Two volunteer leaders of Harpswell Aging at Home received the fifth annual Walter H. “Doc” Phillips Memorial Award from the Brunswick Rotary Club in September.
During the presentation at the Harpswell Town Office on Sept. 19, club President Zander Abbott said Surrey and Hugh Hardcastle’s “initiative, drive, enthusiasm and sincere interest in others have helped shape a better Harpswell community.”
The Hardcastles, of Bailey Island, sit on the Harpswell Aging at Home Steering Committee. Surrey heads the food team, while Hugh leads transportation initiatives.
The food team coordinates Meals in a Pinch, which delivers meals to residents in need every other week — 5,254 meals in 2024 as of Oct. 31. The team also organizes Lunch with Friends, a free community meal that seeks to foster connection for people of all ages.
The transportation arm of Harpswell Aging at Home partners with Brunswick’s People Plus to coordinate rides for those who need them.
The Hardcastles serve the community in many ways beyond their work with Harpswell Aging at Home.
Both are active with Islands Community Church, on Bailey Island, where Hugh is treasurer and a member of the Worship Committee. Hugh also is treasurer of the Orr’s Island Library. Surrey is a founding member of the Knit Wits, a local group that gathers to knit and craft.
Hugh is a 1965 graduate of Bowdoin College, and the Hardcastles open their home as community hostsfor a program that facilitates friendship between students and local residents, with an emphasis on international students.
Abbott, the Rotary president, presented the Hardcastles with a clock inlaid with a plaque commemorating their service. Another plaque at the Town Office lists all recipients of the award.
“It’s both humbling and it’s also a pleasure to receive an award for doing stuff you really enjoy doing,” Hugh said.
“For me, it is all about supporting each other and creating a sense of community,” Surrey said. “With a strong, cooperative community, we can do anything. Helping neighbors has always been a part of Harpswell, and Hugh and I personally, as founding members of Harpswell Aging at Home, have been able to witness this to an amazing degree.”
In their professional lives, Surrey was the director of a school in a psychiatric hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, while Hugh was an actuary specializing in retirement programs for corporations.
“Hugh and I moved to Harpswell many years ago because it was really important for us to be part of a community,” Surrey said. “Little did we know that we had found the jackpot of communities.”
Prior recipients of the award include three other residents of Bailey Island: Linda Blanton, a volunteer with Harpswell Aging at Home and the Harpswell Water Safety Program; Mary Ann Nahf, chair of the Harpswell Conservation Commission and Harpswell Resiliency and Sustainability Committee; and Gayle Hays, a volunteer leader with Harpswell Aging at Home and Islands Community Church.
Phillips, the namesake of the award, was a Rotarian for more than 40 years. He was a member of the Harpswell Conservation Commission and the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust Board of Trustees. He died on Sept. 17, 2019, at the age of 93.
The award criteria say it should go to “a community member who has demonstrated dedicated involvement in a field of Doc’s interest,” such as conservation, education, science or volunteerism.
Doc Phillips’ widow, Joan Phillips, and their son Bruce Phillips attended the presentation.
