Successful season at Alfond Center
It was a successful season at the Alfond Youth Center Rec basketball league.
Elementary basketball
Winslow Rec basketball team member Maya Lavallee takes the ball down court during a recent game.
Photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography staff
Backstroke in the pool
Waterville/Winslow high schools swim team member Molly Wasaliski doing the backstroke at a recent meet.
Photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography staff
SCORES & OUTDOORS: Crows v. Ravens: is there a difference?
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee
If you remember, a couple of weeks ago I wrote about all the birds that have been coming to our feeders, and I compared the situation with the Alfred Hitchcock thriller film, The Birds. Well, I have another chapter in that episode. I have noticed recently the high number of crows, or ravens, that have been hanging around my house. Just the other day, I saw seven of them sitting in my pine trees in the backyard. They are huge birds.
Just to draw a comparison, there was a gray squirrel – either Martha or Stewart, my resident squirrels, are pretty good sized squirrels – on one of the other branches, and these birds made it look like a field mouse. The squirrel was dwarfed by these birds. They were also licking their chops. However, the crows’ stout bill is not strong enough to break through the skin.
Later that day, while driving by the park that is located at the end of my street, there were about two dozen of these birds feeding on the banking that was bare of snow.
Where are they coming from? And are they crows, or ravens like some people are calling them?
Well, to cut to the chase, crows have a fan-shaped tail, while ravens’ tails are wedge-shaped. The birds I’m looking at have a fan-shaped tail. Obviously, there are a few differences between the two species. Most of the differences are noticeable when the two are together. However, crows will assemble in large flocks, while ravens tend to be solitary, until the fall migration.
Crow, left, and Raven. Note the position of the tail feathers. The crow’s are fan-like, while the Raven’s are wedge-shaped.
Both the crows and the ravens are highly intelligent birds. Perhaps the most intelligent. The two can learn to imitate a variety of sounds, including the human voice. Recent research has found crows not only use tools, but also tool construction. Their intelligence quotient is equal to that of many non-human primates.
There is a story that indicates crows know how to count. The story has not been substantiated, but it goes like this. Three hunters enter a hunters’ blind. They wait, the crows know they are in there. The crows don’t move. Two hunters leave the blind, and the crows still don’t move. Once the third hunter leaves, the crows know they are gone and resume their normal activity.
Crows also have a good memory, remembering where there is danger, and where their cache of food is for later consumption.
Predators include owls and hawks. Crows will gather together to move an offending or intruding owl or hawk. However, West Nile disease has been taking its toll on crow populations.
A couple of years ago, while fishing on Webber Pond, my wife and I noticed a large flock of crows headed for a tree that sat on a point. Apparently, a bald eagle was intruding on a nest. The crows mobbed the eagle and drove it off. That was interesting to watch.
So, taking all these things into consideration, the large black birds hanging around my house are crows. But the question as to where they come from and why they are hanging around, has not been answered. In the past, I have seen massive numbers of crows fly overhead in late fall. But they continue in a northwesterly direction, darkening the sky as they passed. This year, they are making themselves right at home around my house.
I will continue to investigate.
Franks named to Castleton U. president’s list
Mary Franks, of Liberty, was recently named to the Castleton University president’s list for the fall semester of the 2016-17 academic year, in Castleton, Vermont.
To qualify for this highest academic honor, the student must maintain full-time status and a semester grade point average of 4.0.
Hunter Williams earns place on dean’s list
Hunter Williams, of Jefferson, who was recently named to the fall 2016 dean’s list at Keene State College, in Keene, New Hampshire. Williams was among 1,400 students who were honored for academic excellence in the fall 2016 semester.
REVIEW POTPOURRI: Film: Nightcrawler; Singer: Big Joe Turner
by Peter Cates
Nightcrawler
Jake Gyllenhaal
starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, etc. Directed by Dan Gilroy, Open Road films, released 2014, 117 minutes.
The story line of Nightcrawler involves a night drifter/loner, Lucas Bloom, who stalks the mean streets of Los Angeles and stumbles onto a major source of income as a photographer of particularly gruesome accident scenes. As portrayed quite skillfully by Jake Gyllenhaal, Bloom exudes an unsettling, bleak, nihilistic lack of any moral compass; in another time, he would have been a perfect recruit for Hitler’s Einsatzgruppen.
Rene Russo
This film draws much of its suspense from the unwavering foreboding of the Los Angeles night as distilled through the masterful cinematography, a quality that riveted my attention more than Bloom’s personality or the well-honed chain of events. And the solid acting of Rene Russo and Bill Paxton enhanced the film a lot.
Joe Turner
I’ve Been to Kansas City; Decca/MCA Records MCAD-42351, CD, consists of original Decca 78s recorded between 1940-41.
Big Joe Turner (1911-1985) was a roaring grizzly bear of a singer/ blues shouter who performed for the better part of 60 years and made many records. Born in Kansas City, his early years working as a bartender/ singer led to becoming known as the Singing Barman.
Big Joe Turner
His musical colleagues on these sides include a Who’s Who of American jazz – Hot Lips Page, Don Byas, Pete Johnson, Willie “The Lion” Smith, Art Tatum, Edmund Hall, Billy Taylor, etc. All 13 sides are first rate, particularly Corrinne, Corrina and Piney Brown Blues.
The most truly successful song he may have composed is Shake, Rattle and Roll.
Memories are made of these
Pages in Time
by Milt Huntington
Sit back, relax, and make a few withdrawals from your collective memory banks while I dredge up a few nostalgia nuggets of my own.
I had the honor of speaking at my 60th Cony High School class reunion a while ago and used the occasion to delve into the pages of yesteryear where fond and distant memories were lurking.
I assured my classmates that some things never change like the Hartford Fire Station whistle that still sounds religiously every single day at 12:30 p.m. and again at 9 o’clock. I reminded them that the State House and the Blaine Mansion are still there along with the old Post Office, the Armory, the AMHI buildings and of course the old flatiron building where long ago they built a school upon a hill.
Speaking to a room-full of Cony grads from here and away, I reminded them of the icons of long ago that no longer exist–places like the Augusta House, Jose Motors, the State Street Diner, Forrest’s Drug Store and the A&P. Gone, all gone, I lamented are our old hangouts like McAuley’s Restaurant on Outer Western Avenue, Doc’s Lunch, Mike’s Lunch, The Roseland, Foster’s Smoke Shop, McNamara’s and the Oxbow out in Winthrop. We still all smile with happy memories when we hear of Island Park.
It was my sad duty to remind folks that McLellan’s, Kresge’s and Woolworth;s have all disappeared from downtown Water Street. No more can they visit Penny’s, Montgomery Ward, Sears & Roebuck, Adam’s, Chernowsky’s, Farrell’s Clothing Store, Nicholson & Ryan’s or Bilodeau’s jewelry stores.
Other institutions that have faded into the pages of time include: the Colonial and Capitol theaters, the drugstores with the wonderful pinball machines, the barber shops, the beer joints, the Depot News, the Army-Navy store, Foster’s Smoke Shop and the Hotel North.
Stealing thoughts from one of my earlier columns, I pushed some buttons of memory concerning the clothes that all of us wore. The boys of the 40’s and 50’s wore maroon corduroy jackets with plaid trousers rolled up at the cuffs. Their shoes consisted of white bucks or penny loafers. Crew cuts were far and away the style of the day. I wish I could grow one now.
The Cony girls of long ago displayed pony tails, up-do’s or page boys, and they looked “sharp” in blue velvet, sweaters, clinging skirts, Gibson Girl blouses and midi-skirts. Their feet were decked with bobby sox, white sneakers and saddle shoes.
The guys never called them “cool.” Nah! They called them sharp, groovy, snazzy or neat. Today, of course, all the younger whippersnappers say “like” and “you know” most of the time. Not all the time, just when they open their mouths. It doesn’t take much to get me going on that subject. I think of the the Red Sox pitcher I watched who said “you know” 32 times in a three minute television interview. I expressed my amazement that a lot of college graduates who go on to sports never learned to exhibit some degree of articulateness.
Seizing my moment in the spotlight, I dug down deep to dredge up memories of icons of 60 years ago and more. I asked them to sink into the depths of their memories to remember stuff like table-side juke boxes that played the music of Frankie Lane, Joni James Patti Page, Jo Stafford and Frank Sinatra. The songs that continually spring from my memory of years gone by are the likes of Mule Train, Jezebel, Come Fly With Me, See the Pyramids, Music, Music, Music, Purple Shades and a thousand more.
Those were the days, my friends, we thought they’d never end, but they did–just like the pant leg clips we wore when we road our one-speed bicycles. Gone forever are the glass milk bottles delivered to our doorsteps and the ice boxes that actually contained blocks of ice. Gone, all gone, are the telephone party lines, Howdy Doody, 45 rpm’s, S&H Green Stamps, Hi-Fi’s, Studebakers and Packards, roller skate keys and pizza when we called it pizza pie.
I could go on and on…and I usually do, but suffice it to say: “Those were the good old days.” How much fun it is to pause now and again to think back on all the things that we remember of our own particular and special Camelot.
Milt Huntington is the author of “A Lifetime of Laughter” and “Things That Make You Grin.”
IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of February 9, 2017
by Katie Ouilette
OK, faithful readers, there’s an old saying about ‘what goes around comes around,’ and, frankly, as I sat in my chair in our kitchen in East Madison and reflected on the problems that were encompassing our USA because of immigration rules and regulations. I also decided to find out why the pile of papers in the corner of the top shelf of our bookcase had been kept. Yup, I made a discovery, WALLS!
I found a column entitled IF WALLS COULD TALK that had been written before The Town Line’s managing editor had called me about writing for The Town Line. You were writing for the extinct hometown newspaper, but, guess what? I learned that my Mémère Zelia Valliere and I were having a talk about my speaking French. Yes, she and my Great-Grandma Sarah would talk French to each other on the phone and I wanted to learn that language, but Mémère said, “No, you don’t want to learn to speak French……You speak English.” It seems I didn’t understand her reasoning until Skowhegan Junior High School and I learned in history class that the French were employed only after all the English-speaking immigrants had jobs.
So, WALLS, as you talk to our faithful readers, it is true today that what went around has come around again. It is true that immigration in those days was from our north, wherein, today, folks who love what they hear about our USA, want to live here. What’s more, many of those who want to immigrate to our USA have experienced unbelievable torture and loss because of the Middle East War.
WALLS, I know you aren’t taking a political stand here, but I do appreciate your being aware of what has happened in the world as we thought we knew it. This brings you back to your opening sentence, WALLS, that ‘what goes around, comes around.’ Probably our faithful readers haven’t thought how speaking our native English has possibly played into the equation. I never thought of it until finding the column in the corner of our bookcase.
Yes, yes….I do listen to the news and I did learn a few days ago, WALLS, that the development area for our famous “Valley” in California has many of other countries working there. In fact, our West Coast family tells us of their many friends from other countries……and many of them are from Asia.
WALLS, maybe we in Maine have lived a ‘protected life.’ You know that there’s been a sign at the ‘entrance to Maine’ that says “Welcome to Maine…..The Way Life Should Be.” Yes, WALLS, let’s make sure people ‘believe.’
SOLON & BEYOND, Week of February 9, 2017
by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979
Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!
As part of RSU #74’s participating in a Preschool Expansion Grant from the Maine Department of Education, they are forming a Community Literacy Team. With the increase in literacy demands for today’s job market, communities need to play a role in helping to promote and increase literacy skills in their citizens from birth to adulthood.
They are looking for community members who would like to be part of this team. Their plan is to meet once a month to create a literacy plan for the communities in RSU #74 to promote and expand literacy skills. Their activities need to include connections to early childhood, but they can also target people of all ages.
If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Ms. Butler at school or through e-mail at jbutler@carrabec.org. (The above is from an e-mail I received from Solon Elementary School.
Now for another apology, this time to Bill and Lori Messer… Sometimes I am either rushing to meet my deadline, or I have used up too many words already in a column, anyway… Last week in writing about their wonderful Blue Grass Show I didn’t write that they have Open Mic nights the first, third and fifth Sundays of each month from 1 to 4 p.m.
Lief and I recently traveled to Bangor where we had lunch with a former teacher of his from the “County,” Sam Coco. It was a most enjoyable time, he is a wonderful example, that no mater how old you are life can be exciting! We have been getting together with him several times and I always look forward to our get-togethers. He is a remarkable man…and he always assures me that Lief was a good boy back then.
Again, I would like to invite any of you painters, (in water colors, oils, or other mediums) to join us at Skowhegan Adult Ed for painting on Monday nights, starting on February 27, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. My faithful students and I always welcome new comers to our group of happy artists. Although I am a hard task master who loves peace and the joy of painting so my wishes are that during the few hours we are painting there won’t be any discussions about politics or religion. Please don’t let that stipulation keep you away! Many of these artists have been with me since I started this adventure many years ago, and I am proud to call them friends. You can sign up now at the Skowhegan Adult Ed office or on line, the fee is only $5.
And now for Percy’s memoir, he was a great believer in friendship: Friendship’s Token: Only a little token, Offered for Friendship’s sake – Picture and song together, Here, my greeting, take. What though on brightest pictures Time’s hand at last be lain; What though earth’s songs awaken Only to sleep again?
Voices once loved ring ever In faithful listening ears: The sacred hand of Friendship Gleams through the mist of years. (words by Ellis Walton). And Friends, like all good things in this life, can be had by any one who wants them. There is only one simple rule to follow, it is this; To have a friend, be one yourself. (that one came from my old, falling apart book “Uncle Ben’s Quotebook”. Percy and I studied that book a lot in all our years of writing, it was copyrighted in 1976. )
You guessed it…. I’m rambling, I need real news, I’m waiting to hear from you!