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“I did that without a gun or handcuffs or anything,” he said. “Hard to believe now.” My father was elected to the Buxton budget committee in 1980. He went on to win reelection dozens of times, serving — often as chair — for the next 45 years without a break, retiring in 2025. It wasn’t easy, pouring over numbers and allocation requests, working quietly, in the background, without much recognition or any official power. But he stayed with it, knowing it was important, advocating for increases and recommending cuts he believed necessary and right. In the early 1980s, he plowed snow for Upper District Road Commissioner Harry Roberts. Some days, Harry waited for him at our house, with a plow truck, as my father got home from his day job. Sheridan would then dash inside, get a fresh cup of coffee and take off in the big rig. I remember looking out the window one snowy Christmas morning, waiting for my father to drive the plow truck into our driveway. He came in long enough for us to open presents before getting back to work, clearing roads. My father was also president of the local snowmobile club for a time, helping organize family rides, maintaining trails and stocking the well-known “shelter” on the pole line with enough fire wood for the winter. Sheridan was fire chief at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for decades, too, always offering rides in the back of his pickup to any local teenagers who wanted to go and see the races. Buxton officials appointed my father Emergency Management Agency Director in 1985. He served the next 29 years, until 2014, running a packed emergency shelter throughout the Ice Storm of 1998. During that emergency, he made personal rounds every evening, filling elderly folks’ woodboxes, stoking their stoves and fireplaces to keep them warm for the night while we all waited for the power to come back on. One of his proudest moments was giving then U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe a tour of the shelter. These days, my father is still serving the town, as a Carroll Park trustee, even convincing two members of his old budget committee to serve as trustees, as well. And it’s not just ceremonial, my father has plans to upgrade the basketball hoops and possibly repair picnic tables this year.

Former Buxton E M A Director Sheridan Bennett (right) shakes hands with U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe at the town shelter during the Ice Storm of ‘98. Bennett, who was in charge of the shelter, was giving Snowe a tour.

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