by Mary Grow Ask China Town Manager Rebecca “Becky” Hapgood what’s the best part of her job, and she gives you a quick double reply: “Every day is different; and the people.” “People” includes her fellow town employees, residents, visitors – everybody she meets, personally or virtually. Variety and people have been central themes since […]
by Mary Grow Previous articles have mentioned ponds and lakes in central Kennebec Valley towns with people’s names, like Pattee or Pattee’s Pond, in Winslow. Some of these water bodies are named for early settlers. Your writer intends for the next few weeks to match ponds and people, to the extent permitted by available resources […]
by Mary Grow Several area towns, including China and Vassalboro, are seeking nominations for 2024 Spirit of America awards. According to its website, the nonprofit Spirit of American Foundation was established in Augusta in 1990 to honor volunteerism. Initially, municipalities presented awards “to local individuals, organizations and projects for commendable community service.” Since 2022, the […]
by Mary Grow At a brief meeting on a snowy Jan. 16 evening, China select board members approved an emergency services dispatching agreement, made three committee appointments and briefly discussed pending ordinance changes. One amended ordinance will be on the ballot for the June 11 annual town business meeting. Board members approved for presentation to […]
by Mary Grow At their Jan. 18 meeting, members of Vassalboro’s transfer station task force finished proposing revisions to the town’s Solid Waste Ordinance, now renamed the Solid Waste and Recycling Ordinance, and planned next steps for the ordinance and for their other task, redesigning the transfer station (see the Jan. 11 issue of The […]
by Mary Grow Although discussion of the 2024-25 budget doesn’t start in earnest until February, Vassalboro school board members had several money items on their Jan. 22 agenda. Board members approved wage increases for five categories of substitute employees, to keep them slightly ahead of the state minimum wage that went up to $14.15 an […]
by Peter Cates Roger Boyle For some years, I have found that the only criticism worth reading, whether books, music, etc., is that which has a passion for the subject, and a sense that the writing is a means of putting one’s thoughts in order while bringing the reader along in this journey. In his […]
by Mary Grow Temporarily distracted from the Kennebec Valley, your writer recently read Richard Beeman’s Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution (2009). Beeman described the 1787 convention in Philadelphia at which men from 12 of the 13 original states (Rhode Island refused to play) wrote what became the Constitution of the United […]
by Roland D. Hallee All of a sudden, there they were. One was walking up the side of my computer monitor at work, the other, traversing across the top of my steering wheel on my home from work later that day. And finally, on the east side of my house, in the windows, the following […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro select board members have made progress toward livestreaming and recording their meetings. The Jan. 11 meeting was at least partly covered. Michael Picher donated the camera. David Trask provided technical support. Brian Lajoie helped with installing television screens and running wire. The selectboard was responsible for the directive and helping in […]