
Charlie Boothby is Greenville’s summer ambassador
GREENVILLE — If you traveled to downtown Greenville this past summer you may have noticed someone sitting at a long table in front of the future home of the Puckerbrush Bar & Grille, formerly the Black Frog. It’s Charlie Boothby, the self-styled Ambassador to the Moosehead Lake Region. He has the ID tag to prove it, and wears a large floppy hat, and, during cooler weather, an old cowboy duster. He carries a large wooden staff decorated with fur.
When asked how he came to Moosehead he said he used to snowmobile in the area during the 1980s, but it was at the suggestion of his wife that he discovered the area during summertime. He got a job maintaining the campground at Squaw Brook for two summers. “I had a chance to see the whole region at that time and fell right in love,” he said. “I have never lost my love for this area either.”
Years before moving to Greenville permanently, he worked at the airport in Portland doing customer service. “It was an interesting job,” he said. “And I met a lot of famous people along the way – President George Bush and even Bill Clinton shook my hand when he came to Maine to campaign.” When Boothby retired and relocated to the Moosehead Region he wanted to find something meaningful to do that involved welcoming people.
“It started one day about four or five years ago,” he explained. “I was downtown wandering around and had this thought — I said I’m 68 and I want to do something good for the remainder of my life. I want to level up and return something to the community and this region that I love very much.” He made a point of visiting the various businesses around town and in the area and collected brochures and information.

Observer photo/Shelagh Talbot
MOOSEHEAD AMBASSADOR — Charlie Boothby, the self-styled ambassador to the Moosehead Lake Region.
These he would hand out as he walked about town during the summer. “I just started greeting people,” he remarked. “I’d see the people and walk right up to them and say, ‘Welcome to Moosehead — it’s a pleasure to have you here’. That kind of caught on well and for the past two years I have had all the information spread out on tables for people to see.” During this interview a number of folks stopped in with questions. He’d pause to speak with them and point to the brochures. “If you see anything you like just help yourself,” he said.
If the weather holds he will be ensconced in downtown Greenville doing what he loves best at least until Columbus Weekend coming up October 13 and 14. In addition to being ambassador, Boothby is a photo buff and likes to write about the area. Here’s something he penned a few years ago – he calls it Woods Therapy:
“There is a therapy to be found in the woods. There is a simple happy way of life as our early ancestors did among the streams and lakes. Maybe you should try this kind of life. If you have been living too long under the stress of life, if you cannot sleep at night, then it may be that you too, need to make a close acquaintance with the cry of the loon, the swirl of white water and the blue outline of the mountains against a large sky.
“Like myself and my dog Lily you may find peace and contentment in living in the woods. You may find deep happiness you have never known before. Like us, you may find the Moosehead Lake Region a heaven on earth in every sense of the word, a magnificent place to get away from it all.”