Congratulations, Citizen of the Year!

At its last meeting, the Rumford Board of Selectmen voted Albert “Red” Paul as Citizen of the Year for 2005. That same Albert Paul is one of the interview subjects in “Rumford Stories.” His new distinction reminded me of our interview about five years ago.

Red confessed to having being a little hotheaded as a young man. Once, while he was serving in the Pacific in World War II, he defied the orders of a young lieutenant – and saved lives by doing so. Today’s Red is a sweet-tempered, quiet person who has served his community faithfully and well over many decades.

And I was reminded that he is the only person I know who has had two nicknames that stuck. He is “Red” because of his once-bright red hair, and he is “Harpo” because his hair rivaled Harpo Marx’s mop. (Of the two nicknames, he prefers Red, but he answers to either.)

Thanks to Red/Harpo, nicknames have been on my mind; it seems as if there are more nicknamed people around here than anywhere else I know. Luann Cameron confirmed my impression and remarked that her daughter-in-law, a Minnesota native, is fascinated by the number and variety of nicknames people sport around here.

Me, too, because where I grew up, few people had nicknames they’d want to keep for a lifetime. Most nicknames were mildly derogatory. Example: My rail-thin high-school classmate was dubbed “The Hanger.”

What’s his real name?

But here there are lots of grown-ups, including Red/Harpo, who are, or were, better known by their nicknames than by their given names. Try finding Chummy Broomhall in the phone book. Ask around: “What’s Chummy’s real first name?” “Gee, I guess I don’t know.”

What’s a nickname?

The QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins – a mouthful but lots of fun to browse through – dates the word “nickname” back to 1440, a derivative of the Old English “ekename.” “Ekename” morphed to “nekename,” then to “nickname,” for extra name.

(Which is “extra” – Chummy or Wendall?)

I knew my list of nicknames was too short, so I called Bev Melanson in Mexico. She laughed, “There are sooo many others.” She and husband, George, brainstormed. Then Lorraine Nadeau joined in the search.

Thanks to the Melansons and Lorraine, I give you a sampling of River Valley nicknames:

Leonide “Blackie”Arsenault, “Geebel” Belanger, Wendall “Chummy” Broomhall, William “Keyo” Carignan, Raymond “Father Moots” Carignan, Alan “Zip” Carlisle, Marlin “Duke” Dupont, Marlin “Bimbo” Gammon, “Big Head” Dubois, Edward “Ewee” Gallant and Oscar “Peanuts” Dubois.

Also, Ernest “Pea Soup” Gallant, George “Puggy” Gallant, Alfred “Speed” Gallant, Clarence “Yap” Gallant, Leo “Dempsey” Kersey, Sylvio “Cuke” LeCours, “Skunk” LeFleur, “Chinkie” Melanson, Auburn “Inches” Perry, Merle “Scotty” Richardson, Omer “Oats” Vaillancourt and Norbert “Knocko” Young.

///Not just guys, anymore///

How did all these guys (Notice, they are all guys.) get their nicknames?

Some we know, or can guess: All Richardsons, or example, are “Scotty,” and “Duke” is a traditional nickname in the Dupont family. “Chinkie” Melanson was a very handsome young man whose almond eyes made him “Chinkie.”

But the others? Pea Soup, Cuke, Ewee – we may never know. (But if I find out, I’ll tell you.)

Does the nicknaming custom live on?

I checked with our link to youth, my husband’s young cousins Peter and Molly MacGregor. Yes, they reported, they have friends with nicknames. Not only that, some of the nicknamed teenagers are girls!

Here are a few Molly and Peter identified:

“Asher,” “Basher” or “Ashes,” for the given name Ashley

“Wendell,” for the given name Kendall

“Bubba,” a family hand-me-down nickname, for the given name George

“Moses” for Molly (“They just started calling me that,” says Molly)

“Pablo” for someone named Josh (purportedly because he looks like a Mexican film star)

“Huge” for someone with the given name of Lucas, a husky, tall, easy-going guy

Most of his friends’ nicknames, Peter explained, are based on last names. But he isn’t “Mac.”

“Most people just call me Pete.”

Linda Farr Macgregor lives in Rumford with her husband, Jim. She is a longtime community volunteer and author of “Rumford Stories,” a project of the town’s bicentennial oral history project, which involved interviewing 120 Rumford residents.