2023 Citizen of the Year

2023 Honoree: Karen Simpson


Karen Simpson left her home state of Rhode Island to attend Colby College, but it was canoe trips and hikes up Mt. Katahdin that helped her fall in love with Maine. She later lived in Providence and Boston, but when her husband Jim was offered a job with Cable Educational TV, Karen and her family settled in Hallowell.

Karen began her teaching career at Hall-Dale Elementary School. After Karen retired she completed the Maine Master Gardener and the Maine Master Naturalist programs, which require participants to volunteer their time and expertise for the community. Once she “inherited” the Crane Garden in Hallowell’s Granite City Park, Karen added plants that are pollinator friendly and native to Maine.

If she is not working in a garden, Karen is probably volunteering her time with the Hallowell Recycling Committee, the Hallowell Conservation Commission, or the Vaughan Woods & Historic Homestead. The 2023 Citizen of the Year may not be hiking up the Great Mountain anymore, but the outdoors definitely still keep her busy.

Past Citizens of the Year

  • 2022 Rosemary Presnar
  • 2019 Tony and Linda Masciadri
  • 2018 Pam and Eric Perry
  • 2017 Burt Truman
  • 2016 Bob McIntire
  • 2015 Larry Davis
  • 2014 Kay Shepherd
  • 2013 Janis M. Cross
  • 2012 Al Hague
  • 2011 Richard Bachelder
  • 2010 Roger "Bucky" Lord
  • 2009 Gerald Mahoney
  • 2008 Katy Perry
  • 2007 Richard Hayes
  • 2006 Carolyn Manson
  • 2005 Fred Wingate
  • 2004 Jane Harvey
  • 2003 Harmon Harvey
  • 2002 Alice Buck
  • 2001 Robert Shepherd
  • 2000 Deanna Hallett
  • 1999 Arthur Moore
  • 1998 Frances Wingate
  • 1997 Allen Strickland
  • 1996 Sumner "Sam" Webber
  • 1995 Barry Timson
  • 1994 Shirley MacKay
  • 1993 Robert Stubbs
  • 1992 Diana Gibson
  • 1991 Katherine Snell
  • 1990 Marvelle Webber
  • 1989 Roland Marquis
  • 1988 Dom Blodgett
  • 1987 John Babbitt
  • 1986 Virginia Diplock
  • 1985 Leon Tebbetts
  • 1984 Grace Blake Maxwell
  • 1983 M. Arthur Boynton
  • 1982 Donald Huff
  • 1982 Carl Aldrich
  • 1980 Michele Falconi
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