Vassalboro deputy clerk resigns after 6 years

Vassalboro Deputy Clerk Deborah Johnston-Nixon is resigning her post after serving the town for six years. She will be moving to Florida to be nearer family members. (photo courtesy of Mary Sabins)

Moving to Lady Lake, Florida

by Mary Grow

August 21 will be deputy clerk Deborah Johnston-Nixon’s last day at the Vassalboro town office.

She is resigning after almost six years (she started Sept. 2, 2014, Town Manager Mary Sabins wrote) because her husband, Bob Nixon, Jr., has retired from Huhtamaki after 45 years and the couple is moving to Florida.

Inland Florida, Debbie specified, a town called Lady Lake, east of Interstate 75 and near The Villages. They chose the area because other family members are nearby. Considering the climate, Debbie commented, “We’ll go from air-conditioned to air-conditioned, like we go from heated to heated [in Maine].”

Three things stand out for Debbie from her time at Vassalboro.

First, her co-workers have been “wonderful” and easy to work with and the community has been very receptive.

Second, with support from the town, she completed the necessary courses to become a certified Maine town clerk.

Third, she has had time and encouragement to volunteer in Vassalboro, especially with FAVOR (Friends Advocating for Vassalboro’s Older Residents). Sabins started FAVOR and passed on the chairmanship, Debbie said. Rachel Kilbride, co-owner with her husband James of St. Bridget’s Center, in North Vassalboro, thought up the name.

After a survey of senior residents, FAVOR provided public bus service two days a week, but there were not enough riders to maintain it. More successful were the two WindowDressers sessions, working with the Rockland-based volunteer organization to weatherproof windows in seniors’ homes, and three annual senior services fairs (the fourth would have been this summer), bringing together residents and area service providers.

Debbie graduated from Lawrence High School, in Fairfield, and went to work at Waterville City Hall as a counter clerk. By the time she applied for the Vassalboro job in 2014, she had worked in municipal and health-care-related offices and gained experience with the TRIO software system that Vassalboro and many other Maine municipalities use.

She is already looking long-distance for a comparable Florida job. She also hopes to remain active in groups like the Elks and the HOGs (Harley Owners Group) with which she’s affiliated in Maine.

Sabins remembered Debbie’s role as “Elf Debbie” in the Vassalboro Christmas tree lighting. At work, she often went beyond routine to help customers, for example, by making telephone calls if the customer needed more information to complete a transaction, Sabins wrote.

Summarizing, Sabins commended Debbie for “her great dependable customer service with a smile that we are all going to miss.”

“I will continue to smile,” Debbie said.