BIDDEFORD — The Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center has announced the sixth annual Biddeford Hall of Fame Award Winners for 2023, honoring those who have made significant contributions to the city and/or to the world at large.

A ceremony was held Sept. 23 in the Biddeford City Hall Council Chambers to recognize the award recipients. Banners honoring the five recipients are on display on utility poles in downtown Biddeford and plaques were added to the display of past recipients in City Hall.

“BCHC is pleased to be able to recognize various icons of our great city in a public place, where citizens may be reminded of the accomplishments of the award recipients,” said Denis Litalien, BCHC board member and chair of Hall of Fame Committee. “We encourage everyone to join us in congratulating those who have helped make our city a great place to live.”

BCHC President Diane Cyr expressed her gratitude to the Selection Committee, noting that members used their knowledge about the city’s history and its people to make well informed decisions.

Hall of Fame award recipients for 2023:

• Harold Alfond — 1914-2007 — Harold Alfond was a successful businessman who saw the need for financial assistance at the University of New England. The Harold Alfond Foundation has supported the University of New England’s growth as Maine’s leading health care educator for over 25 years, first in 1995 with a grant to build the Harold Alfond Center for Health and Sciences and, in 2010, committing $10 million towards creating the state-of-the-art Harold Alfond Forum on the University of New England campus in Biddeford, combined with an investment in interprofessional health care workforce education. Upon his passing, he committed nearly all his wealth to the Harold Alfond Foundation that supports charitable causes in the state of Maine. In 2020, the foundation announced an additional $30 million investment in UNE, demonstrating his continued passionate commitment to the university.

• David Flood — Since his arrival in Biddeford in 1989, David was a force in improving the quality of life in the community. On July 13, 1989, the first issue of his Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier was published, and his talents in the newspaper world were visible to all, and the paper soon became the focal point for local news. In 2004, he became the leader in the founding of the Heart of Biddeford, an organization that today plays an integral role in the ongoing redevelopment and investment in the downtown. David also invested in the downtown, buying, and renovating the building that today houses Elements at 265 Main St. He also bought and renovated the old union hall of Pepperell Manufacturing, on Main Street. David was politically active, serving on the City Council for multiple terms. Always a visionary, he urged, in 2008, that the city begin a recycling program, foreseeing that need before anyone else.

On his Linked in page, David says “I enjoy making a difference.” He certainly has.

• Paul Gagne — Born in Biddeford in 1941, Paul Gagne grew up in Biddeford and spent his entire life there. He served his country in the Air Force for four years (1960-1964) spending 14 months on Guam. Paul worked at the West Point Pepperell, then served the city of Biddeford as a data processing manager for 30 years. Challenges during early days of computerization and his role in building automated systems for the City of Biddeford were recognized many times over. And all of this during the tenure of 10 different mayors. He was recognized as the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center’s 2021 Volunteer of the Year and was awarded the Spirit of America Volunteer of the Year award by the City of Biddeford. He is active in getting the Christmas decorations put up on the downtown light poles each year and is best known for all the time he spends helping to organize the LaKermesse Festival. He volunteers for many city organizations, currently spending time serving as treasurer of the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center, is currently involved with the St. Joseph Parish, serving as a sacristan, and has served on the Parish Council and the St. Joseph PTO and is on the board of LaKermesse, serving as its treasurer. He is chairman of the Good Shepherd finance committee and vice-president of St. Jean’s Baptiste. There are few people in the history of Biddeford who have spent as much time and energy working to make this a better place for the community.

• Urbain Ledoux —1874-1941 — Ledoux’s parents had migrated to the U.S. but returned to Canada when mills closed due the Panic of 1873. Ledoux was born soon after their return to Québec. His parents returned to the U.S. a year later, before Ledoux’s first birthday and settled in Biddeford. He graduated from the collège Marist in Van Buren and returned to his hometown after graduation at the age of 17. By 1893, he was publishing a French weekly in Biddeford called L’Indépendance. Because of his efforts on behalf of the Republicans in 1896, Ledoux was appointed to the U.S. Consular Service. The appointment was hailed by local York County newspapers which praised Ledoux as “a particularly bright and well-informed young man.” Ledoux was assigned to Trois Rivières, Québec, and arrived in August, 1897. He was back in Biddeford in November to marry Carmeline Painchaud in a wedding that was “one of the most brilliant ever seen at St. Joseph’s.” After World War I, he worked with veterans helping them find jobs and housing. In 1921, he hit upon the idea of a slave market on Boston Common to “sell” the services of those he was helping. It was in this period that Ledoux acquired the nickname “Mr. Zero” when he responded to an onlooker who asked “who are you.” To you, I am nothing, Ledoux supposedly responded. Ledoux died in 1941 and is buried in Biddeford, a city that he always considered home. The headstone in the family plot at St. Joseph’s cemetery is a simple one bearing the names of each member of the Ledoux nuclear family. The inscription on the stone “Urbain J. Ledoux 1874-1941” shows not even a hint that the Franco-American buried there had once received national attention and met with President Harding to discuss world peace and the plight of the unemployed.

• Dane Yorke — 1887-1967 — Dane Yorke was not raised in Biddeford, nor even Maine, but that isn’t something you can tell from his body of work. Yorke eventually settled down, moving to Biddeford with his wife in the early 1930s. He initially worked as a manager at a bookstore here, the Dearborn News Company, and published stories and essays for American Mercury magazine (working under HL Mencken), as well as authoring the novel “As Much as Twice,” Yorke also worked part time at the library when then City Librarian Emma Hatch retired after 42 years. He became the City Librarian at McArthur Library in 1937, but having a demanding job did not slow him down. In 1951, he was serving as the director of Civilian Defense and Public Safety for Biddeford, an organization where he led more than 200 trained for peacetime emergencies. At the library, Yorke bought books for the community, oversaw two major renovations, and ran programs for adults and children that often featured his own research and work on local history, his most important legacy to Biddeford. Over his 30 years in leading McArthur Library, Yorke amassed a historic collection the Biddeford community still benefits from today, and published a series of nonfiction books and essays about Biddeford’s history. Through the 1940s, he published “The Men and Times of Pepperell, An Account of the First 100 Years of the Pepperell Manufacturing,” as well as “A History and Stories of Biddeford.” His legacy lives on in the fact that his work is still some of the first researchers go to when looking into the history of Biddeford. McArthur Library is fortunate enough to retain in its collection a wealth of knowledge from Yorke, with his own handwritten notes included.

For more information about the Hall of Fame program and or other activities of the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center, visit Biddefordculturalandheritagecenter.org or email to bchc04005@gmail.com

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