"OLD ORCHARD BEACH — George Wesley Shorey, a local businessman who for years after his retirement headed up the town's beach-cleaning crew, died Friday at the age of 96.
"Mr. Shorey, called "GW" by those close to him and "Grampy" by the younger members of his extended family, had the good fortune to spend most of his long life in Old Orchard Beach, accumulating a wealth of memories and fondness.
"His recollections were of spectacle.
"Mr. Shorey was working as a Western Union boy when in 1927, Charles Lindbergh, possibly the most famous person in the United States at the time, set down his airplane on the beach because it was too foggy to find the Portland airfield.
"Mr. Shorey used to show movies out on The Pier, and could tell stories of seeing some of the biggest names on the big band scene, giants like Duke Ellington and Count Basie."
(H/T to Sarah Mahoney)
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