Every 50 years I have an engaging conversation with Michael Fiori. The first one occurred in the spring of 1970 in the Bowdoin College Admissions Office. Michael was a local kid, the son of Columbo and Marie Alice Fiori who ran the Kennebec Fruit Company on Maine Street. He had come for an interview because he wanted to go to Bowdoin. He was an impressive young man, so I gave him a fine rating, and he came to Bowdoin.
The second conversation occurred a few weeks ago on our front porch, safely distanced, both a little grayer and hopefully a little wiser. We talked about his experience as a boy growing up at the store, about his time at Bowdoin, and about his life after college with some philosophy woven in all along the way.
“I was always in the store starting when I was about 7 years old,” reflects Michael, who got an early education at the Kennebec Fruit Company, a classic old-time general store, which opened on Maine Street around 1900. “I’d do everything from cleaning the potatoes to removing the bad onions from a box.
“My parents were there all the time,” says Michael. “Working and living were the same to them. My two brothers and I never got paid, but if my parents ever had some extra money they would always invest in us.”
While Michael didn’t get paid a salary, he got a great education by just being in the store, which served as a social gathering place for the local citizenry. A few Bowdoin professors, such as Al Abrahamson and Fritz Koelin, spotted Michael’s potential and encouraged him to apply to Bowdoin. He never had any doubts; that’s where he wanted to go.
Michael didn’t apply for financial aid at Bowdoin, but he got through the first semester thanks to some help from his parents and working part-time jobs. He knew the second semester was going to be a real struggle, but then Walter Moulton, director of Financial Aid, asked him to come in for a meeting. Moulton had heard about Michael’s financial situation and asked him why he hadn’t applied for financial aid. Michael told him, “My parents wouldn’t hear of it. They said that that was for kids who need the money.” Moulton assured him that he would qualify for aid, which in fact he did, thereby easing the family’s financial burden.
After graduating from Bowdoin, where he majored in biology, Michael ran the family store for a year before pursuing a degree at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. He wanted a career in which he could impact people in a positive way.
Space precludes listing all of Michael’s many entrepreneurial ventures, community service activities and awards over the last 50 years. A major highlight, for sure, was founding Downeast Pharmacy, Inc., the last Maine-based privately owned pharmacy chain in the state. Downeast Pharmacy, Inc. operated 17 retail stores in Maine and one in Rutland, Vermont. It was the first chain pharmacy in the United States to remove the sale of all tobacco products in it stores. It also removed the sale of all plastic toy “weapons” such as squirt guns, toy knives and daggers, which encouraged children to play at violence.
Such visionary and health-oriented decisions resulted in Michael receiving awards from the Maine Medical Association, the American Lung Association of Maine and the American Cancer Society of Maine, among many others.
He was a sponsor of the “Color Me Green” environmental awareness program, as well the “Success By Age Six” program for building community consensus around what all children need in order to grow up to be healthy and productive citizens.
He’s a past supporter of the D.A.R.E. program, Maine Tar Wars, Special Olympics and Project Assist (a youth tobacco education and control program for communities), among others.
When asked what advice he would give to young people, Michael said, “Hold true to your principles and values and always endeavor to work for the common good.”
Michael Fiori has certainly lived by the principles and values he learned at the Kennebec Fruit Company and Bowdoin College.
Incidentally, Michael Fiori and I have another good Polar Bear connection. His daughter Julia was accepted to the Bowdoin College Class of 2024 as was my granddaughter Emma, although Emma decided to take a gap year before entering next September
Michael and I have agreed that we won’t wait for another 50 years to have a good conversation. As philosophical soulmates, I predict that our next meeting will involve discussing ways to solve all the world’s problems.
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com.
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