IN MEMORIAM SANDY TAFT
I first came to know Sandy when he was about six, when he would sit on my shoulders while I waterskied him around Sheepscot Bay. Later, after he had returned from his service in the Coast Guard, I got to know him much as did everyone else on the island – as a loyal and generous friend who would do anything he could for anyone. And then came the many GEMINI years, when we sailed and often raced her, becoming more skilled at adjusting the complex rigging every time we went out. In 2022, we won the MacMahan ‘Round the Island Race – which turned out to be our final race. As we crossed the finish line, I turned to Sandy and said “We just sailed a perfect race.”. A proud moment for both of us.
For Sandy’s seventieth birthday, in 2013, I wrote a poem trying to acknowledge everything he did for the MacMahan community. The family is familiar with it but some here may not be. Here it is:
MANY PROBLEMS, ONE SOLUTION
Island life can be a challenge, – things you meant to buy at Rogers
But forgot to in your hurry, how to start a cranky motor,
How to fix your leaky plumbing, how to catch those pesky squirrels
Scampering ‘round inside your ceilings, or your pump needs a new rotor.
Or your boat is badly leaking, and quick rescue’s what your needing,
Or you cut that tree and somehow, on that power line it’s sitting,
Once that’s fixed, the logs need splitting.
All those questions, all those problems, all those odds and ends you’re missing.
Should you move back to the mainland, give up all this island living?
Wouldn’t that be so much easier, free you from these endless bothers?
NO, because there’s just one answer, here it is, all will be fine,
All you have to do is this – dial five-five-three, six-seven-eight-nine.
Who will answer? Are you kidding? Sandy Taft, our local hero,
Always ready, always able, – and he just reached seven zero.
9/27/13
