags.

“Grace has been in 17 years or better, long before I came in,” said Norman Barrows, 70, the Old Geezer. “We do a variety show – comedy, skits, magic and we play homemade instruments. Grace plays a drum made out of a wash bucket and she tells jokes.”

The group performs in various communities for nursing homes, senior centers and schools.

“This spring we went to three elementary schools and they really enjoyed it. They are smart little critters,” said Grace. “You ought to see the little fourth-graders do the hokey pokey. They sure can wiggle.” As for playing the bucket, Grace said you don’t really have to learn it, “you just have to have rhythm.”

Grace’s past is as diverse as her present. “I was the unpaid hired man on the farm for 56 years,” she said. “I worked at CM Almy [makers of church vestments] for 51/2 years doing the pressing and making sure orders went out because I had to have a little Social Security. We even made things for the pope. My boss said I was the oldest woman he’s ever hired. I was 58 at the time.”

Inspiring people is Grace’s calling card.

“Grace has an amazing spirit. She’s an amazing person,” said Edna Chambers, 88, fellow volunteer. “She has the best outlook on life anyone has ever had or should have.”

Retired or not, that’s one thing that will never change.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865, log on www.eaaa.org, or email us at info@eaaa.org.