NEWRY — Newry resident Brooks Morton became active at a young age and remains involved in the community today. His activism stems from a conversation he had with his mother in a car ride decades ago.

His mother, Boots, was a ballot clerk for all the elections in Newry. Morton would accompany his mother to all meetings so he would not fight with his brother Harry.

One night on a drive home from a town meeting, he was complaining to Boots about articles on the town warrant he disagreed with. She pulled the car over and said something along the lines of: “If you want to be interested in politics it does no good to shut your mouth at a meeting and then come home and whine to your family all the time.”

He took her advice to heart.

“That kind of got me involved,” Morton said.

His mother’s words would end up not only send him into the world of politics, but to many other efforts/programs in the community also.

He grew up as the middle child of seven, having three older sisters and three younger brothers. His parents were Albert “Tubs” and Eleanor “Boots” Morton. Morton grew up in Newry, a mile up the road from where he currently lives.

He spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid.

“We were given free rein of the valley, so we used to hang out at Step Falls,” Morton said. “There was enough kids around to play baseball games too, so it was a decent childhood.”

His early years did not come without obstacles, though, with the biggest happening when he was 12. His father died in an accident a mile from his house. Being the oldest of the boys, Morton said he was told multiple times that he was “now the man of the house,” which was quite a “burden” for a 12-year-old he said.

He cites his mother as being a huge reason for the family being able to move past his father’s unexpected death.

“My mother was such a strong person who was dedicated to the community,” Morton said. “She was a natural mother and an incredible listener.”

Young mothers would come to Boots’ house with their babies and she would help counsel them on how to best take care of their children. She also took part in a donated food program, which aided families in need in the area.

Even with his mother’s presence, Morton did assume some responsibility. He attended many of his brothers’ baseball games, and also began work at an early age. He worked as a carpenter in high school for Peter and George Haines.

“They were great teachers and quite the pair,” Morton said.

Morton grew up in an old farm house and went to two one-room school houses in Newry. In high school, he attended Gould Academy and Telstar, graduating from the latter in 1970.

After taking a gap year from school, he attended the University of Maine at Augusta and the University of Maine at Farmington for two years each, graduating from Farmington in 1976 with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Morton said growing up around his younger brothers played a role in choosing his major.

He also worked in the school system in Wilton for six months shortly after graduating.

He would then work for a couple of years for the Head Start Program in West Bethel, back when the program first commenced.

“It was great working with the kids,” he said.

He would shift back to working with his hands in the 1980s. Morton would work with his brother Harry for many years building houses. He would also work with a man named Randy Brooke. Morton would do this for a number of years, before deciding to specialize in tile work.

“I liked the creativity of it,” he said. “It was something I could do alone. I could just go in and do my thing.”

His work brought him inside many homes, including some of the high end homes at The Peaks. He also laid the tile on his own living room floor. Morton did tiling for 10 years before developing an allergy to one of the mortars, forcing him to call it quits. The timing was not the worst, though, as he knew it was time for a change.

“I was thinking about working with kids again,” Morton said.

Soon, he found himself at Telstar, at the Western Hills Access Television (WHAT) station. He wanted to get a program going in the school. He has been with the station for five years and was one of the few people who were instrumental in helping revive the station. The station now has new cameras, computers, editing software and an online presence.

Morton began filming special events, selectmen/town meetings and public hearings. He has since gotten other people into filming events also.

The high school got an audio-visual club sanctioned by the school board last year, which allowed Morton to work with the Telstar Freshman Academy. This year, five students have signed up for the club.

“I want to get them into covering school activities, doing human interest stories,” Morton said.

He is also still active in local government, serving on the Newry planning board, where he has been the last 20 years. He also served one term as selectman.

“My main motivation was just for my love of the town of Newry,” Morton said. “I wanted to be able to have a say in creating ordinances and making sure they were administered fairly. Because of that early exposure with my mother, I’ve always been involved.”

His favorite moments on the planning board were helping small businesses become established in the town.

Morton said WHAT is one of his main focuses now that he is retired, but that he still has other things that keep him occupied too. One of them is being part of the Morning Greeting Program, which is when he calls elderly people in the morning to make sure they are doing well.

In July, however, Morton was hit with a huge health scare.

His nephew, who was heading to town, chose to stop in at Morton’s place to return a gas tank he had taken the day before. When he noticed Morton’s car still in the driveway he went inside and found him on the floor. At first, according to Morton, his nephew thought he was looking for something under the desk. It was not until he got closer that he realized Morton was in serious trouble.

“It didn’t take him long to realize that I was close to checking out,” he said. “He found me in the nick of time.”

He cannot recall much of his first week in the hospital, due to the sedatives. He moved from Rumford to Central Maine Medical Center and then finally to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

While Morton was at Maine Med, he tried his best to talk to and encourage other patients going through difficult experiences similar to his own. He credits Maine Med for saving his life and New England Rehab for getting him back to “normal.”

“They kept pushing me an extra five percent,” he said.

He spent more than 40 days in the hospital.

Morton has still had his share of medical issues since initially leaving the hospital. He still does not know exactly what happened to him despite the incident occurring more than three months ago.

Despite the troubles, Morton has had a strong support group from the start, which has helped him during his recovery.

His brother, sisters, nephews and sons check on him daily, either by stopping in or calling him.

“I got a big support network,” he said. “My grand kids have been my main inspiration.”

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