By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

    South Portland residents who turned out to see Dick
Bernard, outfitted in period costume to resemble Thomas Jefferson,
march from his home on E Street to Legion Square on the Fourth of July
may not have known it was their last opportunity to hear Bernard read
aloud the entire Declaration of Independence.    

    After six years in South Portland, Bernard and his
wife Kathy are preparing to move to Oregon to be closer to Kathy’s
mother. A self-described “political junkie,” the Fourth of July event
is just one way Bernard has immersed himself in the local scene.

    “I’ve always been interested in the complete
Declaration,” he said. In most recitations, he said, the abuses and
usurpations by King George III and Parliament are left out. “When you
hear them listed, they’re pretty powerful.”

    In his last showing, Bernard wearing his outfit made
by neighbor and “expert at costuming” Rommy Brown was joined by
planning board member Rob Schreiber on the snare drum, his own grandson
Gregory on the flute and the daughter of a longtime friend played the
role of town crier.

    “I don’t know who the successors will be,” he said.

    Bernard is also chair of the Conservation
Commission, a member of the Knightville Neighborhood Association and a
state committee member of the Maine Democratic Party. Bernard joked
that he was elected to the latter committee on the “platform of geezer
power.”

    “I jumped in with both feet right away,” he said
with a laugh. Having moved to South Portland from Watsonville,
California, Bernard recalled his introduction to Maine politics: a
sparsely attended caucus where he met Tom Allen and later the
dedication of the Liberty Ship Memorial in Bug Light Park where he met
then Congressman John Baldacci.

    A regular attendant at city council gatherings, it’s
hard to believe that Bernard isn’t a native of South Portland. As he
reveals more of his history, however, it becomes apparent that Bernard
has spent several years of his life on the move.

    “If you add it all up, we are vagabonds,” he said.

    Bernard lived in San Jose, California for four
years, until in 1983, he and Kathy decided it was time for a change. A
retired educator and WWII vet, Bernard spent his time substitute
teaching, building a swimming pool and raising chickens.

    “Now they want to have chickens in South Portland,”
he said laughing, referring to the recent movement to change an
ordinance to allow for backyard chickens in South Portland.   

    Bernard said their plan to leave San Jose and “see
this country up close” was contingent on selling their house. Bernard
recalled they weren’t having much luck until, during a dentist
appointment, he learned that his hygienist and his dentist were looking
for a house. Within a few hours, they had looked at the house and made
an offer. Soon after Bernard said he and Kathy bought an RV and were on
their way.  

    “We essentially went west to east, east to west,”
Bernard said. He and Kathy spent the longest period of time in Boston
and they spent the winter of 1985 in an apartment on Monument Square in
Charlestown. In 1987, they returned to the West Coast and settled in
Watsonville.

    It wasn’t the first time Bernard had traversed the
landscape by camper. In 1975, he applied for a sabbatical from L.A.
Harbor College, where he had been teaching U.S. history, and he and
Kathy and her three children flew to Luxembourg. Bernard explained that
Kathy is his second wife, whom he met her in 1971 and it must have been
love at first sight as he said she “hit me with a two by four.”
        Their group spent six months
traveling around Europe in the 20 foot long camper, rolling through
France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom
and Ireland. Not surprisingly, Bernard believes traveling by camper is
the best way to see the world.

    Some years earlier, in 1959 to be exact, Bernard was
in the Netherlands not to sightsee, but to teach young Dutch men all
about American society and economics. The recipient of a Fulbright
teaching opportunity, Bernard taught at a small college located in a
thirteenth century castle and did his part to prepare “fledgling
business types for Dutch enterprises.”  

    “My Dutch was awfully sad, but I remember a few
words and phases even now,” he said. Fortunately, as the men were
learning to speak French, Arabic and Russian, they were also improving
their tenth grade English skills.

    In another multi cultural venture, Bernard said his
three trips to Mexico over the years have inspired him to write a
children’s book, which is currently going through its final
proofreading and will hopefully be published by the holiday season.

     A writer of “mostly political stuff” and letters to
the editors, the short story Betsy’s Destiny is a new experience for
Bernard.

    “It’s multi-cultural because Betsy after ten years
in southern Texas, is sold across the Rio Grande,” he said. Betsy’s
story, told through a mix of English and Spanish, was inspired by “a
dead bus in the weeds” that Bernard happened upon during one of their
trips.

    As Bernard prepares to make the trip back to the
West Coast, he hopes more people will step up to serve in various
capacities in the city.

    When the council discussed the issue of allowing
residents to serve on more than one board or committee, Bernard
suggested they also look at longevity on certain committees. He warned
of South Portland developing a reputation similar to that of a good old
boys’ club.

    When asked if he will join any committees or
organizations in his new community, Bernard said laughing, “Kathy’s
caution is in the back of my head, ‘Don’t you dare Dick.’”

    “My being a political junkie was part of the package,” he said.