Entries by Mary Grow

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Agriculture – Part 5

by Mary Grow Race horses and work horses Some of the central Kennebec Valley agricultural pioneers chose to breed racehorses, specifically trotters, instead of, or in addition to, the cattle discussed last week. For example, Kingsbury mentioned in the chapter on Waterville in his Kennebec County history that George Eaton Shores, of Waterville, who bred […]

CHINA: Community solar garden topic for China planners

by Mary Grow The topic at the Sept. 26 China planning board meeting was the proposed community solar garden on the west side of the section of Parmenter Hill Road locally called Moe’s Mountain. Minnesota-based Novel Energy Systems has begun the application process, planning to lease 13.73 acres of the southern part of Maurice Haskell, […]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Agriculture – Part 4

by Mary Grow Cattle Continuing with the agricultural theme, this article will move readers north on the west bank of the Kennebec River from Sidney to Waterville and will focus on 19th-century cattle breeders. Samuel Boardman and E. P. Mayo, in their chapters on agriculture in Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history and Rev. Edwin Whittemore’s […]

VASSALBORO: HVAC main topic for school

by Mary Grow A main discussion topic at the Vassalboro school board’s Sept. 19 meeting was HVAC – heating, ventilation and cooling – with the emphasis on cooling. Vassalboro Community School (VCS) was uncomfortably warm during the September hot spell. Assistant principal Tabitha Brewer said teachers in the top-floor classrooms were invited to move their […]

Vassalboro select board discusses changes in town operations

by Mary Grow At their Sept. 21 meeting, Vassalboro select board members debated at length three changes in town operations they hope will benefit residents. One they approved: changed town office hours, effective at the beginning of the next calendar year for a 90-day trial (see box). Updating town office electronics and adding electronic meeting […]

China landowners seek moratorium on power line development

by Mary Grow The Sept. 25 China select board meeting began with a request from two landowners on the section of Parmenter Hill Road known as Moe’s Mountain. They seek a China moratorium on power line development, like those adopted by Albion and Palermo voters in the hope of influencing the proposed LS power line. […]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Agriculture – Part 3

by Mary Grow This subseries began last week to talk about some of the central Kennebec Valley’s agricultural pioneers whom Samuel Boardman named in his chapter on agriculture in Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history. One was Rev. William Pitt Addison Dillingham, of Sidney, who was previously noticed in an introductory essay on agriculture in the […]

China board meets new member, codes officer

by Mary Grow China Planning Board members met briefly Sept. 12, mostly to get acquainted with a new member and China’s new codes enforcement officer. For their Sept. 26 meeting, they might have two applications for solar farms. Board co-chairman Toni Wall introduced new member Elaine Mather, representing District 3. Mather was appointed by select […]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Agriculture – Part 2

by Mary Grow The Vaughans Last week’s essay was about early farming in the central Kennebec Valley, as reported in local histories, with emphasis on Samuel Boardman’s chapter on agriculture in Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history. This week’s work describes one important farming family and detours to talk about Boardman and another historian who contributed […]