Rep. Timothy Carter, center, presents a legislative sentiment honoring the memory of Florence B. Hastings to her four children, from left, Ann Morton, Mary Alice Bancroft, Ginnie Gamble and Warren Hastings.

Hastings honored by Legislature

AUGUSTA – The Legislature recently honored the memory of Florence B. Hastings of East Bethel with a legislative sentiment sponsored by Rep. Timothy Carter, D-Bethel, which he presented to Hastings’ children at the State House. At 103, Hastings was the holder of the Boston Post Cane as the oldest citizen of Bethel.

She was born in Portland and graduated from Gorham Normal School. She taught school in Lisbon, Hanover and Augusta. In 1926, she married Robert D. Hastings and together they made their home on the Hastings Farm in East Bethel, where they raised their four children. Hastings continued to teach in East Bethel and was a substitute teacher in area schools for 20 years.

She was known for her creative handicrafts. The Florence B. Hastings Traditional Arts and Crafts Room in the proposed addition to the Robinson House at the Bethel Historical Society will continue her legacy.

She was honored as an Outstanding Homemaker by the Oxford County Extension Service in 1976, and she was the star of “The Center of Things,” an hour-long documentary about the Hastings family farm, which was part of the PBS series “Our Stories.”