Limestone natives receive agricultural award
Photo courtesy of the Maine Department of Agriculture
BERNARD AND NORMA SHAW, originally from Limestone and now residing in Augusta, were honored last Tuesday with the 2012 Agriculture Commissioner’s Distinguished Service Award. A lifetime advocate for Maine agriculture, Shaw, who first started farming potatoes in 1962, served as agriculture commissioner from 1988-96. Making the presentation are, from left: Gov. Paul LePage, Agriculture Commissioner Walter Whitcomb, and Norma and Bernard Shaw.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
AUGUSTA — Aroostook County potato farmers Bernard and Norma Shaw were honored last Tuesday with the 2012 Agriculture Commissioner’s Distinguished Service Award.
The award was presented by Agriculture Commissioner Walter Whitcomb at the 71st annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show at the Augusta Civic Center. Also participating in the presentation was Gov. Paul LePage.
“I am very pleased to present this award to the Shaws, two of the most accomplished, yet humble, contributors to Maine’s agricultural community,” said Whitcomb. “Their years of service and ability to focus on the positive are something we all should emulate.”
The Shaws, both natives of Limestone, personify the traditional, hardworking Maine farm family. They not only ran a busy and successful farm while raising three children, but also managed to include extensive participation in local, state and national organizations. Notable in their volunteer efforts are their years of work in helping to run the Windsor Fair, and their weekly work with the Augusta Food Bank, helping to expand its service from 20 families per month in the 1980s to a current level of about 900.
“I was in total amazement,” said Bernard of finding out about the award. “I’m very, very pleased. I knew nothing about it until I walked in the room. I get tickets to the commissioner’s luncheon every year so it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary until I walked in and saw my family sitting around a table. I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ and then I realized we were being recognized. It means an awful lot to me.”
A lifetime advocate for Maine agriculture, Bernard, who first started farming potatoes in 1962, served as agriculture commissioner from 1988-96. He held positions with numerous agricultural organizations including the Maine Potato Council, Maine Potato Board, Aroostook County Extension Service, National Potato Promotion Board and the Agricultural Bargaining Council, in addition to representing Maine for many years at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, Mass.
At the state level, he also served for eight years on the Land for Maine’s Future Board, and was director of the Finance Authority of Maine. At the local level, Bernard was a member of the Limestone school and planning boards.
“The great thing about this award is that it was for both Norma and I,” said Bernard, who has been married to Norma for 61 years. “While I was commissioner, Norma traveled with me a lot to the family farms. We’d visit the farms together and meet the growers. She enjoyed it very much, as well.
“She was just as surprised by this award. She doesn’t keep a secret well so I would have known,” he said. “It’s a great honor for both of us.”
The Shaws, who still own their farm in Limestone but rent it out to Greg Smith for broccoli production, have resided in Augusta since 1987. Their son, Steve, resides in Fort Fairfield.
