by Mary Grow As mentioned in previous articles about 19th-century Maine elementary schools, in 1894 the state legislature passed a law that began, “The school districts in all towns in this state are hereby abolished.” The law further directed towns to take over “all school-houses, lands, apparatus and other property owed and used by the […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro Planning board members have approved a site review permit for R. L. Mercantile & Trading Post, with conditions. Brea Willette, speaking for the business at 134 Brann Road, described it as an expanded farm market, selling products from the family farm and other local farms. Retail sales contribute needed income to […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro select board members disposed of three issues on their lengthy Jan. 9 meeting agenda. By unanimous votes, board members: — Agreed that the state-required wage deduction to support the new paid family medical leave program will be split 50:50 between employees and the town; and — Agreed to buy new propane […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro Conservation Commission members re-discussed a main topic from their Dec. 18 meeting on Jan. 8, after they got a higher than expected cost estimate for their December plan. They agreed in December to improve buffering along the China Lake shoreline in East Vassalboro’s Monument Park, with the goals of increasing erosion […]
by Mary Grow China select board members have started preparing for the June 10 annual town business meeting, and it will not be a return to the pre-Covid open meeting that some residents would like to see. China’s official town meeting, by state definition, is in November, when voters elect town officers by written ballot. […]
by Mary Grow What is now the Town of China was settled in 1774, starting on the shores of China Lake, and promptly incorporated as Jones Plantation. On Feb. 8, 1796, the Massachusetts legislature made it a town named Harlem. On Feb. 5, 1818, the legislature incorporated southern Albion and northern Harlem into a town […]
by Mary Grow Back in the early ’80s, Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., reminisced, when his father, Frederick Denico Sr., was on the Vassalboro select board, he brought home the report that there was “a young kid working for the town” under the federal CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) program. “That was 44 years and […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro resident Judson Smith, 14, has no regrets about choosing the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM), in Limestone, as his high school. Home for Christmas break after his first semester, Smith said adjustment wasn’t easy, but now, “I’m happy with it. I really like the school.” His parents, Zachary Smith […]
by Mary Grow This subseries on education is organized by the dates the central Kennebec Valley towns were incorporated, and Clinton, in 1795, was next after Fairfield, in 1788. Therefore the history of education in Clinton, on the east side of the Kennebec River, opposite the northern part of Fairfield, follows the December 2024 articles […]
by Mary Grow According to the minutes of the Dec. 19, 2024, meeting of China’s Thurston Park Committee, seeking a second access to the park from the south was a main topic of discussion. Currently, people driving into the almost-400-acre recreation area in northeastern China have access only from Albion on the north, via the […]