To the new owners of Ware Butler Building Supply and Lumberyard in Waterville:

You have recently purchased the Sacred Heart Church buildings and property next door to your business on North/Middle Street. Welcome to you, on your expansion in our historic Sacred Heart Church neighborhood. May your company prosper and grow, while maintaining respect for the peaceful nature of our neighborhood as we know it.

I’ve lived across the street from the church parking lot, on Morrill Avenue, for the past 40 years, and raised my family here. Some of the streets near the church parcel of land are listed on Waterville’s early maps. Our quiet, calm, and lovely neighborhood is a gem. Please take good care of your special property.

Your company has been a good neighbor throughout the years. The employees in your store and lumberyard have left kind footprints. They were knowledgeable, honest, caring, friendly, and helpful; customer service traits reminiscent of the 1950s and ’60s era I grew up in. I hope that you will continue with the same modus operandi and spirit that the previous owners have had.

My husband and I have fond memories of amicable interactions and conversations with now-retired Bob, and with Jerry,  “the Saint,” as they called him. One summer morning at your store, Jerry helped my husband select silver paint for the tin roof of our house. Mid afternoon, Jerry walked up from the store to our nearby house,  (probably on his break!) looked high up to the roof where my husband was painting, and asked, “How is the paint working?”

Godspeed,

Linda Gerard DerSimonian

Waterville