"He's probably attended more meetings than everyone here combined," was one of the many statements made about Harry L. Pinkham at the ceremony held in his honor on Thursday, April 17.

Pinkham, 87, was presented with the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club's Lifetime Service Award for 2014 at Rotary's weekly meeting held at The Gallery on Route 96. Approximately 60 Rotarians, friends and acquaintances showed up for the presentation.

Pinkham, a lifelong resident of Boothbay Harbor, sat quietly at the head table with Dwight Swisher, president-elect, and award presenter Robin Reed. Reed read the award tribute written by Chip Griffin while Pinkham and the audience listened. Reed asked Pinkham to "chime right in and correct any information" that may have been incorrectly recorded about his life. Pinkham only spoke up a couple of times to correct the tribute.

Still living in the Park Street home he grew up in, Pinkham has worn many hats as a community volunteer in his "eight decades of service." Some of the positions he's held, many of them for many years, include:

• Boothbay Harbor Civil Preparedness (almost 50 years)
• Boothbay Harbor Town Assessor
• Boothbay Harbor Water System Commissioner
• Boothbay Harbor Water District Trustee (1976 to present)
• Boothbay Harbor Town Meeting Moderator and Ballot Clerk (over 30 years)
• Boothbay Harbor Fire Department Firefighter
• Boothbay Harbor Fire Department Traffic Control Officer
• Lincoln County Fire Chief's Association Member
• American Legion Post Commander and Finance Officer
• Lions Club President, Treasurer and Melvin Jones Award Recipient
• Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library Trustee
• Oaklawn Cemetery Trustee
• Boothbay Region Historical Society Trustee
• Masons Seaside Lodge Treasurer

Pinkham also served during the Korean Conflict from 1951 to 1953 as an administrative clerk in Korea and Fort Devens in Massachusetts. He later joined the Air Force Reserve.

After his military service, Pinkham spent 30-plus years working out of the West Boothbay Harbor Post Office and Boothbay Harbor Post Office delivering the mail.

His fire department service, for Boothbay Harbor and Boothbay, stretched over 60 years as a firefighter, treasurer, secretary and traffic control officer.

And the list goes on. He has been a member of the Masonic Seaside Lodge for 62 years; is the only living charter member of the Boothbay Region Lions Club, which started in 1953 (61 years); and has been a member of the American Legion Post 36 for more than five decades. (Chip Griffin's entire tribute to Pinkham appears online with this article at www.boothbayregister.com.)

Following the tribute, a few of Pinkham's friends were given a chance to speak.

Estelle Appel said she remembers him going to all of the school's games as a fan and a team manager. "He's always been even tempered, nice and pleasant," Appel said. "He's been a very valued member of our community."

Former Boothbay Harbor Fire Chief Arthur Richardson said Pinkham "was always very helpful writing the fire department reports during my time in office."

Fellow Lion and former Boothbay Fire Chief Tom Nickerson joked about how, "Harry and Jerry Closson would fight over traffic control at the end of a dead end street whenever a fire occurred on one of those roads. Harry usually won those fights."

Nickerson also talked about Pinkham's years as a postal carrier (knowing everyone's winter location by reading the postcards), his remembrances of Pinkham driving Boothbay Harbor duck boat, and he told the story about Pinkham's car sliding off the road in East Boothbay.

"When we arrived, Harry was already out there directing traffic!" Nickerson said.

"In all seriousness, I want to thank the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club for selecting this most deserving member of our community for this award," Nickerson said.

After the presentation, Pinkham received a standing ovation, and simply thanked the Rotary Club for the award.