Entries by Eric W. Austin

Welcome home: A Vietnam experience

by Eric W. Austin “The war was so unpopular, you couldn’t go anywhere in public in uniform,” says Vietnam veteran Clinton Hayward. “You would be berated, assaulted, threatened. It was frightening.” We’re sitting in the living room of his home in South China, looking out over Three Mile Pond. He pauses a moment, leans forward […]

The 2020 census comes to central Maine

by Eric W. Austin Some of you may have noticed a strange man or woman snooping around the neighborhood with a briefcase. Do not be alarmed. This is not a new type of high-class burglar brazenly scoping out your house for a midnight break-in. Adrian Cronkhite, a partnership specialist with the United States Census Bureau, […]

China Lake Association holds annual meeting

Members hear about lake restoration from director of Maine Lakes Society by Eric W. Austin “We’re part of the problem,” Matthew Scott, the keynote speaker at this year’s China Lake Association annual meeting, told an audience of about 40 people on Saturday, July 20. “We’re also part of the solution.” His talk was entitled, “All […]

China residents gather to discuss comprehensive plan

by Eric W. Austin Approximately 25 residents of China gathered in the cafeteria at Erskine Academy on Saturday, May 18, to discuss the town’s comprehensive plan, which is formulated every ten years to help guide the direction of town policy. Town Manager Dennis Heath and Selectman Irene Belanger were also in attendance. The planning session […]

Vassalboro honors World War II veterans

by Eric W. Austin The fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, in France, was still burning on Monday evening, April 15, as a small group gathered at St. Bridget’s Community Center, in Vassalboro, to celebrate the service of the soldiers who had freed that country from Nazi occupation 75 years earlier. The devastation unfolding in Paris was […]