Issue for September 11, 2025
Vassalboro UMC used as New England model
NOne Vassalboro United Methodist Church (VUMC) member described the last 18 months at her church as a blur that has brought many things into focus. What started as a vision to improve accessibility from the sanctuary to the fellowship hall and bathrooms in the basement, evolved into more than one major project that has so far required $125,000 in fundraising! During her sermon on September 7, Pastor Karen Merrill referred to it all as a domino effect… by Dale Potter-Clark
Hometown Hero recognized at Vassalboro Days
On Saturday, Sept. 6, Vassalboro resident and Vietnam Veteran Robert Locklin was honored posthumously as Vassalboro’s first Hometown Hero. He passed away on Sept. 3, 2025. The Town of Vassalboro is proud to recognize current and former residents of Vassalboro who have served or are currently serving our country in a branch of the military with their Hometown Hero Banner Program. This program places banners on power poles through Vassalboro and will be typically displayed from Memorial Day through Labor Day…
Town News
Select board hears about work to be done at fields
CHINA – China select board members and Recreation Committee chairman Martha Wentworth had two topics to discuss at the Sept. 8 select board meeting. They renewed a July 28 discussion of repairs and maintenance at China’s ballfields on Lakeview Drive; and they decided how to handle the near-total failure of the kayak rental program that was supposed to operate at the head of the lake this past summer…
No contests in China election
CHINA – China voters will have no contests on their Nov. 4 local election ballots. Town Clerk Angela Nelson reported residents who submitted the necessary signatures for their names to appear on the ballot are…
Select board holds shortest meeting on record
VASSALBORO – The two Vassalboro select board members at the Sept. 3 meeting (board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., was absent) held one of the shortest meetings on record, about 15 minutes…
CEO to seek advice on business permit violation
VASSALBORO – On Sept. 2, Monica Stanton, operator of the Rage Room, in North Vassalboro, for the third time failed to attend a Vassalboro Planning Board meeting to seek a permit for her business. Because she has reportedly ignored a cease-and-desist order for the unapproved business, Codes Officer Eric Currie told board members he plans to seek legal advice…
Transfer station officials discuss changes at Lombard Dam Road facility
VASSALBORO – At a short Sept. 4 meeting, four members of Vassalboro’s Transfer Station Task Force, plus Transfer Station Manager Adam Daoust and Town Manager Aaron Miller, discussed proposed changes at the Lombard Dam Road facility. Their goals include…
Vassalboro hires youth sports coordinator/office assistant
VASSALBORO – At a short Sept. 4 meeting, four members of Vassalboro’s Transfer Station Task Force, plus Transfer Station Manager Adam Daoust and Town Manager Aaron Miller, discussed proposed changes at the Lombard Dam Road facility. Their goals include…
PHOTO: And the winners are…
PALERMO — Horses Ruby and Buck, owned by Steve Haskell, of Palermo, placed first at the 2025 Horse Pulling Sweepstakes at the Windsor Fair. Photo by Gary Mazoki…
LETTERS: Secretary Collins up to speed
from Deborah Marlett (South China) — As I read Gary Kennedy’s Veterans Corner in the Sept. 4, 2025, issue of The Town Line, I wonder where he’s been for the past eight months…
Students named to dean’s list at Bates College
CENTRAL ME — The following students have been named to the dean’s list at Bates College, in Lewiston, for the winter semester ending in April 2025. Jamil Mouehla, of Augusta, and Sophie Wheeler, of Skowhegan.
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Keira Goldsmith achieves president’s list honors
OAKLAND — Keira Goldsmith, of Oakland, has achieved president’s list honors for the spring 2025 semester at Nichols College, in Dudley, Massachusetts.
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Seth Pratt named to dean’s list
CORNVILLE — Seth Pratt, of Cornville, was named to the dean’s list for the spring 2025 term at University of Maryland Global Campus, in Adelphi, Maryland.
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Area residents named to Simmons University dean’s list
CENTRAL ME — The following area residents were named to the 2025 spring semester dean’s list at Simmons University, in Boston, Massachusetts: Zoe Soule and Emma Soule, both of Farmingdale, and Emma Parrish, Hallowell.
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Local happenings
EVENTS: Carol Bailey String Band at No. Windsor Baptist Church
SIDNEY — The Carol Bailey String Band will be performing on Wednesday, September 17, at the North Windsor Baptist Church (955 Ridge Rd., Windsor), at 11 a.m. All are welcome to the free event…
EVENTS: Mitchell to speak at historical society
VASSALBORO — Vassalboro resident Elizabeth (Libby) Mitchell will speak at the Vassalboro Historical Society about her long career in politics representing the town, on Sunday, September 21. She was the first woman to have been elected as both Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Maine Senate. She served as a legislator from 1990-1998 and as a senator from 2004-2010…
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: 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: “It’s alive! It’s alive!” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is October 9, 2025.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: So.China library to host local author
CHINA – Sunday, September 14, 2025, South China Public Library, 1 p.m., will host local author Claire Hersom to talk and read about her novel Smithville Junction… and many other local events!
Obituaries
BENTON – Hugh “Pat” Berglund, 84, passed away on Friday, August 29, 2025. Born to Harold Algot Berglund and Josephine Quinn Berglund on December 28, 1940, Pat spent his childhood with his brother Clip, moving frequently along the East Coast…
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Arnold’s expedition (new)
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — Before continuing upriver, this subseries will summarize the one Revolutionary event that did have a direct impact on towns along the Kennebec River. That was the fall 1775 American expedition intended to take Québec City from the British (who had taken it from the French in September 1759)… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Revolution effects Vassalboro & Winslow
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — A 1770s map of Kennebec River towns upriver from Augusta would look quite different from a 2025 map, or even an 1870s map. Currently, Augusta is the only area town with territory on both banks of the river (linked by two bridges). Upriver on the west bank, one goes from Augusta north into Sidney, then Waterville and then Fairfield. On the east bank, the next town north of Augusta is Vassalboro, then Winslow, then Benton… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Revolution effects: Augusta from 1778
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
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 | OK, we’ve been going through quite a dry spell since July, with hardly any rain. Plants and flowers are starving for the liquid and so are the bees. I’m sure everyone has noticed the presence of many, many more bees than normal. Just last week, on a particularly beautiful Saturday, I decided to go read my daily newspaper on the deck with a glass of wine…
MAINE-LY GARDENING
by Jude Hsiang | Winter squashes, like the butternut and acorn varieties are members of the cucurbit, or gourd family, like cucumbers and zucchini. The family has almost one thousand species including edible plants like melons. Ornamental gourds and loofah “sponges” sponges are some of the others. Humans have been cultivating and developing new types for thousands of years all over the world’s temperate and tropical regions…
AARP NEWS YOU CAN USE
by Joyce Bucciantini | On August 14,1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law stating, “…we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.” Social Security created a system of earned retirement income for American workers to avoid the dire poverty experienced during the Great Depression…
VETERANS CORNER
by Gary Kennedy | A new week begins and summer is for the most part gone. Even so, this has always been my favorite time if the year. The temperatures are comfortable during the day and the nights are cool and very comfortable for sleeping. It’s also a great time for vacationing. The bug population is down and allows for a leisurely time at the side of a brook with a fishing rod. I love the thought of it. My advice has always been if you want a close to perfect time to vacation it would be the last two weeks of August and the first two weeks of September. My birthday is in there somewhere and it’s a perfect time of year to hide…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | After I received my Bachelor of Science degree in English in May 1973, from the University of Southern Maine, I was now qualified to teach that subject at the secondary high school level. Soon I would discover that job openings were scarce in Maine so I worked as a menial laborer on Dad’s construction crew while still living at home…
QUINN MINUTE
by Rix Quinn | What’s the real meaning of the fairy tale about Goldilocks? To be frank (although Frank is not my name), Goldilocks and the Three Bears is more confusing than a stop sign on a roller coaster track…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
HEALTH | Here’s an idea that can feel like a breath of fresh air: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has discovered a key strategy for improving indoor air quality (IAQ). In a newly released fact sheet, the EPA outlines three core best practices: source control, improved ventilation, and effective filtration and air cleaning…