Martha Rollins, 98, presented with D-F’s Boston Post Cane
DOVER-FOXCROFT — In recognition of being the eldest resident of Dover-Foxcroft, Martha Rollins — who turned 98 a week before the ceremony — was presented with the Boston Post Cane by the town and Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society on June 27 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building.
Dover-Foxcroft Assistant Town Clerk Cindy Woodworth gave Rollins a framed certificate “for being the eldest citizen in the town of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine and you were born in June of 1919.” Woodworth continued, “You had a birthday last week so you are 98.”
Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society President Mary Annis presented Rollins a replica Boston Post Cane. The original Dover-Foxcroft Boston Post Cane is on display at the historical society’s Observer Building Museum and soon a picture of Dow will join the cane.
Annis said her mother-in-law lived next door to Rollins on West Main Street. Annis mentioned she and her husband Jim lived by Rollins for a time while their home across town was being built.
Past Boston Post Cane honorees in Dover-Foxcroft include Eva D. Smith, who turned 100 in 2000; Edith M. Pinkerton, on the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2002; Dorothy F. Greenlaw, who turned 100 in 2005; Bernard C. Bishop, who celebrated his 100th birthday in 2007; Mary (Hughes) Stuart in 2008 soon after she turned 101; Leona LaPointe Crawford, who received the cane a few days after she marked her 100th birthday in 2010; Alice Shepardson, who was presented with the cane at the age of 101 in 2012; Madelyn Betts, shortly before she turned 102 in 2014; the then 101-year-old Corinne Noyes in late 2014; and Beryl Dow in 2016 several months after she observed her 99th birthday.
The cane was manufactured especially to be the Boston Post Cane for Dover-Foxcroft by J.F Fradley & Co. of New York out of carefully selected ebony from the African Congo. The head is made of 14 karat rolled gold engraved with the words “Presented by the Boston Post to the oldest citizen of Dover-Foxcroft.”
The tradition of presenting a cane to the oldest member of a community started in 1909 when Boston Post publisher Edwin A. Grozier forwarded 700 of the items to towns across New England. According to the Boston Post Cane website (http://canequest.com/history-of-antique-canes/the-boston-post-cane/) the gold-headed ebony cane came with the request that it be presented with the compliments of The Boston Post to the oldest male citizen of the town, to be used by him as long as he lives (or moves from the town), and at his death handed down to the next oldest citizen of the town. The cane would belong to the town and not the man who received it. In 1930 cane eligibility was extended to women.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
THE MOST SENIOR CITIZEN OF DOVER-FOXCROFT — Ninety-eight-year-old Martha Rollins was presented with Dover-Foxcroft’s Boston Post Cane, signifying her as the community’s oldest resident, during a ceremony at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building on June 27. Rollins received the cane from Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society President Mary Annis and a framed certificate from Assistant Town Clerk Cindy Woodworth, left,
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
HOLDING THE BOSTON POST CANE — Martha Rollins, 98, is the current holder of Dover-Foxcroft’s Boston Post Cane, signifying her as the community’s eldest resident.