Deer Isle is the island made famous by its coastal granite, furnished to monuments of renown throughout the world. Part of the Kennedy family memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, for example, was quarried from there.

Earlier this month, just two days after its high school basketball team captured the state championship, the town of Deer Isle paid tribute to another of its durable institutions: a selectman who has served for 38 years. It did so by re-electing Neville Hardy, by a landslide, for first selectman, over challenger John Maberry.

Concerned that such a resounding mandate might not be enough to sustain Hardy’s enthusiasm for the job, the town raised his annual pay to $26,000, up $2,000 from the previous year. The pay hike was even $1,000 more than Hardy had requested, and came during a meeting in which the same voters defeated a move to increase the town librarian’s pay from a recommended $4,500 to $6,000.

Reached at his home by this columnist last week, Hardy said trying to “treat everyone alike” was a secret to his success. The former general store keeper also reflected on the present challenges of his town’s highest office. According to Hardy, who first came to the board in 1969 – a time when the town’s population was half its present 2,000 – a regional transfer station and related waste management matters are at the forefront.

A second is road maintenance. Also near the top of his list are environmental and zoning issues, and Hardy noted the town just recently enacted its first inland zoning to address setback and building height restrictions.

Deer Isle’s demonstration of support for Hardy stands in contrast not only to the funding of its librarian, but also to the repudiation dealt to officials in two other Hancock County towns. Neighboring Stonington, for example, cancelled the health insurance for its selectmen, who are paid only a mere $2,000, though unlike Deer Isle it has an appointed town manager. Steuben took a simultaneous swing at its manager and selectmen, when it abolished the manager’s position altogether and defeated two of its three selectmen.

Though Hardy’s 38-year tenure is unusual, it is not unique. Currently surpassing Hardy’s longevity is New Sharon’s Jim Smith, who was re-elected to a 46th term as selectman this month. Like Hardy, Smith’s constituents celebrated his re-election with an unsolicited pay raise, boosting his annual $6,000 stipend to $7,000.

Those of us who, like this columnist, have known Smith for many years, have no trouble discerning the key to his staying power: a 6’2″ stature, complemented by a “walk-modestly-and-speak-sparingly” demeanor. He has a willingness to give all a patient ear. He is as much ombudsman, as he is overseer.

Having a supportive network of friends and relatives that loyally troop to the annual meetings also reinforces his political endurance, which has failed him just once in the 47 times he’s been nominated for the board.

When I asked Smith recently about the differences between the advent of his first term and his present one, the 80-year-old retired dairy farmer recalled that in 1961, “We had a wood stove in the town office and computers were unheard of.” He thus feels that “computer-generated bookkeeping” is one of the biggest changes.

According to Smith, the job now mandates a lot more time than it formerly did, especially in assessing.

Like Hardy, Smith also points to changes in trash collection, noting that back in the 1960s, the town had an open burning dump that “cost only a fraction of what it does now” to deal with discarded household items. A further challenge is the volunteer fire department, whose members now require professional training that makes recruitment and retention more difficult, even though the town’s population has nearly doubled – to its present l,300 – since he first took office.

One parallel to earlier times, according to Smith, is that some townspeople complain about the condition of roads, though they are “vastly improved” from what they were years ago, noting some of the roads that were once completely impassable in the mud season are now open year round.

West Gardiner selectman Victor Goodwin is another monument to municipal longevity in Maine. A total of 38 non-consecutive years on the job that began in 1967, has been highlighted by the town’s population growth, construction of a new school and two new fire stations.

Paul H. Mills is a Farmington attorney well known for his analyses and historical understanding of Maine’s political scene. He can be reached by e-mail: [email protected].

Other towns in Maine have historically elected town officials with tenures that actually surpass those of Hardy and Smith. They include some who have only recently passed from the arena of public service. Among them:

– Freeland Drake of Albion: Attended 50 town meetings as selectman, including the 2005 meeting at which he retired at age 88. Like Hardy and Smith, Drake saw his town double in population during the course of his service.

– Harold “Red” Mitchell of Freedom: In 2002, at age 92, was still road commissioner. Mitchell had served as either road commissioner or selectman, sometimes simultaneously, for 58 years.

– Arthur Reno, Jr. of West Bath: Like Mitchell, he retired in 2002 as the elected road commissioner in his town’s history. His tenure: 54 years, starting in 1946 and interrupted by only two losing elections along the way.

– Gladys Conant of Canton: 94 years old when she declined re-election after 49 years on the school board in 2002. She was also the country’s oldest 4-H Club leader. On her death in May 2005, Gov. John Baldacci took the unusual step of ordering flags in the Dixfield area flown at half mast on the day of her funeral.

“We had a wood stove in the town office and computers were unheard of.” – Jim Smith, New Sharon selectman