You have to hand it to locals who give vast amounts of their time week in and week out, and year in and out, to their towns. Jack Sarmanian has, helping Edgecomb get its long needed fire station and, on any meeting night or town event, navigating the job of selectman that often looks like part town manager, mediator and many parts volunteer.

Plus, Sarmanian has left Maine multiple times to use his Red Cross training to help fellow Americans cope after disasters. He has served the nation and the town well.

In my dealings with him when I covered Edgecomb for years, he was also always a gentleman, polite and earnest to all, including the press. Thank you, Jack Sarmanian.

Thank you also, Alna First Selectman Melissa Spinney, for helping Alna replace its town office, sell the old one next door to a big, nice family and, in the new one, being key to the food pantry and community garden. Spinney announced this week, she is stepping back from both. It is good sometimes for new faces to fill a void, so knowledge and procedures are passed on and maybe some new ideas develop also. But when a Jack Sarmanian finishes being a selectman or a Melissa Spinney hangs up a couple of her hats, that is still a loss to recognize.

So hats off to those two longtime servants and friends of their towns.

Week’s positive parting thought: If it wasn’t so consistently overly windy, it would not be spring. And it does dry the mud.

Editor’s note: After press time this week, Spinney also announced her resignation as selectman, following six years of service.