Closed for vacation
The Town Line newspaper staff will be on vacation the week of June 30, 2025. The office will be closed. However, there will be an issue on July 3, 2025.Issue for June 26, 2025
Vassalboro Public Library: transition and support
If you haven’t been in the Vassalboro Public Library in recent years you are in for a pleasant surprise! Long gone are the days of hushed voices, shushing librarians and card catalogs. There are signs on the doors for library programming sponsored throughout the year, where children and adults gather to be entertained, get information and to socialize… by Elizabeth McMahon & Brian Stanley
Town News
Cemetery committee deals with erosion at E. Vassalboro site
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro Cemetery Committee members have another item on their maintenance list, after their June 16 meeting…
Conservation committee discusses two parks
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro Conservation Commission members spent most of their June 11 meeting discussing the two parks they supervise, Monument Park, in East Vassalboro at the China Lake outlet, and Eagle Park, on Route 32, north of East Vassalboro…
COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: What we need is a third party
from Sheldon Goodine (China resident) — We see the debt clock ticking away on TV and getting higher every day. We are told the interest on this debt is the largest expense in the U.S. government, and if allowed to continue the U.S. government could go into default and we could lose our country…
LETTERS: CMP and the ospreys
from Gary Mazoki (Palermo) — My friend Marty and myself are convinced that CMP – Central Maine Power, is responsible for placement of the osprey nests on the power line poles. Have you ever noticed that these nests are typically adjacent to the road?…
LETTERS: Disagrees with article
from Kala Freytag Wistar (East Vassalboro) — I was very disappointed in the uncredited May 22 article entitled “Local students go to state house to support girls’ sports and spaces.” Not only did it display a shocking amount of bias, but it was also poorly researched and nonfactual…
LETTERS: Big not so pretty bill
from Paige Schadt (Belgrade) — The way to convey to you how utterly awful the so-called “one big beautiful bill” passed by the House [recently] actually would be to give you this short ten-question exam. (Answers are in parenthesis but first try to answer without looking at them)…
PHOTO: Knowledge Fair project
PALERMO — Benton Elementary School fourth grader, Jackson Reynolds, loves law enforcement. For his knowledge fair project on social studies, his subject matter was, naturally, law enforcement, and he chose to center his project around Corporal Eugene Cole…
Winslow High School fourth quarter honors
WINSLOW — List of honor roll students for the fourth quarter at Winslow High School.
WPI students complete intensive research projects
CENTRAL ME — A total 707 of undergraduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in Worcester, Massachusetts, completed research-driven, professional-level projects that apply science and technology to address an important societal need or issue…
Jessica Fisher honored by Hartwick College
CHINA — Jessica Fisher, class of 2027, of China, received The Close Family Scholarship during the College’s Honors Convocation held on April 30, at Hartwick. College, in Oneonta, New York. Established by Mrs. Gertrude Close, this award goes to a student with high scholastic ability and demonstrated financial need.
WPI announces spring dean’s list
AUGUSTA/WATERVILLE — The following locaql students were named to the dean’s list at Worcester Polytechnical Institute, in Worcester, Massachusetts…
Brianna Paine named to Berry College dean’s list
MADISON — Brianna Paine, of Madison, was named to the Spring 2025 dean’s list at Berry College, in Rome, Georgia.
Local happenings
EVENTS: Winslow library hosts summer kick-off event
WINSLOW — The Winslow Public Library will host its first summer reading kick-off party since 2019, as it launches a slew of new engaging programming for children, teens and adults, headed by its new programming staff…
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
WINDSOR – Arthur Mark Snowman, 63, passed away on Sunday, June 15, 2025. He was born on October 10, 1961, in Gardiner. Arthur was a stoic and proud man, but if you were fortunate enough to know him, you’d find he was the most caring and generous person. His witty humor and ever-present courage were the cornerstones of his character that left an indelible mark on all who knew him…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Branch Mills flea market
BRANCH MILLS – The Branch Mills Grange #336, will hold a flea market on Saturday, June 28, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the grange, 20 Branch Mills Road, Palermo… and many other local events!
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: “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is July 10, 2025.
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Early land titles (new)
KV HISTORY — The lawyers discussed in this series earlier this spring were undoubtedly important in the lives of European settlers in the central Kennebec Valley. Before the lawyers, and equally if not more important, were another group of professional men: the surveyors… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Waterville City Hall
WATERVILLE HISTORY — This article will return to the history of a series of buildings, more cheerful than the Augusta jail(s) described in the June 5 story: Waterville’s town hall that became a city hall that was – and still is – combined with a large gathering space called an opera house… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: More China lawyers
CHINA HISTORY — The Greeleys or Greelys were early settlers in Branch Mills, the village on the west branch of the Sheepscot River shared between China and its eastern neighbor, Palermo. The China bicentennial history says Jacob Greely was a Revolutionary War veteran who moved to China after 1782… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Augusta jail
AUGUSTA HISTORY — Before proceeding to the history of the Augusta jail, your writer wants to clarify a sentence from last week’s article. It referenced Wikipedia’s statement that after Augusta became a city (instead of a town) in 1849, “Its early city offices were in the Opera House, and meetings took place in Winthrop Hall”… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, July 17, 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: STILL NO WINNER!
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | The house mouse is becoming more and more of a nuisance at camp, and to say the least, are not welcome. My neighbors are fighting a constant battle with them, and until Saturday, my wife and I had been free of them…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | English historian Sir Arthur Bryant (1899-1985) was a principal of the Cambridge School of Arts, Crafts and Technology from 1923 to 1926 and raised its student body from 300 to 2,000…
MAINE-LY GARDENING
by Jude Hsiang | Some of the first local foods to enjoy each year are greens, which come from a variety of plants. Many of us have been enjoying a variety of leafy greens from our gardens for weeks now. If you missed the opportunity to plant them from February through April this year, some of these vegetables can be planted later in summer for fall crops…
QUINN MINUTE
by Rix Quinn | Did you know that 4,000 years ago people lived without rules? With no restrictions, imagine the chaos, imagine the confusion…imagine the fun…
VETERANS CORNER
by Gary Kennedy | I’m sure many of you veterans out there are dealing with subjective as well as objective data, when you not only view, but experience the Veterans Administrations, Medical administrative as well as its physical plant…When we look at VA those of us who are not new to the physical plant can see changes that have been carved out of an established bastion of safety and well being to, “What’s going on”?…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
HEALTH | COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a term used to describe chronic lung diseases, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Often, COPD is caused by inhaling pollutants, which includes tobacco smoking and second-hand smoke, but other causes of COPD can be fumes, chemicals and dust found in work environments, and genetics…