Letter to the editor: Emily Trask-Eaton has the intellect, strength, and good statesmanship for Augusta

Thu, 10/27/2016 - 1:45pm

A lady knocked on my door the other day, introducing herself as Emily Trask-Eaton. I had seen the articles in the newspapers about her running for the Democratic seat in the House of Representatives in District 91: Waldoboro, Washington, Friendship, West Union.

Recognizing her face from the photos in the news articles, we immediately started a discussion on her background as a native of Maine and having roots in a sturdy fishing family on the coast of Maine Downeast in Bernard.

I used to fish out of that area for scallops in the late 1970s. She knew people I had met, and had grown up with them. I figured if she was from the same stock of people who had welcomed my uncle and me, who were actually foreigners from Matinicus Island, fishing their scallop beds, offering us willingly a warm meal or a place to shower, considering we were living on the scallop dragger.

I surmised from our discussion she too was a caring soul who held no ill-feelings for a stranger in their community trying to make a living.

Emily has come full circle, from those days when her dad's lobstering provided less than a dollar a pound to support his family, and then to pass away at a young age leaving her mother and the children to step up to helm and chart a new course.

Emily has proven herself with a will to learn, listen and grow within the community. She just recently retired as a medical doctor. Dr. Trask-Eaton has planted her feet in Waldoboro for several decades and owned a couple of businesses that provided Waldoboro residents with goods and services that many of us still remember. And I'm sure she contributed part of her income to charity, as that is the kind of person she is. It's all about life, serving the community, and giving back without expectations for fame or fortune.

Plainly said, it's a rough job; only certain people make the grade and win the vote.

When it comes to the ability to serve the people in our District 91, I discovered in our conversation that she has an honest and endearing will to help make a difference in the way Maine life should be, now and in the future.

Emily listens to you, like any good doctor should. She knows the issues and has full understanding of how the poor, middle-class, and well-to-do must co-exist in modern times of regulations galore and stressful political climates.

She is a certainly a credible person who has the ability to negotiate, debate, and vote in a legislative setting with due respect for the process, while all the time understanding the many facets of our diverse local economy which includes the homeless, the low-income, the working class, the business owners, to the upper class wealthy who have chosen the Midcoast as their home.

I'm positive she has the intellect to go to Augusta and become a voice that will be reckoned with in good stead, while having the strength to muster fairness and maintain a statesmanship demeanor in our Maine House of Representatives that will benefit this district.

Russell Anderson lives in Waldoboro