To a man who gets things done

Sunday, September 1, 2002

By JOHN E. ANAGNOSTIS

A few months ago there was a fact-gathering meeting at the Dyer Library in Saco. The gentleman gathering the information about the library asked for some of Saco's background. The library's executive director asked Horace Wood, a member of the Dyer Library Association Trustees, to give a bit of the history. This interested me because Woody is not a native of Saco. Nevertheless, he began with the history, included some of the early information about the founding of Saco, and talked about the present population and impact on the library.

I believe Woody knows more about Saco's history than most of the natives do. If you ask him a question about city government or the history of the city, he begins to talk without hesitation. While answering your question, he will interject bits of pertinent information that give a greater perspective to the over-all picture. I got to know Woody through my wife, Dolly, when she invited the choir of First Parish Congregational Church to the house for fellowship and a brief rehearsal. He is an imposing figure and easy to notice in a group. He's soft spoken, but when he speaks, his bass voice commands attention.

Woody grew up in Milton, Mass., where his dad grew up; he even had some of the same teachers his father had. In 1939 he got on a train at North Station and for the first time left Massachusetts. He went to Lewiston, where he attended Bates College, majoring in chemistry and minoring in mathematics. World War II was on when Woody graduated from Bates as a research and development chemist, and he joined the Navy. But before reporting, he and Phyllis Hicks, whom he had met at Bates, got married.

The Navy then sent him to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a two-year grad course that he completed in nine months. MIT didn't give degrees to the Navy classes but gave them a Certificate of Completion in Aerological Engineering. With a smile he said, "That's a fancy word for being a weather man or a meteorologist." After he completed those courses, MIT kept him on as an instructor in map analysis and weather forecasting.

Eventually the Navy sent him to Dugway, Utah, in the middle of the desert. The Navy needed chemical warfare officers. Woody explained that chemical warfare relies strongly on the weather. After that training he was shipped to Pearl Harbor as a forecast duty officer to study tropical meteorology. From there he was shipped to Eniwetok, a small, treeless island in the Marshall Islands. The weather was always the same.

Woody was separated from the Navy in 1946, returned to the states, and went to work for U.S. Rubber and Monsanto. He was called back to active duty in 1950, to be weather officer at Port Lyautey, French Morocco, where he stayed 20 months.

Following his discharge from the Navy, he and Phyllis settled in Massachusetts, and eventually retired to Saco. A short time later Woody became involved in the Bay View Association.

In 1986-87 developers had organized to build 1,000 homes, a road, and a convention center in the marsh behind the house where Phyllis and Woody live. He and some others organized the Saco Citizens Coalition made up of Kinney Shores, Ocean Park, and Bay View residents. The Maine People's Alliance and the Rachel Carson Refuge backed the coalition. Eventually the groups got support from U.S. Rep. Joe Brennan, and stopped the developers from building the convention center and homes on the marsh. Work continued to help the Rachel Carson Refuge secure more of the marsh, now the Goosefare Division that includes over 600 acres.

Not ready to stop yet, Woody became more involved with Saco. He became a member of the Traffic Commission to study traffic patterns on Main Street. From 1991-1993 he was a city councilor. He was later appointed chairman of the Hazardous Materials Control Commission, and chaired a commission to study sludge disposal. He later worked on a study to find areas where in-line skating might be allowed.

He studied the erosion problems at Camp Ellis and helped start a Harbor Commission. This allowed the fishermen working at the harbor to have a voice in how it's run. Other committees included the York County Comprehensive Plan Committee, and the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission.

He was on the Comprehensive Planning Committee for Saco and established the Policy for Five-year Planning. During this time zoning, sewers and water studies were implemented.

While he was on the City Council, he was the city's representative to the Trustees of the Dyer Library Association (the Library and Saco Museum). Even though he is no longer involved in politics, he doesn't stop. He continues on the Dyer Library and Saco Museum Board.

As I talked with him I wondered why an 81-year-old man gets so involved. It's simple. He has a deep concern for people and the environment. He still belongs to the Coastal Mosaic Project and the Friends of Rachel Carson. Retiring after six years as chairman of the Saco Conservation Commission, he still serves on the boards of Saco Bay Trails and the Eastern Trail Alliance. The latter is part of the East Coast Greenway.

Will he stop? I doubt it. You might say Woody is the champion for all that needs fixing.

John Anagnostis is a free-lance writer who lives in Saco.

To top of page