Mother’s Day Tea becomes 15-year Parkman tradition

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    PARKMAN — An idea that started as a casual conversation among a few Parkman Grange members 15 years ago has evolved into a major Mother’s Day weekend celebration in the Penquis region.
    The Parkman Grange Mother’s Day tea is set for Saturday, May 9 from 10 a.m.-noon and this year’s guest of honor is Parkman Town Clerk Brenda Hartford.

Contributed Photo/Liz Morin

    TEA TIME — Shannon Labree Gray, right, and children Anthony Gray and Allison Morin of Parkman are pictured at last year’s Mother’s Day Tea at Parkman Grange.

    But the observance has reached far beyond the boundaries of Parkman. “We had 80 at the first one 15 years ago,” said Liz Morin, a past master of the Grange. “Now we’re up to 108, which is our seating capacity.”
    Sue Manchester, the current master, recalled that the idea of a Mother’s Day observance was discussed in 2000. “We’re a very small organization, so we were looking for ways to raise funds and still give back to the community,” Manchester said.
    Morin credits Tylene Kimball for coming up with the idea of a Mother’s Day Tea originally. “In the beginning, our checking account balance was so small we could barely keep up with expenses,” Morin said. “In later years, the proceeds have been given to a charity of the honorees choice, such as the Lafayette Cancer Center in Brewer, the MS Society and the Wellington Evangelical Church.”
    Manchester said that the tea attracts a lot of repeat customers from “lady friends getting together for some socializing to second and third-generation families.”
    The tea, coffee and snacks are served on linen table cloths, matching napkins and “real dishes which the ladies seem to appreciate,” Morin said. Each lady is also given a carnation.
    Morin said that it’s also been customary for males to serve the ladies at the annual event and her husband, sons and grandsons have helped over the years. Members of the Boy Scout Troop from Sangerville will help out for the second year in a row, she added.
    Music will be provided by Julie Harrington and Hill Artman along with some members of the Piscataquis Community High School chorus.
    “Several area business and craftsmen, including the industries program at Mountain View Correctional Center, donate an item which is used as a door prize,” Morin said. “All tickets go into the hat and winners are chosen at random.”
Donation is $5 per person and children under age 5 are admitted free.
    Both Morin and Manchester “strongly urge” reservations due to the limited seating capacity. “We do have a community table for last-minute guests,” Manchester said.
    Although the Parkman Grange only has 30-35 members, the organization has several other community-based functions each year.
    The fraternal organization hosts a veterans’ appreciation supper in September, a hunter’s breakfast and gun raffle in the fall, a father-daughter dance in the spring and a scholarship fundraising dinner each July in memory of Minnie Welts Bridge, a local schoolteacher who passed away in 2011 at the age of 102.
    For Mother’s Day Tea reservations, call Manchester at 277-3942; and for updates, visit the Parkman Grange Facebook page.