Food giveaway at anti-recall venue two days before vote roils Lebanon

A pair of anti-recall signs, blue with white trim, line the drive-up area where free food boxes were doled out on Monday; inset Charles Russell Jr. prior to shutting off a live feed selectmen's meeting streaming on Youtube last month.

LEBANON, Maine - Two days before a recall vote on Lebanon Selectboard Chairman Charles Russell Jr., as many as 100 town residents lined up in their vehicles to get a 22-pound box of free food at a South Lebanon restaurant where they ran a gauntlet of anti-recall signs before grabbing their grub.

The food was provided as part of federally funded Coronavirus Relief aid and procured by District 20 State Rep. Ted Kryzak, R-Acton, who brought it to Acton Town Hall for distribution in Acton.

While Kryzak doled it out from Town Hall, the food for Lebanon residents was distributed at Minor's Diner and Dairy Bar, thanks in part, to the effort of town resident Deborah Dorey Wilson.

Wilson and Melissa Warren, the owner of the eatery, are both staunch opponents of the recall and have both spoken at selectmen's meetings and on social media about their support for Russell.

Signs supporting Russell and opposing the recall are all over the Minor's property, in back of the restaurant where they have a stage used for entertainment on weekends, and in front on Route 202.

On Monday residents from Lebanon as lined up with vehicles that stretched halfway back over the bridge into East Rochester, N.H. It was the fourth such event at Minor's in September and October.

Also joining the event on Monday was Lebanon Selectperson Corinna Cole, who wanted to help deliver the free food to her constituents even though she is a supporter of the recall. She said she asked Wilson on Thursday if she could help on Monday, and was invited to do so.

But soon after she arrived Cole said she was ordered off the property by Warren, who hadn't returned a phone call as of this posting.

Meanwhile, Russell, who faces recall in Wednesday's vote, said he "didn't see an issue" with giving the food away at Minor's, which had been floated by several Russell supporters as a viable site for the public hearing on the recall before it was decided to instead be held on Zoom.

"It just shows what the people supporting me are bringing to the town," Russell told The Rochester Voice today.

Cole also confirmed today that the Maine Human Rights Commission has acknowledged the receipt of a sexual harassment complaint by Cole against Russell. The commission, however, makes no comment on a claim until the investigation is concluded, officials said.

Former House 20 rep Karen Gerrish, who has led the recall effort, also brought up the sexual harassment complaint against Russell during a recent online video.

Kryzak today insisted the food giveaway had nothing to do with politics and saw no problem with its distribution at Minor's, but later in the day appeared to have had a change of heart while talking to Gerrish.

"Just this morning Rep. Kryzak called me and spoke about this very issue," Gerrish said. "While I do realize that Minor's is campaign headquarters to oppose the recall, politics aside, it's not appropriate to have the distribution of government-issued food at a local business.

"I suggested to Rep. Kryzak that the distribution place be more centralized in town and a municipal building. He was in agreement."

Gerrish went on to note that House District 20 covers two and one-third towns and many miles.

"Rep. Kryzak cannot be in two distribution places at the same time so he has been reliant on volunteers to assist in Lebanon," Gerrish said. "Should moving the distribution to another location be an issue for his current volunteers, I can think of plenty of residents who would be eager to assist Rep. Kryzak in any way."