Facebook to match donations on “Giving Tuesday” for nonprofit organizations

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To help raise awareness of the causes that people care about and further amplify that generosity, this year, on Tuesday, December 3, Facebook will match up to $7 million in donations made through the social media platform to U.S. nonprofits on a first-come, first-served basis.

You may take this opportunity to make a donation to The Town Line and Facebook will match that donation. To donate, follow our page and look for our Facebook post on Giving Tuesday!

You can also help out by creating a fundraising campaign for us on your own page using this link: www.facebook.com/fund/townline.org.

Donate on Giving Tuesday without using Facebook here.

 

 

(See Facebook’s additional Terms & Conditions here.)

The story behind the first Thanksgiving

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by Gary Kennedy

For some of us, Thanksgiving isn’t a space in time, day, week, month or year. In older times it was being thankful for a good harvest which was derived from a year of hard work which would supply the people for the coming months with food. Most crops were obtained in the late part of September to early October, depending on the crop. After this, harvest and storage of food stores were followed by hard winters.

I can’t explain why Thanksgiving Day was given the date of the fourth Thursday of November. I do know that the first winter the colonists endured was wrought with misery and death. Approximately 50 percent of the original 102 pilgrims, as they were known, perished of disease and the elements. The second season they fared much better having built some lodging and making new friends, the Abnaki Indians. The most unbelievable event occurred at this meeting as the Native American who greeted them did so in English. Later the Pilgrims were introduced to a Native American by the name of Squanto who was a member of the Pawtuxat tribe who also spoke English. This became a learning opportunity well needed by the very weak Pilgrims.

Squanto had years previously been kidnapped by the English and sold into slavery. Squanto had the knowledge of both worlds and even though he had been kidnapped and sold into English slavery, he was willing to teach the remaining Pilgrims the art of survival in this new world. After years of being a slave he was eventually sold to a sea captain which allowed him the opportunity to return to the new world, which for him was very familiar. That in itself was a reason to be thankful for the survivors of the Mayflower. Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, catch fish and tap maple trees for their sap. Corn was the first vegetable, with fish racks for fertilizer, and maple syrup and honey were the first sources of sugars. Squanto taught the avoidance of poisonous plants and he also introduced the pilgrims to the Wampanoag which was another local Indian tribe. This friendly-relationship lasted for at least 50 years.

Governor William Bradford, the first of the Mayflower political figures, organized a celebratory feast in which Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag and a few others were invited. This Native Americans event is remembered as America’s first Thanksgiving and lasted for three days. The official name of Thanksgiving hadn’t been given at this point. The chronicler who gave us most of this information was a Pilgrim named Edward Winslow. When festivities concluded, Chief Massasoit sent some of his men out to hunt and they gave as a gift five deer, which in itself was a blessing. This year turned out well for the pilgrims. Not all years were this great but we won’t visit that area and spoil the spirit here.

Eventually, in 1789, George Washington issued the first proclamation by the National Government of the United States. This had mostly to do with the conclusion of the country’s War of Independence and successful ratification of the US Constitution. President James Madison and John Adams followed suit. In 1817, New York became the first state to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday.

The writer and author Sarah Hale who wrote, “Mary had a Little Lamb,” launched the campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years she pushed for this to happen and finally she reached the ear of Abraham Lincoln, and in 1863 it became so. Although Thanksgiving has lost a lot of its religious over tones it still remains a family/friend event with lots of gaiety and food. The typical meal is still turkey, potatoes, squash, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and various pies, especially pumpkin.

Since 1924, Macy’s of New York puts on the most famous of parades, with marching bands and floats. Now just let me say, “go and join your family and friends and devour those delicious foods which you will surely remember the day after.” I will leave you with this one positive note and that is, “they haven’t made me change the name of this holiday yet.” Have a great holiday our friends, and don’t forget to thank the one who makes all things possible. I promise to continue this story next year. God be with you and yours and God Bless America.

Waterville Audiology holds ribbon cutting ceremony

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Photo courtesy of Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce

The Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony, on November 12, at Waterville Audiology, located on the corner of Silver and Preston streets. Owner is Dr. Becca Rancourt, while her mother Jennifer Rancourt is the office manager, and Brenda Bartucca staffs the front office.

Facebook to hold Giving Tuesday for nonprofit donations

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Social media platform to match donations

To help raise awareness of the causes that people care about and further amplify that generosity, this year, on December 3, Facebook will match up to $7 million in donations made on Facebook to U.S. nonprofits on a first-come, first-served basis.

You may take this opportunity to make a donation to The Town Line and Facebook will match that donation.

You can also help out by creating a fundraising campaign for us on your own page using this link: https://www.facebook.com/fund/townline.org/

Look for our post on Facebook on Giving Tuesday!

 

See Facebook’s additional Terms & Conditions here.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Hide and NO seek

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by Debbie Walker

Nana Dee, of the Wandering Nanas, uses a lot of fabric for making garments, quilts and the list goes on. We have laughed about how sometimes you must get creative with your collections, sometimes that includes hiding some of the collection for fear of criticism.

We came across an old column from Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine, May/June 2004 issue, by Cindy L. Weyers, titled 50 Ways to Hide Your Fabric. We aren’t all hiding fabric, so I have left a few ideas out, the ones included here are multi-purpose. You might consider some of these good for hiding Christmas presents as well.

One place for hiding craft materials is in the closet behind and in your shoes on the floor. Men never look at women’s shoes unless they are admiring the legs that go with them.

Hide things behind clothes on closet shelves.

Put false bottoms in clothes hampers. No one digs deeply in there except you.

Store things in a crate marked as women’s clothes and don’t forget where you put them!

Place flat things, like clothing gifts, between mattress and box spring.

Layer some things under the cushions of sofa. Explain it’s needed because some remote control-punching, chip munching, sweating couch potato is squishing the cushions. He will ignore them.

Place in closed box under the sink marked “Cleaning Supplies.” No one will even look!

Fill another box and mark with ‘Feminine Supplies.” That should keep him out of that area.

Fill your cedar chest.

Store in bottom of china cabinet.

When the kids move out, fill their dresser drawers with your goodies.

Tuck between blankets in linen closet.

Hide under beds. Fear of dust bunnies will keep him away.

Store in a vacuum bag under the bed.

Store on top of china cabinet, another place only you would look.

Store in luggage. You usually do the packing anyway, no one would look.

If you know of more places you might drop me a line to let me add them to the list. I wish he would look over his garage and leave the house to me! I don’t touch the garage.

In my copy of HGTV there is always a column titled, How Bad Is It? Straight answers to scratch-your-head questions:

How bad is it to toss a can of spray paint in the trash? If it is empty, it’s not bad. If there’s any paint in it, it’s pretty bad.

How bad is it to keep opening your oven to check on the turkey? Not so bad. The fatal mistake is to try to cook it faster by upping the temperature, that’s pretty bad.

Before I forget it! Did you know there is an easier way to peel a banana than the way I grew up doing it? From the top or from the bottom? I was having trouble getting one opened the other day. My daughter looked over and said, “Do it like the monkeys do, it’s easier. She showed me you open it from the bottom. SOOooo….. much easier! Give it a try.

As usual, I am just curious, where you hide things. I hope you will let me know.

Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com with any questions or comments or call the office and leave me a message. Thank you for reading. Have a happy, healthy week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Poet: Edward Lear; Band: Jefferson Airplane

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Jefferson Airplane

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Edward Lear

From Edward Lear, 1812-1888, the gifted poet of nonsense verse from London:

There was an Old Man of Three Bridges
Whose mind was distracted by midges;
He sate on a wheel, eating underdone veal,
Which relieved that Old Man of Three Bridges.

A record has been left of the first Thanksgiving in New England being held in Popham Colony on October 4, 1607, with local Native-American tribes who later survived the brutal Maine winter that year in the forest with better results than the colonists living by the coast. More info on Google and other sources.

Highly recommended listening, if not previously heard:

Marshall Dodge

The first Bert and I mid-’50s release with speaker Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan doing sound effects with his voice.

My favorite Jefferson Airplane album, After Bathing at Baxter’s, and still available on CD since its 1968 release. Its music has a sustained balance of ‘60s rock and beauty few others have maintained from then.

Eugene Ormandy

Conductor Eugene Ormandy, 1899-1985, led the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1938 to 1980 and left 900 or more recordings with it and more composers in them than all other conductors. His birthday anniversary is November 18. I highly recommend his recordings especially of Rachmaninoff’s music. The composer recorded HIS Piano Concertos 1, 3, and 4 with Ormandy and the 2nd one with Ormandy’s predecessor, Leopold Stokowski in 1929.

 

 

 

 

FOR YOUR HEALTH: When Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Out, You Can Ease Pain Without Opioids

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(NAPSI)—“Will it hurt?” is often one of the first questions people ask when told they need a medical procedure.

One problem: the mere thought of pain can intensify its feeling. It’s enough to make some people put off medical care—including minor dental surgery.

Doctors and dentists understand. They’re healers by nature and don’t want to inflict pain on their patients if they can help it.

Fortunately, dental pain management has come a long way in the past century. Novocain was formulated in 1905. And when highly effective painkillers such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and acetaminophen with codeine became available, dental surgeons began prescribing them for pain relief from wisdom tooth extraction and similar procedures.

“Today, we know the danger that comes with opioids—and that absolutely anyone can become addicted,” says Gregory Theis, DDS. Dr. Theis is director of dental services for Delta Dental of Wisconsin, the state’s largest dental plan.

“Tragically, that includes teens and young adults who were first introduced to opioid painkillers with a legitimate prescription, often following wisdom tooth extraction,” he adds.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 45% of initial opioid exposure is linked to a dental procedure such as wisdom tooth removal or other oral surgery. For some, that exposure can lead to a lifetime of dependency and drug misuse.

A large study by Stanford University School of Medicine found that 6.8% of young people who got an initial opioid prescription from their dentists sought additional prescriptions for opioids after filling their first one. Just 12 months later, 5.8% of those individuals were diagnosed with opioid abuse. Among a comparable control group, only 0.4% of young people who didn’t receive an opioid prescription were diagnosed with opioid abuse during the same period.

With a greater understanding of opioid dangers, dentists and their professional organizations such as the American Dental Association (ADA) are acting to combat abuse and limit unnecessary prescriptions.

Their campaigns are working. From 2012 to 2017, U.S. dentists have reduced their opioid prescriptions by nearly half a million.

“Educating dentists, our customers, and our members on the dangers of opioid abuse is a top priority right now,” says Dr. Theis. “We’re teaching people that over-the-counter painkillers like naproxen and ibuprofen can be very effective for dental pain management.”

What if you’re terrified of experiencing any pain—and your dentist says you need your wisdom teeth removed? According to Dr. Theis, that’s one procedure you may be able to delay—or avoid entirely.

Dentists once routinely extracted wisdom teeth: the third molars that usually emerge between ages 17 and 24. But that practice is changing.

“Unless the wisdom teeth cause problems with the jaw or other teeth, or they become infected and are painful, patients may be able to delay the procedure a few years, until the teeth break through the gums,” explains Dr. Theis.

When the molars emerge from the gums, removal is often far less complicated and less painful. That means general anesthesia and strong painkillers can often be avoided.

And sometimes, he adds, you can just let those wisdom teeth erupt and function like other teeth. Or you may be one of the lucky 22% of the population who never develop wisdom teeth at all.

If you ever do need dental surgery, be your own wellness advocate—ask for pain relief alternatives to opioids. If you must take them, use precautions:

  • Take only the prescribed dose or less.
  • Beware of side effects with other medications.
  • Stop taking painkillers as soon as possible.
  • Safely dispose of leftover medications.

Nomination papers available Nov. 25 for vacant China selectboard seat

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Nomination papers to fill the vacant selectboard seat in China, that was created with the resignation of selectman Jeff LaVerdiere, will be available on Monday, November 25, 2019, at the China Town Office. According to Town Manager Dennis Heath, “the selectboard will decide at their meeting that evening if the special election will be March 3, 2020, or an earlier date.” By making the nomination papers available on Monday, “we accommodate either scenario,” Heath added.

The selectboard seat became vacant when LaVerdiere abruptly walked out of a selectboard meeting on October 15, and announced his resignation (The Town Line, October 24, 2019). His formal resignation was accepted by the board by a 3-1 margin, with retiring board chairman Bob MacFarland the only desenting vote (The Town Line, October 31, 2019).

Don Cote recognized for work at wildlife center

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Donald Cote, right, director of the Wildlife Care Center, in Vassalboro, and Beth Comeau, left, of NRCM. (Photo by Jayne Winters)

Photo and text by Jayne Winters

Donald Cote, director of the Wildlife Care Center, in Vassalboro, received a well-deserved recognition as a finalist (one of five, from over 40 nominations) in the 2019 Natural Resources Council of Maine’s People’s Choice Award. Beth Comeau, of NRCM, presented Don with his certificate last week for his many years of dedicated wildlife rehab care. Although the Center is a nonprofit, federally-permitted rescue and care facility, it receives no federal dollars and is supported solely on donations and personal resources. The Cotes’ decades-long commitment has truly been life-saving for hundreds of animals.

Jazz artist to perform benefit concert

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Waterville native, Jake Hickey

The “Great Jazz for a Great Cause” benefit concert/open house will be held on Sunday, December 1, from 2 to 5 p.m., at Grand Central Café, 10 Railroad Square, Waterville, to raise funds for Waterville resident Jen Hickey, who is experiencing financial hardship due to treatment for breast cancer. Live jazz will be performed from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. by Jen’s son, Jake Hickey, a Waterville High graduate and up-and-coming artist on the New Orleans jazz scene.

The open house will also feature an Art Show & Sale featuring Jen Hickey’s wonderful photographs, along with free soups, breads, deserts, tea, and coffee.

Suggested donation is $10 per person. Mailed or walked-in donations payable to “Jen Hickey” also are being accepted at Kennebec Savings Bank, 226 Main Street, Waterville, Maine 04901.