NEWPORT, Maine — If they want a job done in the Newport area — one that involves feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, housing the needy, guiding children or raising money for a cultural center — town officials know exactly whom to call: Phil and Barbara Brown.
It’s not unusual for someone to slip Phil a $100 bill for the food bank while shaking hands at church. Or for Barbara to open the mail and find a $500 donation for the new library.
And no one in town was surprised when UNICEL recently named the couple Hometown Heroes and the pair donated the $200 prize back to the town’s cultural center.
When you call on the Browns, it’s a two-for-one deal — the couple rarely get involved with a charity unless they can do it together. They have never taken a vacation, unless you count the three days they spent in Portland at their son’s wedding.
“I can’t think of one couple in this town that dedicates so much time and energy to so many causes,” Town Manager James Ricker said Tuesday. “From serving on the town budget committee to moderating our town meetings to coordinating the Christmas Tree Lighting, they are the two most community-oriented citizens I know.”
Here’s just a partial list of their involvements, past and present: SAD 48 Music Boosters, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America, Greater Pittsfield Area Kiwanis, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, The Newport Food Bank, Jerry Lewis Telethon, Pine Tree Ride-In, Newport Fire Department, Newport Library and High Street Congregational Church.
“When the phone rings around here, it could be just about anything,” Barbara said.
It’s important to clarify that this list doesn’t represent groups that occasionally receive a check from the Browns. No, the couple serve as officers, chief executives, treasurer, secretary, deacon, trustee or administrator of each of these. What they are giving is time, countless hours of volunteer work and effort.
And these good deeds are not hit or miss with them. They are enduring, long-term volunteers. They have been serving some of these charities for more than 20 years, while still operating Brown Funeral Home (Phil) and teaching second grade for 35 years with four as assistant principal (Barbara).
Now retired from teaching, Barbara works alongside Phil at the funeral home.
That togetherness, the two-for-one package, is the key to the couple’s success, as well as their 37-year marriage, they said.
“It’s better that we do all this together,” Barbara said this week. “If we didn’t, we’d each be off in our own directions and would never see each other.”
Volunteerism “is our recreation,” Phil added. “This is what we do for fun.”
But when pressed for the reasons for their dedication to others, the couple fall silent.
Phil starts talking again about the value of Kiwanis to the world’s children and the increased need at the food bank, trying to steer the conversation away from themselves.
Phil and Barbara Brown, both 60, met each other more than 54 years ago. “We have known each other forever,” Barbara said. “We started first grade together.”
Throughout their school years, the couple were friends. Building a marriage based on friendship has been key to its endurance, they said. They were married in June 1971, 37 years ago. The couple have two children, Peter and Sarah, and as they raised them, the Browns first began getting involved with community activities for the children.
“It started with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and then SAD 48 Music Boosters,” Phil said. But the couple had some good examples as well.
Phil’s father was a 20-year veteran of the Maine State Police and a civil deputy, while his and Barbara’s mothers were nurses and very involved in community health projects.
“We are having a good time,” Barbara said. “We have met a lot of really nice people, appreciative and gracious people.”
“But it is not just us,” Phil cautioned. “We are a team and we work with other teams. We all do our part. Sometimes it is hard work. This Saturday, for example, we’ll host the annual giveaway at the food bank for 100 to 125 families. That will be a long day. But if we have a good time helping people, the people we are helping will have a good time as well.”
All this community giving and volunteering has definitely spilled over to their children.
Daughter Sarah manages a house for mentally challenged adults in Portland, teaching living skills. She is a Girl Scout leader and an officer in the Portland Kiwanis.
Son Peter started the first Key Club while a student at Nokomis Regional High School and went on to found the first Circle K at the University of Southern Maine. Both groups are feeder programs for Kiwanis Clubs. Peter Brown has also been the president of the Portland Kiwanis Club twice.
He founded and manages the STRIVE program in Portland, a project for mentally challenged teenagers.
“My parents have been active community volunteers for as long as I can remember and certainly have influenced my own community involvement and volunteer activities,” Brown said. “Seeing all the different ways that they work to serve Newport and the surrounding towns is inspiring to my family.”
“When I think about all this, mostly I’m thankful,” Phil said. “Our children are healthy, and they have always had what they needed. We are just paying that back a little bit.”