Winslow youth football grades 5-6

Members of the Winslow Youth Football grades 5-6 team are, front row, from left to right, Izaiah C, Tucker P, Lucas S. Elijah O. Second row, Cameron W, Tevor T. Wynn P. Logan O, Tavis H, Dan O, Brody D. Third row, Salmon V, Nick M, Kullen S, Gage G, Khale T, Donovan P, Liem F. Back row, Coach PJ, Coach Mattson, Coach LeBlanc, Coach Davidson. (Photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography staff)

Winslow girls soccer KVAC champs

Front row, from left to right, Paige Trask, Hailey Grenier, Sara Doughty, Desiree Veilleux and Maeghan Bernard. Back, Coach Steve Bodge, Carly Warn, Ashley Quirion, Lauren Roy, Harly Pomerleau, Jennifer Ferry, Olivia McCaslin, Grace Smith, Coach Jim Smith, Katie Doughty, Jenna Libby, Alison Stabins, Madison Jacobs, Kristin Rancourt, Juliann Lapierre, Hannah Dugal, Jenna Veilleux, Coach Joel Selwood. Absent, Jenna Rodrigue and Grace Bilodeau. (photo courtesy of Kelley Bernard)

The Winslow High School girls soccer team claimed the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship with a 2-0 win over Maranacook played at Lincoln Academy on October 18.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Readers share Christmas memories

by Debbie Walker

Thank you for responding with some of your Christmas memories and allowing me to share them with our other readers. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I have. Here they are:

From Casey M.: A teen years memory is the year my brother almost squashed my mom. Every year we tried to be the first to get up. On this year my brother thought he was first up but my mom was already on the couch and almost landed on her.

Also: An adult memory is the year my parents flew to Virginia to spend Christmas with me when I was stationed on a ship there. They flew in Christmas evening and brought a snowstorm with them. The next day everything shut down because of the storm. Us Mainers were the only one out and about enjoying the snowing Christmas.

Marylou says: When I was in high school (1957) – my sister had a record player – like a small overnight case and I loved it! So I asked for one for Christmas – knowing full well my parents could not afford it. But I asked anyway. Without my knowledge, my parents “bought” my sister’s player – wrapped it up and put it under the tree. When I opened it I was shocked! And I cried! My mother could not believe it meant that much to me. It was a very Merry Christmas!

Edgar C. shares: On the little table in front of the window was what my father called his Christmas decoration and he wanted me to tell him why. There stood a small branch, or twig, in a block of wood with no leaves on it and an emptied bullet hanging from one of the twigs. From past events of this type I knew that I could not talk to him until I had figured out his “Christmas Decoration.”

Hmmmm! No leaves. A bullet? A casing? A round? A shell? A cartridge. On a branch with no leaves. Pacing and brain wracking followed. My father looking around the door frame from the kitchen every few minutes. Think about Christmas songs. Christmas trees, the weather? Song after song…. Wait! Cartridge sounds like ….. it’s on the tip of my brain! Yes!! Cartridge sounds like partridge. But the branch does not come from a pear tree. There are none around here. It’s just a bare …. Oh-h-h-h! A cartridge in a bare tree! A smile from my father! The guy with the eighth grade education stumps the college kid, again. I, for my part, did not help my siblings as they arrived and had their turn in the living room!

I’m just curious if you know how important it is to share your memories with family and friends, and to make new ones. Wishing you the Merriest Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year! Find me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com! Thanks again for reading!

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Christmas Albums

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

The Joy of Christmas

Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic and Mormon Tabernacle; Columbia MS 6499, stereo LP, recorded 1963.

A Golden Treasury of Christmas Music

Sir Alexander Gibson, chorus and orchestra; Columbia Record Club P2S 5170, two LPs, recorded 1967.

Leonard Bernstein

This week’s Xmas LPs, both released in the 1960s, are very good examples of seasonal music performed with taste, intelligence and vibrant beauty. Joy of Christmas features the late Bernstein, at that time music director of the New York Philharmonic, conducting the orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in their one time collaboration.

The 16 songs include the familiar staples and a few not so well known. High points are the Animal Carol, a lovely one that is not often heard nowadays as during my childhood many decades ago; the strictly orchestral showpiece Carol of the Bells; and an a capella Away in a Manger combining two different musical settings.

Sir Alexander Gibson

Golden Treasury is a two-record set offered in its U.S. release only to members of the now-defunct Columbia Record Club out of Terre Haute, Indiana, most likely as long as they were “members in good standing.” This collection of 36 songs has the late Sir Alexander Gibson, whom I have written about in an earlier issue of The Town Line, conducting an unnamed chorus and orchestra in both carols and popular songs, utilizing traditional and unpredictable arrangements.

Examples include:

  • White Christmas, in a choir/orchestral popsy arrangement with trombones added and similar to one that might combine Nelson Riddle and Norman Luboff.
  • The Holy City, gently subdued with woodwinds, trumpet, snare drum, and double bass.
  • O Holy Night, saxophone, harpsichord and orchestra.
  • Hallelujah Chorus, orchestra only.
  • Joy to the World, a much more traditional chorus and orchestra but riveting rather than routine.
    And so forth.

The two albums have 10 selections in common. Even though their availability is spotty, they can be bought on internet sites for prices ranging from cheap to grossly overpriced.

Satirical verses from a Tom Lehrer Yuletide song – “On Christmas Day you can’t get sore/Your fellow man you must adore/There’s time to rob him all the more/The other three hundred and sixty four!”

Merry Christmas!

SOLON & BEYOND: Town office expands hours, nomination papers available

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

Time surely flies! It will be town meeting time before we know it!

Have received two e-mails from Christy Jablon about the following: I am informing you that nomination papers are available at the town office for anyone interested in running for the following positions, Selectman/Assessor/Overseer of the Poor, term: 2019-2022 ( three years); Road Commissioner, term 2019-2020 ( one year); Town Clerk/Tax Collector, term 2019-2020 ( one year); RSU 74 School Board Member, term 2019-2022 ( three years).

Nomination papers must be returned to the town clerk by the end of the business day January 1, 2019.

I realize this does not give you much time to get a paper for a position with signatures, and I apologize for that, it was not Christy’s fault, she sent it in plenty of time. My computer and I rage often with each other, as in this case!

Another e-mail that I received from Christy states: I’m happy to announce that starting this month the Solon Town Office will also be open on Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed noon -1 fp.m., or lunch). We are hoping that being open an extra day will be more convenient for everyone. We are going to keep these new hours through March. At that time the town will vote whether or not to keep the office open four days a week. I hope this works well for everyone.!

Now for a report on wonderful events that took place in Solon recently!

Lief and I attended the Holiday Concert-Steel Drums, featuring “The Snow Pond Pantastics,” at the Solon Congregational Church on December 8, at the church; (along with a sizeable crowd, who also seemed to be enjoying it.)

I would never have believed it if I hadn’t heard it, that just drums could produce such beautiful music! Another thing for me, that made it so special, was the joy on the faces of those producing these wonderful sounds!

And then at 7 p.m., on the same day, we also listened to beautiful singing voices by the Skowhegan Community Chorus at the New Hope Church, in Solon. It was a very large group, some from other chorus, and many towns; again, very special!

At both events we were invited to partake of scrumptious food after both performances, needless to say, we were both stuffed – but very happy that we had attended both events of extra special music!

Speaking of e-mails: I had received one earlier about a meeting of the Somerset County Commissioners on December 5 to hear the pros and cons of the NECEC power line project. The one in favor of the project would get a chance to speak first, and those against it could speak later.

Lief and I also went to that meeting, along with a large crowd of those for and against it, (and it was so large some people couldn’t get in the room where it was held. We sat and listened to all the CMP people and their supporters until it ended. I went up to talk with the commissioners after it ended and asked why the ones against it didn’t get a chance to give their side of the issue. The two that I talked with told me there had been a meeting for them two weeks before. Somehow, I missed the boat! On the e-mail that I got, it said the commissioners were going to vote on the issue after that meeting. But now I hear that vote has been changed to December 19.

And now for Percy’s memoir: Have a Wonderful Day…Every Day! Your presence is a present to the world. You’re unique and one of a kind, Your life can be what you want it to be.Take the days just one at a time. Count your blessings, not your troubles. You’ll make it through whatever comes along. Within you are so many answers. Understand, have courage, be strong. Have health and hope and happiness. Take the time to wish upon a star. And don’t ever forget… for even a day… how very special you are. (words by Douglas Pagels.)

Roland’s Trivia Question for Thursday, December 18, 2018

Name the three NFL teams to win a Super Bowl in their only appearance in the game…

Answer:

New York Jets, Chicago Bears & New Orleans Saints

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Is it Armageddon for the insects of the world?

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Some creep, crawl, fly and even sting, but research and anecdotal evidence concur, the population and diversity of insects on the earth has been rapidly declining in the past decade, and many are on the brink of extinction. And without a diverse population of insects, scientists agree the ecosystem will likely collapse.

Although scientists are unable to pinpoint the cause, they believe the extent of the damage is likely the result of a variety of reasons, including insecticide use, light pollution, habitat fragmentation and climate changes.

If you talk to people, many will remember when insects used to smash on windshields. Today, drivers spend less time scraping and scrubbing. According to Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, in Portland, Oregon, “It is a visceral reaction when you realize you don’t see that mess anymore.”

Some people will argue that cars today are more aerodynamic and therefore less deadly to insects. But Black says his pride and joy as a teenager in Nebraska was his 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 – with some pretty sleek lines. “I used to have to wash my car all the time. It was always covered with insects.”

However, Martin Sorg, an entomologist there, has seen the opposite: “I drive a Land Rover, with the aerodynamics of a refrigerator, and these days it stays clean.”

I remember the days when I used to constantly have to scrub the grill of my cars with an SOS pad to release the insects. Not any more. I can’t remember the last time I had to do that.

Though observations about splattered bugs are not scientific, few reliable data exist on the fate of important insect species. Scientists have tracked alarming declines in domesticated honey bees, monarch butterflies and lightning bugs, as we have discussed in this column in the past. But few have paid attention to the moths, hover flies, beetles and countless other insects that buzz and flitter through the warm summer months.

Hover flies, often mistaken for bees or wasps, are important pollinators. Their numbers have plummeted in nature reserves.

Over time, the Krefeld Entomological Society has seen the yearly insect catches fluctuate, as expected. But in 2013, they spotted something alarming. When they returned to one of their earliest trapping sites from 1989, the total mass of their catch had fallen nearly 80 percent. Perhaps it was a particularly bad year, they thought, so they set up the traps again in 2014. The numbers were just as low. Through more direct comparisons, the group found dramatic declines across more than a dozen other sites.

While it may be difficult to get excited about combating the loss of insects, this ecological disaster may ultimately affect your food prices at the grocery store. Insects not only pollinate crops, but also contribute to pest control, and are crucial to waste management and biodiversity. In fact, most waste in urban areas is eliminated by ants and cockroaches. Species that rely on insects as their food source, including predators that rely on these animals further up the food chain, are likely to suffer from the declining number of insects in the ecosystem.

We may be underestimating the importance of insects, which make up approximately 70 percent of all animal species.

For instance, the spotted flycatcher, a specialist predator of aerial insects, has declined in number by more than 95 percent. The link between insects and the number of bird species was again confirmed in a study by the University of Aberdeen.

A study by Canadian biologists suggests bird species that depend on aerial insects have suffered a greater decline in recent years than birds feeding primarily on seeds.

Paying attention to what E. O. Wilson calls “the little things that run the world,” is worthwhile, Sorg says. “We won’t exterminate all insects. That’s nonsense. Vertebrates would die out first. But we can cause massive damage to biodiversity – damage that harms us.”

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Name the three NFL teams to win a Super Bowl in their only appearance in the game…

Answer can be found here.

Square dancers elect officers

Bob Brown, of Newport, president; Becky Potter, of Fairfield, treasurer; Jeff Howes, of Pittsfield, vice president and Karen Cunningham, of Pittsfield, secretary (Contributed photo)

The Central Maine Square Dance Club of Waterville recently held its annual business meeting with its election of officers. Elected were Bob Brown, of Newport, president; Becky Potter, of Fairfield, treasurer; Jeff Howes, of Pittsfield, vice president and Karen Cunningham, of Pittsfield, secretary. Beginner classes will be held in January. Contact Bob at 447-0094 or Cindy at 631-8816.

Poulin earns Eagle status

State Representative Mike Perkins (left) and Senator Matthew Pouliot (right) present Dawson Poulin, of Sidney, with a Legislative Sentiment. (contributed photo)

On Saturday, December 1, State Senator Matthew Pouliot (R-Kennebec) and Representative Mike Perkins (R-Oakland) attended an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Dawson Poulin, of Sidney, and presented him with a Legislative Sentiment. A member of Boy Scout Troop #401, Dawson has attained the rank and distinction of Eagle Scout, the highest award in Boy Scouting which is given for excellence in skills development, leadership, personal growth and community service.

Final farewell to Killdeer Lodge

Daniel Constanzer, a China Village firefighter, monitors a controlled burning of what remains of the old Killdeer Lodge. (photo courtesy of Mary Ann Constanzer)

The fireplace stands alone as the lodge burns. (photo courtesy of Mary Ann Constanzer)

(Read our story on the history of Killdeer Lodge here.)

On December 15, China Village Fire Department conducted a controlled burning of the old Killdeer Lodge, on Lakeview Drive, in China. The structure that housed memories of a time gone by was burned to the ground and, as so many endings we experience, we are grateful for the memories that can never die or simply go up in smoke. Fire chief Tim Theriault, and volunteer firefighter Daniel Constanzer, left, were on site throughout the day assuring it was done in a safe manner.

Despite a brief period when a bit of wind presented itself, all went well. Middle photo, the famous fireplace stands in the background of the smoldering remains. Below left, inside Killdeer Lodge in its heyday. Below, Joan Ferrone can be seen, in 1995, dressed in a costume in front of the lodge when it housed her husband Jim’s model train business.

Killdeer lodge with its front porch intact (photo courtesy of Jim Ferrone)

 

The inside of Killdeer Lodge (photo courtesy of Jim Ferrone)