This spring the students in Anne Merkel's 7th and 8th grade writing class at Edgecomb's Center for Teaching and Learning went out into their communities to meet local working women and learn about their lives. They learned reportage, data-gathering, and interviewing techniques, and they experienced the process of making sense of data and crafting it as literature. Their goals were to learn how to conduct original, first-hand research and to make women's work and experiences more visible in their communities.

By Ella Beauregard

“I’ve volunteered at St. Andrews Village for 13 years. I love it, because I get to socialize with older men and women. My favorite part is seeing the smiles on their faces when we start to connect,” says Southport’s Betty Goulette, of her current work.

Goulette, who has lived on the island her whole life, experienced many different professions until her retirement. She remembers that growing up on Southport was “amazing,” that it “shaped me into who I am now.” She recalls, “I am happy I grew up on the island because I was able to go anywhere without being afraid or worried about who I was going to meet in my travels. Everyone looks out for everyone in a small community. I am so lucky I was able to grow up where I did.” She also remembers, “When I was a child I had no time to think about what I was going to be when I grew up.” What she did end up doing was a surprise to her friends and family.

First she worked in restaurants on Southport for 11 years, waiting tables at Gus’s and at Robinson’s Wharf. Then, in 1959, Goulette became the lunch lady at the Boothbay Region Elementary School; she continued in this job for 19 years. “The best part of being a lunch lady was definitely not the hair nets or the dishes; it was the satisfaction of feeding children a healthy and delicious meal.” Next she spent two years at home caring for her family.

In 1980, Goulette went back to work, this time as a clerk at the Southport Post Office. The job became available because the postmaster’s family spent winters in Florida, and someone was needed to work in the office during that time. After the postmaster retired, Goulette decided she wanted a full-time job, and in 1983 she was appointes postmaster of Southport Island.

Goulette describes the challenges: “When I worked at the post office, the hardest part was filling out the weekly reports. Once a week we had to write an account of the mail intake. I enjoy writing, but I did not enjoy writing the same thing every Saturday.” She also describes the high points: “The people. I was so happy with the people. I was able to meet the most amazing local folks, and the summer people were also interesting.” She continued behind the counter at the post office for the next 22 years.

In 2002, when Goulette retired, she suddenly had too much time on her hands. So she began to volunteer at St. Andrews Village in Boothbay Harbor, specifically in the Gregory Wing department. Today she spends time organizing activities for the old folks, including, of course, Wednesday Bingo. Along with that, Goulette had become the island’s pie lady. “She makes the best blueberry pie I’ve ever had,” says Pam Pearce, her neighbor. Her pies vary from chocolate cream to strawberry rhubarb, with a couple of secret ingredients that make them the best in town.

Locals can recognize Betty Goulette by her bouncing grey curls and the skip in her step. She is willing to go out of her way to help them with any task. She is, in this reporter’s opinion, the kindest resident of Southport Island.