JAY – Selectman Parker Kinney has been honored by the Maine Municipal Association. On Thursday, he was awarded its Ethel Kelley Memorial Award

Town Manager Ruth Marden, who nominated him for the award, wrote a letter of support telling about his dedication to the town and about his life in Jay.

“He is always anxious to be of service in many ways including serving on many committees and dealing with many issues,” Marden wrote.

Kinney, 68, a Jay selectmen since 1995 except for one year, resigned in September. That will be effective on Nov. 2. Kinney also served as Jay’s interim town manager from September 1998 to January 1999 as well on several town and community committees.

The award goes to an elected or appointed municipal official or employee who has conscientiously served local government for many years, has demonstrated the capability and willingness to “hold it all together,” has a selfless concern for others and has not received full recognition for their service.

Kinney, who’s known for his woodworking skills in making baskets and canes a layer at a time, has difficulty breathing and depends on three to five liters of oxygen a day. He was unable to attend the ceremony Thursday in Augusta.

Kinney has asbestos in his lungs in connection with his days in the Navy as a boiler tender on an aircraft carrier.

As a young man he became disabled from a heart attack while working at the paper mill in 1972, Marden wrote.

“The expectations for his future were bleak but he was able to make his life productive and contribute to society,” she wrote. “He became a very talented woodworker and has canes that he has given away all over the United States. When he hears of some one who needs a cane, he makes sure that they get one. He jokingly calls his shop a nonprofit organization.”

Being a selectman in a small town isn’t always easy, she wrote.

She noted that when several of his friends go to his shop, “they always discuss local issues.”

Kinney “does not just digest that information, he ponders it and works on solutions,” Marden wrote.

She concluded, “If every town in Maine had a Parker Kinney, there would be a lot fewer problems. He studies the issue and does what is in the best interest of all concerned.”

Town attorney and Jay resident Michael Gentile wrote that “Parker embodies what I think of as the example of service to a community that we should pass on to future generations.”

Gentile, who’s represented the town of Jay since 1973, wrote, “In all my dealings with Parker, the best interest of all of the citizens of the town of Jay were always utmost in his mind. He worked hard over the years for the betterment of the Jay community and all of its citizens.”