Laser Vision Correction For Life’s Major Milestones

For Your Health

(NAPSI)—College graduation, a new job, getting married. These life milestones often lead to setting goals for achieving our best selves. For people dealing with nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, big life transitions are also a good time for considering LASIK eye surgery. Unlike prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses, LASIK, which uses laser technology to reshape corneas, offers a permanent way to improve vision.

“LASIK helps remove the layer that glasses and contacts put between you, your life and the world around you,” said Dr. Kerry Solomon with the American Refractive Surgery Council. “This is why a lot of people consider LASIK when approaching a milestone. The improved quality of life that excellent vision provides can make the next phase even more appealing.”

Clear vision, without the need for glasses or contacts, offers many benefits during and after life milestones, such as:

College Graduation: Transitioning into life as an independent adult is made much easier with great vision. For many, laser vision correction is a terrific gift the graduate will appreciate for years. Some choose to use their cash gifts to go toward the cost of the procedure.

Career: For some careers—military, emergency responders and airplane pilots—excellent vision is a matter of life and death. Professional athletes rely heavily on vision to keep a competitive edge. Photographers depend on their vision to capture the moment. But, in any career, having excellent vision without worrying about glasses or contacts is important.

Wedding: Every couple wants to look and feel their best as they celebrate their wedding day. For those who are good candidates, LASIK allows couples to see every moment of their big day in clarity and comfort, and have great vision at the ready for years.

Travel: Whether sightseeing, hiking, camping or exploring, travelers want to focus on their adventures, not on their vision. Needing glasses or contacts can weigh down bags and put a barrier between the traveler and the experience. Laser vision correction can give people their visual freedom and open up the world in new and exciting ways.

If a milestone in your life has you thinking about laser vision correction, such as LASIK, visit the American Refractive Surgery Council blog to research the procedure, learn what to expect before and after surgery, find ways to pay for it, and much more at www.Americanrefractivesurgerycouncil.org/blog.

Local boys take top prize at karate tournament

Mark Huard, center, is flanked by Huard’s Sports Karate team members Xander Giguere, 12, left, of Winslow, and Landon Nunn, 12, of Skowhegan, after they captured first place in fighting at the Pine Tree State Karate Championships, held at Freeport High School on September 9.
Photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography staff

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Talk always turns to weather

Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee

Isn’t it amazing how when you begin a conversation with someone, inevitably, it always leads to the weather. What would we do if we didn’t have the weather to talk about. Maybe some of us would never speak.

Whether you’re at the supermarket, church, or just bumping into a friend on the street, the conversation always goes something like, “What a nice day” or “boy, it sure is hot enough.” Get the idea?

Well, the other day, a colleague and I started talking about whether this recent stretch of weather constituted an “Indian Summer.” Which prompted me to think, “what really is an Indian summer and what determines whether we have one or not?”

An Indian summer is unseasonably warm, dry and calm weather, usually following a period of colder weather or frost in the late autumn, in September, October or early November. The Old Farmers Almanac describes it as taking place between November 11 and 20. It states, “During true Indian summer, the atmosphere looks hazy or smokey, and the weather is calm and dry.”

Modern ideas on what an Indian summer constitutes vary, but the most widely accepted value for determining whether an Indian summer is occurring is that the weather must be above 70 degrees for seven days after the autumnal equinox. The autumn equinox occured last week, and we have had a stretch of seven days where we are experiencing unseasonally warm weather. We also had a period of cold weather earlier in September.

The term Indian summer has been used for more than two centuries. The origin of other “Indian”phrases are well-known as referring to North American Indians, who prefer to be called Native Americans, or, in Canada, First Nations. The term Indian summer reached England in the 19th century, during the heyday of the British Raj in India. This led to the mistaken belief that the term referred to the Indian subcontinent. In fact, the Indians in question were the Native Americans, and the term began use there in the late 18th century.

Indian summer is first recorded in Letters From an American Farmer, a 1778 work by the French-American soldier-turned-farmer J. H. St. John de Crevecoeur: “Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer.”

There are many references to the term in American literature in the following hundred years or so. In the 1830s Indian summer began to be used figuratively, to refer to any late flowering following a period of decline. It was well enough established as a phrase by 1834 for John Greenleaf Whittier to use the term that way, when in his poem Memories,” he wrote of “The Indian Summer of the heart!.”

Or, Thomas DeQuincey, in a republishing of Bentley’s Works of Thomas DeQuincey, 1855, wrote: “An Indian summer crept stealthily over his closing days.”

Also, in his story The Guardian Angel, Oliver Wendell Holmes mentions “an Indian summer of serene widowhood.”

As a climatic event it is known throughout the world and is most frequently associated with the eastern and central states of the U.S., which have a suitable climate to generate the weather pattern. For example, a wide variation of temperature and wind strength from summer to winter.

Why Indian? Well, no one knows but, as is commonplace when no one knows, many people have guessed.

Some say it was from the prairie fires deliberately set by Indian tribes; from raids on European settlements by Indian war parties, which usually ended in autumn; or, in parallel with other Indian terms, it implied a belief in Indian falsity and untrustworthiness and that an Indian summer was a substitute copy of the real thing.

But my grandfather, who could spin a yarn with the best of them, had the best I’ve ever heard.

It seems an Indian chief was concerned about a hunting party that was delayed in returning from a late summer gathering of meat for the winter. The year had been an extremely difficult one and the tribe needed the buffalo, deer and turkey meat for their winter consumption, and the hides for clothing and shelters. Fearing the crops in the fields would go to waste before the braves returned to harvest, the chief sat at his campfire and began to feverishly smoke a pipe, until the air was filled with smokey, hot air. Once the hunting party made its return, the air was still warm enough to gather the crops that had not been damaged by frost, that the chief feared would be destroyed by the impending cold weather.

Makes sense to me.

I’m Just Curious: Learning a little about Halloween past

by Debbie Walker

I almost feel bad for you all to be left to my mind for any of your reading material. But I doubt that many others have as much fun in their heads as I do. Yesterday, my head was busy dreaming up new pocketbooks. Once I get the kinks worked out I’ll let you know how they come out if you are interested. Today, I saw some clothes in a catalog that I think I may attempt to make one or two similar. This kind of stuff happens all the time!

Tonight I wanted to pass on some Halloween history. This was printed in The Country Register, written by Elizabeth Nix. I have pulled out bits and pieces of interest.

Trick or Treating started in the 1930s and early 1940s. In those years children were given homemade cookies and pieces of cake, fruit, nuts, even coins and toys. When I started Trick or Treating we were still given baked goods and store bought treats. That was in the ‘50s. Fudge made by mom was and always will be the best treat. That is my best Halloween memory!

In the 1950s candy manufacturers started to promote their products for Halloween. About 1970 or so the “boughten” candy became more important. There was and still is a problem with safety. Why in the world anyone would ever be cruel enough to try to harm children. I am afraid there is a sickness involved.

I like the idea of Trick A Trunk. My grandsons used to go to their church for Trick A Trunk. They had the fun of dressing up and to be able to holler Trick or Treat and be safe.

One of the things I enjoyed about Ms. Nix article was the history of some of our “today” candies:

1900 – Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar invented
1907- Hershey’s Kisses
1923- Milky Way bars
1928- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
1930- Snickers bar
1932- 3 Musketeers bar
193?- Mars bar
193?- Nestle Crunch bar
1937- Kit Kat bars
1941- M&Ms

The really neat one is the tri-color candy corn that was invented in the 1880s!

So, I don’t know about you but just from writing this I feel like I am on a chocolate rush and I haven’t had a bite! I do like chocolate especially the dark stuff. But when I start buying candy for Halloween I make sure I buy the stuff I don’t like! Keeps me out of it (pretty much!).

I’m just curious what your favorite memories of Halloween are? Let me know at dwdaffy@yahoo.com sub: Halloween. Don’t forget to try out our website!

REVIEWS: Pianist: Sunwook Kim; Band leader: Count Basie; Conductor: Sir Thomas Beecham

Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by Peter Cates

Beethoven

Emperor Concerto and Symphony No. 5
Sunwook Kim, pianist (in the Emperor), and Myung-Whun Chung conducting the Seoul Philharmonic; Deutsche Grammophon- 481 031-2, CD, recorded live January 17-18, 2013.

Sunwook Kim

I have lost track of how many recordings I own of both of these Beethoven masterpieces – ones that continue to hold my interest through great, good and bad performances I have heard during the more than 50 years since I first made their acquaintance as a kid. This CD features two very gifted South Koreans applying themselves to the stringent challenge of plumbing for further meaning still – and succeeding wonderfully. The Emperor has the grandeur, elegance, biting drive and sheer beauty but most importantly, the sense of love for every note and the ability to communicate that love to listeners from every man and woman involved in the session. The Fifth has a very special muscle-driven momentum and power communicating its very core. YouTube has a video of two or three different Fifths conducted by Chung, this one among them; it also contains one giving a partial view of the recording of the Emperor Concerto.

Count Basie

Count Basie

Do You Wanna Jump, Children ?
Panassie Stomp. Decca- 2224, ten-inch 78, recorded 1938.

Count Basie’s band was in really peak form when they recorded this late ‘30s pair. Both are swing numbers and demonstrate the technical and musical virtuosity of every player, each of whom was of the highest calibre, and the soulful bluesy eloquence of Jimmy Rushing’s singing. In fact, I do not know of any bad record with Basie’s name. This can be heard on YouTube.

Berlioz

Harold in Italy
William Primrose, viola, with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the Royal Philharmonic; Columbia ML 4542, LP, recorded early ‘50s.

Sir Thomas Beecham

This is a four-movement symphony with the viola accompanying the rest of the orchestra. It is a beauty with four very musically alive movements, based on Byron’s poem, Childe Harold, but only lightly. The subject is a dreamy traveler drifting around Italy. The scenes include mountain travel, the pilgrims’s procession as they sing an evening hymn, a mountaineer serenading his lady and a gathering of drunken bandits.

Beecham’s performance is a classic but one among several other good performances, many of which, including Beecham’s, can be heard on YouTube!

Saige Knightv enrolled at St. Lawrence University

St. Lawrence University, in Canton, New York, has welcomed Saige Knight, of Oakland, as a member of the class of 2021. Knight attended Messalonskee High School.

Colby-Sawyer welcomes new students

Colby-Sawyer College, in New London, New Hampshire, welcomed two local students as the newest Chargers to campus, including first-year students and transfer students.

Included were Chelsea Perry, of Oakland, and Alex Hayes, of Waterville.

Palermo residents demand better consideration on dam issue

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

by Ursula Burke
Palermo resident

Several environmental groups (Mid-Coast Conservancy; Atlantic Salmon Federation) and Maine State agency (Department of Marine Resources) are advocating opening the Sheepscot Lake fishway to alewife herrings, American eels and parasitic sea lamprey eels. They say it is a river restoration project. But look at the history of the past 40-50 years on this lake. The lamprey eels damaged the rare, self-sustaining population of togue to the point that the fishway was closed for many decades. Now the evidence of damage to these fish has receded.

The Maine legislature will vote on bill LD922, introduced by State Rep. Jeffrey Pierce, who is also the founder and executive director of the Alewife Harvesters of Maine, to wrest control of the Sheepscot Lake dam from Inland Fish & Wildlife over to Marine Resources. Isn’t it a coincidence that alewives are used as bait for the lobster industry and that Mr. Pierce has an economic interest in having this bill pass? Isn’t this an obvious conflict of interest and an abuse of political position for personal gain?

And to reintroduce these fishes into Sheepscot Lake after many decades of being blocked is like introducing entirely new species. Yet no environmental impact studies or engineering studies have been done to gauge the impact to either the fish rearing station just downstream, to the existing fish population, or to water levels in the lake.

We, the Palermo residents and property owners of Sheepscot Lake, demand better consideration than this on behalf of this beautiful, balanced lake. It is a David and Goliath battle. Who will win…. the small town of Palermo or big business greed?

IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of September 28, 2017

by Katie Ouilette

O.K., WALLS, you guessed! You guessed what I had been doing, when I challenged you. Yes, faithful readers, I truly appreciate your having said thanks, the last time I divulged that I had been going through some old memories. Well, I’ve done it again, but this time WALLS wanted me to make a favorite “Robert Redford Cake” for a family gathering. The recipe was sent to me a very long time ago by close Oak Ridge, Tennessee, friend and godmother of son Craig. Actually, Ed and Nina are Craig’s godparents. They are both gone ‘to a better place’, as we have all been promised, but that recipe lingers on in my scrapbook, as do wonderful and heartwarming memories.

Now, I simply must share some memories of Nina and Ed. Especially, with all the ‘brewing events’ that seems to have overtaken folks’ “way of life these days.” Now, I’ll go back to those Oak Ridge days, when all forms of alcoholic beverages were against the law to sell. Ed decided to make some beer in their basement…and he was definitely a wonderful brewer, when not working at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. The taste test passed and bottling was next on Ed’s agenda. All was wonderful, as long as summer’s heat hadn’t arrived, but it did! OK, so you faithful readers and WALLS guessed! The caps popped and even hit the cellar’s ceiling which made that familiar sound! What’s more, the odor soon filled the cellar and the house! Yes, that was the end of the beer production, at least until cool weather arrived!

Well, WALLS and faithful readers, I hope you are laughing, because, with all the news of the hurricanes that come to us from the Caribbean, and the earthquake, in Mexico, we all need something to laugh about. Actually, I made the cake for Last Rose of Summer Day, when we honored Senator Margaret Chase Smith, and David Richards evidently had a long time to enjoy it, since our audience for the day was miniscule!

Speaking of David, who is now the Margaret Chase Smith Library’s executive, he was on Now You Know for which Chris Perkins is the host and which was the first Now You Know of this 2017 fall season. David gave our audience such interesting information about the library. WALLS surely hope that you who do get Channel 11,
will enjoy!

I think, WALLS, that our word-count has about reached the limit for this week. Yes, I did mention Now You Know, but will take the liberty of telling our faithful readers and faithful viewers that we will soon have John Harlow with us to tape the program from its new downtown Skowhegan location for Maine’s Cornville Charter School.

SOLON & BEYOND, Week of September 28, 2017

Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Have just one other little bit of Solon Elementary School news from the Solon School Newsletter, and it is: Our Maine Dance institute (MDI) program for students in grades 4 and 5 started on September 13. This is our students’ chance to learn two great dance numbers, have a lot of fun, and shine on the stage at the MDI performance on Saturday, April 28. All your child needs is a pair of indoor sneakers and a good attitude to be part of this exciting program!

The next meeting of the Embden Historical Society is scheduled for Monday, October 9, at 7 p.m., at the Embden Town House. There will be election of officers and committee reports. Following the business meeting a few people will get up and tell of their accomplishments.

The Anson-North Anson Snowmobile Club will be doing its annual craft fair to be held at Carrabec High School on Saturday, November 4. To be held from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

If anyone wants to try and get a table space, you should call the school as soon as possible. I have had a space there for years, it is a fun and great fair.

On Saturday, September 30, there will be a North Anson Congregational Church Yard/Bake Sale at the church from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Dan Schall will be the guest speaker and have a worship concert at the North Anson Congregational Church on Sunday, October 1. He comes every year and it is always a most inspiring service. The hour of worship at the church starts at 10 a.m.

Received an e-mail about the Embden Community Center’s regular events: Neighbor to Neighbor Thrift Shop/Lending Library 10 a.m. – 3 p.m./Wed., Fri. and Sat. (Note: Thrift Shop will be closed at noon on Wednesdays for January and February.)

Suppers: 5 p.m./second Saturday each month, except December.

Country Sunday: 1 – 4 p.m./second and fourth Sunday. By donation.

Bone Builders/Maine General-RSVP: (Low impact weight training for any age. All the exercises are done with chair, weights and slow movements to build muscle/bone strength.) 9 – 10 a.m./Mon. and Wed.

Sewing Class: 10 a.m. – noon/Wednesdays.

Weight Watchers: 5 – 6 p.m./Wednesdays. Come in and sigh-up…new members accepted.

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly): 10:30-11:30 a.m./ Wednesdays.

Community Center meetings: 6:30 p.m. Thurs. prior to the second Sat. Supper.

Yoga: 6:30 p.m. (one hr.) Bring your mat. Cyndia 566-5089, Thurs. starting Sept. 14; weekly; by donation.

If you have any questions, contact Wayne at 474-1065.

Received the following e-mail from Angela Stockwell: Dear Readers: Margaret Chase Smith has a bobblehead! Leeke Lecture coming up in November. NHD students recognized by “American Experience.” Fiber Materials names MCS SCholar. Navel Academy appointee returns. Lots of interesting stuff! Here’s the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/OBzVM1LsAXnZuelpobVIKcVF1bjg/view?usp=sharing. Enjoy!

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled “Practice Makes Perfect” “When I feel alone and lonely And my empty world seems void, I relax for just a moment And I trust joy will unfold. For in my quiet time I listen To the gentle voice within, And He hears my prayers clearly For He let’s the sunshine in. Oh, how marvelous this practice Which can make our dreams come true, But the beauty of the challenge My dear friend, is up to you. So remember perseverance Is a gift, but yours be choice, And if you continue in this practice Rest assured you will rejoice. For no words can ever tell you Of the treasure deep within, But with the art of silent practice He will let the sunshine in. (words by Chris Zambernard.)