LIVERMORE FALLS – Harry Olin’s smile was wide as he looked around his new home and thought about the people who had helped him. Many of them, he didn’t even know.

Olin, 63, has lived about half of his life in an institution, he thinks. When Pineland Center in New Gloucester closed, Olin was introduced into society and was nervous about it, he said Monday.

“I’ve had a hard life,” he said. “I’ve been through it.”

He’s not sure how long he has lived in Livermore Falls, but townspeople have seen him for years driving an older-style bike around town with a pipe sticking out of his mouth.

He’s known on the street as the man with the pipe or “Popeye,” friend Ann Foss said while visiting Monday.

He had lived in Washington, Portland, Lewiston and Auburn, he said, but the state thought he would be safer in Livermore Falls. He also spent time in foster homes.

“I get nervous around people,” he said.

Late last year, Foss, of Farmington, decided to help Olin find a newer mobile home; the one he lived in probably wouldn’t make it through another winter.

“The good Lord brought us together,” Foss said.

She helps Olin, who cannot read or write, with his finances.

Michele Coates of Livermore Falls saw one of Foss’ fliers looking for help and found a co-worker willing to donate a mobile home to the cause.

From there, one thing led to another, and now Olin has a new home.

“I do the floor twice a week,” he said. “I keep it clean. Believe me, I don’t leave no messes.”

“You do a good job, Harry,” Foss said.

“My sister, I’m trying,” he said as he hugged her. “After all, they went all out for me. I appreciate it. It means more to me than what I got under the tree. Everyone has treated me so good.”

The artificial Christmas tree stands in the corner of the living room. A rabbit cage, with Peter the rabbit in it, is against the wall. “Look at this,” Olin said as he turned on a fake fish aquarium that he bought at a used-items store.

Other prized possessions include his television and his movie tapes.

“I love movies,” he said.

On the coffee table, an ashtray holds smoking pipes, minus the stems and lip pieces. Those parts are missing, he said, because he chews on them.

“I feel more comfortable smoking a pipe,” he said, as he struck a wooden match to light it.

This is one of the best places he’s lived, he said. And he has gained many new friends to check on him.

“I am so lucky,” he said. “Sometimes I get so happy, I just get down on my knees and cry.”

Foss said Olin does very well with his money and spends only on necessities. “I try to spend it wisely for things I need,” he said.

If he is taking a long bike ride or a Western Maine Transportation bus, he packs his own lunch to save his Social Security money.

“I make sure bills come first,” Olin said. “That’s why I stop and think before I spend.”

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