Issue for August 28, 2025
Windsor brothers’ Wiffleball Tournament raises $1,900 for Kelly’s Cause for Brain Tumors
What started as a backyard idea between two young brothers who love the game of wiffleball has grown into a community tradition that brings together kids, families, and neighbors for fun and a great cause. This past weekend, the 2nd Annual Wildcat Wiffleballers Tournament brought together players ages 13 and under from across the region, raising over $1,900 for Kelly’s Cause for Brain Tumors, a Maine based nonprofit dedicated to supporting families impacted by brain tumors…
Town voters overwhelmingly approve discontinuing public easement of Old Rte. 202
Ninety voters filled the town office meeting room for China’s Aug. 25 special town meeting to talk about discontinuing a public easement and giving to The Landing, LLC, the town’s interest, if it has any interest, in the land over which the easement runs. By the end of the hour-and-a-quarter meeting, they had approved both articles. The easement was discontinued on a vote of 76 in favor to 12 opposed; whatever interest the town had in the underlying property was given to The Landing on a vote of 72 to 13… by Mary Grow
Town News
Debate over trees at cemeteries continues
VASSALBORO – The debate over trees in Vassalboro cemeteries continued at the Cemetery Committee’s Aug. 18 meeting, with five committee members re-explaining their position to a three-woman audience…
School board approves funds for school repairs
VASSALBORO – At their Aug. 20 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members unanimously approved borrowing almost $1.7 million to pay for repairs and upgrades to Vassalboro Community School (VCS), the town’s 33-year-old school building…
Vassalboro selectmen schedule special meeting
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro select board members have scheduled a special meeting for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 28, in the town office meeting room. The first agenda item is an executive session that Town Manager Aaron Miller estimates could take an hour…
Select board sets tax rate at .01170 mils
CHINA – China select board members have set the 2025-26 tax rate at .01170 mils, or $11.70 for each $1,000 of property valuation, as recommended by assessor William Van Tuinen…
LETTERS: Affordable by whose standards?
from Linda Morrell (China Village) — I believe it’s said that America is the richest country on earth. If so, why do we have such a homeless problem? We have friends who are living in a tent in the woods right now. Why? Granted they have made some poor life choices, generational alcoholism, lack of education, lack of health and dental care, etc. , but now at 50 or 60 years old…unemployable, on disability. How can anyone live on $700 a month?…
Northern Light recognized for excellence in stroke care
BANGOR — Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center recently received two awards for excellence in stroke care…
Dean’s, president’s lists students named at Univ. of Alabama
CENTRAL ME — A total of 14,289 students enrolled during spring semester 2025 at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Local students include: Elizabeth Hardy, of South China, was named to the Presidents List. Alexis Alcott, of Windsor, was named to the Presidents List.
Local residents named to dean’s list
CENTRAL ME — Saint Anselm College, in Manchester, New Hampshire, has released the dean’s list for the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year. They include Julia Bard, English Major, of Sidney, and Christopher Bourdon, politics major, of Vassalboro.
Local happenings
EVENTS: Grinnell Woods to hold ribbon cutting
WASHINGTON — All are invited to the ribbon cutting at the Grinnell Woods Trail, 241 Rockland Rd., Washington, Saturday, September 6, at 10 a.m…
EVENTS: Messalonskee girls soccer plans annual mentoring day
OAKLAND — Messalonskee High School Girls Soccer and the ShineOnCass Foundation will host its 10th annual girls’ youth mentoring day “ShineOn Saturday” September 13, from noon to 2 p.m., on the Messalonskee High School Grass Soccer Field, in Oakland. The event is held to honor former Messalonskee soccer player and youth mentor Cassidy Charette, who died in a hayride accident October 11, 2014…
EVENTS: Cassidy’s birthday book drive promotes reading
CENTRAL ME — ShineOnCass Foundation invites the community to join “Cassidy’s Birthday Board Book Drive” to help shine a light on childhood literacy and inspire early reading. The ShineOnCass Foundation, named and created in memory of Cassidy Charette, will collect children’s board books during the month of August to help fill the shelves of ShineOnCass Lending Libraries and local Little Free Libraries. Volunteers will deliver donated books on what would be Cassidy’s 28th birthday on August 31…
EVENTS: Great Carrying Place
CENTRAL ME — This year commemorates the 250th anniversary of Benedict Arnold’s march through the Maine wilderness in an attempt to capture Québec. To honor this daring journey, the Arnold Expedition Historical Society (AEHS) is offering three guided hikes along a section of the Arnold Trail to Québec, known as the “Great Carrying Place Portage Trail,” retracing the steps of Arnold’s 1,000-man army, on Saturday, August 16; Saturday, September 27; and Saturday, October 18, 2025…
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: “I’ll be back.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is September 4, 2025.
An open letter to our readers
At The Town Line, we aren’t just reporting news—we’re telling the stories that shape our community. Written by locals, for locals, our paper reflects the heart and soul of central Maine. We exist because of you, our readers and local businesses, and we believe that when our community thrives, so does The Town Line. But times are tough for local newspapers. In fact, since 2005, one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have shut down, and experts predict that a third will be gone by 2025. Local papers like The Town Line—dedicated to covering the unique issues in our rural towns—are feeling this strain the hardest…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Reggae on the Farm brings music, food, and craft beer to Vassalboro
VASSALBORO – Sidereal Farm Brewery invites the community to an afternoon of music, flavor, and fun at Reggae on the Farm, happening Sunday, August 31, at 1 p.m. The outdoor event will feature Maine’s favorite reggae band Catcha Vibe, joined by internationally acclaimed Jamaican vocalist Fitzie Niceness… and many other local events!
Obituaries
PALERMO – Frances Nelson Flye Faxon, 88, of Palermo, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 23, 2025. She was born on November 18, 1936, in Palermo, the daughter of Ruby Nelson Elliott and Maynard Nelson, and stepdaughter of Henry “Al” Elliott…
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Revolution effects: Augusta from 1778 (new)
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — James North, in his history of Augusta, mentioned only one Hallowell town meeting during the year 1777. There were at least two in 1778, mostly dealing with local finances. The town’s population was about 100 families in those years… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Revolution effects
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — The American colonies’ war for independence from Great Britain had only limited effects in the central Kennebec Valley. With one important exception (to be described in September), no Revolutionary “event” occurred in this part of Maine. No battles between armies were fought here, although there were some between neighbors and, most likely, among family members… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Amy Morris Bradley
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — In her Vassalboro history, Alma Pierce Robbins introduced her readers to one of the town’s nationally-known residents, Amy Morris Bradley. Robbins’ focus was on Bradley’s role in nursing during the Civil War; other sources add information about her career in public education… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Women doctors in central Kennebec Valley
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — In the course of collecting information on the doctors included in last week’s article about the central Kennebec Valley (and other places), your writer reviewed lists in Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history and Rev. Edwin Carey Whittemore’s Waterville history… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 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: Mary Alice Boxall, Augusta
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | Last week, while doing some yard work, my wife noticed some insects on our outdoor fire pit. When summoned, I went over and identified the “bug” as the cicada exoskeleton, the part the cicada leaves behind its external skeleton, a hard, protective outer shell. We counted 11 of them. As a cicada grows, it outgrows its exoskeleton and must molt, shedding the old, hard shell and emerging as a larger, soft-bodied form…
MAINE-LY GARDENING
by Jude Hsiang | People have long known that the potato and tomato are related, and both arose in South America. But we might wonder why potatoes produce tubers when other members of the solanaceous or nightshade family – tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, tobacco, and petunias – do not. The word tuber is even found inside the name of three plants in Chile that look very much like modern potatoes and are called etuberosums, yet none of these plants form tubers. Genetic studies have shown that potatoes are more closely related to tomatoes than to the etuberosums….
MY POINT OF VIEW
by Gary Kennedy | Labor Day in the United States is always celebrated on the first Monday of September. This day is set aside to acknowledge and honor the economic and social achievements of the American worker. Monday is always a good day as it allows for a long weekend for most of us to share some quality time with family and friends. However, not all employment is so privileged. Restaurants, hotels, hospitals, fire departments and police departments, to mention only a few still have to keep our capitalistic society safe and strong. For the most part those that have to remain on the job are compensated with vacation pay or promises…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | Anne-Sophie Mutter collaborated with Maestro Herbert von Karajan (1908-1988) and the Berlin Philharmonic on a very good record of the Mozart Violin Concertos 3 and 5 , also on Deutsche Grammophon, back in 1977 when she was only 14 years old. And her playing was not merely that of a child prodigy flash in the pan but of a mature artist and musician, that record still making for worthwhile listening. Finally, to me personally, anything conducted by Karajan is worth hearing and owning…
QUINN MINUTE
by Rix Quinn | Not long ago I saw a survey that said people are more outspoken than they used to be. So last month — accompanied by a recorder, my friend George and his dog Gopher — we conducted our very own poll…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
HEALTH | Migraine is a debilitating neurological disease that affects one billion people worldwide, but it is not just an adult disease. For the 1 in 10 children diagnosed with this complex and incurable condition, it can be a daily battle that affects academic performance, impacts friendships, and leads to diminished quality of life. And many struggle for years before receiving a proper diagnosis…