Celebrating Ella Clark’s ‘amazing legacy’ as she retires

SHARON — Ella Clark, well-known to residents of Sharon and the region, was celebrated by coworkers and well-wishers on Thursday afternoon, Sept. 26, during a “farewell open house” at Sharon Town Hall. 

Clark, the Sharon Municipal Agent and Social Worker and founder of Chore Service, is retiring after 31 years.

Over baked goods and iced tea, about 50 people reminisced with Clark, including Sharon First Selectman Brent Colley and Selectmen Jessica Fowler and Dale Jones. 

Clark was presented with a citation for her years of service from the Connecticut General Assembly by state Rep. Maria Horn (D-64).

Fuel and food banks

Clark gave a short speech, thanking various associates. 

“When I started out in 1988, Bill Wilbur had already seen the need for moderate income housing, and Bob Moeller continued to pursue this goal,” Clark said, referring to two past first selectmen who had helped to create the Sharon Ridge rental housing complex in 1992.

Of another important service, Clark said, “The town crew would pick up surplus foods in Danbury and when we distributed it, I learned that people could also benefit from help with fuel. So, with Bob Moeller, Terry Ryan and Dave Dolinsky we started the Sharon Fuel Bank in 1989.” 

She referenced various community-minded Sharon residents who created what is today two fuel banks: the Northwest Corner Fuel Bank at the Council of Governments and the Sharon Community Foundation.

“And I could never have survived without Jamie Casey and Stan MacMillan,” Clark said. “They have been my moral compass.” The two are respectively, the town’s land use administrator and building inspector.

MacMillan commented, “It’s been a great pleasure to work with such a dedicated and caring individual.”

During the reception following, Horn commented, “With joy and humor, Ella created what hadn’t been done at the time and, in her wake, inspired the community.”

Jones said, “She has served and created consistently through the years and leaves an amazing legacy.”

Sharing the wealth

In an interview before Thursday’s open house, Clark reflected on her career, saying she had been fortunate to meet good people and colleagues and “find ways to make life less unfair.”

Clark is typically humble but she said the through-line in her career has been to take the metaphoric “piles of sand and spread them around.” Although she said she is not religious, Clark added in the spirit of her work, “Every valley shall be exalted.” 

Clark’s replacement will be Miriam Jones. At Thursday’s reception, Jones commented, “I have some very big shoes to fill.” She said she plans to implement new senior programs and set up a seniors’ transportation service.

Hailing from the West Coast, Clark began working as a social investigator in East Harlem during the riots in the 1960s. 

“Although there were Molotov cocktails, I liked meeting people,” she said.

Clark and her family built a house in Amenia; her son was born in 1969. She ended up in Sharon because the town needed a municipal agent. 

In 1998, there was an economic downturn and many people in area towns needed help. So, the town hired Clark also as a social service agent. Thus, her current position was formed.

Chore Service

In 1992, Clark started the Chore Service after state programs started cutting back on social services. It had been a standard practice among state and federal programs to encumber elderly clients’ houses with a lien in exchange for work around and outside their houses. The program Clark started did none of that. Currently funded by a grant from the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging and outside donations, clients can opt to contribute partially via a sliding scale.

She said the aim was to have indigent senior and disabled residents remain safe and independent while living at home. The program had been run for years out of the Sharon Town Hall, moving last year to 15 Academy St. in Salisbury and continuing to provide housecleaning, laundry, light meal preparation, handyman repairs and transportation for residents of all towns in the Northwest Corner. 

Today the Chore Service is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that employs about 40 local workers and serves 200 clients and families.

Clark was named Grange Citizen of the Year in 2007 by the Connecticut State Grange, and was also cited for starting “Ella’s Pantry,” a shelf of contributed non-perishable goods that go to The Corner Pantry in Lakeville.

When asked what comes next for Clark in her retirement, she said, “The only plan so far is to learn Spanish. I thought I’d go south of the border.”