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 […]
by Mary Grow China selectmen dealt with miscellaneous matters at their Aug. 3 meeting, including hearing beginning-of-the-month reports from town departments, accepting recommendations from the assessor that will lead to setting the 2020-21 tax rate later in the month and approving agreements with the China Lake Association and the China Region Lakes Alliance. Town Manager […]
by Mary Grow Representatives of Longroad Energy Management held open their July 28 public hearing on their proposed solar development at 2579 Riverside Drive for half an hour, but they still attracted only one resident. He expressed no concerns. The hearing is one of the requirements for Maine Department of Environmental Protection approval. State approval […]
by Mary Grow Rufus M. Jones Rufus Matthew Jones was a South China farmer’s son who became internationally renowned. Here is the story of his early life, mostly as told by himself in two of his many books. Rufus Matthew Jones was born Jan. 25, 1863, in South China, into a Quaker family. The Encyclopedia […]
by Mary Grow Newly-elected Vassalboro Selectman Barbara Redmond got an introduction to almost everything the board does at her first meeting on July 23. She participated in the on-going discussions of paying bills and overseeing town departments; in the annual ritual of setting the tax rate; and in the once-in-a-lifetime planning of a 250th anniversary […]
by Mary Grow George J. Mitchell This writer hopes you-all aren’t tired of reading about people, because four more biographical pieces are coming your way. After some of the obscure Maine governors you probably never heard of, these four will be people born in or otherwise connected to the central Kennebec area whose names should […]