Rural Town Needs Plumber, Hopes A Student Will Take The Plunge

Something's missing in the small town of Jackman, Maine. They've have an electrician and some carpenters among their 800-odd residents, but no plumber which can complicate things. Ruediger Wittmann/iStockphoto hide caption

Something's missing in the small town of Jackman, Maine. They've have an electrician and some carpenters among their 800-odd residents, but no plumber which can complicate things.

If a pipe bursts or a toilet backs up, many of us might not give a second thought to looking up a plumber. In most areas, there will be lots of options for services nearby.

But in the isolated town of Jackman, Maine, which has a population of around 800, the local plumber recently retired. Now, the closest plumber is in the nearest town 50 miles away.

To fill the void, one family has partnered with the local school district to create a scholarship. The 2015 Inza and Harry Hughey Memorial Scholarship will award $2,000 to a local graduate willing to become a certified plumber and come back to work in the town.

Sheryl and Larry Harth run the scholarship fund and decided to focus it on plumbing once the void hit them acutely. They moved back to the area about two years ago and built a house, hiring a plumber who lived in that town about 50 miles away to work on the project. Last year, they needed more work done and they were promised that that plumber would return.

"Well, it's been two years and we still have not seen that person," Larry Harth tells NPR's Arun Rath.

We have a great electrician and many carpenters, but we do not have a licensed plumber ... We're hoping that this will entice them.

- Larry Harth, whose family is funding the scholarship

He says there are some folks in town who know the basics of plumbing, but they're not licensed. In emergency situations, they can only provide guidance.

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Rural Town Needs Plumber, Hopes A Student Will Take The Plunge