Sharon Hutchins of Andover is one of three New Englanders featured this month in a Yankee Magazine story entitled “Angels Among Us,” about people who serve their communities.

She says she was born to serve others, and she has racked up the fundraising results to prove it.

Born in Bethel and the eldest of six, Hutchins and her siblings grew up on Grover Hill, playing in the woods and climbing trees.

“We used to lay and watch the clouds,” she said. “We tried to make the clouds look like different things, and we could only use ‘popcorn’ twice. Imagination was a great thing back then.”

One of her earliest memories was of coming home from visiting up the road. “I was riding piggy back on my dad, and I can remember his black and red wool coat, and watching the clouds pass by the moon. There was such a sense of security right then,” she said, “My mom told me I was 18 months old at the time.”

The kids all had the responsibility of taking care of the house and each other while their parents worked. “As we grew up, I was the junior mom,” said Hutchins. ‘I kept an eye on them and got meals ready. Dad worked in the woods or drove truck. He worked for Andover Wood Products. The family would pile in the car after supper and go look for bunnies or deer.”

They also visited friends and relatives.

Hutchins attended the Ethel Bisbee School from K-3, enjoying Mrs. Ethel Bisbee, Mrs. Giles, Hazel Wheeler and Maxine Brown, then attended Crescent Park from grades four to eight.

“There were so many physical changes made to Crescent Park over the years,” she said.

“We moved to Andover my freshman year, and I worked at the Andover Telephone Company as an operator and general store clerk my junior and senior years. It was amazing to be right next to the biggest communication center in the world when they put up Telstar [satellite station] in 1961, and we were a ring-down magneto telephone system. Our private line was 50.”

“The world is a lot bigger for kids today,” said Hutchins, “There was secretarial, vocational and college classes offered to us in high school, and there weren’t many options offered for young women. Communication was by letter or phone back then. Students today have so many choices.”

Hutchins and her husband, Robert, will be married 46 years this month. Having married in November after her high school graduation in 1967, she didn’t work until 1970, and that was only part time.

She had her daughter Deanna at that time, but it wasn’t until 1977, four years after her son, Christian was born, that she was asked to be a part-time bus driver. “If you had a clean license, you could drive 10 times without having a bus license,” she said.

In 1980, she was hired full time, and has been driving the last 34 years. One of her best memories was when a second grader came up and wanted to show her what he brought for show and tell. “The next thing I knew, this six-inch fish, which hours earlier had been in the fridge, was stuck in my face! It freaked me out, but I survived.”

Throughout her career, she has found time to help her community.

In 1983, she and eight leaders fundraised for 14 months to get a group of Brownie, Junior and Cadette Girl Scouts to Washington D.C. on a bus. She received a plaque for being a Junior Girl Scout leader for eight years.

And by leading the rebirth of the Andover Education Fund in 1987 – after 30 years of inactivity – Hutchins has made it possible to provide $2,500 a year to each Andover student attending a two- or four-year college.

“Bob Spidell got a letter from the Andover Alumni Association, and came to the committee about getting scholarships for kids from Andover. Hence the rebirth,” Hutchins said.

In 2009 she was lauded as one of “6 Who Care” from WCSH-TV for community service.

If all of that isn’t enough, she has also been involved in “Hungry Kingdom.” Starting out as a challenge from her church seven years ago, each participating member was given $20.

“We were told to go out and multiply the money for community service,” she said. “Our group of four started the Hungry Kingdom. Costing $7,000 a year, a meals program at the Andover Elementary School now offers free breakfast, snack milk and hot lunch to each elementary child in Andover for the school year. The program is still going strong.”

When writer Ian Aldrich called from Yankee Magazine earlier this year, said Hutchins, he said he had an idea for a story featuring people who volunteer in their communities. He interviewed her over the phone and a photographer came and took pictures.

With all of her awards, Hutchins still remains a down-to-earth Mainer. She still goes about her job of driving students to and from school, always looking for opportunities to help them out.

For more information on the Hungry Kingdom or the Andover Educational Fund, Inc. email edfund@megalink.net.

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