Know Your Neighbor: Stan Dimock

That boyish-looking blonde guy you see planting flowers and picking up trash all over Bristol is not a public employee nor a prisoner on work release. His name is Stan Dimock and he beautifies the town of Bristol for free. He has been doing it for more than 10 years and has come to know the citizens of Bristol, perhaps better than anyone.

"You learn a lot about a community when picking up their trash," said Dimock, chuckling. "Picking up items such as condoms and soiled underwear, I have come to know the town of Bristol very intimately." 

Cleaning the streets and shoreline of Bristol has earned him a rewarding relationship with the community, but more importantly he has come to know himself and taken several inches off his waistline in the process. 

Dimock used to be a claims adjuster for the auto insurance industry. He spent 20 years sifting through accident reports with a fine-tooth comb. The hours were long and the pay was good, but Stan was making enemies. In 1997, he was physically assaulted by a claimant and occasionally received death threats. His office installed bullet-proof, reflective film windows to protect him. Dimock felt safer, but his soul was suffering. Dimock knew there had to be a better way of preoccupying his obsessive compulsive disorder than crunching numbers for big business.

"I was lost," Dimock said. "I'd given twenty years of my life to the insurance industry and I just couldn't do it anymore. When the little voices start telling you that you're not happy, you've got to make some moves."

At the time of his crisis, Dimock lived by himself in a condo at Windmill Point. He had always noticed trash bobbing in the back end of the harbor. Growing up near the hiking trails of Mt. Avon in Connecticut, Dimock always had a deep respect for nature. He went out and spent an entire day picking up every last buoy and plastic tampon applicator he could find. He felt a profound sense of personal accomplishment and quickly realized that he wanted to replicate that feeling on a daily basis.

Fortunately for Dimock, there is never a shortage of litter. The very next day, the incoming tide washed in an entirely new batch of trash and Dimock's OCD suddenly had a much healthier preoccupation than adjusting insurance claims. A few days a week he would clean from Independence Park to the Bristol Yacht Club. He picked up broken toaster ovens and abandoned lawnmowers. He even  found a dead dog wrapped in a blanket once and was appalled by the lack of respect for both an animal and the ocean. Unfortunately, such findings became part of the territory. He seldom found treasure, a spare quarter or dime at most, but he wasn't doing it for the money. Dimock cleaned for his own sense of self-worth, something much more valuable.

Dimock's beach cleanups gave him the idea to volunteer for Save the Bay. They were so impressed with his dedication that they eventually offered him a position as volunteer coordinator. Dimock worked for Save the Bay and still found time to clean Bristol Harbor twice a week. He also began planting flowers at downtown locations such as the library parking lot and at the end of Bradford Street.

Fellow residents began taking notice of Dimock's goodwill. Louise Donahue of asked Dimock to head a community service project. He and other Keller Williams employees planted flowers at , , and Thames Street Landing. This summer, Dimock would wake up at 4 a.m. to water them, a task sometimes taking three hours. After that, he would arrive at the Providence Save the Bay office for his new job as operations assistant.

Dimock is always on the go, but says that he would not have it any other way. Instead of death threats and physical violence, people now honk at him and give enthusiastic waves and thumbs ups.

There are, however, perils to his newfound activism. Last year, Dimock fell off the seawall on Poppasquash Road while picking up trash. This past summer, while cleaning up the patriotic remnants of July 4th fireworks, he spotted a Sip-N-Dip cup floating in the water. He slipped on the rocks while retrieving it and now has a considerable scar on his forearm but he says he does not mind sacrificing skin and flesh. At the age of 55, Dimock feels that he's in the best physical and spiritual shape of his life. He is now down to a size 32 waist, a size he has not been since the mid 80s.

To Dimock, the rewards of cleaning up the waterfront definitely outweigh the risks. Dimock moved to Stone Harbour a few years back and his new pickup route is much safer and far more lucrative. It includes the areas between Independence Park and the Aid to Navigation Station, all the way up to Hope Street.

Now that his route includes the bar district, he is also finding his fair share of treasure. He found $70 last week and $20 already this week. Dimock is always returning wallets and purses to the police station, but keeps any unclaimed cash. Why shouldn't he? It is the least we can pay for Dimock making Bristol a more beautiful place to live.

Know Your Neighbor is a new column profiling people who do interesting things in Bristol and Warren. If you know someone that the readers of Bristol-Warren Patch should get to know, nominate them by sending their name and contact information to sara.bagwell@patch.com