By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — It was fitting that Eben Marsh, the former town manager of Gorham, was the first to speak at Casco Town Manager Dave Morton’s retirement party.

After all, Marsh gave Morton his first job with a municipality. Morton did an internship with the Town of Gorham, which turned into a four-year stint and led to his 41-year career as Casco’s town manager.

“In 1973, a young man walked into my office and wanted to do an internship. The first time we met I liked Dave,” Marsh said. “His handshake was like a shaking a bear’s paw.” 

In Gorham, Morton’s work list included counting streetlights, checking on roads and ditches, and looking at the tax base and making suggestions of ways to improve it. The list of roles and jobs as Casco town manager is considerably longer.

“You have had a heck of a career. Forty-one years of public service, all in one community. That requires all the unique qualifications [including] an empathetic nature and a good relationship with people,” Marsh said.

“David, you are leaving a community that is solid. You helped to build a good foundation,” Marsh said.

Now, Morton’s name will be linked to something with a foundation, with a roof and windows.

After all the speakers had their turns at the microphone, Casco Chairman Holly Hancock announced that the town hall, which was built in 2016, would be named after Morton.

“We decided to dedicate the new town office to Dave,” she said.

The people in attendance responded to this news by giving Morton a standing ovation.

Morton’s retirement party was held Thursday, June 27, at Camp Sunshine in South Casco. More than 150 people attended the three-hour-long gathering.

One of the attendees, Matt Frank, who is the chairman of the Harrison Board of Selectmen, fit the gathering into his evening and then left early to be on time for the selectmen’s meeting.

“Dave is a good man,” Frank said. “The new town manager, Courtney O’Donnell, is inheriting a healthy town.”

In the banquet hall, the decorations had a fishing/camping theme with bass balloons all around and battery-operated lanterns at the tables.

Fishing — one of Morton’s favorite pastimes — was a common topic brought up by those who knew him. Such stories resulted in laughter.

Marsh recalled a story of “Morton dragging the canoe across a quarter-mile of mudflats — with me in it.”

Others spoke of Morton’s ‘water quality tests,’ which is a phrase for fishing. 

Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce mentioned he took a fly-tying class one winter only to discover that Morton was the teacher.

Another common theme was Morton’s sense of humor, his chuckle and his positive attitude.

“It gets down to David’s chuckle,” Marsh said. “In all the time I’ve known David never, never did I hear David offer a bad word about anyone or any situation.”

Morton’s son Ben agreed. He described road trips, sometimes spending hours in the car with his father, trying to get him to spill the beans about the negative side of Casco.

“I’ve ridden 10 hours with my dad and grilled him, saying, ‘Come on give me the dirt on Casco.’ He never did. He loved this town. He loved what he did,” Ben said.

Certainly, taking time off and enjoying the Maine outdoors has been one of the ingredients for Morton’s recipe for success.

Ben said part of the reason his father did so well at the same job for so long is “he didn’t take himself seriously. He didn’t take his work home. He compartmentalized. He sheltered us from whatever went on at work.”

“It’s my goal to be half the man he is,” Ben Morton said of his father.