SOLON & BEYOND, Week of January 11, 2018

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Some of this week’s news will be rather old because of the holidays and the fact that The Town Line wasn’t published on the week of Christmas. I find the news from Solon Elementary School very interesting so I try to get as much of it in this column as possible, but it is a little bit late. During the first two weeks of November, the Solon Kids Care Club ran their annual Thanksgiving Food Drive to collect food items for the Solon Thrift Shop Food Cupboard. They collected 163 items for needy families. The club thanks students and parents for their donations to this worthy cause.

A Jellybean Contest was held at Solon Elementary School during the month of November to see which student and staff member could come the closest to guessing the actual number of jelly beans in a jar. The student who guessed the number closest to the actual number of jellybeans in the jar (888) was fifth grader Tyler Ames. The staff member who came the closest was Ms. Gleason. Each of them won a Thanksgiving goodie bag.

In December Mr. Corson held a Parent Math Night for the parents of his fifth grade students. He reviewed with parents some of the math concepts he is teaching his students so that they can help their children at home. He also showed them some math tricks and shortcuts that the students are learning.

Solon’s annual town meeting will be held on Saturday, March 3, this year and those who have turned in nomination papers by the deadline of January 3 with the required number of names are Gaye Erskine and Keith Galleger for the selectman position; Gary Bishop for Road Commissioner, Leslie A. Giroux for Town Clerk/Tax Collector and Robert Lindblom Sr. for RSU #74 School Board member.

The annual budget committee meeting will be held on Saturday, January 20, at 8 a.m., at the Town Office Conference Room. Anyone interested besides budget committee members may attend, but only to listen.

Received the following e-mail from the trustees of Somerset Woods. The trustees are excited to announce a new gift of land in Concord Township of 204 acres from Norcross Wildlife Foundation of New York City and Massachusetts. The property was conveyed with the perpetual restriction that the land is to be maintained as a wildlife preserve.

Norcross had received the land from James R. and Diana C. Young in 2000. The Young family has owned the land for about 100 years, having been given to Jim’s parents as a wedding present by his father’s grandfather in 1916 or 1917.

The land contains the headwaters for Martin’s Stream which flows into the Kennebec River. There is an old beaver pond on the property and trails throughout. SWT will be managing the property to provide exemplary habitat for wildlife and trails for passive recreation. In the upcoming spring of 2018 SWT will be organizing a volunteer trail improvement day for anyone interested in trimming trails and enjoying the peaceful solitude that this property provides.

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled Charity:

Do something today to bring gladness,
To someone whose pleasures are few,
Do something to drive off sadness –
Or cause someone’s dream to come true.
Find time for a neighborly greeting
And time to delight an old friend;
Remember, – the years are fleeting
And life’s latest day will soon end!
Do something today that tomorrow
Will prove to be really worth while;
Help someone to conquer sorrow
And greet the new dawn with a smile –
For only through kindness and giving
Of service and friendship and cheer,
We learn the pure joy of living
And find heaver’s happiness here.

(words taken from a little book called, “Lift Up Your Heart.”)