Gen. Wallace Nutting was the walking, talking definition of being a local bad ass, but he was also one of the most humble and sincere people I have ever met: a man who led by persuasion — a man always in search of the potential good in others.
Therefore, I think it’s the very least we can do to rename a bridge in honor of a man who gave so much back to his community during a lifetime of service to others.
I clearly remember the first time I interviewed Wallace Nutting, a four-star U.S. Army general who grew up in Saco and later decided to run for mayor in Biddeford.
Nutting was nothing short of daunting. He was tall, well-built and leaned into his words with a gravelly voice and a demeanor that reeked of honor and respect.
But he was also a bit mischievous and his blue eyes would often twinkle while his mouth formed a sly grin.
I started off that interview by implying that he was off his rocker with the idea of becoming Biddeford’s mayor. He was, after all, a Saco native who graduated from Thornton Academy. Worse yet, he was a registered Republican in a city dominated by Democrats.
He just smiled at me. I was playing checkers. He was playing chess.
At the height of his career, Nutting was Commander-in-Chief, United States Southern Command. He was the one who executed the plan to extract Manuel Noreiga from Panama in 1990.
While working at the Pentagon, Nutting was a senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan. Despite all this, I predicted that he would get creamed in a three-way race for mayor against Daniel Boucher and City Councilor Marc Lessard.
It wasn’t even close. Nutting won that 2003 election with 3,184 votes compared to 2,339 for Boucher and 2,244 for Lessard.
Two years later, when Nutting decided to seek reelection, no one even dared run against him.
During his four years at the helm of Biddeford, Nutting was faced with several daunting challenges, not the least of which was the city’s relationship with the owners of the Maine Energy Recovery Company, the downtown trash-to-energy incinerator.
Despite the often prevalent odors of trash being burned in the center of the city, Nutting had nothing but optimism for Biddeford’s nearly hollowed out downtown area.
Nutting was a true believer of Biddeford’s downtown, a visionary who consistently extolled a message of optimism, predicting a rebirth – a revitalization of a downtown, then almost ignored by City Hall.
But there was nothing Nutting loved more than his wife, Jane and their four children.
Nutting didn’t like the invisible division between the cities of Biddeford and Saco. He pushed for regional planning, for shared resources and ideas. To him, the two cities were one community, much stronger when they worked together.
One of my favorite quotes from Nutting was this, when asked how he won his first election as mayor of Biddeford:
“People have told me that they feel as if I speak with sincerity, truth . . . I articulated my message positively, Nutting told me. “You have to radiate integrity. You don’t lead soldiers into battle in a half-assed manner.”
Sadly, General Nutting died last year at the age of 95.
“You have to radiate integrity. You don’t lead soldiers into battle in a half-assed manner.”
— Gen. Wallace Nutting
If all goes as planned, the bridge connecting Biddeford and Saco at the bottom of York Hill will soon be named in honor of a man who was one of the community’s most distinguished and accomplished citizens.
City officials in both Biddeford and Saco have jointly petitioned the Maine Legislature to officially name the bridge in honor of Gen. Wallace Nutting, a man who was literally dedicated to bridge building between the two cities.
He was a Thornton Academy graduate from Saco, but loved Biddeford dearly.
“You know, I’m a local boy, too,” Nutting told me. “I went sledding in Clifford Park and jumped into the river with the kids from Biddeford, and flew model airplanes off the runway at the Biddeford Airport.”
As I said at the top, naming a bridge in Nutting’s honor is the least we can do.
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LESSONS IN MEDIOCRITY 
He was a neighbor of ours in Atlantic Heights. The General had a wonderful sense of humor and a good friend. My husband introduced our grandson to him and then told our grandson his history. Our grandson said, “ I thought he would be mean.” When my husband told Wallace the story, his reaction was, I can be mean, when I need to be.
As I use a walker, you were spot on about the Biddeford garage.
Phyllis T. Dunitz
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