Issue for October 10, 2024

Celebrating 36 years of local news

Former Palermo man receives award from MDIF&W

Former local resident Zach Glidden, along with two other biologists, has been presented with the 2024 award from the Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife for a rescue last year… by Roland D. Hallee

CAMPAIGN 2024

CAMPAIGN 2024: Candidates address issues concerning Maine voters (Part 1)

CENTRAL ME The following are the responses candidates provided to us based on a questionnaire we sent out. (We received so many responses, they couldn’t all be included in a single issue of the paper. This is part one of those responses. Please look for the rest of the candidate responses in next week’s issue!)…

Town News

Nine residents hear select board on three local ballot questions

VASSALBORO Vassalboro select board members began their Oct. 3 meeting with a public hearing that drew nine residents to learn about three Nov. 5 local referendum questions…

Planners OK ReVision Energy plan for community solar farm

VASSALBORO The four Vassalboro Planning Board members at the Oct. 1 meeting unanimously approved ReVision Energy’s plan for a community solar farm on Eileen Flanagan’s property, at 1026 Webber Pond Road…

Select board approves concept plan for new vault

CHINA – China select board members approved a concept plan for the new storage vault they’ve discussed for three years, and will have an engineer’s plan prepared as soon as possible…

Waterville construction update: Webb Rd. bridge now open Ticonic Bridge update

WINSLOW/WATERVILLE – Webb Road: Construction on the Webb Road Bridge, in Waterville, is complete and open to traffic. The Webb Road intersects with the West River Road, and travels west towards Pond Road, in Oakland…

Vassalboro Legion to collect holiday gifts for veterans

VASSALBORO During the holiday season for the last three years, members of American Legion Post #126, Vassalboro, gathered personal care products, puzzle books, and snacks for veterans at Togus Veterans Home, in Augusta…

PHOTOS: Meeting a champion

CENTRAL ME On October 6, Angela Hallee, of Waterville, and her son Travis Brunette, of Pittsfield, attended the New England Patriots game with the Miami Dolphins. At the game, they had the fortune to meet retired Patriots fullback James Develin…

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: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is October 10, 2024.

Local happenings

EVENTS: Explore China’s transportation history at upcoming presentation

CHINA — The China Historical Society is pleased to invite the public to an engaging presentation on the history of the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington (WW&F) narrow gauge railway. This event, featuring local experts Bob Wallace and Phil Dow, from the Albion Historical Society, will take place next Thursday, October 17, at 7 p.m., at the China Baptist Church…

EVENTS: Veterans urged to take part in Veterans Day parade

WATERVILLE/WINSLOW — All veterans and community members are invited to participate in the Waterville Veterans Day parade on Monday, November 11, 2024. Lineup begins at 10 a.m., at The Elm, 21 College Ave. Waterville. A ceremony will be held at Castonguay Square, on Main St., at 11 a.m…

EVENTS: Vassalboro library to host theatrical play

VASSALBORO – Vassalboro Public Library will host a theatrical play, to take place at the Vassalboro Grange, 353 Main Street, for two exclusive shows, Saturday, October 19, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, October 20, at 2 p.m…

CALENDAR OF EVENTS: China Historical Society to hear about WW&F

CHINA – The China Historical Society announces Bob Wallace and Phil Dow, from the Albion Historical Society, will do a community presentation on WW&F narrow gauge, on Thursday, October 17, at 7 p.m., to be held at China Baptist Church. The public is invited… and many other local events!

Obituaries

CHINA – Barry W. Thomas, 81, passed away on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at Lakewood Continuing Care Center, in Waterville, following a long illness. He was born on September 13, 1943, the son of the late William and Juanita (Pierce) Thomas…

Around the Kennebec Valley: Education in 18th & 19th centuries, Part III (new)

MAINE HISTORY — The local responsibility for public education made it one of the first topics for voters in each newly-organized 18th and 19th century Maine town. Frequently, historians wrote, it was not easy for people in a low-cash economy to raise money to pay a teacher, provide instructional materials and maintain a building… by Mary Grow

Around the Kennebec Valley: Education in 18th & 19th centuries, Part II

MAINE HISTORY — Massachusetts residents who moved to Maine brought with them the Massachusetts enthusiasm for education, as noted last week. Alma Pierce Robbins, in her 1971 Vassalboro history, quoted from a report coming, ironically, from an October 1785 Portland convention called to discuss separating Maine from Massachusetts… by Mary Grow

Around the Kennebec Valley: Education in 18th & 19th centuries, Part I

MAINE HISTORY — One of the many questions your writer has not yet answered – and may never – is why, in the 1700s, people left comparatively comfortable homes in Massachusetts and similar places to come to the Kennebec Valley, on the Massachusetts frontier… by Mary Grow

Around the Kennebec Valley: A history of Ford’s Corner, Part II

PALERMO HISTORY — In Part 1, we explored the lives of three key families at Ford’s Corner around the turn of the 20th century: Frank & Addie Wood, Daniel & Nettie Batchelder, and Leander & Alice Bowler, all active members of the church at the corner of Chisholm Pond Road and Arnold Lane. Part 2 will explore the history of that church building and what Ford’s Corner is today… by Andy Pottle

Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!

DEADLINE: Wednesday, October 17, 2024

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: Shirley Kinney, Augusta

Town Line Original Columnists

Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by Peter Cates | A ten-inch 78 (Mercury 6373) features two country and western songs – (A Heartsick Soldier on) Heartbreak Ridge; and Missing in Action; both sides focused on a soldier fighting in Korea and the horrors of separation from home, wife and family amidst the noise of exploding shells…

MY POINT OF VIEW

by Gary Kennedy | Once a year we find time to check out our roots and how we came to be, and who made it all happen. Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas at Guanahani, an island in the Bahamas, on October 12, 1492. Many do not celebrate this holiday anymore as it is believed that genocide occurred and paved the way to slavery. Although many say that the greater glorification is the exploration….

FOR YOUR HEALTH

HEALTH | In the last 50 years alone, vaccines have saved 154 million lives—six people every minute for five decades. But measles, polio, and cholera outbreaks are on the rise despite being vaccine-preventable, and vaccines still urgently need funding…