Issue for May 29, 2025
Launching trilogy at 91 years old
Launching a trilogy of mystery novels at the age of 91 would be too daring for many authors. But for Winslow resident Jean Ann Pollard, it’s just the latest in a lifetime of artistic and authorial adventures…
Town News
Town meeting will be held in two sessions
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro’s annual town meeting for 2025 will be in two sessions, eight days apart and in two different locations…
Cemetery committee satisfied with summer plans
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro Cemetery Committee members are satisfied with their plans for summer maintenance work…
Northern Light Inland Hospital ends clinical services
CENTRAL ME — On Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Northern Light Inland Hospital and clinical services ended. The facility, associated services, and most practices have been winding down services and working to transition patients to new care locations since announcing the closure earlier this year…
PHOTO: Alewives galore!
VASSALBORO — To celebrate their last session together this week, a group of students enrolled in Kate Coseo’s Environmental Science class took a trip to the Olde Mill, in Vassalboro, to admire the alewives that are making their journey upstream through the Kennebec. Pictured from left to right, Kat Mitchell, Cassie Flye, Delia Billings and Stasha Wells observing the many fish within Outlet Stream.
Local happenings
EVENTS: Vassalboro Methodist Church to hold yard and plant sale
VASSALBORO — The Vassalboro United Methodist Church (VUMC) is holding a “Yard and Plants Sale” on Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., on the same day as the Vassalboro town-wide yard sales. Good quality items of all kinds will be available, including two church pews removed from the sanctuary earlier this year…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Food bank fundraiser in China & Vassalboro
CHINA & VASSALBORO – Our area food banks need our help more than ever! Recent USDA cuts have made it harder to help folks who depend on the food banks to feed their families. In light of this, a group of friends is planning a fundraiser for the China and Vassalboro food pantries… and many other local events!
EVENTS: Local central Maine Town Meetings schedule for 2025
CENTRAL ME – List of area town meetings. To be included in this list, visit our Contact Us page or send an email to The Town Line at townline@townline.org…
Obituaries
SIDNEY – Maxine Louise Austin, 86, passed away Tuesday, May 13, 2025, as the result of Alzheimer’s. She was born in Dover-Foxcroft, on November 2, 1938, to Walter Lougee and Alberta (LaGross) Lougee…
Name that film!
Identify the film in which this famous line originated and qualify to win FREE passes to The Maine Film Center, in Waterville: “A former greenskeeper, now about to become the Master’s champion.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is June 5, 2025.
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Augusta’s civic meeting houses (new)
CHINA HISTORY — Enough, for now, of genealogies (although two boxes about people accompany this article). This week, your writer provides summary histories of more of Augusta’s 18th and 19th century public buildings… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Fletcher family
CHINA HISTORY — A summary check on Abisha Fletcher’s parents, Colonel Robert and Nancy (Sprague) Fletcher, identified Robert as a prominent China citizen, who might well have been friends with, and perhaps wished to show respect for, a local lawyer… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: 19th century lawyers
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — Winslow wasn’t the only small town in this section of the Kennebec River valley with its own 19th-century lawyer(s), though no other seems to have been as conspicuous as Eleazer Ripley… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Courts – Eleazer Ripley
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — In his Kennebec County history, Henry Kingsbury wrote that Winslow lawyer Lemuel Paine once had a partner whom Kingsbury called “General Ripley, the hero of the battle of Lundy’s Lane, Canada”… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Identify the people in these three photos, and tell us what they have in common. You could win a $10 gift certificate to Hannaford Supermarket! Email your answer to townline@townline.org or through our Contact page. Include your name and address with your answer. Use “Common Ground” in the subject!
Previous winner: NO WINNER!
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | This week, this tidbit came in my email inbox. According to Smith’s Pest Management, be ready for a summer invasion of pests in Maine, following the state’s mild winter…
CRITTER CHATTER
by Jayne Winters | As most of our readers now know, Don Cote passed away in December following a short illness. I noted at the end of his obituary that I would write a final Critter Chatter column to honor Don and Carleen Cote’s six decades of caring for the literally thousands of animals that came to their home for rehabilitation or, in the saddest cases, peaceful transition over that famous Rainbow Bridge. This article, however, is not that final column…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | This cassette contains beautifully done transfers from 28 vintage 78 sides, recorded on the Victor label during the early 1930s of classics from the Great American Songbook…
VETERANS CORNER
by Gary Kennedy | Well, here we are again. Julie and I have returned from the South Pacific. As most of you know my wife and I are doing humanitarian projects throughout the winter months in an attempt to escape the cold while at the same time helping those in need. We are always looking for books and school supplies…
QUINN MINUTE
by Rix Quinn | I’m not sure I had much sense of smell until sixth grade. The only aroma I remember before that was dinner rolls in the elementary cafeteria…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
HEALTH | Americans are living nearly a decade longer than they were in the 1970s. That’s great news – but staying healthy into your 80s and beyond requires extra care and an eye towards prevention…