In 2006, Rita and Mel Timmons had just bought a condo in Bass Harbor. They had visited Acadia often since their first visit in 1972. Now, they wanted to spend each summer near the park.

During the Fourth of July parade, they watched Friends of Acadia’s Imprecision Drill Team, always a highlight of the event. Marching with their wheelbarrows, shovels, and rakes, these volunteers of the trails and carriage roads delighted the crowd. “Those people are having too much fun.” Rita told Mel, as the couple watched the drill team going through their paces. “This is a group that we want to join.” The couple had enjoyed Acadia’s trails for years. Now, they were looking for a way to give back. They also wanted to be part of a group of where fun and fellowship went hand–in–hand with work on worthy projects. The Friends of Acadia trail volunteers were the perfect fit; Rita and Mel have volunteered with the crew for the past three summers. The multi–talented pair has also found other creative ways to support Friends, and they are quick in responding to any request for help. When it comes to preserving and protecting Acadia, no project is too large or too small.

“We’re counting the days until we get back,” Rita said in a recent telephone conversation. “The FOA community is one of the nicest, most gracious I have ever met, and I love to be in the park.”

Mel added, “I’ve traveled the world on business, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than Acadia.” Both Rita and Mel wear their Friends of Acadia caps proudly in Maryland, as well as on Mount Desert Island. Mel, who retired in 2001 after 30 years as an engineer designing power tools for Black & Decker/DeWalt, enjoys working with wood. Last summer, when a foot injury curtailed his work on the trails, he asked Acadia Trails Foreman Gary Stellpflug if he could use help in the shop. The answer was a resounding “Yes!” Mel spent much of the summer finishing and repairing signs, shaping the large logs on which signs are posted, re–pointing trail stakes, and building the anchors that hold signs on carriage roads.

Mel also has contributed his woodworking skills and creativity to Friends of Acadia. In Maryland, he uses wood burning to create special walking sticks for donors to the local Boy Scout District, with which he has volunteered for many years. In 2006, Mel visited Lisa Horsch Clark, Friends of Acadia’s Director of Development, to show her one of his walking sticks and ask whether Friends could use them as gifts for special donors. The answer, again, was a resounding “Yes!” Mel uses wood burning to decorate each stick with text written especially for the honoree, and sometimes adds color drawings. The result is a one–of–a–kind commemorative item that he donates to Friends. He also donated a walking stick to the silent auction at the 2007 and 2008 Benefit Galas. “Woodworking is my hobby, and I enjoy doing it,” Mel said. “And I like the idea of doing something for people who do things for FOA.”

Ever willing to help Friends, Rita and Mel both responded to a different kind of call for volunteers last summer. Friends was expanding its membership table program, started in 2007, and needed more help at the Jordan Pond House location. Membership table volunteers engage visitors in conversation about Acadia—what it means to them, and how membership gifts can help Friends preserve and protect the natural beauty of the park. After hearing about the project from another trail worker, Rita and Mel quickly offered to help. Their contagious enthusiasm for Acadia drew in many new members. “We enjoy talking with people about what we do for Friends,” Says Rita. “We tell them about our trail work, and explain that the park is well taken care of because of FOA.” Rita, who worked with special education children in the Baltimore County schools before retiring, said Acadia “keeps us young.” “We’re not wealthy, so we want to support the park in other ways,” Mel adds. “Because of Friends of Acadia, there are many ways for us to help.”

- Sharon Broom