MEXICO — The town is searching for the oldest resident to present them with the Boston Post Cane, Deputy Clerk Sheryl Briggs said Thursday afternoon.

Briggs said residents should send a nomination letter to the Town Office if they believe they qualify as the oldest resident, or if they know someone who does qualify.

“We’ll also consider residents who are living in a nursing home anywhere within the state of Maine,” Briggs said. “As long as they are still considered a Mexico resident, they can qualify. We had one resident in the past who lived in a nursing home, and we brought her cake, flowers and a replica of the Boston Post Cane.”

The deadline for nominations is 4 p.m. Friday, July 18.

Briggs said the nomination letter should include the resident’s name, age, birthplace, address and contact information.

The recipient is usually announced at the town’s annual Night of Appreciation and the Board of Selectmen had not set a date for that as of Wednesday.

“We don’t know yet when we’ll announce the recipient,” Briggs said. “It really depends on how the cards play out.”

The Boston Post Cane dates back to August 1909, when Edwin A. Grozier, publisher of the Boston Post newspaper, forwarded gold-headed ebony canes to Boards of Selectmen in 431 New England towns. He requested that each cane be presented, compliments of the Boston Post, to the oldest male resident of the town. It wasn’t until 1930 that women became eligible to receive the cane.

The previous Mexico recipient of the Boston Post Cane, Earl Murray, passed away on Jan. 12, 2014.

For more information, call the Town office at 364-7971 and ask for Briggs.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com