MINOT — Noella Hemond was honored at a recent meeting of the Board of Selectmen as Minot’s oldest citizen.
Selectman Eda Tripp presented Hemond with flowers and a replicate copy of the Boston Post cane, noting that Noella “has been a good and faithful citizen many, many years and holds the title of having been Minot’s first woman to serve on the Board of Selectmen, having served from 1966 to 1972.”
The Boston Post cane was established in 1909 by Edwin A. Grozier, the publisher of the Boston Post newspaper, and forwarded to selectmen in 431 New England towns to be presented to the oldest citizen of the town.
Each cane was made of ebony from the Congo and has a 14-carat gold head.
Many of the original canes have disappeared and, to prevent that from happening, Minot, as many other towns have, now presents the cane and then returns it to a vault.
Hemond was given, to keep, a replica of Minot’s original cane, crafted by Gary L. Stugard, owner of GLS Woodworks of Minot.
Hemond, matriarch of the R. E. Hemond farm and family, will be 95 years old on Christmas day.
Following the presentation, Hemond, born Noella Ferland, noted that she is not the oldest member of her family. Her brother, Lionel C. Ferland, is already 96 years old and, as the oldest citizen of Poland, holds that town’s Boston Post cane.
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- Noella Hemond, who will be 95 years old this Christmas, was presented with the Boston Post cane at a recent Board of Selectmen meeting. Hemond, in front, second from right, was pictured with, from left, Dean Campbell, board chairman; Arlan Saunders, town administrator; and selectmen Steve French, Eda Tripp, Dan Gilpatric and Dan Callahan.
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