Citizen News, Letter to Editor, September 30, 2015

To the Editor:

I first met Don Lowe in the way I would come to
know him: at a crowded town event, chatting among a
group of parents. Throughout the years the backdrop
shifted: the Sherman School, the Historical Society, a
town hall meeting, or the Sherman Library-among
others. The one constant was Don, warmly engaged in
the midst of conversation with community members,
whether it be about education, land preservation,
zoning regulations- or the new album he was currently
hammering out. Don Lowe has always struck me as a
man who cares deeply about our town: its citizens and
its history just as much as its attributes and its issues.

Since moving to Sherman sixteen years ago, Don
has immersed himself in our town’s life, perhaps
most notably in education. For many years my
father, Barry Roberts, taught in the Sherman School.
His memories of Sherman families are long, but
Don Lowe was one of those parents who stood out
to him, too. He enjoyed teaching Don’s son, David,
as much as he enjoyed his spirited discussions with
Don-just as I had the privilege of taking a writing
class Don led at the Sherman School, in which the
draft of my first novel came to fruition. And where I
have since had the joy to get to know the rest of
Don’s family: his lovely wife, Mary Ann Lamb, son
Connor, and daughter Rosemund, with whom my
own children now attend school. Don’s work as a
Board member for Sherman Higher Education Fund
is longstanding. In his professional life the thread
remains; a published author, Don is an adjunct
professor at Naugatuck Valley, as well as a tutor for
at-risk students with REACH in Newtown.

It would be hard to throw a rock in town without
hitting a Board or committee that Don Lowe has
served on: the Planning and Zoning commission,
Chairman of the Land Acquisition Board, SHEF, the
Sherman Chamber Ensemble, accompanied by
unswerving volunteerism at the Senior Center,
School, and Library. From 2004 to 2008, Don
served as an elected Sherman Selectman garnering
the valuable experience of town administration
beyond the many years of service he’d already put
in, and continues to put in today. Don’s approach,
no matter the Board on which he serves, is
diplomatic. He is a listener. An eloquent speaker. A
problem solver. Having grown up in a rural North
Dakota town himself, Don doesn’t just understand
small town life- he embraces it.

The depth and diversity of his public service
record speaks for itself. But it is the person that Don
Lowe is that still draws people across the town green, or a stretch of beach, or the school parking lot  to shake his hand. His altruistic efforts embody who he is in our town of Sherman: parent, husband,
educator, board member, former selectman,
volunteer, writer, and musician. I have always felt
honored to call Don Lowe a friend. Our town would
be honored to call him First Selectman.

Hannah Roberts McKinnon, Sherman