The jolly elf of the Boothbay Harbor blizzards
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Tom Dewey came to work dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and lei because it was predicted to hit 28 F that day. He put on The Beach Boys for music. As customers came into the store, they all asked why he was dressed that way and smiled or laughed at his answer. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Tom Dewey in the snow fort he built at home. Co-worker Leisha MacDougall asked why he built it since his son isn’t even home. Dewey said: “My son is in college — and besides, why does he have to be home?” Courtesy of Tom Dewey
Tom Dewey climbs up “Mount Meadow Mall” (the giant snowbank in shopping center’s parking lot) to retrieve a cart someone had placed on top. But he couldn’t resist playing once he got up there. Here he pretends to grab a can off a shelf while shopping. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall.
Tom Dewey, after shoveling out the back door at Harbor-Tech Solutions, climbs the snowbank to peer into Russell Brackett’s office. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall.
Tom Dewey tries to roll down the hill behind Harbor-Tech Solutions, but the snow ends up being very soft and he gets stuck. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall
The snow-loving Tom Dewey finds joy in the white stuff driving the rest of us crazy. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Tom Dewey came to work dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and lei because it was predicted to hit 28 F that day. He put on The Beach Boys for music. As customers came into the store, they all asked why he was dressed that way and smiled or laughed at his answer. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Tom Dewey in the snow fort he built at home. Co-worker Leisha MacDougall asked why he built it since his son isn’t even home. Dewey said: “My son is in college — and besides, why does he have to be home?” Courtesy of Tom Dewey
Tom Dewey climbs up “Mount Meadow Mall” (the giant snowbank in shopping center’s parking lot) to retrieve a cart someone had placed on top. But he couldn’t resist playing once he got up there. Here he pretends to grab a can off a shelf while shopping. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall.
Tom Dewey, after shoveling out the back door at Harbor-Tech Solutions, climbs the snowbank to peer into Russell Brackett’s office. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall.
Tom Dewey tries to roll down the hill behind Harbor-Tech Solutions, but the snow ends up being very soft and he gets stuck. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall
The snow-loving Tom Dewey finds joy in the white stuff driving the rest of us crazy. Courtesy of Leisha J. MacDougall
When people in Boothbay Harbor look out their windows today, they see over 50 inches of snow piled up as far as the eye can see. Massive snowbanks are everywhere; plow trucks, snow shovels and snowblowers are being used daily.
Most of us are sick of the snow and dreaming of spring.
But down at Harbor-Tech Solutions in the Harbor, it's a different story for employee Tom Dewey.
“It's like working with a little kid,” said Leisha J. MacDougall, the photo lab manager. “When they announce a storm is coming, everyone's groaning and he says ‘Yay! It's gonna snow again!’ and he means it.
“He's the only 52-year-old man who still plays in the snow.”
Dewey has been spreading his positive attitude to the area by posting his antics on his personal and the Harbor-Tech Solutions Facebook pages. They include fun photos of him playing in the snow and many videos, including one of him riding the toboggan chute he built in his backyard and jumping off the giant snowbank dubbed “Mount Meadow Mall” by local Peggy Powis to test a LifeProof iPhone case.
“I shovel just as much as anyone else,” Dewey said. “The trick is when you are done to enjoy yourself and just play. You've earned it. People think I'm nuts, but remember how much you loved to play in the snow when you were young.”
Dewey is still working on perfecting his toboggan chute at home. He plans to use a watering can to ice it down so he can go faster.
Dewey is known down at Harbor-Tech for being a prankster.
“Never let your guard down around Tom Dewey,” MacDougall said. “And beware of doorways.”
MacDougall related one time she got pranked.
“It was late one night and I was in my car, reaching over for my seat belt, when Tom threw himself against the side of the car. I screamed so loud; he scared the heck out of me,” she said.
Another prank involved former co-worker Christina Barter, who now works at Boothbay Region Elementary School.
“One night the lights were all off, and our co-worker Christina Barter was cashing out. I said goodnight to her like I was leaving, but then snuck along the floor right up to the edge of the counter, bursting up in front of her and saying 'Hey Christina!'
“She was like a Ping-Pong ball bouncing around saying 'No no no no no no no,'” Dewey said with a chuckle.
Sometimes his co-workers try to trick him back. According to MacDougall, one of his favorite pranks is popping up and yelling when someone leaves the bathroom, so she waited to scare him the same way.
“I was crouching, thinking this is my chance I'm gonna get him,” MacDougall said. “I jumped up and yelled ... and it was the boss, Russell Brackett. Thankfully he had a good attitude about it.”
But along with pranks, Dewey is also very helpful and kind, his co-workers said.
Each store in the mall is responsible for shoveling the area of the sidewalk in front of their store, but there are some vacancies in the mall.
One day Dewey decided that if people couldn't walk from one end to the other they might not bother, so he shoveled the entire sidewalk for everyone.
His co-workers grumble, but it's easy to see why they love working with Dewey.
“He gets excited when the new Christmas toys arrive, when it snows and when he thinks he can pull one over on a co-worker,” MacDougall said. “But all kidding aside, he’s a genuinely compassionate person who would do anything for anyone. And has on a number of occasions.”
Katrina Clark can be reached at 207-844-0168 or katrinaclark@boothbayregister.com.
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