CHINA: Proposed TIF revisions go to selectmen

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by Mary Grow

China Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee members continued review of the proposed Second Amendment to China’s TIF document at a Dec. 17 meeting, and planned to resume discussion the evening of Dec. 29. (See also The Town Line, Dec. 17, p. 1.)

The revisions they propose will be submitted to selectmen who, if they approve, will present them to voters.

The first decision Dec 17 was to advise deleting a very specific recommendation that a town-owned lot on Fire Road 44 become a site for a commercial laboratory or business related to water quality and fresh-water fisheries. All seven members voting agreed.

The next decision, on which Brent Chesley and Chairman Tom Michaud dissented, was to postpone to Dec. 29 further consideration of adding TIF funding for work done outside China’s TIF district to benefit in-town goals, specifically the Alewife Restoration Initiative (ARI) that is removing or adapting dams in Vassalboro to open China Lake to migrating alewives.

The third decision, again unanimous, was to retain funding for economic development programs, but to amend the wording to eliminate the reference to China’s non-existent Community and Development Economic Development Department.

By another unanimous decision, a group of goals in the current TIF document was left substantively unchanged. They include funding for town events like China Days, marketing the town to prospective businesses, providing job training, maintaining the revolving loan fund for town businesses and helping support recreational trails. The last item was slightly amended: it stills allows connections with neighboring towns but deletes an incomplete list of them.

Members were also unanimous in agreeing to postpone any decision on the section allowing TIF funds for local grant-matching until Town Manager Becky Hapgood, who is also TIF and Town Treasurer, gets more history on that use.

Two new proposed uses for TIF funds were added to the draft program.

One would let TIF money support fisheries and wildlife programs and water quality projects, including but not limited to LakeSmart (which helps lakefront property-owners control run-off), CBI (the courtesy boat inspection program designed to bar invasive plants) and other water-quality activities of the China Lake Association and the China Region Lakes Alliance. Jamie Pitney abstained on the vote.

The second new proposal would make all costs “associated with broadband development, expansion and improvement” eligible for TIF funding. It was approved for inclusion without discussion, with Michael “Mickey” Wing opposed.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 29, to continue reviewing the wording of the TIF document. It will be a virtual meeting.

China planners to prepare new solar ordinance

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by Mary Grow

When China Planning Board members met virtually Dec. 22 to begin discussion of a new solar ordinance, most of the members had received the template sent in November to Codes Officer Bill Butler only that afternoon. The delay, they surmised, was due to the Nov. 30 change-over in local codes officers, as Butler retired and Jaime Hanson succeeded him.

First, board members decided to postpone discussion until after a more thorough review. Then they began bringing up specific points that had attracted their attention as they skimmed the document. Three-quarters of an hour later, they concluded they had made a good start and adjourned until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021.

The planning board has already approved three solar projects in China. Having found difficulties fitting the applications into existing ordinances’ wording and definitions, board members intend to prepare a new ordinance. At the Dec. 22 meeting they doubted it would be ready to go to voters before November 2021.

Kevin Corbett, Vice-President of Construction for SunRaise Investments, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the company behind two of the China projects, said he and attorney Tom Federle, of Portland-based Federle Law, suggest Maine Audubon Society’s models as a basis for local ordinances. (Information is available on the Maine Audubon website, under the heading “Thoughtfully Sited Solar.”)

Board member Toni Wall volunteered to convert the Maine Audubon template into ordinance language. Chairman Randy Downer, who said he has attended some of Maine Audubon’s solar meetings, accepted her offer with appreciation.

The template refers to small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale solar developments. Planning board members debated whether the distinction is needed in China’s ordinance.

The document deals with both individual roof-top solar panels and land-based projects like the ones on Vassalboro Road, off Windsor Road and on Route 3. Board members considered when the board needed to be involved and when the codes officer could make decisions, and what new definitions would be needed and where they would fit in the existing Land Use Ordinance.

Another issue was whether and, if so, in what circumstances solar panels required buffers or setback requirements from neighboring properties. Yet another was what kinds and sizes of solar panels or developments should be allowed in the shoreland zone.

Further review was postponed until, as Downer put it, a “Chinafied” version is ready. Wall plans to distribute her preliminary draft by Jan. 5, 2021, for consideration at the Jan. 12 meeting.

Special selectmen’s meeting reviewed personnel policy

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by Mary Grow

The China selectmen’s special meeting Dec. 28 was called primarily to review Town Manager Becky Hapgood’s proposed changes in the town’s personnel policy.

The only other issue on the agenda was action on the Broadband Committee’s Request for Proposals for improved and expanded broadband service in town. Selectmen unanimously approved the document after 10 minutes’ discussion.

The new Maine Earned Paid Leave Law had to be added to the personnel policy by Jan. 1, 2021, its effective date, Hapgood explained.

According to information on the web from the state Department of Labor, the law requires employers with more than 10 employees to grant an hour of paid leave for each 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year.

All employees are covered. Their paid leave can be used for any purpose, with the stipulation that in a non-emergency situation, the employee is to give the employer as much notice as possible.

Selectmen considered among other things whether to combine paid leave with older forms of paid time off, like sick leave, bereavement leave and vacation time. They decided to incorporate it as Hapgood recommended for now and to revisit the issue within the next three months.

They also considered other parts of the policy, beginning with Wayne Chadwick’s question about the town matching the state schedule of days off, specifically around holidays.

“It costs money,” he said of paying employees when they have a holiday. When board Chairman Ronald Breton said there was no extra pay involved, Chadwick replied, “We’re not getting any work for the [regular] pay.”

He added that he did not want to take away holidays or cut anyone’s pay.

Hapgood said China has matched the state schedule for the last 15 or 20 years. Most other Maine towns do the same, she said. When Selectman Blane Casey said next year Christmas Eve will be on Friday and asked if the state would call the whole day a holiday, Hapgood declined to predict.

Casey offered another proposal to save money during discussion of dental and health insurance. China contributes to employee’ insurance costs, and pays a stipend to employees who choose not to take insurance through the town (often because they are covered by a spouse’s policy).

Casey proposed eliminating the stipend. “I’m looking at the tax value to people in town who don’t have any insurance at all,” he said.

The insurance question is also to be reviewed later, and so is a policy on weapons on town property.

The personnel policy is the selectmen’s responsibility; it does not require action by voters and can be adjusted as often as necessary.

Hapgood said China has 14 full-time employees. A majority joined the Dec. 28 virtual meeting. Breton did not allow them to speak, saying the special meeting did not make provision for public comment.

Proposed sale of Lakeview Drive parcel sparks renewed discussions

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen’s Dec. 7 split decision to ask voters to approve selling the former subdivision on the east side of Lakeview Drive (see The Town Line, Dec. 10) generated renewed and wide-ranging discussion at their Dec. 21 meeting.

The Dec. 21 meeting also saw what was probably a first-ever occurrence: board members considered not appointing someone who volunteered for a town committee. They hesitated not because of any objection to the volunteer, but for fear of overloading the committee.

The Lakeview Drive land, once part of Candlewood Camps, has been town-owned and unused for several years. On Dec. 7, board Chairman Ronald Breton and members Blane Casey and Wayne Chadwick voted to put selling it on the 2021 town meeting warrant. Board members Irene Belanger and Janet Preston were opposed.

Preston put the issue on the Dec. 7 agenda, with a proposal to develop a non-motorized trail system. She brought it up again Dec. 21, seconded during the public comment period by resident Lindsey Harwath and others.

Town records say the lot is 45.3 acres and is valued at $64,600. Town Manager Becky Hapgood believes the town-owned land is just over 39 acres; almost six acres still belong with the land on the west side of Lakeview Drive.

Reasons for selling the land include adding its value to the tax rolls (as town-owned property, it pays no taxes) and eliminating any need for town maintenance or any possibility of town liability.

Preston presented figures from town records showing that as a single lot in private ownership, the land would bring each taxpayer about 30 cents a year in tax revenue. If the land were subdivided, and if the lots were comparable to those on nearby Tarybelu Lane, each China taxpayer would gain between $12 and $13 annually from private ownership.

She and Harwath pointed out that the previous owners gave the land to China because they could not sell the subdivision lots they had mapped out.

There was consensus that the prevalence of wetlands made it hard to site a road and house lots with space for wells and septic systems. The wetlands might be an attraction for a nonprofit organization or wildlife enthusiasts, resident Gina Hoang suggested.

Harwath has a poll on the town’s Facebook page asking about the selectmen’s decision. She said so far most who reply oppose selling the land, and said she found it “disheartening” that selectmen acted without consulting townspeople or other committees.

Selectman Chadwick preferred to get residents’ opinion through a vote at town meeting rather than a Facebook poll, though he and Preston agreed neither result would represent a numerical majority.

Selectman Casey believes the town is short of volunteers to maintain its existing recreational areas, Thurston Park in northeastern China and the town forest behind China Primary School. Harwath said China’s comprehensive plan has consistently called for more recreational space, and plan-related polls show a high level of support for the recommendation.

That comment led to a short review of ways the comprehensive plan is implemented, with resident Jamie Pitney remembering the now-inactive Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee. A revised plan currently awaits voter approval.

Preston and Harwath intend to continue working on plans and public information to support keeping the land for recreation. At this point selectmen have not changed their decision to ask town meeting voters to authorize a sale.

The briefly controversial appointment of James “J. J.” Wentworth as the 10th member of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee was approved on a 4-1 vote. Casey, who voted no, emphasized that he has absolutely no problem with Wentworth; he was supporting the concern of committee Chairman Tom Michaud that 10 members are too many.

Selectmen and others agreed an oversized committee could become ineffective, and an even number can create difficulties when there is disagreement. However, Breton said, the TIF Committee has no policy limiting members.

Hapgood said on principle no volunteer should be discouraged, since there are seldom enough of them; and added that Wentworth, from southeastern China, would add geographic diversity. She further pointed out that it is unusual to have all members of a committee present at a meeting.

The selectmen’s solution was to appoint Wentworth and to recommend that committee members quickly prepare an appropriate policy covering membership and other issues. If the policy specifies no more than nine members, whoever resigns next will not be replaced, Michaud said.

Selectmen appointed Scott Rollins to the vacant District 4 Planning Board seat without debate.

In other business Dec. 21:

  • Selectmen unanimously authorized continuing the single-sheet newsletters from the town office twice a month for the next six months, at an estimated cost of $5,100 to be taken from the $55,000 contingency fund town meeting voters approved. Various alternatives were considered; board members concluded none would reach as many residents as the mailings do.
  • Selectmen postponed approval of the Request for Proposals for expanded broadband service, presented by the Broadband Committee, because not all board members had received a copy. The RFP will be on the agenda for a special Dec. 28 selectmen’s meeting. Broadband Committee members hope for approval that evening so they can publicize the RFP Dec. 29.

The Dec. 28 special meeting, to begin at 6:30 p.m. by Zoom, had already been scheduled to give board members more time to discuss Hapgood’s proposed updates to the town personnel policy.

The China selectmen’s January schedule includes a regular meeting Monday evening, Jan. 4; a special meeting Monday evening, Jan. 11; and a regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19 (postponed from the usual Monday because Jan. 18 is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday and the town office will be closed).

Erskine Academy faces challenge of a year like no other

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Erskine Academy Headmaster Michael McQuarrie self-swabbing for the rapid antigen test onsite in the school nurse’s office. (photo courtesy of Erskine Academy)

by Jeanne Marquis

This month Erskine Academy began implementing the rapid antigen test in its arsenal in the fight against Covid-19. Headmaster Michael McQuarrie was the first to complete the testing process. The rapid antigen test is designed for persons exhibiting at least one of the most common symptoms or two less common symptoms of COVID-19. The procedure is voluntary and involves self-swabbing the lower portion of each nostril. The new rapid testing at school provides results in 15 minutes.

This capability provides increased safety for individual families and the general community with the immediate identification of COVID-19. With the knowledge provided by adequate testing, safety processes such as quarantine and contact tracing can begin immediately.

Since the beginning of the school year, 67 students/staff have been dismissed or unable to attend school due to COVID symptoms, most of which before COVID would not result in absences. Without being able to differentiate symptoms of COVID from other common illnesses, schools have had to exclude symptomatic students and staff, requiring them to remain home for up to 10 days while symptoms subsided or while awaiting a COVID test at an alternative location, which at times could take up to a week to return.

McQuarrie explains, “What became evident since the pandemic began is – our young people want to be in school. Erskine Academy is excited to be part of a big step forward in making that happen. This new testing process clears students and staff to return to the classroom much sooner, which comes as a ray of sunshine during what has been a school year like no other.”

Preparations for this year began last spring. Headmaster Michael McQuarrie and his staff knew the ’20-’21 academic year would be challenging. They would have to be prepared to adapt to the diverse needs of their students and be flexible to change when each virus outbreak would occur.

The planning for this year began last spring when our nation first faced the Covid-19 virus. Without any warning, instructors took their classes online for remote learning for the safety of students, staff and our local communities. The staff learned from each other, sharing tech advice, learning what worked and what obstacles remained. Most teachers’ summers were spent brainstorming and researching new technologies to better engage students in multiple mediums. It was clear the threat of Covid-19 would continue in the upcoming school year.

Headmaster McQuarrie moved the staff in-service development days to the front of the ’20-’21 school calendar for intensive workshop days, with both formal and informal training, to prepare for a year facing the pressures of the pandemic. Staff learned the Maine CDC (Center For Disease Control) sanitation requirements and how to simultaneously conduct class for in-class and remote learners within a hybrid structure.

McQuarrie speaks with high praise about his staff in rising to the challenge and credits four instructors for taking on lead roles, acting as resources for others: Holly Tripp, a science teacher; Mark Bailey, mathematics teacher; Ryan Nored, English teacher; David Currier, Social Studies teacher.

Mark Bailey describes the collaboration of this unique year, “Our department (math department) has always worked well with each other, but since last March we have taken that to another level with sharing successes as well as failures with each other. Finding new innovative ways to do the old standards. Many times a pop-in question to one of my colleagues can save us both hours of stumbling through a process. Many days I am mentally exhausted, but on the other hand I feel reinvigorated as a teacher. It is as if we are all first year teachers all over again.”

Ryan Nored explains the added dynamics this year presents. “Teachers are juggling their family and personal lives, more-than-full workloads, and daily experimentation with new technologies, apps, and methods. Our seven-hour classroom time is hectic and harried with new attendance and sanitation duties and our expanded role as parental figures. Our at-home personal time is even more full with extra correction and preparation needs. ”

Nored further explains how the success of this year is due to the strengths of the student body. “I would argue that we have the most hard-working, kind, empathetic and community-driven learners in Maine. To ask them to continue their classloads, family duties, jobs and extracurricular activities all while juggling learning through a new medium, is asking a lot. They have not only excelled, but have maintained their positive attitudes and senses of school-pride and spirit.”

When asked what he worried about this year besides the Covid-19 virus, Headmaster McQuarrie’s answer was “losing the human aspect of education with all the needed technology and sanitation.” McQuarrie says, “Education done well is a human enterprise.”

McQuarrie encouraged school clubs to continue by remote and the Student Council to find solutions to maintain the aspects that make high school memorable such as Spirit Week, stockings for the China Food Bank and their annual toy drive for Little Wanderers, in Waterville. As the community could tell by the holiday lights in December on the Erskine Academy campus, the human spirit thrives even during this tough year.

Winslow’s Garay family ringing the bells of Christmas

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Front, from left to right, Kobe, 8, Layla, 4, and Jordan, 6. Back, dad Vic Garay and mom, Amanda. (photo by Mark Huard, owner Central Maine Photography)

by Mark Huard

The year 2020 has been a difficult year for many across the nation and world. Maine families are not an exception to the havoc Covid-19 has brought on the human race. Many times we find ourselves here in Maine on the moderate side of worldwide tragedy but not this time. Many families have suffered financially and physically throughout this pandemic. They have been without loved ones and without work, and nobody really knows where the end is.

We all know what this has felt like, but imagine adding cancer to that mix. Imagine for a minute adding a heart condition of your young child to that already daunting load. The Garay family has been attempting to manage it all. There are three children in this family unit: Kobe, eight years old, Jordan, six, and Layla is four. Jordan had a pacemaker put in at just nine days old and is due for a replacement in the spring of 2021.

Vic, the children’s father, was diagnosed at the start of the pandemic with stage 4 colon cancer. Due to the way the cancer mutated, chemotherapy is not an option. He underwent emergency surgery and has had bi-weekly visits to Dana Farber, in Boston, ever since for immunotherapy and thankfully that is helping.

To say the least, this family has been under pressure and stress on top of this pandemic. Despite all of this they have found ways to make this holiday season special for the family. They have remained focused on their children and brought the magic of Christmas into their hearts and home.

The family signed up for the Kringleville Light up the Town Event. They also joined in with many other Kringleville families, and rang the Bells for Santa. The children were excited and the family was able to focus on the positive joys of Christmas in Maine. They rang the bells to let Santa know where they are so he can make their Christmas dreams come true.

The strength of this family is truly an example of the magic of Christmas. We pray for them as they ring out 2020 and ring in 2021. May the silver linings you’ve found this year wrap around you with blessings in the year to come.

LEGAL NOTICES for Thursday, December 17, 2020

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STATE OF MAINE
PROBATE COURT
COURT ST.,
SKOWHEGAN, ME
SOMERSET, ss
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
18-A MRSA sec. 3-801

The following Personal Representatives have been appointed in the estates noted. The first publication date of this notice December 10, 2020. If you are a creditor of an estate listed below, you must present your claim within four months of the first publication date of this Notice to Creditors by filing a written statement of your claim on a proper form with the Register of Probate of this Court or by delivering or mailing to the Personal Representative listed below at the address published by his name, a written statement of the claim indicating the basis therefore, the name and address of the claimant and the amount claimed or in such other manner as the law may provide. See 18-C M.R.S.A. §3-804.

2020-321 – Estate of GERTRUDE LEONA ZANE, late of Skowhegan , Me deceased. Alice L. Walter d/b/a Lorraine A. Water, 19 Pennell Street, Skowhegan, Maine 04976 appointed Personal Representative.

2020-324 – Estate of RUTH E. SYLVESTER, late of Madison, Me deceased. Linda S. Garland, 678 White Schoolhouse Road, Madison, Maine 04950 appointed Persona Representative.

2020-326 – Estate of ELIZABETH C. HART, late of Canaan, Me deceased. Robert L. Hart, P.O. Box 116, Canaan, Maine 04924 appointed Personal Representative.

2020-328 – Estate of LILLIAN WHITE (SMITH) FRAZIER, late of Hartland, Me deceased. Andrea Delligatti, 1565 Willow Springs Road, Dallas, GA 30132 appointed Personal Representative.

2020-246 – Estate of BERTELLE W. THIBODEAU, late of Madison, Me deceased. Alan Thibodeau, 513 Preble Avenue, Madison, ME 04950 appointed Personal Representative.

2020-025 – Estate of MARCIA COLLINS, late of Smithfield, Me deceased. Paul R. Dionne, Esq,, 465 Main Street, Suite 201, Lewiston, Me 04240-6738 appointed Personal Represenattive.

To be published on December 10, 2020 & December 17, 2020.
Dated: December 7, 2020 /s/ Victoria Hatch,
Register of Probate
(12/17)

STATE OF MAINE
PROBATE COURT
41 COURT ST.
SOMERSET, ss
SKOWHEGAN, ME
PROBATE NOTICES

TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN ANY OF THE ESTATES LISTED BELOW

Notice is hereby given by the respective petitioners that they have filed petitions for appointment of personal representatives in the following estates or change of name. These matters will be heard at 1 p.m. or as soon thereafter as they may be January 6, 2021. The requested appointments or name changes may be made on or after the hearing date if no sufficient objection be heard. This notice complies with the requirements of 18-C MRSA §3-403 and Probate Rule 4.

2020-303 – Estate of STEPHANIE FAITH DRINKWATER. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Stephanie Faith Drinkwater, 220 Chadbourne Road, Harmony, Maine 04942 requesting her name be changed to Stephanie Faith Ireland for reasons set forth therein.

Dated: December 7, 2020 /s/ Victoria Hatch,
Register of Probate
(12/17)

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Baby boomers’ symptoms of aging

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by Debbie Walker

I found an interesting calendar at Nana Dee’s (Wandering Nana’s). You just never know what can be found there. This calendar is for no particular year, it’s more a desk entertainment, I am sure.

Anyway, Baby Boomer Blues is published by Great Quotations Publishing Company. I never really understood who or what was a Baby Boomer, at least now I know.

The definition:

• The generation born between 1945 and 1965.
• Most powerful demographic group in America.
• The most politically active.
• The hippest (and the most fun!)

In this calendar there are a few different categories: Symptoms of an Aging Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer Trivia, You Know You’re an Aging Baby Boomer When…., as well as a few more. We are going to start with Symptoms:

You know you’re an aging Baby Boomer when:

• Your fantasy is to have two men – one for washing and one for ironing (ought to have one for cooking, too.)
• You’re into Metal, i.e. Gold teeth, silver hair.
• You’re knees buckle but your belt doesn’t.
• You’ve quit smokin’, drinkin’ and carousin’ and you still don’t feel that good.
• You go to the mall for exercise.
• Your conscience doesn’t keep you from doing things, just enjoying them.
• You wear tank tops as underwear.
• You are too old for the Peace Corps but too young for Social Security.
• You hope you don’t look as old as you feel.
• You don’t mind kissing your kids goodnight, but its hard to wait up for them.
• You buy a sports car for the mileage.
• The president of the United States is younger than you.
• You’d live in sin but there’s no closet space.
• Your favorite night spot is on the couch, in front of the TV.
• You don’t care where your spouse goes, just so you don’t have to go with them.

There are many more, but I want to give you examples of all categories in the next few weeks, when appropriate.

Baby Boomer Proverbs:

• The shortest distance between two points is usually under repair.
• Be true to your teeth or your teeth will be false to you.
• When the body is submerged in water, the phone will ring.
• Exercise daily. Eat wisely. Die anyway.
• A clear conscience is often a sign of a poor memory.
• Tell your boss what you think of him and the truth will set you free.
• There are few problems in life that wouldn’t be eased by the proper application of explosives.
• You can be sincere and still be stupid.
• You have to live life to love life, and you have to love life to live life. It’s a vicious circle.
• If you look like your passport picture you may be too sick to travel.
• It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life. – Irish proverb
• Easy street is a blind alley.
• Gravity isn’t easy, but it’s the law.
• The closest anyone comes to perfection is on a job application form.
• Tell the truth and run.

Okay, well that’s enough for now. I hope they brought a smile to your holiday stressed body. Find a way to relax, it will help get you through the next couple of weeks.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Christmas classics

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Christmas classics

Allastair Sim

In 1942, Columbia Masterworks released a set of three 12-inch 78s, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, starring Basil Rathbone (1892-1967) as Ebenezer Scrooge and several other more minor actors and actresses from Hollywood’s truly Golden Age of the ‘30s and ‘40s, when work there was much more plentiful. Although the 1951 Allastair Sim black and white English film is my gold standard for this ever fascinating story, Rathbone brought a powerful, at times mean-spirited edginess to his speaking voice in this 25-minute presentation, one definitely more captivating than the recording of Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954), who drawled his way through a bit too much.

Basil Rathbone

The one good guy role I remember of Rathbone was the series of Sherlock Holmes films with the perfectly cast Nigel Bruce (1895-1953) as Watson. His villains in such classics as A Tale of Two Cities, Captain Blood, David Copperfield and The Mark of Zorro were singularly persuasive as was his appearance in Spencer Tracy’s late ‘50s The Last Hurrah.

The Barbirolli Society, a label devoted to the recorded legacy of the great conductor Sir John Barbirolli (1899-1970), released a two CD set, SJB 1084-5, of an October 20, 1960, concert Barbirolli led at the very spacious Free Trade Hall, in Manchester, England, one of the most important classical music events in Great Britain during the last 50 years of the 20th century, the significance of which I hope to convey presently. The concert featured Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s 5th and Gustav Mahler’s 7th Symphonies, both of them powerful large scale pieces now commonly performed but then rarely. The BBC took a risk sponsoring the concert and pushed the envelope by combining two different orchestras, Barbirolli’s Halle Orchestra and the BBC’S Northern Symphony, both of them groups which regularly concertized in the Manchester metropolitan area. They and Barbirolli felt that this was a one time opportunity to provide at least 200 players, instead of the usual 80 to 100, that both Mahler and Nielsen hoped for in their own performance instructions.

The results were two hours of very inspired music-making and a highly recommended cd set to adventurous listeners.

Ellen Hamilton Latzen as Ruby Sue

The late New Yorker jazz critic Whitney Balliet (1926-2007) left a description of singer Tony Bennett’s rented stretch limousine, picking him and his daughter up in front of the New York City Upper East Side apartment building where he resided with his family during the 1970s: “the length of the one Jelly Roll Morton said he had to take to Central Park to turn around pulled up at the curb.”

Chevy Chase’s 1989 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is quite riotous as a comedy film, if a bit overblown at times. Ellen Hamilton Latzen almost stole the show as the eight-year-old Ruby Sue, daughter of an impoverished brother-in-law and family who drop in unexpectedly.

 

Wreaths Across America

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Warren Poulin, trustee of the Central Maine Veterans Memorial Park, on the Roderick Rd., in Winslow, places a wreath at the MIA/POW flag. (Contributed photo by Karen Loftus)

Cold weather did not stop the people from honoring Wreaths Across America’s convoy on their annual journey to Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia. Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit organization based in Columbia Falls. Two tractor trailers filled with more than 10,000 wreaths were escorted by Maine State Police and Winslow Fire Department, on December 15.