by Mary Grow Here is Earl H. Smith’s introduction to Martin Keyes in Smith’s Downeast Genius, beginning with a comparison to the inventor profiled in this series two weeks ago. “Like Alvin Lombard, Martin Keyes (1850–1914) was blessed with an inquisitive and clever mind, but unlike his burly tractor-making neighbor, Keyes was a diminutive and […]
by Mary Grow With only two of three members present at their Nov. 2 meeting, Vassalboro select board members postponed action on several items; but they could not postpone the request to close the transfer station on Saturday, Nov. 11. Because Veterans’ Day falls on a Saturday this year, state departments and agencies, municipalities and […]
by Mary Grow After another 70 minutes’ discussion of the South China boat landing at their Nov. 6 meeting, China select board members again kicked the issue down the road (see The Town Line, May 25, p. 3; Aug. 3, p. 3; Oct 26, p. 2). This time, they added a road map. On a […]
by Mary Grow China resident Chris Harris presented a new proposal for his land on Route 3 to town planning board members at their Oct. 24 meeting. Board members advised on next steps, planning continued review in November. At their June 27 meeting, board members unanimously approved Harris’s proposed self-storage units at 623 Route 3. […]
by Mary Grow Colby College historian Earl H. Smith found four more local inventors besides Hanson Barrows and Alvin Lombard, whose work was last week’s topic. They were William Kendall, of Fairfield, and Waterville; Laroy Starrett, of China and Newburyport, Massachusetts; and in the 20th century, Martin Keyes and Frank Bunker Gilbreth. An on-line genealogy […]
by Mary Grow At an Oct. 25 meeting, three members of China’s board of assessment review unanimously upheld the board of assessors (also the select board), who on Aug. 28 denied Marie Michaud’s application for a property tax abatement. Michaud believes her shorefront lot on the west side of China Lake is overvalued. She said […]
by Mary Grow Three of the six candidates on China’s Nov. 7 local election ballot attended the Oct. 28 candidates’ forum at the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, in China Village. Moderator Louisa Barnhart, chairman of the library’s board of trustees, asked about the candidates’ favorite charities, their reading preferences and their positions on local […]
by Peter Cates Jerome Kern Great American Songbook composer Jerome Kern (1885-1945) was so captivated by reading Edna Ferber’s 1926 novel Showboat that he immediately saw its possibilities as a musical on Broadway. But he had never met Miss Ferber and had no idea how she’d respond. One evening at a theater reception, he spotted […]
by Mary Grow Previous articles have talked about how agricultural work changed from the 1700s through the 1800s, as manpower was replaced by animal-power and then machines. Other changes, too, helped farmers produce more or expend less effort or both. One example is the development of wire for fences. (Barbed-wire fencing was mentioned in the […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro school board members have decided on measures to minimize heat waves inside Vassalboro Community School (VCS), no matter what the weather outside does. At their Oct. 17 meeting, board members unanimously approved two recommendations from Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer. They will have ceiling fans installed in almost every room, as an interim […]