by Mary Grow Vassalboro selectmen made progress on several issues at their Aug. 20 meeting, although the only absolutely final decision they made was to appoint Charlie Plourde as a recreation committee member. Reviewing bids for reroofing the snack shack at the ballfields (which the recreation committee manages), they awarded the contract to Legacy Home […]
by Mary Grow At their Aug. 24 special meeting, China selectmen, in their capacity as assessors, set the 2020-21 tax rate at 14.9 mils, or $14.90 for each $1,000 of valuation. Last year’s rate was 16.3 mils, or $16.30 for each $1,000 of valuation. The lower rate will mean a lower tax bill for some […]
by Mary Grow At their Aug. 18 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members approved the reopening plan developed by staff over the summer, in consultation with many students’ families, other state educators and state officials. Board members voted with the understanding the plan is subject to change as local circumstances or state recommendations change. School is […]
by Mary Grow James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine was born Jan. 31, 1830, in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania. The town is on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh; Interstate 40 now runs through it. The current google map shows an area called Blainsburg between the river and the interstate, a major road called Blaine Hill […]
by Mary Grow China selectmen have decided the 2021 annual town business meeting at which the budget is approved will be conducted by written ballot, not at an open meeting. They have not set a date; March and June 2021 were suggested at their Aug. 17 meeting. Until 2020, the business meeting was an open […]
by Mary Grow Over two dozen area residents listened appreciatively to folksinger Bill Berlinghoff as the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, in China Village, held its first public event since March. Berlinghoff sang and played guitar and banjo on the library’s south lawn. His repertoire includes songs composed and/or made famous by such Maine people […]
by Mary Grow Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born Nov. 9, 1802, in Albion. His grandfather, Francis Lovejoy, was one of the town’s first settlers. His father, Daniel, was a Congregational preacher who, according to extracts from the sermon preached at his funeral, was a good man and a good minister, but was […]
by Mary Grow After the China selectmen’s Aug. 10 special meeting, Town Manager Becky Hapgood reported the four members attending voted unanimously to accept McGee Construction’s bid to complete Phase II of the causeway project for $581,805. They further voted to transfer $70,000 from China’s undesignated fund balance (surplus) to the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) […]
Moving to Lady Lake, Florida by Mary Grow August 21 will be deputy clerk Deborah Johnston-Nixon’s last day at the Vassalboro town office. She is resigning after almost six years (she started Sept. 2, 2014, Town Manager Mary Sabins wrote) because her husband, Bob Nixon, Jr., has retired from Huhtamaki after 45 years and the […]
by Mary Grow Rufus M. Jones: Part II After the early life summarized in the July 30 issue of The Town Line, prominent South China Quaker Rufus Jones entered Haverford College, in Pennsylvania, in 1882 as a sophomore, receiving a full scholarship (which he later repaid). His 20th birthday would be Jan. 25, 1883. Jones […]