Amanda Caruso of Wilton stands with her children June 1 at Bass Park in Wilton. Voters elected her Tuesday, June 13, to the Regional School Unit 9 board of directors. From left are children Maggie, Caroline, Danny and Emma Caruso. Brian Ponce/Franklin Journal
WILTON — Wilton voters turned out on Tuesday, June 13, to vote Amanda Caruso into the Regional School Unit 9 board of directors. Caruso ousted challenger Louise Hiltz by over a hundred votes, with Caruso earning 196 votes to Hiltz’s 87 votes.
Both women sought the seat belonging to incumbent Irv Faunce, who choose not to seek reelection. Almost 300 voters turned out to vote for these elected positions as well as the RSU 9 budget referendum.
Wilton Selectpersons Keith Swett and David Leavitt, who is also the Chairperson of the Select Board, were both re-elected to their positions and ran unopposed.
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Caruso moved to Wilton with her husband and four kids during the pandemic in 2020 and since then she has involved herself in the community though Western Maine Play Museum as the newest member of the board of directors and is also the secretary for the Tyngtown Club, a two-hundred-year-old philanthropic women’s club in Wilton.
Volunteers Dan Hamlin, left, and Lyn Lewia, right, sat patiently waiting for voters at the Wilton Town Office on Tuesday, June 13. “They come in short bursts,” Hamlin stated. Brian Ponce/Franklin Journal
“We were looking for a small town,” Caruso said in an interview, “We were looking for a rural community. Just a slower pace of life, and a community where things don’t feel so anonymous, and we can really get involved and contribute.”
With three of her kids in the RSU 9 school district and her youngest starting kindergarten in the fall, Caruso involves herself with RSU 9 by volunteering once a month for the RSU 9 food pantry at W.G. Mallett School in Farmington to help other families that are in need.
“Thank you to everyone for their remarkable support,” Caruso said in a phone interview following the results. “I can’t wait to get to work. I have a lot to learn.”
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