NEW VINEYARD — In his time as a minister, a member of Rotary, and a resident of different communities in the eastern U.S., Sherwood Anderson has made connections that have lasted a lifetime.

His most significant connection has been his wife, Mary Elizabeth, whom he has been married to for 51 years this year. The part-time New Vineyard resident, who summers in Maine and winters in Winter Park, Florida, displays a gentle sense of humor as he recalls how they met.

“She will deny it, but I say it was an arranged marriage,” he laughs. Liz was active at the time in the local Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania. The pastor there, a mutual friend, asked Sherwood if he wanted to meet her.

“She was always a church person. Her parents were, too,” he said.

Sherwood agreed, and gave his scheduled presentation to a church group called the Fortnighters about his trip to the Holy Land.

Only Liz wasn’t there. She said it was the first time in her life that she had missed the meeting.

However, not long after, Sherwood attended another Fortnighters meeting, and Liz was there “serving cookies over the counter.” The rest, of course, is history and the couple wed three years later.

When asked about the key to a long marriage, Sherwood responded, “A very patient wife. That’s the secret.”

He was born in Brooklyn in 1928 and brought up in Queens, NY. From Dec. 31, 1937 to March 6, 1938, he lived with his grandmother, Frankie Voter, in New Vineyard across from Fred O. Smith’s wood turning mill. His family had lost their Queens home during the Depression.

During that time, Sherwood attended the old Zephaniah Vaughn School on Main Street across from her house. His mother and sister lived with him at 247 Lake St. in New Vineyard from 1939-1942. He went on to graduate from Forest Hills High School in New York City on June 26, 1946 with high honors. He was elected “Comptroller” of New York City for a week by the citywide General Organization of the Board of Education in June 1946 and his picture was in a New York City newspaper.

Sherwood enjoys talking about history, particularly his family’s history, and counts genealogy as one of his hobbies. He is a Mayflower descendant, through his mother’s father and mother from eight men and four women of the 102 passengers aboard the Mayflower, the Pilgrims who in 1620 established the first permanent settlement in New England.

One of his wife’s ancestors was wounded at Petersburg during the Civil War. Of his interest in genealogy, Sherwood says, “It gives you a perspective and a sense of belonging to research your ancestral roots.”

He talks about the house he lives in during the summer. Sherwood mentions that the house the interview is being conducted in was the one his grandmother had lived in and used to stand across from the obelisk in New Vineyard.

“Originally, it was a shop of some kind,” he said.

After his grandmother passed away in 1960, the home was brought up to its current location alongside Porter Lake. It has been totally renovated, said Sherwood.

An incredibly powerful experience at a summer camp proved to be his calling in life – a call to serve God. He had continued to spend summers in Maine with his grandmother, and saw how much being involved with the local Congregational Church meant to her.

“My grandmother was a pillar of the Congregational Church down here in town,” he explained. “That congregation sent me to a summer camp for a week. I went to this Christian camp.

“At the conclusion of this camp, we sat around a campfire,” Sherwood continued. “The leader asked us to pick up a stick and said that if you feel God’s calling, bring the stick and place it on the fire. So, I did.”

From 1955-1989, he served as an installed (settled) Pastor at churches in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. For 27 years, he was a Naval Reserve chaplain, doing two weeks of active duty every year and visiting hospitals. Sherwood traveled all over the U.S. as an interim pastor from 1989-2003.

“I would say the most fulfilling part was the proclamation of the word of God to the people,” he said. “To proclaim the word of God is to align oneself with all that is true.”

His wife taught school, and retired the same year as he did in 2003.

Sherwood’s connection with the Farmington Rotary Club goes back to when he was 18 years old. His father had gotten him a truck driving job in Iceland, and the following summer, current member Fred O. Smith’s uncle invited him to speak at a Rotary meeting at the Old North Church and show slides. In 1981, Sherwood became a member. He now attends Rotary meetings in Winter Park during the winter and in Farmington when he’s home for the summer.

Sherwood said he enjoys “meeting the people and being befriended by so many people” in Rotary.