Your Scribe is not a political person but I must salute the band of campaigners that found my cabin and left pamphlets.

No one ever approaches the cabin for anything (especially Bob, the Reluctant Woodsman).

Arriving on the past weekend, I found literature from Chandler Woodcock, candidate for governor; Walter Gooley, hopeful for state senate; and Bill Reid, who is running for state rep from District 87 (Jay, Mercer, Starks, Chesterville and New Sharon).

After reading the literature, I have concluded that Bill Reid is my man.

He has lived in New Sharon for 36 years, a fact that projects a comforting note of stability.

Reid has graduate degrees in philosophy, and taught at the University of Maine, and University of Maine, Farmington.

His bona fides indicate that he has been involved in numerous local educational organizations in the Farmington area.

But his interests that stand out for me are more esoteric.

For instance, he is a "craftsman of custom pocket knives."

You can't say the statehouse in Augusta is full of people like that.

He is a member of the Western Maine Blacksmiths Association.

Balancing that rough-hewn avocation is the fact he is a life member of the Thoreau Society.

Reid, 66, has been a sheep farmer for 20 years.

I don't know exactly how that connects with blacksmithing but it shows me he knows his way around a barnyard, which is important for voters in rural Franklin County.

Perhaps his most intriguing credential is that he is "a banjoist at public functions."

Here is a man for all seasons.

The election is just weeks away, and Bill Reid has won my vote.

My only question is, with all these interests and activities, why would he want to navigate the blemished landscape of politics at this time in his life?

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