Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: China elementary schools

Dr. Daniel Adams

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 named China. In January 1822, after much local debate, the Maine legislature added the rest of Harlem to China.

The China bicentennial history says Harlem’s first school opened in 1795, before the town existed officially. It was on the east side of China Lake, either in a house or in a log cabin built especially for a school; Rev. Job Chadwick was the teacher.

Orrin Sproul, who wrote a section on China’s schools in Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history, said Chadwick taught for several successive terms.

At the second Harlem town meeting, in June 1796, voters raised $200 for schools (and $300 for roads) and instructed the selectmen and constable to allocate the money. As in other towns, school districts were created, and frequently rearranged. The bicentennial history says there were eight by 1807, when town meeting voters added a ninth on China Neck, the area bordering Vassalboro that lies west of the north end of China Lake’s east basin. In 1814, Harlem had 16 school districts.

These districts were run by school committees elected by district residents. The committees were empowered to buy land, build schoolhouses, hire teachers, decide how long school terms were and spend the budget. The history says the first “town-wide supervising school committee was apparently elected in 1802.”

Daniel Adams, identified as an M.D., first published his Adams’s New Arithmetic, which has a very long subtitle, in 1810. The subtitle reads Arithmetic, in Which the Principles of Operating by Numbers Are Analytically Explained, and Synthetically Applied.

School funding was approved annually, the history says, but sometimes not spent and reallocated. Two examples from Kingsbury’s summary of early town meeting actions: voters at a March 12, 1798, town meeting approved a motion “to pay for the town’s stock of powder out of last year’s school money”; and at a March 7, 1800, meeting, voters agreed “to pay for running out town line, out of last year’s school money.”

According to the China history, Jonathan Dow hosted a February 1803 town meeting at which voters were asked to use the 1801 school budget to build a schoolhouse. Instead, they raised $50 to buy Dow’s house (the history does not say where it was) and used the 1801 money to convert it to a schoolhouse.

Finally, Kingsbury quoted from town records, on May 21, 1804, voters agreed “to take school money for the year to build school houses.” In districts lacking a building, schools “were taught in rooms fitted up” in private houses.

As in other towns, students provided their own textbooks, (“a financial burden on the family,” the history comments). Rev. Chadwick had three main texts: “Noah Webster’s spelling book, the Psalter, and Adams Arithmetic.”

(Wikipedia says the Psalter is “a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints.” Psalters date from the Middle Ages, and “were commonly used for learning to read.”

(The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History website says Noah Webster first published his American Spelling Book, commonly called “the blue backed speller” for its blue cover, in 1783. His goal was to “divorce the American educational system from its British roots” by legitimizing American spellings.

(Daniel Adams, identified as an M.D., first published his Adams’s New Arithmetic, which has a very long subtitle, in 1810.)

* * * * * *

The new Town of China that was created in February 1818 included some of Harlem’s school districts – the rest were added four years later – plus either one or two from southern Albion.

Voters at China’s first town meeting on March 2, 1818, elected a three-man “select school committee” to redraw district lines, and nine school agents. The select committee obligingly recommended nine districts, and voters at an April 6 meeting approved.

As in other towns’ records, district boundaries were defined by property lines – District 8, for example, included “all the lands and inhabitants North of John Sewalls and Samuel Strongs south lines,” the history says.

A list and a map of districts make District 8 the Parmenter (Parmeter) Hill District. The schoolhouse was in the southeast corner of the intersection of Pleasant View Ridge and Mann roads, in the lowland north of Parmenter Hill, near China’s eastern border with Palermo.

The April 6, 1818, voters also appropriated $400 for schools. Two years later, voters combined two districts, reducing the total to eight, each with a three-man committee. On March 5, 1821, they replaced the district committees with district agents; increased the town school committee to seven members; and appropriated $150 to be divided among districts according to student population.

The 1821 meeting also voted “to set off the people of colour” in a separate school district. A footnote in the history says in 1820, Harlem and China had 24 colored people in a total population of 894. The colored families lived in the northeastern part of town; the history says “There are no further references to a colored school district.”

Adding the rest of Harlem to China in January 1822 “more than doubled” the number of school districts, and set off 30 years of rearranging that the history summarizes, with the number of districts varying from 17 to 26. An 1852 reorganization left the town with 22 districts, a number the history says remained stable until an 1894 Maine law eliminated the district system in favor of town schools.

Among the rearrangements was one in March 1835 allowing China Friends (Quakers) to have their own school district, at their own expense. In March 1836, voters sent them back to their previous district, whether at the Friends’ request the history does not say.

In two cases, children were allowed to attend school not merely in a different district, but in a different town, apparently by redefining school district boundaries across town lines. In 1848, a family in China’s District 15, in the southwestern part of town, was allowed to use Vassalboro’s District 14 school. In 1857, China voters accepted Albion voters’ decision to send children of an Albion family to China’s northeastern District 7 school that was closer to their house than the Albion one.

As in other towns, the length of time schools were open varied widely, depending mostly, the history says, on how much money voters approved. Summer terms might be five weeks or 12 weeks, sometimes with a July vacation; winter terms could run from nine to 20 weeks. Summer school attracted mostly the youngest students, because those old enough to help on the farm did so.

The 1872-73 town supervisor, A. T. Brown, commented in his annual report that short terms and long breaks meant “long and wearisome” review as each term started, so that students did the same lessons over and over. His suggested remedy: have parents help children go over their lessons during vacations.

The bicentennial history says some terms in some schools had more than 100 students, often in one room with one teacher. The village school in Weeks Mills, in southeastern China, had 162 students enrolled for the 1857-58 winter term.

In 1858-59, “the winter term teacher was allowed an assistant”; but the school committee report found the building overcrowded and under-ventilated. A new room was added in the summer of 1860, to accommodate 125 enrolled students “(average attendance 100).”

In the 1860-61 winter term, Weeks Mills students were divided into a lower and an upper school, with two teachers. For more than 25 years, the school was divided a lot of the time; sometimes, parsimony prevailed, and a single teacher was responsible for 50 or 75 students.

The 1860 Weeks Mills schoolhouse still stands, owned by the Town of China and restored in 2010.

The bicentennial history notes that truancy was a common problem. In many cases, parents encouraged children to stay home. In District 16 (in southwestern China, north of District 15, between the southern end of China Lake’s east basin and the Vassalboro town line), supervisor Charles Dutton found three students when he visited the school in the fall of 1879.

Parents told him that “they simply were not ready to have their children gone for five or six hours a day.” Dutton ordered the school to remain open, at district residents’ expense, and “the students soon appeared.”

Town reports show truant officers were elected for the first time at the 1888 town meeting, the history says.

Teachers’ experience and ability varied widely, the history says. “Probably the majority…were young men and women barely out of district schools themselves.” But there were also teachers with years of experience, if no formal credentials; and the history mentions graduates of the normal schools (early teachers’ colleges) at Farmington and Castine, and Colby College students.

Occasionally a local school offered advanced subjects that reflected teachers’ abilities and interests. Latin and algebra were taught at intervals in several schools in the 1860s and 1870s; the Colby College sophomore who taught the winter 1878-79 term in the China Village school offered algebra and trigonometry.

Teachers commonly moved from school to school, although, the history says, some stayed in the same school for many years. As in other towns, they were not well paid, “and the discrimination [in pay] against women was flagrant.”

Men were usually paid by the month, women by the week. The history cites 1850-51 salaries: nine men were paid, on average, $17.68 a month, while 25 women (“two designated as Mrs., the rest as Miss”) averaged 1.68 a week.

Town school committees’ and supervisors’ reports in China (again, as in other towns) frequently criticized maintenance of school buildings, referring especially to winter cold. The history quotes supervisor Dana Hanson on the China Neck Road (District 3) schoolhouse in 1857: “The plastering having fallen from the ceiling, permitted the heat to take an aerial flight, while Boreas [the Greek god of the north wind], from without, forcing his way inward through numerous horizontal and perpendicular openings, prevented a vacuum.”

The same winter, the history notes, the China Neck district (District 2) farther south on the dead-end road had a brand-new “neat and commodious” building. The building Hanson criticized was apparently the one that burned in 1863, requiring a new one in 1864.

The China history goes into more detail than other sources about the response to Maine’s August 1890 state law that required towns to provide free textbooks. In preparation, China’s March 1889 town meeting appointed a committee whose members made recommendations about continuing or changing books then in use in 10 required subjects: “algebra, United States history, geography, hygienic physiology [a state requirement since 1885],…penmanship,” reading, spelling, arithmetic, grammar and bookkeeping.

The committee also recommended the town buy books for these 10 subjects and lend them to students. Students who wanted different books, or books on other subjects, provided them at their own expense.

After the March 1890 town meeting approved the committee report, local officials arranged with textbook publishers to trade in old books for credit on new ones, sometimes breaking even, sometimes paying “only a few cents per book.”

“The prices of the new textbooks ranged from 21 to 75 cents each,” the history says. In 1890, China spent “a little over $500” on textbooks; in 1891, the cost was $862, including a new “intermediate physiology text”; “by the end of 1892 China owned 1,730 texts.”

Main sources

Grow, Mary M., China Maine Bicentennial History including 1984 revisions (1984)
Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892)

Websites, miscellaneous.

Stormwater solution highlights power of collaboration for China Lake

stormwater runoff before

Submitted by Jennifer Syer

A serious runoff problem that was dumping phosphorus-laden water into China Lake has been resolved, thanks to teamwork that saw private landowners, nonprofits, and government agencies joining forces with the goal of protecting the lake’s water quality.

The issue originated with a culvert that drained runoff under Lakeview Drive from 40 acres of woodland east of the road. In 2015, new owners of what would become The Cottages at China Lake installed an additional culvert to direct runoff from the roadside into a plunge pool near the shoreline. Over time, the pool filled with sediment and vegetation. “The water would rush straight into the lake, untreated and uncontrolled,” said John Perron, a Cottages owner and member of the property’s buildings and grounds committee.

stormwater runoff after

Recognizing the problem, Perron and Cottages’ association president Mike Stillman contacted Scott Pierz – then head of the China Region Lakes Alliance (CRLA), and former president of China Lake Association – who they knew had previously been involved in shoreline protection at the property. “It was really time to take up the task,” Pierz said.

He brought in CLA, which then reached out to the state Department of Environmental Protection and Kennebec County Soil and Water Conservation District for additional help.

“This was a highly collaborative effort,” said CLA President Stephen Greene. “Everyone had the lake’s best interest in mind.”

Eventually, Boyd Snowden, of Snowden Consulting Engineers, was brought into the fold to design a site plan, which was developed over a year’s worth of visits, planning and permit approvals. The final design included a plunge pool, catch basin and vegetated buffer to trap sediment and slow runoff before it reached the lake.

“We didn’t just stop at the basics,” said Snowden, who has been designing storm-water containment systems for more than 30 years. “We added a meadow buffer to provide the best treatment possible.”

Funding came from multiple sources. Maine DEP authorized KCSWCD to allocate $14,000 through a federal grant* aimed at reducing phosphorus in China Lake. CLA contributed $9,321, matched by the Cottages’ 20 owners, while CRLA provided $5,000.

Construction began in October 2024 after permits were secured. Over the course of a week, W.D. Chadwick Construction installed the multi-tiered system, which now filters the runoff, trapping sediment from running into the lake – and fueling algae growth and harming water quality. Fieldstone Gardens, of Vassalboro, supplied plants for the buffer area.

Pierz expressed confidence that the Cottages’ association will maintain the system and continue improving shoreline protections. Greene praised the project as a model for collaboration between private owners, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and contractors.

“This project shows how teamwork and a shared goal can solve complex problems,” Greene said. “The China Lake Association is proud to have been a part of a solution that will benefit the lake for decades to come.”

  * Funding for this project, in part, was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. The funding is administered by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in partnership with EPA. EPA does not endorse any commercial products or services mentioned.

Four Seasons of Giving: Local event brings joy to families in need

On Monday, December 16, China Four Seasons Club President Tom Rumpf, left, presented the Town of China with a check for $1,400, proceeds from the Four Season of Trees event. Accepting the check was Sydney Laird, Deputy Clerk for the Town of China. (photo courtesy of Tom Rumpf)

by Sandra Isaac

The China Four Seasons Club recently held its annual “Four Seasons of Trees” event. The event, held over three weekends in late November and early December, showcased more than 13 beautifully decorated trees with unique themes – including all four seasons, which inspired the event’s name – and over 23 gift baskets, all generously donated by local businesses and community members. The community came out in full force, purchasing raffle tickets for a chance to win these festive items. Winners were announced during a live Facebook event, adding an exciting twist to the proceedings.

What many people may not know is the remarkable impact this event had on the local community. Thanks to the overwhelming support and participation, the China Four Seasons Club raised enough funds to donate $1,400 to the Town of China’s Christmas Assistance Program. This program, managed by town employees, plays a vital role in brightening the holidays for local children whose families may be facing financial difficulties, ensuring that every child has something special to open during the holiday season.

The China Four Seasons Club extends heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed to this year’s success. From those who donated trees and baskets to the volunteers who worked tirelessly to organize the event, and of course, to the community members who purchased raffle tickets – your support made a difference. These collective efforts will undoubtedly bring joy to local children and their families this holiday season.

CHINA: Seeking second access to Thurston Park main topic at committee meeting

Hikers on Bridge in Thurston Park (Photo courtesy: Town of China)

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 discontinued Yorktown Road that runs through the park south to China’s Mann Road. The steep hill, partly in Albion, on the dirt road frequently washes out and needs expensive repairs.

Committee members hope lessening reliance on the north entrance would save money. Park users have asked for better access. And committee members believe a second access is necessary in case of a medical emergency or a fire in the park.

The southern end of Yorktown Road passes close to Maurice “Pete” and Dawn Haskell’s home. Committee members wanted to start by talking with the Haskells; Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood advised them to ask for select board approval first.

Committee members also talked about applying for state funding under the measure Maine voters approved Nov. 5 to improve trails, and discussed where they might want to build new trails. They decided the next trail in the park should be handicapped-accessible, and an accessible toilet should be provided.

Committee members are waiting for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) money to reimburse some of the clean-up costs after last December’s storms. They hope to have money from that source; from China’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) fund; and from their annual town budget request, which they decided to leave at $13,000 for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Depending on funding, they suggested adding a new trail and improving two existing trails for mountain biking. Members of NEMBA (New England Mountain Bike Association) have been to the park and are interested. Committee members also plan to participate in China’s February 2025 Ice Days, as they did in 2024 (though lack of snow ruined some of their plans).

The next Thurston Park Committee meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in the portable building behind the China town office.

CHINA: Thurston Park, emergency medical services select board topics

by Mary Grow

At their Dec. 20 meeting, China select board members unanimously approved Jeanette Smith’s proposal to have the Thurston Park Committee she chairs reach out to the park’s southern neighbors about opening an access road from that end.

The former Yorktown Road runs from south to north through the almost-400-acre park and into the neighboring town of Albion. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said when voters discontinued the road on March 2, 1956, they reserved a public easement over it, giving the public the legal right to use it and China the legal right to maintain it, assuming voters approve funds.

The north entrance to the park, the only one currently used, is down a steep hill on a dirt road that needs frequent repairs.

Smith explained that two-tenths of a mile on the hill are in Albion. Albion officials are not interested in contributing to maintenance, although, she said, Albion residents use Thurston Park.

The south end of the road serves as the driveway from Mann Road to Maurice “Pete” Haskell’s home, before continuing north past the Haskell property and others into the park.

Committee member Scott Monroe said about 10 years ago, China officials considered road improvements that would create park access from the south. At that time, he said, the Haskells, foreseeing increased traffic past their house, hired a lawyer who threatened court action. Town officials dropped the idea.

Smith would like to try again, this time starting by talking with the Haskells about ways to meet their and the park’s needs, like relocating the right of way farther from their house, or having the south entrance be for walkers only.

Park use is increasing, she said, citing recordings from trail cameras, and users say on surveys they would like a southern entrance.

Select board members discussed options and costs – Smith is investigating possible grants – before giving the committee the go-ahead. Hapgood offered the town office as a meeting place, if desired, and said she would attend if invited.

In other business Dec. 30, recently re-elected State Representative Katrina Smith attended the meeting to ask if anyone wanted to bring a local issue to her attention. As a proponent of local control, she explained, she avoids involving herself in town matters; but she would be glad to hear what issues the legislature might help with.

Select board member Jeanne Marquis and chairman Wayne Chadwick promptly asked about funding for emergency medical services, and what happened with the legislature’s January 2024 Blue Ribbon Commission report. Smith said she is working with other area legislators on the issue.

Hapgood asked Smith to look into changing the county budget process, to avoid surprises like the major increase in the Kennebec County budget in 2024. She invited Smith to report to the select board at intervals during the 2025 legislative session.

On another topic, board member Blane Casey reported eight contracts for different pieces of the planned new records storage vault at the town office had been sent out on Friday, Dec. 27; six had already been returned.

Board members unanimously reappointed Town Clerk Angela Nelson for another two-year term. They appointed resident Kenneth Molfetta a member of the comprehensive plan committee, the recreation committee and the Thurston Park committee.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Jan. 13, 2025.

Transfer station committee tackles two unusually argumentative discussions

by Mary Grow

The Dec. 10 China Transfer Station Committee included two unusually argumentative discussions.

The first was on recycling, sparked by station manager Thomas Maraggio’s report that China’s new plastics baler should arrive in a couple months. The baler will let the transfer station accept No. 1 plastic for recycling; it will be baled and stored until a load is ready to be shipped out.

New committee member Lee Buzzell asked whether China is doing too much recycling, at taxpayers’ expense.

The baler was paid for by a grant. But, Buzzell pointed out, using it will cost man-hours and will add to the electric bill. He questioned whether income from the plastic would cover costs.

Maraggio said in addition to income from recyclables, which varies widely with the markets, China saves the cost of the disposal fees that are paid for solid waste.

The second point Buzzell raised was whether the committee should discuss changing transfer station hours. He and some of his friends have work schedules that make it impossible for them to use the facility, he said.

The station is currently open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Maraggio said the hours have been in effect for over two years, based on an analysis of busiest and least busy times.

Three reminders from China transfer station and town office staff

1) China residents’ 2025 transfer station stickers are available at the transfer station and the town office, for $2. Issuers need to see the registration for the vehicle for which the sticker is issued; town office staff can look it up in their records, transfer station staff cannot.

2) China residents are allowed two buckets of winter sand at a time from the new sand shed near the transfer station gate. Volunteers will deliver sand to residents unable to get their own; those needing this service should call the town office at 445-2014.

3) Beginning not too far into 2025, the transfer station will be able to accept No. 1 plastic for recycling. Currently, No. 2 and No. 5 plastic are accepted. These items must be empty and clean, but do not need to be crushed.

Buzzell suggested trying staying open until 8 p.m. one weeknight, or being open both weekend days. From the audience, select board chairman Wayne Chadwick added extending Saturday hours until 5 p.m.

After a discussion of pros and cons, committee chairman J. Christopher Baumann postponed further discussion to the next meeting, urging members to seek more information to support opinions and minimize unanticipated consequences.

The transfer station committee is advisory; it is empowered to make recommendations, which the China select board can accept, modify or reject. Baumann said its main purpose is to improve the experience at the transfer station, for residents and staff.

China local resident expands on community garden plans

by Mary Grow

China select board members heard two presentations at their Dec. 16 meeting. Resident James Hsiang expanded on the plan for a community garden that he presented in November; and Dr. Timothy Pieh, of Rome, Maine, and MaineGeneral Medical Center, summarized the first year of Kennebec County’s MD3 program.

Hsiang proposed locating the garden on the town-owned lot south of the town office complex on Lakeview Drive (see the Nov. 21 issue of The Town Line, p. 2).

He presented a $5,600 budget, which does not include a connection to the well on the southern property. The budget includes no money for labor, he pointed out: work will be done entirely by volunteers.

Hsiang listed several possible funding sources for materials, including grants, donations from local businesses and individuals and China’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) fund. Already, he said, the project has volunteers, donations, a discount offer from a town business and 32 people who have signed up for space to raise gardens.

Select board members voted unanimously to approve the idea of the community garden, pending financing.

Pieh explained that the MD3 program provides physicians on call to respond to emergencies, arriving in a vehicle full of medical equipment – “bringing the ER [emergency room] to you.” Having a physician on scene with, or occasionally before, local rescue units or ambulances improves patient outcomes, he said, citing both local statistics and medical reports.

Starting with four doctors, MD3 has eight as it ends its first year of operation this month. They are on call Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., hours chosen based on 2018 state-wide 911 call data.

During the year, they have responded in 29 municipalities, including five outside Kennebec County. Augusta had the most calls, 33; Waterville was second, with 25; China was third, with 18. The types of emergencies varied widely – heart attacks, accidents (mostly but not all vehicle), gunshot wounds, seizures and three described as “pregnancy emergency.”

The program includes teaching. Pieh is pleased that EM3 reached 748 students, in places as varied as Mid-Maine Technical Center, Delta Ambulance and local fire departments.

MD3 costs about $350,000 a year, Pieh said. For 2024, funding came from Kennebec County’s ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) account, which will not be available for 2025.

Pieh estimated the average annual cost per county resident at four to five dollars, though in Rome, he said, it is about eight dollars per person.

He hopes China select board members will consider MD3 valuable and will ask the county budget committee to recommend funding it in 2025. Meanwhile, he is seeking other funding sources; he has received small grants, and tentatively a significant one, already.

Town office holiday hours

China town departments’ holiday schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, Dec. 24, closing at noon; closed all day Wednesday, Dec. 25, and Thursday, Dec. 26.

Tuesday, Dec. 31, closing at 2 p.m.; closed all day Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.

The only reaction Dec. 16 came from China board chairman Wayne Chadwick, who disapproves of programs that start with ARPA or other non-taxpayer money and fall onto taxpayers.

“I like what you’re doing, but I don’t like that it was started with an ARPA grant,” Chadwick told Pieh.

In other business Dec. 16, board member Blane Casey reported on the process of seeking prices for building the new storage vault at the town office. Select board members authorized Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood to sign contracts once she, Casey, and Municipal Building Committee chairman Sheldon Goodine choose contractors.

Ronald Morrell, chairman of China’s Emergency Preparedness Committee, said the committee plans to begin meeting again early in 2025 to make sure China’s emergency plan is up to date.

Hapgood reminded everyone that nominations for Spirit of America awards recognizing local volunteers are due. Nomination forms are available on the town website, chinamaine.org, on the town manager’s page, which is under Administration under Departments.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, Dec. 30.

LETTERS: Advice to local senior citizens

To the editor:

An open letter to senior citizens living in the South China, Windsor, Weeks Mills and Somerville area.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, moving south to live with a child, be very careful as this is what happened to me.

I got to Florida and my daughter took control of my finances of six figures and opened up a joint bank account in both our names. Paid for a nice sports car, Mercedez Benz, no less, and started shopping for a horse farm for her. As I saw my finances quickly go down, I told her the bank is closed.

This infuriated her when she found out I went to the bank and transfered what was left to Maine. I decided to move back to Maine, and not to worry, the VA has cabins in the woods for homeless veterans.When I got here I was told there was nothing available.

I spent two weeks and $2,000 looking for an apartment while staying at a motel. I ended up in a Catch 22 dilemma. I had too much cash and too low Social Security income. I was told Social Security must be equal to or more than one month rent. So this 91-year-old veteran ended up in a VA sanctioned Bread of Life Ministries homeless shelter for two months while looking for a rent.

Luckily, I was able to find a new studio apartment – don’t ask how. I pray for my brother vets who aren’t as well off as I am and spent many months at Bread of Life hoping to find a home. Most stay there while applying for a low income voucher. I was told if I had a voucher I could have been accepted.

So, senior citizens, before you’re thinking of doing what I did, suggest you fly down and spend a month to see if you get along. As for me, I made the mistake of moving in with my daughter, a 63-plus year-old cat woman who has lived alone for the last 15 years.

Lastly, she put the cats way above me. I had no choice but to leave.

Frank Slason
Augusta

EVENTS: China planning board meeting canceled

by Mary Grow

The China Planning Board meeting and public hearing scheduled for Tuesday evening, Dec. 10, were canceled due to weather conditions.

The two main agenda items were a public hearing and application review for a proposed retail store at 363 Route 3, in South China, and review of the town’s application for an earth-moving permit for work on Town Landing Road, in South China Village.

Board members held a public hearing on the Town Landing Road at their Nov. 26 meeting (see the Dec. 5 issue of The Town Line, p. 2).

The next planning board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, Jan. 14, 2025.

Inaugural Thanksgiving dinner at SCCC well attended

South China Community Church (SCCC) served about 55 people at its first free Community Thanksgiving Dinner on November 28. Photo by Jayne Winters

by Jayne Winters

South China Community Church (SCCC) served about 55 people at its first free Community Thanksgiving Dinner on November 28. While SCCC is known for its monthly Blessed Breakfasts and various dinner and soup fundraisers throughout the year, this was the first time its members provided a holiday meal.

The idea was discussed at the September Church Council meeting after a new Sunday service attendee asked if SCCC offered Thanksgiving dinner for people who are alone on the holiday, away from family or simply don’t have the energy or means to make dinner for their small families. Council members voted unanimously to do it and with Debbie Stowe taking the lead, church members enthusiastically got busy!

Dining room set-up and food preparations began Wednesday morning; kitchen workers returned early Thursday to finish cooking, carving, setting tables, slicing pies, etc. Following Pastor Paul Harwath’s opening prayer, folks thoroughly enjoyed their meal. The menu included turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, mashed potato, squash, pearl onions and other veggies, as well as cranberry sauces, homemade rolls, ambrosia, cucumber salad, corn bread, homemade pies and beverages. In addition to the wonderful cooks, there were food and beverage servers, clean-up crews, and, of course, dishwashers!

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this dinner such a success. Donations of food and gift certificates came from Hannaford, Tobey’s, Sam’s Club, Shaw’s, Walmart, and countless church and community members. A free will offering that totaled $236 will be used to help purchase gifts for three families SCCC is sponsoring this Christmas – thank you so much for your generosity!

SCCC’s first Thanks­giving dinner went very well and the church plans to do it again next year. Leftovers were taken to the Bread of Life Ministries, in Augusta, for distribution to two local food pantries. We have much to be thankful for, indeed.