By Susan Spisak
Eric “Rick” Marston, a lifelong Mainer, passed away in January of this year. He was not only a treasured member of the Bridgton community, but a beloved family man and dog dad. Rick’s longtime friend, Nate Sunday, Tasteful Things co-owner with wife Carole Sunday, daeclared that this delightful character was an absolute town legend—not only was he chatty and funny, but he was well-known as the guy who rode his motorcycle with canine co-pilots.
Samantha “Sam” Thompson, Rick and Peggy Marston’s granddaughter, knows her gramps was special to the family and well-respected by the community. He served in the Air Force and was a security dog handler. Sam said her gramps was one of the first four Bridgton Police Officers, and with his friend Ernest Loring, they designed the police department patch. He had a five-year tenure there and was with the Cumberland Sheriff’s Department for thirty years. 
First four Bridgton police officers.
Sam said her gramps had many dogs over the years and he especially loved his Basset Hounds. The first Bassets were Fred and Molly. “After they passed, there was Fred 2 (his choice in name), then Tank and Husky mix, Babygirl. Tank passed away roughly six months prior to gramps’ passing. Babygirl is still with my grandmother,” shared Sam.
Tank
Since he was an avid motorcycle guy—Sam said he used to own a Kawasaki Victory Cruiser—he and his wife opened Peg-a-leg Pete’s, a leather goods shop and tattoo parlor on Main Street in Bridgton. “I can remember as a kid going in there and playing the old school arcade games like Street Fighter II.” The shop closed after her gramps had a bad motorcycle accident, and he fully retired then.
Since he was a true motorcyclist and dog lover and not one to sit still, he figured a way to combine them. “He rode a military motorcycle, a Ural with a sidecar. He loved that style bike. Before he got his blue/gray camo motorcycle, he had a dark green camo one which he rode until the engine finally gave out. He built the blue/gray one in his garage,” she said. He looked forward to his morning and afternoon rides with his buds and became known as the Motorcycle Guy.
“He was such a funny guy,” said Nate. Locals and vacationers alike recognized and liked him. While out for a spin, he’d stop at the dog-friendly Tasteful Things to shoot the breeze. They soon became good friends, and he saw him almost every day, regardless of the weather…even in snow.
“He made a point of stopping by my store. I would always excuse myself if there were customers, to give [the dogs] a treat…We mostly talked about fishing and history, which we both enjoyed, and he knew his stuff. But it always came back to how the dogs were—it was obvious they were taken care of and well loved.”
As far as his enthusiasm for fishing, he appreciated area lakes and rivers. Sam said he’d take his boat out onto Woods Pond and Highland Lake for trout and salmon. He also liked to fish at Steven’s Brook off Powerhouse Rd. She added that he didn’t take the dogs with him because he would fish for hours on end. But they might accompany him if he was just making a quick stop to check if the fish were biting.
Sam said he had one mishap with a bike. “He once walked from Dunkin’ Donuts to our house right near Highland Lake Beach because he got the motorcycle stuck in a mud puddle while testing out 2-wheel drive. The mud was coming all the way up the sidecar. He had my dad, Jason Ziminsky, go up with his truck to pull him out.”
She misses his visits to her house. “He would stop almost daily to either drop off his latest catch of the day or to simply see what my most recent car project was. Gramps was a man of very few words. When you could get him talking, it was always about fishing and history.
He lived life simply, said Sam: “He loved his morning coffee at the Big Apple, and the dogs in the sidecar. If you didn’t see him out riding or fishing, he was most likely at home watching cooking videos on YouTube, smoking a cigarette, and testing out new recipes on the smoker.”
Nate understands how important Rick was to the community, such a novelty, so they wanted to remember him in a special way. Tasteful Things created stickers of Rick and his sidekicks, Tank and Baby Girl, to sell at the Dog Days of Bridgton, and Sam feels this is the best way they could have honored him.
The Dog Days of Bridgton is an annual event hosted by Nate and Carole of Tasteful Things. Because they’ve been proud dog and cat parents throughout their lives and are passionate about the well-being of all animals, they wanted to make a difference. To that end, they founded this event in 2018 to benefit local pet rescues and organizations. Nate and Carole specifically chose Bridgton because of its dog-friendly environment. Dog Days of Bridgton takes place August 15th from 10 am to 2 pm at the Community Center, 15 Depot Street.
Rick was an interesting family and community man, a dedicated first responder, a wonderful dog lover. So, I’ll conclude with his famous saying, “Alright, gotta go.”