PHILLIPS — “It is my greatest pleasure to announce the most deserving, special people for Phillips Old Home Days Honored Couple 2015! CONGRATULATIONS to Michael and Virginia Auger! Containers were placed around town for residents to place their suggestions for the honored couple. An immense amount of people must know just how giving this couple is. They received so many votes! They certainly ARE ‘the best of the best’! Congrats”Mike and Ginny!”

So reads a recent post of the Phillips Old Home Days Facebook page. Here is “the rest of the story”…

Mike and Ginny Auger were surprised at their home recently by Phillips Chamber of Commerce representative Tami Bredeau. Lots of family members had also shown up “unexpectedly” that evening. Each of these had been let in on the secret mission ahead of time.

“Be at Aunt Ginny’s at 6:30,” was the message passed along the family phone tree.

Mike thought Tami was coming to talk to him about a project for which she needed his help.

“I thought it probably had to do with a load of sand for something or other,” Mike said later.

Donating sand to projects such as playgrounds, the volleyball court at North Franklin Park, or a new skating rink is just one of the many ways the Augers contribute to their community.

On this occasion, however, the tables had been turned. Instead of a request for assistance, Mrs. Bredeau had come with the official announcement that the Augers had been named Phillips’ Honored Couple for Old Home Days 2015.

“You are a very deserving couple,” Mrs. Bredeau stated, “always there to help out.”

The Augers have been involved in Old Home Days (OHD) for many years. Former members of the Chamber of Commerce, their help has taken several different forms, such as organizing the annual parade, sponsoring the Lumbering Competition, and anything else where help is needed.

“If there’s something going on, we’re involved,” Ginny said.

This year, Mike and Ginny will be part of the parade themselves, riding in a convertible traditionally donated for the event by Franklin Jeep in Farmington.

Another major project of the Augers is the Northwoods Pulling Track and Mud Run located adjacent to Lindbergh Airport in Avon on property owned by the couple. What started as just a few of the boys bringing their trucks to Auger’s gravel pit has become a huge draw for fans of this particular form of outdoor recreation. The track opened about five years ago and holds several events each summer. One of the featured competitions is the Donny Fournier Memorial Pull held during OHD, which brings in over 300 people.

Admission is charged to cover the cost of liability insurance, upkeep, ribbons, and trophies. Anything above and beyond that is donated to a local charity or other “good cause”. Among others, beneficiaries over the years have included Operation Santa Claus, Suzy Sanders’ OHD Wonderland, and the Phillips 8th Grade Class.

“A lot of people have an awful good time there!” Mike said.

Mike Auger, a native of Newry, and Ginny Abbott, a Phillips girl all her life, met in 1968. Both were 17. Mike had just returned from his summer job in New Hampshire. His dad suggested Mike treat them to an evening out. The Madrid Barn Dance was the happening thing in those days.

That’s where the two met and the courtship began. It was not uncommon over the next few years for Mike to hitchhike all the way from Newry to see Ginny.

“He loved me a lot,” Ginny said.

Ginny graduated from Phillips High School in 1969 in the last class to do so. She went on to train at Central Maine General Hospital, now Central Maine Medical Center, and became a registered nurse. Her first job was as floor nurse at Franklin Memorial Hospital, then located in the brick building that is now Sunny Hill Apartments. She moved with the hospital in 1975 to its new facility on route 4, continuing on staff for 17 more years. Ginny later worked with Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, where she was supervisor for another 17 years.

Mike, who attended school in a one-room school house with just two other students in his class until 8th grade, graduated in 1970 from Telstar in Bethel. Mike confessed that he never liked school very much.

“It was more fun to work than go to school,” he declared.

But he stuck it out because Ginny’s parents insisted that if he were going to marry their daughter, he had to graduate.

He worked in the woods for many years and at IP for 25. He is currently self-employed, “a jack of all trades”.

“If it’s doable, if it can be done, I’ll do it,” Mike stated emphatically.

The couple was married in 1973 in the Methodist Church on Main Street. They honeymooned in the Mt. Washington area.

“We were broke – had maybe $20,” they remembered, “but we had a car!”

“Actually, we aren’t legally married,” Mike informed those gathered, “She put my ring on the wrong finger.”

He didn’t say anything at the time, just slipped it onto his left hand before the reception.

Forty-two years later, Ginny states matter-of-factly, “We have been greatly blessed.”

They have three children – Christy, Tony, and Misty – six grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. Christy is now Mrs. Joseph Haynes, Misty is Mrs. Brent Davenport, and Tony has a long-time girlfriend, Cally Brown.

“(Mike and Ginny) are the anchor of the family,” Tina Gould, one of the nieces, testified, “They’re like everybody’s second mom and dad. They’re always there for us.”

Over the years, Ginny, or “Dr. Auger” as she is often called, has served as doctor, dentist, nurse, counselor, and the general “voice of reason”, tending wounds of body, spirit, and mind. All agreed that the younger members of the family firmly believe that “if Aunt Ginny can’t fix it, it can’t be fixed.”

She, along with the other grandmothers in the extended family, organizes an annual week-long “Grammie Camp” for all the grandchildren at the Auger’s camp on Porter Lake. From Monday to Friday, grandkids, (21 last year, counting “some that aren’t even related!”), rule the roost as they participate in various activities with different themes for each day.

The frosting on the cake, literally, is that she has taught, or is teaching, all the kids to cook.

“She makes the best doughnuts in the world!” chimed in great-nephew Hunter Mitchell.

Mike is everybody’s “go to guy”. From lawnmowers to houses, bring the need to his attention and he’ll likely say, “I think I know a guy…” He’s the man with a plan, especially if it’s something for the kids, for whom he is also the hunting mentor. Youth Day is one of his favorite days in the woods.

“That’s what it’s all about,” he said.

The evening’s visit ended with Mike getting ready to enjoy his nightly ritual – chocolate ice cream straight from the box.

“My only bad habit,” he insisted.

From the corner of one’s eye, it also looked as if he might surreptitiously be practicing “the wave” in anticipation of riding in that convertible…

Phillips Old Home Days 2015 is the week of Aug. 16-23. This year’s theme is “Disney Comes to Phillips”. The 58th Annual OHD Parade will be on Friday, Aug. 21, starting from North Franklin Park at about 5 p.m.