When the people of Buckfield come together in June, they will be confronted with a choice.
Accept a gift of land and money for scholarships … or let all of it be given to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.
Lifelong Buckfield resident James Jordan died on March 16, 2024, at age 80. In death, he has offered the town his nearly 14-acre property on Depot Street, along with $850,000 to maintain it and additional funds for scholarships, according to the Sun Journal.
Residents will vote on June 10 whether to accept two acres for training their local rescuers. Another question would ask the town to accept the remaining acreage for public recreation, the Sun Journal reported.
Additionally, residents will be asked to accept money for one $100,000 and two $50,000 scholarships, and $20,000 to fund an annual trip to Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth for Buckfield seniors, according to the newspaper.
If voters turn down the real estate gifts, the land and the $850,000 will be handed over to the nearest Hells Angel chapter.
What might puzzle some is Jordan’s apparent lack of connections to the notorious motorcycle gang. He graduated from Buckfield High School and went on to work as a traveling salesman, driver of antique cars between Maine and Texas, and a manager at International Paper.
A friend told the Sun Journal that the whole thing was probably a joke, a way to make sure Buckfield accepted Jordan’s gift.
It wasn’t immediately clear what Hells Angel chapter is closest to Buckfield. Carleton Spencer, who died in 2006, formed the club’s first chapter in Canaan.
Before forming that chapter, Spencer was a member of the Saracens Motorcycle Club in Turner. In 2001, the U.S. Department of Justice described that club as an outlaw motorcycle gang, which allegedly is allied with and subservient to the Hells Angels. It has been implicated in drug trafficking and other crimes. There was a shooting near its clubhouse in 2010.
Police searched the Saracens’ clubhouse last spring as part of an ongoing investigation, ABC affiliate WMTW reported.
The Saracens has touted its charity work and even holding community dinners to support the Lewiston Food Bank, according to the TV station.
