Young Entrepreneur in the making

Wyatt Woodbury, 13, of Fairfield, introducing his soaps to Incense & Peppermints, in Waterville. (contributed photo)

by Mark Huard

Wyatt Woodbury, 13, of Fairfield, started making soap in the summer between fifth and sixth grade. He started with just a cold process kit from Brambleberry. Woodbury first wanted to make soap after watching the YouTube channel Royalty Soaps, which follows Katie Carson and her soap business of the same name.

After making that kit with his mom, Wyatt was hooked, and making sudsy creations every day. After many failed batches, he learned how to do it successfully, every time. Now, Wyatt has started branching out into other mediums such as sugar scrubs. When he’s not making soap, Wyatt is either reading, writing his first novel, cooking, running cross country or watching TV and movies. Visit Woody Soap Co., on Facebook, or make the trip to Incense & Peppermints, on Main St., in Waterville.

Young Wyatt’s business is a Maine made, teenage owned business. He’s now been making soap for about a year and a half. Wyatt says, “It has had its challenges and its successes, but it’s been a good teaching point in total. I’m excited to really flourish in the area and get to interact with a lot of business opportunities.”

Contributed photo

EVENTS: Spectrum Generations ice fishing derby this weekend

The 26th annual Gene and. Lucille Letourneau Ice Fishing Derby will take place on Sunday, February 18, at the Muskie Community Center, 38 Gold Street, in Waterville. This mid-winter tradition for ice fishing enthusiasts and families was established by Maine’s great outdoorsman and his wife, Gene and Lucille Letourneaus.

Fish on any safe, legal Maine pond or lake of your choice, then gather at the Muskie Community Center during the official weigh-in between 2 and 5 p.m. This multigenerational family event encourages ages 15 and under to compete in their own category. Cash prizes will be awarded for first and second places in eight fish categories for adults and for first, second, and third places in ten fish categories for youth.

All are welcome to attend and enjoy the firepit, s’mores, hot cocoa, popcorn, cornhole, pool table, silent auction. Bring your children to experience the Children’s Discovery Museum’s Mobile Museum activities between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., as well as crafts, coloring, and other free, fun activities (available through 5 p.m.).

Ice Fishing Derby tickets can be purchased online and at several locations: the Muskie Community Center (both in Waterville), Christy’s Country Store (Belgrade), D&L Country Store (Oakland), Harvest Time Baits (Winslow), Middle Road General Store (Sidney), Tri-Pond Variety (Smithfield), Twins Country Store (Augusta), the Cohen Community Center (Hallowell) and at the Spectrum Generations office, in Augusta. Each ticket allows a fish entry and an entry into the door prize drawing for a Yeti Tundra 65 Cooler and drink tumblers (you do not need to enter a fish to be included in the door prize drawing.) Tickets to enter a fish are sold only until noon the day of the event.

For more information, please contact Sandra MacDonald, Regional Center Director smacdonald@spectrumgenerations.org or call 207-873-4745.

Waterville Rotary Club announces 2024 food insecurity donations

The Waterville Rotary Club raised $5,000 this year to support local organizations that address food insecurity. In the prior three years the club donated a total of $40,622 to organizations addressing hunger and basic needs.

According to club president Daniel Eccher, “Our club became aware of the intense need in our community during the pandemic. We have directed a portion of our fundraising efforts each year from 2021 to help support the great work of local meal programs and food pantries, including some housed in our schools. We know that they operate on tight budgets and are dependent upon donations to feed people who don’t have enough resources to prevent hunger.”

Donations were awarded to the following organizations: Winslow Community Cupboard; Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter; Mid-Maine Technical Center; Albert S. Hall School; Waterville Junior High School; Waterville Area Soup Kitchen; Oakland Food Pantry; and Vassalboro Food Pantry Station.

The organizations are very grateful for the funding. Bruce Bottiglierie, Operation Manager of the Winslow Community Cupboard states “We appreciate the generous donation from Waterville Rotary Club in the assistance to end hunger. It is our mission at Winslow Community Cupboard to fight hunger, not only in our community but in the surrounding areas as well. All proceeds from this donation will go directly towards making it possible to meet the growing needs of our neighborhoods. This donation will also help us expand to help more people and build our new building so we can continue to support our growing community”.

According to Carla Caron, president of the Waterville Area Soup Kitchen, “While many volunteers happily provide the labor at the Lighthouse each day, they can only do so because of the financial support of organizations and individuals within our community. It requires significant resources to provide 5,000 meals each month in a safe and comfortable location. The Rotary Club has been a stalwart backer of the Waterville Area Soup Kitchen since its beginning. Its contributions have helped us to keep the doors open and the plates full”.

The Waterville Rotary Club is proud to support these outstanding groups doing important work in the community. For more information contact Michele Prince, Community Services Committee Chairperson michelep@kvcap.org or Dan Eccher, Club President d.eccher@leveyandwagely.com.

Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce welcomes new team member Jamie Feyler

Jamie Feyler

Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the addition of Jamie Feyler to its team. She serves as customer service/bookkeeper and is responsible for the day-to-day customer service and bookkeeping activities of the Mid-Maine Chamber. Jamie is a proactive bookkeeper who is dedicated to maintaining accurate and timely financial records.

Jamie serves as the first point of contact for the Chamber both in-person and over the phone, maintaining positive member relations. In her interactions with the public as well as members, Jamie continually “sells” the Chamber and seeks to motivate and influence others on the positive attributes of Chamber involvement.

“In her short time with the Mid-Maine Chamber team, Jamie has already distinguished herself as an outstanding problem solver. Her attention to detail, accuracy, and efficiency makes her a welcome addition. She fits in nicely with our team,” says Mid-Maine Chamber President and CEO Kimberly N. Lindlof.

Jamie is a Waterville native and resides in Winslow with her family.

UNE announces dean’s list (2023)

The University of New England, in Biddeford, has announced the following local students who achieved the dean’s list for the fall semester 2023:

Parker Higgins, Albion; Jessica Guerrette, Molly Mercier, Daraun White and Julie White, all of Fairfield; Alonna Battis and Caitlyn Mayo, both of Fairfield; Mallory Audette, of Jefferson; Mckenzie Kunesh, of Liberty; Katrina Barney, of Madison; Mackenzie Bertone, of Norridgewock; Brady Doucette, of Sidney; Wylie Bedard, Elizabeth Connelly, Catherine Kelso, Zoe Lambke, Ashley Mason and Dawson Turcotte, all of Skowhegan; Alexis Rancourt and Richard Winn, both of South China; Adam Ochs, Vassalboro; Asher Grazulis, Nabila Harrington, Emma Michaud, Elias Nawfel, Grace Petley, Lauren Pinnette, and Emilee Richards, all of Waterville; and Willa Dolley, Juliann Lapierre, and Justice Picard, all of Winslow.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: People for whom ponds are named

by Mary Grow

Previous articles have mentioned ponds and lakes in central Kennebec Valley towns with people’s names, like Pattee or Pattee’s Pond, in Winslow. Some of these water bodies are named for early settlers. Your writer intends for the next few weeks to match ponds and people, to the extent permitted by available resources

According to one on-line source, Pattee Pond honors early Winslow resident Ezekiel Pattee (or Paty), born Sept. 3, 1732, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Your writer found no evidence that Pattee owned land on or near the pond; nor did she find any other explanation for the pond’s name.

Ezekiel Pattee’s grave marker at Howard Cemetery, on Rte. 201, in Winslow.

Ezekiel’s parents were Benjamin Pattee, Sr. (1696-1787), from Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Patience (Collins) Pattee (1700-1784), from Gloucester. Find a Grave says they married in 1718 or 1720 and had either three sons and three daughters or seven sons and four daughters (two Find a Grave pages differ).

An on-line genealogy says Benjamin was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1687 (not1696), making him 100 when he died. This source says he and Patience died in Georgetown, Maine. If they moved there before 1760, their relocation might explain why Ezekiel married there, on May 24, 1760.

Ezekiel’s wife was Margaret Howard (1740-May 21, 1821), daughter of Lieutenant Samuel Howard and Margaret Lithgow (though the on-line genealogy erroneously gives her name as Margaret Harward, it adds “OF Fort Halifax, Kennebec, Maine”).

Margaret Lithgow was a sister of Colonel William Lithgow, first commander of Fort Halifax in 1754. Samuel Howard was a brother of Captain James Howard, first commander of Fort Western, in Augusta, in 1754; Samuel served at Fort Halifax as one of Lithgow’s subordinates.

The on-line genealogy lists only two children, Ezekiel and Elizabeth, born to Ezekiel and Margaret. Find a Grave says these were the seventh and eighth of their 11 children, born between 1761 and 1783.

Ezekiel and Margaret named their first son, born in 1761, Samuel (in honor of Samuel Howard?). He died in 1783; and they named their eighth son, born that year, Samuel again.

The second Samuel’s next older brother, born in 1781, they named Lithgow Pattee. Your writer assumes the name honored Colonel William Lithgow.

Ezekiel Pattee’s gravestone identifies him as a Revolutionary War veteran and calls him General. A post-war (1792) report in the Maine States archives says he was a regimental colonel in the 8th Division Militia.

Pattee Pond

Henry Kingsbury, in his Kennebec County history, and Edwin Carey Whittemore, in his Waterville centennial history, listed some of Pattee’s contributions to Winslow from the town’s incorporation in 1771.

The warrant for Winslow’s first town meeting, held at Fort Halifax at 8 a.m. on May 23 (a Thursday), 1771, was addressed to “Mr. Ezekiel Pattee, the Freeholders and other inhabitants of Winslow qualified to vote in town affairs,” Whittemore wrote. At the meeting, voters elected Pattee town clerk, town treasurer and one of the three selectmen.

Kingsbury said Pattee served as a selectman for 19 years and as treasurer from 1771 to 1794, except when Zimri Haywood held the post for a year in 1781. He might have been town clerk until 1780, because the next man listed is Haywood, in 1781. Pattee was elected town clerk again in 1782, maybe for three years, and in 1788, maybe for four years.

Under Lithgow’s command, the main part of Fort Halifax was guarded by two blockhouses on the heights to the east, built in the fall of 1754 and the spring of 1755. Pattee owned and lived in one of these blockhouses, and in 1775 at least one town meeting was held there. Later, Kingsbury said, Pattee moved the blockhouse “to his farm down the river.”

Pattee was trading out of the former Fort Halifax longhouse, called the Fort house, “before the revolution,” Kingsbury said. Kingsbury listed his merchandise as including nails, blankets and the rum and molasses so ubiquitous in early mercantile accounts.

Whittemore called Pattee Winslow’s “pioneer innkeeper.” Pattee’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth (1777-1866), told Kingsbury that Pattee also ran a tavern in the old fort, entertaining many guests from Boston and at one time, Aaron Burr.

(Burr, now best remembered as Thomas Jefferson’s first-term vice-president [1801-1805] and as the man who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel on July 11, 1804, was also a Revolutionary War soldier. His first assignment was with Arnold’s Québec expedition; whether this was the occasion Elizabeth Pattee meant or whether he came back to the Kennebec later, your writer does not venture to guess.)

Returns of the Fifth Regiment of the First Brigade, in 1792, commanded by Colonel Ezekiel Pattee.

By the time the July 8, 1776, town meeting convened, Winslow’s treasury was empty, and the Massachusetts government was requiring every town to collect ammunition and, evidently, to build a place to store it safely. Voters decided to borrow shingles and clapboards from half a dozen residents, with Pattee’s loan of 100,000 shingles the most generous.

Pattee was not on Winslow’s first Committee of Safety in 1776, but Whittemore wrote that he was among those who served on later “Committees of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety.”

(After British rule collapsed, leading citizens in most towns formed these committees to fill the vacuum. Duties included communicating and cooperating with other towns; supporting the war effort and suppressing Tories; and creating and enforcing local regulations and ordinances and doing other necessary tasks to keep town government running.)

When wandering groups of impoverished native Americans showed up in Winslow, it was “Squire Pattee” who fed them. At one point, Whittemore said, the town voted to pay him $5 a pound for 1,000 pounds of beef for this purpose.

In 1783, Pattee was chosen Winslow’s second representative to the Massachusetts legislature (Zimri Haywood was the first, in May 1782). Whittemore’s list of representatives says Pattee served in 1783 and 1784 and in 1786 and 1787; the town had no representative in Boston in 1785.

In 1787, Kingsbury said, Winslow chose Pattee and James Stackpole to join Capt. Denes (or Dennis) Getchell, of Vassalboro, to survey and mark the boundary line between the two towns.

When the first town church committee was elected at a Feb. 10, 1794, town meeting, Pattee was on it. Sources differ on the size and assignment of this committee. It and/or a separate committee had at least two responsibilities: to oversee building a meeting house, started in 1795 and finished in 1797; and to organize the June 10, 1795, ordination of Winslow’s first resident minister, Rev. Joshua Cushman.

Kingsbury wrote that Pattee “gave the burying ground on the river road, in which his body now lies.” He died Nov. 24, 1813, aged 81, and is buried in Winslow’s Howard cemetery.

Nearby are the graves of his wife Margaret and nine other Pattees. They include first son, Samuel, who died in 1783; second son, Lieutenant Benjamin (1762-1830), and Benjamin’s wife, Huldah (Dawes) (1766-1832); third son, William (1765-1795) and his wife, Sybil (Parker) (1772-1861), whom he married the year he died; oldest daughter Sarah (1767-1772); a daughter named Margaret W., who died July 29, 1807, at the age of nine years and whose name is not on other Find a Grave lists; and a granddaughter (?), Mary E., (1804-1901).

Also buried in the Howard cemetery is Colonel Josiah Hayden (see the Jan. 11, 2024, issue of The Town Line).

The Howard Cemetery is on the west side of Route 201 (Augusta Road), on the east side of the Kennebec River, about 0.6 miles south of the Carter Memorial Drive intersection and about 0.2 miles south of Drummond cemetery, on the west side of the road (mentioned in the Jan. 4, 2024, issue of The Town Line).

Pattee Pond in Winslow has an area of 712 acres and a maximum depth of 27 feet, according to a state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website (last updated in 2000). The Lake Stewards of Maine website agrees on the maximum depth, but reduces the size to 523 acres.

Main sources

Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Whittemore, Rev. Edwin Carey, Centennial History of Waterville 1802-1902 (1902).

Websites, miscellaneous.

SNHU announces fall dean’s list (2023)

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), in Manchester, New Hampsire, congratulates the following students on being named to the Fall 2023 dean’slist. The fall terms run from September to December.

Nicholas Stutler, of Sidney; Justin Drescher, and Kristina Wilbur, both of Augusta; Carrielee Harvey, of Waterville; Emily Hernandez, of Embden; and Javyn Greenlaw, of Oakland.

Northern Light cancer care has new linear accelerator

Advances in technology provide more precise radiation therapy options for patients. On January 15, the team at Northern Light Radiation Oncology ushered in a new chapter by treating patients using a state-of-the-art linear accelerator.

With enhanced automation, and a flexible high-performing radiation beam, the new linear accelerator generates superior imaging techniques with lower doses of radiation. It uses the tiniest measurement in the industry, sub-millimeters, to provide pin-point radiation beam accuracy that targets cancerous areas in the body. These enhanced features make wait times shorter, and treatment faster and safer for patients.

“With more people living longer with cancer, the need to provide cancer treatment is growing,” says Donna Boehm, RN, MSN, MPH, vice president, Oncology Services, Northern Light Health. “Our new linear accelerator better positions Northern Light Cancer Care to ensure our patients’ needs are met now and for years to come.”

This new technology is made possible using funds raised through private support, including money raised through EMMC’s Champion the Cure Challenge.

Members of the media interested in seeing a demonstration of the new linear accelerator and speaking to a subject matter expert may contact the marketing and communications team by calling the media line at 207-973-9530 or by email at emmcmediarequest@northernlight.org.

SNHU Announces fall president’s list (2023)

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), in Manchester, New Hampshire, congratulates the following students on being named to the Fall 2023 president’s list. The fall terms run from September to December.

Ivette Hernandez Cortez, of Augusta; Sarah Neumann, and Matthew Bandyk, both of Jefferson; Sierra Winson, Quincy Giustra, and Talon Mosher, all of Winslow; Candice Eaton, and Grace Marshall, both of Waterville; Ashley Parks, of Anson; Stormy Wentworth, of Fairfield; Misty Ray, of Montville; Matthew Clements, of Rome; and Kassandra Grant, of Vassalboro.

Rachel Turi set to graduate from University of Georgia

Rachel Faith Turi, of Waterville, is among the more than 2,900 candidates for graduation in the University of Georgia’s Class of 2023 was be celebrated during commencement exercises. Rachel is a candidate for an AB Advertising.