| APRIL 2, 2001 -- When Richard Dobson was growing up in the Staffordville section of town, he listened to the music and heard the laughter coming from the Stafford Grange.
Now that the Grange plans to honor him Tuesday as Citizen of the Year at a sold-out ceremony at Munn's Pub, those memories flood back.
"We had a house with a big porch, and I remember seeing all the people at the Grange at their potluck dinners playing cards," he said. "We used to go to Dolly Webster's, where the post office is now, to get a Popsicle for a nickel. It's all coming around again now."
Dobson, 64, said serving Stafford was a part of his upbringing. "It started in high school when I was class president, and in the Scouts," he said. "People gave their time when I was growing up."
Dobson, a lifelong town resident, served in the Army from 1961 to '62 as a meteorologist in South Korea. He worked in East Hartford for 37 years in research and development for Pratt & Whitney; he has been retired eight years.
When reviewing Dobson's contributions, one might think the list belongs to two or three people. Besides serving on the Board of Finance since 1985, and as its chairman since 1991, Dobson was first selectman from 1975 to '77, and selectman from 1969 to '73.
For more than 25 years, he's also sat at various times on the Conservation, Inland Wetland, Recreation, and School Building commissions.
Dobson also has been a trustee at Stafford Savings Bank and Johnson Memorial Hospital, coached Little League and youth basketball, worked with the Teen Center, and volunteered with the Staffordville Fire Department No. 1.
"He gives so much of his time," Maude Emhoff, Stafford Grange secretary, said. "He loves working with people. A person who didn't wouldn't do these things."
First Selectman John E. Julian said Dobson is an effective leader, particularly on the Board of Finance, because he knows the town inside and out.
"He understands all the aspects of the budget, knowing what every agency has gone through," Julian said. "I'm just concerned that when he wants to retire, we will have a tremendous loss."
Julian said Dobson's personality wins people over. "He has a very easygoing style," he said. "He's not abrasive or confrontational. He always likes to work out problems instead of going head-on."
Former First Selectman Benjamin Muzio, with whom Dobson served as selectman in the early 1970s, called his friend "Mr. Good-Guy."
"He's the all-American kid," Muzio said. "He's the clean-cut kid, and he's carried it through all of his life."
Muzio said he does not remember having any serious disagreements with Dobson while they worked together, either in Town Hall or as Staffordville firefighters in the 1950s.
"We're both conservative Democrats," Muzio said. "And that's good for him as chairman of the Board of Finance. He always has a level head."
Jean DuPont, 74, who for 25 years has lived next door to Dobson and his wife, Patricia, said, "We always chat over the fence. He's been nothing but helpful. When we have a bad storm, he calls and says, 'Don't forget to come over if your heat goes out.' "
Dobson said he's always held the Stafford Grange -- the community organization that once was a social outlet for farmers, but that raises money for scholarships and community projects -- in the highest regard.
"I'm humbled," he said. "But there are younger people who will do better than I will someday."
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