Week of August 18, 2016

Week of August 18, 2016

Beneficial nuisance on Webber Pond

Nate Gray

Webber Pond Association President Frank Richards recently stated in an email to lake residents, “Everyone who has been out in a boat or raked weeds off their shoreline this summer has noticed the extreme proliferation of a long stringy weed. There’s an actual floating island in the northwest bay, so thick you can’t take a boat through it.” Because of his concern, Richards contacted Nate Gray, a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, asking for him to go to Webber Pond to observe the  proliferation of weeds. […]

Week of August 11, 2016

Week of August 11, 2016

Simon family receives LakeSmart designation

The China Lake Association is delighted to announce that Irma Simon’s family property on China Lake has just won the coveted LakeSmart Award for their lake-friendly management that protects our lake from harmful stormwater runoff.  Irma’s family has enjoyed their camp since around 1927. […]

Week of August 4, 2016

Week of August 4, 2016

The Town Line launches new website!

Following months of development, The Town Line is ready to unveil its new web portal, www.townline.org. Though The Town Line has offered .pdf downloads of the print edition at its website for several years, it has long been a goal of the board of directors to offer a true online version of the popular local newspaper in addition to the print edition. […]

Week of July 28, 2016

Week of July 28, 2016

Local ballerina performs on world stageLocal ballerina performs on world stage

Gabrielle Perkins is a petite 20-year-old ballerina from Oakland, who is headed to New York City to work with the American Ballet Theater Studio Company.  The position will be with either American Ballet Theater main company, or other companies around the world.  Perkins attended Messalonskee High School in her freshman year. She also studied at Maine Central Institute, in Pittsfield, during her sophomore year, so she could train in ballet.  She returned to Messalonskee, to get in more classes and earned her high school diploma in three years.[…]

Week of July 21, 2016

Week of July 21, 2016

South China Library looks towards the future while preserving the past

Friends of the South China Library

With the recent purchase of the Abel Jones house, the South China Library has taken the next step in the journey to find a new location for the library. The Abel Jones house, located on Jones Road, in South China, is the birthplace and boyhood home of Rufus M. Jones. The historic home, built in 1815, and its adjacent property, offers many possibilities for the expansion of the library and its programs for community members of all ages. […]

Week of July 14, 2016

Week of July 14, 2016

Vassalboro JMG students acquire grant to construct gazebo near swimming area

Vassalboro JMG students

Students enrolled in Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG), at Vassalboro Community School and the remainder of the student body, along with the help of advisor Victor Esposito, recently secured a grant from the Oak Grove Foundation to be used to build a gazebo near the public swimming area in North Vassalboro. […]

Week of July 7, 2016

Week of July 7, 2016

Pumpkin Vine Family Farm a family affair

Kelly Payson-Roopchand has found her place in life. She and her husband Anil live on Pumpkin Vine Family Farm on Hewett Road, in Somerville, with their two children, numerous goats and ducks, two pigs, two Jersey cows, two cats, a boisterous young dog, and assorted wildlife, from the barn swallows nesting in the old barn to the frogs, turtles, beaver and occasional moose in the brook at the foot of the nearer field. […]

Week of June 30, 2016

Week of June 30, 2016



Masse lumber mill to be dismantled as part of plan to restore migratory fishMasse lumber mill

Using trucks to move thousands of fish into a lake isn’t exactly the way nature intended it, but sometimes that’s what it takes.  In the spring of 2014 Maine’s Department of Marine Resources stocked 21,000 adult alewives into China Lake as an important first step in the Alewife Restoration Initiative. Another important step in the works  is to dismantle the Masse saw mill in East Vassalboro. The mill’s owner,  East Vassalboro Water Co., LLC, supports the project. […]

Week of June 23, 2016

Week of June 23, 2016


Central Maine grade schoolers learn on field trips

Messalonskee’s Williams Elementary School students

Messalonskee’s Williams Elementary School fourth grade students, left photo, took a field trip to Acadia National Park recently. They met up at Sand Beach with park rangers. Students then hiked some of the trails near Otter Point. […]

Week of April 28, 2016

Week of April 28, 2016

Waterville Icon Honored for Over Four Decades of ServiceFran Purnell Honored

For over 40 years Fran Purnell organized, coached and managed the Waterville Little League program. Fran’s entire spring, summer nights and weekends were dedicated to building the baseball program to a level of excellence. Thousands of children learned the fundamentals of the game while Fran stressed sportsmanship and the importance of respect on and off the field. […]