Donuts, vampires and Boo Berry Kool Aid

Photo:

Amy Pelchat

OXFORD – Amy Pelchat was brought up in Auburn and now lives in Oxford with her husband and two children. She works part-time at L.L. Bean, but is pretty busy just being a mom.

She recently took time to tell us about her life.

Q: When were you born and where were you brought up?

A: I was born in Lewiston at CMMC on September 17, 1976 and I grew up in Auburn.

Q: Did you have many siblings?

A: Yes. My brother Randy was two years younger than me. My parents divorced when I was two and my brother was an infant.

My step dad, John Bergeron, has two children, Natalie and Gayton; Natalie lives in Lewiston and so does Gayton.

My brother Randy passed away in 2002; he was 23.

Q: What was it like growing up?

A: We lived on the Pownal Road, so it was in the country and we were outside a lot. Randy and I had built a club house above our barn and we spent a lot of time in there playing.

At one time we had seven horses which we rode on the trails behind our house. We also raised pigs and turkeys for a while.

There was another big farm down the road with a loading dock and they would get shipments of day-old donuts and pastries from Country Kitchen to feed their animals. My brother and I would steal donuts and eat them in the club house.

I was in love with the Cabbage Patch Kids. I didn’t really care for Barbie; I was more into the baby-type dolls.

In the winter, we would go ice fishing down the road on the pond by the big farm. I remember one of the pigs had gotten stuck in the ice and it had died. So we put a chair over it so we wouldn’t run into it. When it thawed out in the spring, they took it out.

In the summer, we would play in the woods a lot and go down to the pond and get polliwogs. We would put them in a bowl and bring them home and try to keep them as pets, but they would always die.

I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout and had a lot of fun at camp. I remember we would put holes in sand and pour wax in it. We could make bowls, candles or ashtrays.

When I was little, I took lessons in dance, gymnastics swimming. I also took a few horseback riding lessons.

I loved to go square dancing with my grandparents on Friday nights. I was probably seven or eight and I really got pretty good at it.

Q: What do your parents do?

A: My mother is a personal trainer and fitness instructor. She also works part-time at L.L.Bean.

John is part-owner of InFab and they manufacture blanket insulation. He also owns Cabana Sucre Bergeron, which is a sugar shack, and they make maple syrup.

Q: During your childhood, who could you trust the most?

A: My mom. I told her everything and still do. She is my best friend.

Q: Was there anything you wanted to be when you grew up?

A: I always thought it would be fun to be a food critic. However, the one thing that I always knew I wanted to be was a mom.

Q: Did you get into mischief or play pranks?

A: I got suspended in the eighth grade for drinking vodka and Boo Berry Cool Aid on the school bus. I had three days in-school suspension and couldn’t ride the bus for the remainder of the year.

I also used to enjoy hiding on people and scaring them. Nobody else enjoyed this.

Q: Where did you go to school?

A: Fairview, Great Falls, Auburn Middle, Walton Edward Little High School in Auburn.

Q: Did you have a favorite teacher?

A: My favorite teacher was Mr. Murphy at Great Falls. He was Irish and had a green plastic Shamrock ring that he would let us wear if we were good. He let us chew gum and pass notes in class.

He was mom’s teacher too. In fact he didn’t get along too well with my uncle and he literally had put him in the trash can one time. For someone his age, he was handsome. He had a poster on the wall that said Murphy’s Law and I would read that if I got bored.

Q: What have you had for jobs?

A: I worked at Wallingford’s Apple Orchard picking strawberries for a quarter a pint. I also had numerous babysitting jobs for people in my neighborhood.

Q: Did you go to college?

A: I went to Central Maine Technical College and studied business, but I can’t balance a check book.

Q: When and how did you meet your spouse?

A: I have known Ben for a long time. We went to high school together and I was good friends with his cousin. Ben moved in with a buddy of his and I went to the housewarming party. We dated ever since that and got married on September 28, 2002. We had a beautiful outdoor wedding at the Rangeley Inn.

Q: What is one of your favorite early memories of your spouse?

A: Before we had kids, we used to go ice fishing on Tripp Lake on Friday afternoons. We had an ice shack and a hibachi and we would cook venison and drink beer. I don’t really remember catching any fish, but we had a lot of fun!

Q: Any children?

A: Ben and I have two children; Jason is 5 and Ayla is 2.

Q: What word would you use to describe each child?

A: Jason is very inquisitive. He needs to know why and how things work. He is persistent if he does not feel that the answer you provide is the right one. I have to use Google a lot to assure him I know what I’m talking about. Ayla is very feminine. She likes to wear nail polish and jewelry and she carries a pocket book everywhere she goes.

Q: What does Ben do for work?

A: He’s a master electrician and owns his own business Pelchat Electric.

Q: What brought you to Oxford?

A: When we first got married, we lived in Poland. Ben’s dad bought a huge piece of land here in Oxford and gave us a piece to build on. It is great here. We are closer to my mom who lives in Hebron and, of course Ben’s dad in right next door.

Q: Where do you work and what do you do?

A: I work part time at L.L.Bean in the Eservices department. The rest of the time I am a busy mom.

Q: What is the Eservice department and what do you do?

A: It’s like a live help and I respond to people’s chats and e-mails.

Q: Anyone said you look like someone famous?

A: Yes. I have been told numerous times that I look like Shannon Doherty.

Q: What do you like to do as a family?

A: We enjoy camping and barbecues in the summer. We also like to snowmobile, ice fish, hike and go sliding.

Q: Did anyone influence you to the point of changing your direction in life?

A: Ben did. He is very organized and particular about the way he does things. When we started dating I was not organized and more fly by the seat of my pants. He has helped me to be more focused and goal oriented.

Q: Do you collect anything or have a hobby?

A: I collect shoes, pocket books and coats! If I see something that I really like I buy one in every color.

I like to run with my Ipod at the highest volume and sing at the top of my lungs.

Q: Do you have a pet peeve?

A: I don’t like it when people don’t wash their hands, especially after using the bathroom. It’s really a pet peeve of mine. To the point that when I am in a restroom, I will even scoot down in the stall and check out the people’s shoes that don’t wash up. I want to know whose dirty hands I’m dealing with! It’s amazing how many people don’t wash their hands.

I also don’t like it when people complain about their life, but do absolutely nothing in bettering themselves.

Q: What is the last book you read?

A: I love to read books about vampires. Currently I am reading JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I just finished Dark Lover and am now reading Eternal Lover. I read the Twilight series and loved it, but I needed something more adult.

Q: What subject do you wish you knew more about?

A: The human brain, how it works and why people do not use their own more often.

Q: What is the one thing you could not give up?

A: Chocolate and peanut butter.

Q: Do you have a hidden talent or a talent you wished you had?

A: I wish I could sing and I wish that I had a photographic memory.

Q: What would a dream job be?

A: A psychic medium ... I always wanted to see dead people.

Q: What is the one thing you would happily do over again?

A: College. I went for business and don’t even like the subject. Once my children are in school I would like to go back to school for nursing.

Q: What was the best memory that this interview brought back?

A: It reminded me of times growing up with my brother, Randy; like when he walked me down the aisle. We were very close growing up and I miss him every day.

Q: What would you like people to know about you?

A: I am who I am, and if you don’t like it that’s ok. I don’t enjoy being around people if I can’t be myself.

Q: Last day on earth; what would you do and who with?

A: That’s not a fair question because there are so many people that I love and would not want to be without. If I had one day on earth I would want all the people that I truly love to come over for a barbecue; complete with lobster and whiskey.

Q: What scares you the most?

A: My kid’s future and what it holds.

I am also frightened when I look out the window and see my father-in-law working in the yard bent over. He wears white knee-high socks, comfort mocs and shorts that don’t cover him, so he usually has a butt crack.

Q: If anyone could walk in right now, who would you most want to see?

A: My brother, Randy. I would give anything to see him again. I would tell him that I love him and that I think of him every day.