Discuss holding in-person town meetings, pre-pandemic by Mary Grow China select board members faced a long and varied agenda for their Aug. 14 meeting. They settled some items and postponed others for more discussion. They unanimously approved the appointment of Zachary Gosselin, of China, as the new codes enforcement officer and health officer. Town Manager […]
by Mary Grow Band music Another type of music in the central Kennebec Valley from early days of European settlement was band music. It was often, but especially in later years not inevitably, associated with military organizations; and like other forms of music, got limited attention in most local histories. * * * * * * James North, in his […]
by Mary Grow By their Aug. 1 meeting, Vassalboro Planning Board members had much more information on the application they postponed at their July meeting, from town records and from the applicant. Peter Tomasz applied for an addition to his year-round home on Three Mile Pond. After discussion, board members unanimously denied his application, because […]
by Mary Grow Composers, dancing In his Music and Musicians of Maine, George Thornton Edwards’ list of “principal musical centers in Maine” in the late 18th and early 19th centuries included the Augusta-Hallowell-Gardiner complex, China and “some of the towns in the Kennebec Valley,” in addition to Portland and other, mostly coastal or more southern, […]
by Mary Grow A long, well-attended, amicable and informative July 31 discussion of the boat landing in South China Village revealed a lot of overlapping issues and a variety of opinions. Several of the almost two dozen residents who spoke criticized the present landing, at the foot of the dirt road named Town Landing Road […]
by Mary Grow At the July 31 China select board meeting, the China Historical Society (CHS) took another step toward reestablishing itself after a period of inactivity, getting support, though not full formal approval, for continued and improved use of the old town house. Society president Scott McCormac said the organization leased the main floor […]
by Mary Grow After the frustration of finding only scanty and random information from local historians on how central Kennebec Valley residents cared for their destitute neighbors, your writer decided to continue frustrating herself on a more cheerful topic: music. There were music and musicians in central Maine before the Europeans’ arrival. Music historian George […]
by Mary Grow Benton, Clinton, Fairfield, Waterville, Winslow This fourth and final article on the ways central Kennebec Valley towns carried out their responsibility to care for their poorest residents will provide bits of information about half a dozen towns not already discussed. * * * * * * For Benton (which was part of Clinton until March 16, 1842, […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro planning board members had on their July 11 agenda four shoreland permit applications and a discussion of keeping phosphorus out of water bodies. They had in the audience two representatives of ReVison Energy to talk about a solar project that was not on the agenda. In a short meeting, they learned […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro select board members’ July 13 topics covered the entire town, especially the northern half: continued discussion of the recreation program and the Vassalboro Sanitary District; a state Department of Transportation (MDOT) presentation on plans for a new bridge on Bog Road in 2025; a resident’s proposal for traffic control in East […]