Ret. Chief Thurlow is the “native” in the Spring 2024 “Natives & Newcomers” column. To read about “newcomer” Chief Rich Kindelan, click here.
Neighborhood: Blue Point
In Scarborough since: Birth. I’m a 3rd-generation Scarborough native. My grandmother on my dad’s side grew up on Pine Point.
Have you lived anywhere else? No, except for four years from age 7-11 when we lived in Orono while my father got his graduate degree at the University of Maine.
Why have you stayed? It’s home and I can’t imagine any place nicer to live and work.
Are you enjoying retirement? I am.
What have you been doing?
Spending time with my granddaughter, Aurora Rose. My wife, Malvina, and I watch her four days a week while her parents’ work. I also care for my elderly mother who lives with us. We’ve done some travelling too. We bought a fifth-wheel camper and have gone to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, Eastport, Maine and Canada. Our favorite place to camp is Bayley’s Campground right here in Scarborough. My parents grew up with the family that founded and still owns it, and their son, Tom, and I were classmates in school and neighbors as we grew up. Bayley’s is close but when you are there, it seems like you are miles away on vacation.
Is there anything you miss about the fire department?
The great people I worked with and serving my hometown. Certainly not the politics or the day-to-day challenges. I get back often enough. They call me for historical questions or advice now and then, and there is always a retirement or a promotion to celebrate. I get back regularly and still attend the monthly business meetings at the Pine Point station where I started in 1976.
What are you most proud of when you think back on your career?
That I continued my family’s legacy of service. My father and grandfather were both volunteers, so I’m the third generation, and my son is the fourth. He volunteered with the department as a teen and is now a Sergeant in the Scarborough Police Department. One of my grandmothers was the first President of the Pine Point Ladies Auxiliary, and my other grandmother was a charter member of the Scarborough Canteen.
During my 46-year tenure, things really changed. I served from 1976 to 2022. In the beginning, we were a call-force with volunteers who would leave work or home when a call came in, and just one full-time employee (Fire Chief Eldred Harmon). The town had about 6,000 residents and we answered less than 1,000 calls a year. Now there are well over 20,000 people and we answer around 5,000 calls. We’ve been able to evolve to meet the changing demand of the community. The department still has a call-force but there are many more career folks now to meet the challenging demands.
What to you represents the best of Scarborough?
It’s just that tight-knit feeling of what many of us refer to as the “old” Scarborough. I remember Dr. Haigis, the town’s only doctor back in the day. He was personal friends with my grandparents and parents, and he delivered me. I remember him making house calls when we were sick. I think of him and the members of the Lions Club who started the first ambulance service in 1953. When I was a teen on the student rescue, “Doc” and his friends mentored us. I remember them buying the town’s first defibrillator. Now we have three ambulances staffed with career paramedics who provide a level of patient care that Doc Haigis would have envied. My role in helping to continue and support that legacy is something I am very proud of.
What do you remember fondly about “old” Scarborough?
We knew almost everybody. It was all the old families and classmates I went to school with. When you went on an emergency call, it was likely someone you already knew. It truly was neighbor helping neighbor. My mentors taught me to have a sense of humor to help people relax during their emergency. That’s easier when you know someone, and it led to a real hometown feel.
What’s something you like about “new” Scarborough?
There are so many more opportunities now. There are new businesses and people. It is different but it is still a wonderful community.
What is your greatest hope for Scarborough?
That it continues to feel like a small town instead of a city. I hope those family connections remain and don’t get watered down too much.
What’s something no one in town knows about you?
I was a businessman for years. My grandfather lobstered and had a fish market called Pine Point Seafood. He would sell his lobsters and other seafood items during the summer tourist season I started working there when I was 10. When I was 17, Gramp turned 62 and decided to retire. I bought the business from him and started running it while still a senior in high school. The bank wouldn’t let me open my own business checking account because I was only 17, so for several months I had to have my grandfather sign my own paycheck. I continued working at my family business processing, selling, and shipping seafood all over the country even after becoming Fire Chief in 2001.
How did you meet Chief Kindelan?
I met him ten years ago when he worked in Yarmouth as a Deputy Fire Chief. I was impressed with him and his military background. Then he took a similar job in Old Orchard Beach where I worked with him directly as we responded to mutual aid calls. I could see he was a solid guy and that we shared leadership perspectives. We hired him when a deputy chief position opened in Scarborough. I knew I was getting toward the end of my career, and I was thinking about succession planning. He is Scarborough’s first fire chief not from the community, but the department was ready. He had the skill set. I couldn’t be more pleased with how it worked out. He’s made some good changes while respecting the department’s history. He continues to move the department forward to serve the citizens and visitors of Scarborough.
Many thanks to Chief Thurlow for all he has done – and continues to do – for our community. To read about Scarborough’s current fire chief, Rich Kindelan, click here.
