At 82, the oldest survivor of church poisonings grows potatoes – for fun.

NEW SWEDEN (AP) – Ralph Ostlund, the oldest survivor of the arsenic poisonings that stunned this northern Maine town in 2003, is back in the potato growing business for the first time in 30 years, saying it’s better than watching television.

Even at 82, with lingering numbness in one foot from residual nerve damage linked to the poisoning, Ostlund said he’s determined to keep busy.

“Why not do this?” he asked. “I can still work, dance, ski and run. I do everything I want to do.

“I’m a country boy,” he said. “This is for me.”

One member of the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church died and 15 others became violently ill after they drank coffee laced with arsenic at a social gathering after services on April 27, 2003. Five days later, church member Daniel Bondeson committed suicide at his farm, leaving behind a note implicating him in the poisonings.

Ostlund decided this year to grow organic potatoes. He has been harvesting them over the past week or so, and selling them in 10-pound bags out of his garage and the back of his restored 1939 GMC pickup.

“Organic isn’t a big thing up here, and sales are not heavy,” he said Saturday morning. “People don’t especially want to pay the extra money, but it’s been fun.”

The idea came from Ostlund’s son Jeffrey, who lives in New York and pays the bills for the operation. The names of both Ostlunds appear on the organic certification from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, but the elder Ostlund has been doing most of the work.

He was out in his 2-acre field all summer, weeding the crop by hand and avoiding the use of chemicals. But he said the yield for organic spuds is lower, which accounts for the premium price he has to charge.

“I’m a glutton for work,” he said as he lifted 5-gallon pails of potatoes into the sorting rack in his garage. “I don’t want to sit and watch TV.”