I’M JUST CURIOUS: Pom-pom history

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by Debbie Walker

Did you realize the Pom-poms on our winter hats have a long history? I didn’t either until I read about it in my Farmer’s Almanac newsletter today. I really enjoyed the history. There have been several purposes besides a fashion statement.

There are, of course, theories about the pom-pom history. First let me tell you the name pom-pom comes from a French word, ponpon. That translates to “bobble” which means “a small ball of fabric”. It is believed they were on hats as far back as 790 AD to the Viking Era.

A small statue of a mythological Norse God was found on a small farm in 1904. It suggests a religious or cultural connection.

The pom-pom has historical origins:

• Napoleon’s infantry’s bobbles told which regiment they belonged to.
• Hungarian Calvary regiments and Scottish Highland regiments to help distinguish rank.

By the 18th Century the floppy beret with pom-poms was really an essential Scottish piece of clothing.

In Rome, Roman Catholic clergy have worn pom-pom hats for ages, varying in colors to show their rank and job.

In South America traditional garments of men and women. Different colors signals meant marital statis.

French sailors added them to their head gear to keep from hitting their heads on the low ceilings of the ship when waters were rough.

During The Depression the pom-pom became a popular accessory. It was an inexpensive way to embellish clothing.

In the 1960s favorite band, the Monkee’s was Michael Nesmith who helped make the pom-pom famous with his hat.

Now they rarely signify anything more than a sense of fashion.

Did you have any idea those little pom-poms would have such a history?

This column may be a little short. I have an excuse. I was in a car accident two days ago. A young man has since learned that if you can’t see because the sun is in your eyes you should slow down at least if not possible to stop. However, that night he chose to make a left turn at a speed higher than he should have been going anyway and the result was him hitting my car, the front left panel, wheel and destroyed it. Knocked the front bumper and other necessary stuff off.

Oh yeah, and he also gave me my experience of my first ambulance ride. I did not like the trip. At the hospital they x-rayed and CT’ed me and sent my aching body home. Oh, and instructions to see my doctor immediately. I spent the weekend pretty much in bed. My first accident appears to be another educational experience. I wish that young man had at least said he was sorry.

I am just curious if maybe we couldn’t all be sure to be a little more careful. Any questions or comments send to DebbieWalker@townline.org . Thanks for reading and have a great week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Millard Fillmore

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Millard Fillmore

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Millard Fillmore

The 13th President Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was born into grueling poverty, in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York State, to Nathaniel (1771-1863) and Phoebe Millard Fillmore.

Fillmore was truly a self-made man in his endeavors to improve himself. He studied law and clerked for a judge who just happened to be his father’s landlord, one of the wealthiest men in the County and a cheapskate who paid young Millard very little. When Fillmore, on his own initiative, took on a paying client as her attorney to earn some badly needed money, the judge fired him.

Fillmore also subscribed to a local library and read almost all of the books on the shelves. At the age of 18, he enrolled in the class of a 20-year-old schoolteacher, Abigail Powers (1798-1853), whom he would fall in love with and marry seven years later.

By a combination of his wife encouraging him and his own endeavors, he arose in the ranks of New York state politics to serve in its legislature, as a representative from Buffalo, which would be his home base for most of his adult life, and to become State Comptroller, just before being picked by the Whigs as Zachary Taylor’s running mate.

Fillmore served two separate terms in Congress from 1833 to 1841 and appointed as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Taylor ignored his vice-president most of his 16 months in office. After Taylor’s death, his cabinet, per tradition, offered their resignations, expecting to be kept on, but Fillmore accepted those resignations.

During his years in office, he sent Commodore Matthew Perry on an 1853 trip to Japan, which up to then had been a closed society, and was successful in opening it up for trade.

Fillmore also stopped France’s attempt to annex Hawaii, eased sectional tensions between Texas and New Mexico and appointed Mormon leader Brigham Young as the first governor of the Utah territory.

To his discredit, Fillmore supported the Compromise of 1850, which stopped the extension of slavery in the western states and territories and enforced the Fugitive Slave Act. While being personally opposed to slavery, he didn’t believe the federal government had any right to interfere in the South.

Abigail Fillmore

Fillmore’s wife Abigail established the first White House library and held literary salons, entertaining such writers as Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray and Washington Irving, but had frail health due to a broken ankle and couldn’t stand for very long periods of time; daughter Mary (1832-1854) assumed most other duties as a very charming hostess and talented musician on the harp, piano and guitar.

Fillmore was defeated in his re-election bid so he and his wife planned a tour of the South, but Abigail came down with a cold after being outdoors too long at Franklin Pierce’s inauguration, and died on March 30, at D.C.’s Willard Hotel. Daughter Mary died a year later of cholera.

The couple had a son Millard Powers Fillmore (1828-1889) who became a lawyer and who never married. After he died , his will directed that all of his correspondence, including that of his father, be burned and this act has aroused much curiosity.

After leaving office, the former president traveled to England where he was received by Queen Victoria who described him as the most attractive man she ever met.

In 1858, he married a wealthy widow, Caroline McIntosh (1813-1881), with whom he also had a very happy marriage, but she demanded he sign a prenuptial agreement.

Fillmore experienced very good health until he suffered a stroke and died shortly after, at 74, in 1874. Three U.S. Senators attended his funeral including Maine’s Hannibal Hamlin.

Millard Fillmore was heavily criticized for his weak stand against slavery, in particular by Harry Truman who called him “a weak, trivial thumb-twaddler who would do nothing to offend anyone.” But later historians have rightfully credited him for his tact and moderation during an era of grueling tensions and violence leading up to the Civil War.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS: Pictorial stroll along the east side of Water St., Part 5

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by Roland D. Hallee
Photos courtesy of E. Roger Hallee

Part of a row of tenement buildings (top and below) between 30 – 44 Water St., which sat on the east side of Water St., overlooking the Kennebec River.

All of these apartment buildings, and many others, were torn down in the 1960s. These (below) were located on the side where a guardrail now exists, and the lots overgrown with vegetation. You can see parts of the buildings that extended down to the river.

OPINIONS: Protecting a high quality and fully-funded public education system is vital

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COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

by Tom Waddell

The Supreme Court’s Casey vs. Makin decision all but forces Maine to fund private religious education. Now every state’s public school funding is under attack.

Bleeding public school budgets to fund alternative schools, such as private secular, religious, or for-profit charter schools, is often done through voucher programs that claim public taxes do not fund public school systems; they fund students, and the money follows the student to whichever school they choose.

Maine passed a bill last year requiring private schools that accept public funds to follow Maine’s Human Rights Act, the same human rights protocols that apply to Maine’s public schools. Those protocols ban harassment based on race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability. Students with physical or learning disabilities must also be accorded the same learning environment as public schools. The bill initially included financial oversight of the annual $56 M taxpayer support Maine gives to private schools but was subsequently removed. Why?

Maine used to have financial oversight of the taxes it uses to fund private schools. However, requiring state-funded private schools to report how those funds were spent was removed from the Government Oversight Committee in 2011. Why would Maine not want to know how the $56 M it gives to private schools, or over half a billion in ten years, gets spent?

The Supreme Court ruled Maine, and every state must fund private religious instruction if they fund private non-religious education but that ruling only applies to states that exclude religious schools. Legislation is moving through Congress that will allow all for-profit charter schools nationwide to bleed every state’s public school budget through a voucher system and receive federal grants without reporting their finances.

When the federal Charter Schools Program proposed new rules that would prevent private, for-profit charter schools from receiving public grant money and require them to report their finances if they receive any public funds, the lobbyists for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools opposed those regulations.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools wants for-profit charter schools to get public grants and state taxpayer funds and not have to report how those funds get spent. This will leave each state with zero financial oversight of what state-funded charter schools do with public tax dollars.

This is the same as Maine having no financial oversight of private school funding extended to every state and every public school system in America. As a result, public school budgets everywhere will be cut, and the quality of public education across the nation will suffer.

Two congressional candidates and one gubernatorial candidate in the November election support a fully funded public education system. The other congressional and gubernatorial candidates support an unregulated private education system funded by taxpayer school vouchers.

Two congressional candidates and one gubernatorial candidate support financial oversight of private schools and the other candidates do not see the necessity for the Maine Government Oversight Committee to oversee the $56 million Maine currently gives away to private schools every year or over half a billion over ten years.

Your vote will help determine if Maine continues to fund private schools, thereby requiring Maine to fund private religious schools. Your vote will also determine if Maine controls how the half a billion it gives away to private schools over ten years gets spent.

I urge you to make your vote count to protect a high-quality and fully funded public education system that all of Maine’s parents and students expect and deserve. Parents, students, and school faculty are counting on you.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Chipmunks preparing for a long hibernation

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Cute squirrel climbing a tree. Free public domain CC0 image.

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

During one of the final weekends of camp, my wife and I, one day, were sitting on the deck, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and watched nature as we made our plans for closing up camp for the summer. It was a warm, sunny day with a slight breeze coming out of the northwest. During that time I was able to watch this one particular chipmunk, which I would have to describe as resilient and determined. Right in front of our storage sheds, he had dug one of his may entry holes. As we later went about our business of closing things up, the chipmunk’s hole kept getting filled in. Over the next few days, we would wake up in the morning and the hole had been re-opened.

On the fourth day I noticed his hole had not been re-opened from the day before.

Suddenly, out of the brush he came, and right there in front of us, began to dig as if we were not there. I know he knew we were there, but I couldn’t figure out whether he wanted to show us that we were not going to discourage him, or maybe he was just being plain defiant.

They are cute litte buggers and very industrious. We watch them at our camp all the time, and they become braver as the summer turns to fall.

The common name of the chipmunk comes from the native Ottawan word jidmoonh, meaning “red squirrel.” The earliest form of “chipmuck” appeared in the Oxford Dictionary of 1842, although it appears in several books from the 1820s. They are also referred to as striped squirrels, chippers, munks and timber tigers.

They are omnivorous, primarily feeding on nuts and other fruits, buds, grass, shoots and many other forms of plant matter, as well as fungi, insects and other arthropds, small frogs, worms and bird eggs. Oh, and did I mention bird seed.

They forage basically on the ground but will climb trees for hazelnuts and acorns. They begin to stockpile food in early fall. They stash their food in their burrows and remain underground until spring, unlike some other species which make multiple small caches of food, such as the gray squirrel.

As small as they are, they fulfill several important functions in forest ecosystems. Their activities harvesting and hoarding tree seeds play a crucial role in seedling establishment. They consume many different kinds of fungi, including those involved with trees, and are an important vehicle in the dispersal of the spores of truffles which have co-evolved with these and other mammals, and thus lost the ability to disperse their spores through the air.

The eastern chipmunk hibernates during the winter.

Chipmunks also play an important role as prey for various predatory mammals and birds, but are also opportunistic predators themselves, particularly in regards to bird eggs and nestlings.

Chipmunks, on average, live about three years, but have been known to live up to nine years in captivity. In captivity, they sleep an average of 15 hours a day. It is thought that mammals which can sleep in hiding, such as rodents and bats, tend to sleep longer than those that must remain on alert.

What my wife and I fear is the presence of many feral cats in our area over recent years, that stalk and attack any unwary chipmunk. In the latter stages of the summer, we were seeing fewer and fewer chipmunks, to the point where there was just this one.

Well, when we left our little friend on Sunday afternoon this year, his hole was open and he was seen scurrying around in the leaves, gathering the acorns that were falling from the trees …as if we weren’t even there. It survived another year.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

MLB’s Atlanta Braves and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils called two other cities home, respectively, before settling into their present locations. Where were they?

Answer can be found here.

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, October 20, 2022

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To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@townline.org!

GLAD TO MEET YOU: Lindy Sklover, of Vassalboro, holds a gray tree frog she found recently.

NICE SCENERY: Joan Chaffee, of Clinton, snapped these sunflowers with a cow enjoying the scenery.

JUST PASSING THROUGH: James Poulin, of South China, photographed this salamander on a brick paver in his yard.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Kids Have Migraines, Too

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(NAPSI)—Migraine can happen to anyone, even children and teens. About ten percent of kids aged 5 to 15 experience migraine.

Heredity plays an important role in measuring the risk for migraine as most people who suffer from it have a family history of the disorder.

If left unmanaged, migraine can interfere with school, activities and daily life. Migraine is also associated with other health problems: About 1 in 4 young people who experience it have depression and 1 in 2 have anxiety.

Fortunately, parents and caregivers can help kids understand and take control of their migraines by making a personalized migraine management plan.

What is a migraine?

A migraine headache is often described as intense pulsing or throbbing pain in the head. Unlike adults, young children often feel migraine pain on both sides of the head and their migraines usually last less than 2 hours. Other symptoms could include:

  • Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and/or vertigoIncreased sensitivity to light, noise, and smells
  • Lightheadedness, difficulty thinking and focusing, and fatigue. What are some common migraine triggers? Helping your child avoid or limit exposure to common triggers can reduce the number or severity of migraines. Common migraine triggers in children include:
  • Skipped meals
  • Dehydration, not drinking enough
  • Lack of or too much sleep—not keeping consistent sleep and wake times
  • Sudden changes in environment
  • Loud or sudden noises
  • Strong smells
  • Stress, depression, and anxiety
  • Hormonal changes
  • In some children, certain foods or ingredients such as chocolate, caffeine, aspartame (artificial sweetener), monosodium glutamate (flavor additive), nitrites (food preservative).

How can I help my child manage a migraine?

Several studies have shown behavioral strategies can be effective in helping children manage their migraine. A few of these techniques include:

  • Drinking enough water throughout the day
  • Eating regular meals and snacks
  • Getting enough sleep (about 9-11 hours) each night
  • Using relaxation strategies, such as taking deep breaths, to lower stress levels. Not only can these behaviors help prevent a migraine, they can also be effective at managing pain at the onset.

If a migraine is already underway, a nap in a darkened room with a cool compress and a glass of water can do a lot to help get rid of it. You can use the Migraine Trainer app to make a migraine management plan The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) developed the Migraine Trainer to help kids ages 13+ to understand possible causes of their migraines. The goal of the app is to encourage young people to take an active role in their treatment by creating a personalized migraine management plan with the help of their parents and healthcare provider. With this app, kids can track the frequency of their migraines and work to pinpoint common causes of migraines for them. It can be downloaded, free, from the App Store and Google Play.

Sources:

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Headache: Hope Through Research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Migraine.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Winter car hacks

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by Debbie Walker

You know I hate to do this to you, but I think it best I pass this information to you before you need it. Yes, winter is fast approaching for you. In Florida, about the only thing coming are more days the temperature is just about perfect. Our worst day here would be like one of your nice fall days.

Over the past year I have been picking up ideas to make your traveling mornings a bit easier to cope with. I wish I had known all these the past Maine winters I was part of. I pulled most of this information from my computer when I typed in winter car hacks, just in case you want to look.

Winter car hacks:

Raise your wipers at night and cover them with socks. Prevents them from freezing to windshield.

Frozen lock (house or car). Use a straw, blow on the lock to melt ice. Or use hand sanitizer. Or use a lighter to heat the key and slide into lock.

A new one to me is using shaving cream to fog proof windows (even bathroom mirror). Spray a layer on the inside of window, wipe clean. Don’t leave open containers of liquid in your vehicle overnight. They will evaporate and turn into fog or frost.

You could also use a stocking filled with cat litter to prevent frost. Just leave in car all night.

Use cooking spray on rubber edges of your car doors, keeps them from freezing. This also will work on your shovel to prevent build up.

I don’t want to insult anyone but please do not use HOT water to melt the ice on your windshield. Think ‘shattered’.

Of course, you know the value of an ice scraper, you can also use a credit card to scrape a windshield. Here’s a new one: use a plastic spatula.

Put gallon-sized freezer bag over your outside mirrors, use rubber band to secure.

Clean your headlights with toothpaste for extra brightness. (I have seen car wax make a difference, too.)

Keep a 20-pound. bag of kitty litter in trunk. This can be used for added weight to the rear of vehicle and use it to help you get unstuck. You could use car mats or even cardboard as well.

The last year I was there I used alcohol in a spray bottle. I would spray the windshield and then I would move around doing the other windows. By the time I got back to the windshield I was ready to go! I also saw in an article that three parts vinegar and one-part water works for a de-icer.

I have room here for a myth I thought you might be interested in:

Myth About Cold Weather

Is a cup of coffee or a sip of brandy a good way to warm up?

NO. Caffeine and alcohol hinder the body’s ability to produce heat. They can also cause your core temperature to drop.

Drink warm, sugared water to give your body fuel to make its own energy.

I am just curious what winter tips you might like to share. I’ll be waiting for any questions or comments at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Thanks for reading and have a great week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Films: Memory & Harry Brown; Show: Love that Bob

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Liam Neeson

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Memory

Memory is a 2022 film starring Liam Neeson as a very skilled contract killer who is encountering ominous moments of forgetfulness and has an older brother already incapacitated by Alzheimer’s.

He is assigned two hits, one being a corrupt ac­countant and the other an underage teenage girl from Mex­ico. He disposes of the accountant but draws the line at children.

The organization he works for then comes after him.

The story also has local police, FBI agents and investigators from Mexico. The story mainly takes place in El Paso but, interestingly, the scenes in Mexico were filmed in Bulgaria.

Very entertaining.

* * * * * *

Michael Caine

Harry Brown

Emily Mortimer

A 2009 film, Harry Brown stars Michael Caine as the title character, a retired military officer living in a South London apartment complex overrun by gangs and drug dealers.

When a friend is brutally murdered by them and the police display little response for “lack of evidence “, he takes matters into his own hands a la Charles Bronson/ Clint East­wood.

The film was poorly paced and bedeviled by prolong­ed scenes of graphic violence, the very few redeeming qualities being the acting of Caine and Emily Mortimer as a detective who’s the only one on the force willing to see justice done.

* * * * * *

Love that Bob

Bob Cummings

Nancy Kulp

A 1950s comedy show, Love that Bob, ran from 1954 to 1959 and starred Bob Cum­mings as a womanizing photographer who refuses to settle down. Cast members included Rose­mary de Camp as his widowed sister with whom he lives, Duane Hickmann as her son and Ann B. Davis as the photographer’s secretary.

Frequently appearing were Lyle Talbot and King Donovan as friends of Bob, and Nancy Kulp (better known later as Miss Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies) as a lovesick plain Jane contributed immensely to what was, for me, the most hilarious comedy show of that decade, not to mention Cummings also portraying the photographer’s obnoxiously flirtatious grandfather.

Episodes from the show abound on Youtube.

OPINIONS: Let’s move as quickly as possible to renewable energy

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COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

by David Jenney
Vassalboro resident

Vassalboro will have a ballot item in November asking residents if they would like a 180-day, with conditions, moratorium on commercial solar arrays. I urge fellow residents of Vassalboro to vote no on the moratorium.

1.) Climate Impact

To me the one of the biggest and most profound issues facing us as residents of Vassal­boro, the state of Maine and the world as a whole is Climate Change/­Global warming. One of the ways to slow down the pace of this change (in my opinion) is to move as quickly as possible to renewable energy sources which do not pollute in their operation and do not contribute to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions. We are already way too late to address this problem as a species. To me postponing commercial solar array development in Vassalboro is similar to Nero fiddling while Rome was burning. The world is on fire – literally and figuratively. I think sometimes we don’t understand the urgency of this issue due to it at times not being directly in our face.

2.) Inconsistent regulation

Of course there are issues related to where the “best” place is to site commercial solar arrays as well as what to do with them at the end of their life. I would point out the same issue exists for any source of energy production – oil, wood, wind, natural gas, coal, etc… To me placing a moratorium on commercial solar arrays in Vassalboro is “having the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Our current standards for where to place them and how to deal with their waste when they reach the end of their useful life certainly can be improved. However, a moratorium on commercial solar arrays in order to have time to create some type of ordinance to address those issues is similar to telling a fire to stop burning, because we don’t have the perfect hose.

We don’t have town ordinances regulating gravel pits, or other extractive mineral operations. We don’t have town ordinances on the placement of gas pipelines, we don’t have ordinances on the placement of cell phone towers, power lines, phone lines, wind turbines, trailer parks, so what’s so special about commercial solar arrays? Please note that I am not ignoring state and federal regulations – just pointing out that we do not have local ordinances related to any of those.

So what’s so different about commercial solar arrays? My best guess is that now people can actually see them, and some people find them unattractive. That’s about the only thing I can think of that is really different. We are so used to seeing telephone poles, power lines, etc., that we almost don’t realize that they are there. With new commercial solar arrays they are often near roads. This makes sense because they are then close to power lines where they can send the electricity that they produce. Only one relatively smaill commercial solar array has been built in Vassalboro. That is the one on Main Street. In reviewing planning board minutes since 2020, it appears that about four to five additional projects have been approved. None of them is in operation, or have starting being built.

3.) Not in my backyard (NIMBY)

I’m guessing that people here in Vassalboro are reacting to something new that is a change which they instinctively don’t like. When I see commercial solar arrays, I see hope and progress. It’s so easy to think that gas which we use for our vehicles as coming from a gas station, because we don’t make gasoline in Maine. Or we may think of heating oil as something that comes from trucks (heating oil is the biggest energy source of winter time heating in Maine) rather than a fracking operation elsewhere in the United States, or a drilling operation in any part of the world.

We all drive or use vehicles that use oil and gas. We are all guilty of contributing to climate change and global warming, but when we are presented with a choice to be part of the solution, which commercial solar arrays are part of, we get upset. I think it’s because we can see the source of the electricity, while we can’t see it with other electricity sources.

We can often engage in black and white thinking – such as all our Maine farmlands are going to be converted to solar arrays, which is utter nonsense. I have yet to see a commercial solar array placed in Vassalboro take over a farm. I have seen a coexistence of a commercial solar array and farm in China at the Three Level Farm. A commercial (community) solar array was placed on the other side of an active farm. The commercial solar arrays that I have seen in Augusta and Waterville (and it’s quite possible I’ve missed some), have been placed on vacant land that wasn’t being used for farming.

4.) Regulating what individuals can and can’t do with their land, without a comprehensive plan

For the most part I do not want the town to make it more difficult for relatively large land owners in Vassalboro to be able to choose what they want to do or not do with their land, especially as it relates to commercial solar arrays. I own about 140-150 acres of land. I like to believe that I am a good steward of the land, the vast majority of it is in tree growth with a forest management plan. I have two hay fields that are used by my neighbor and a wild blueberry field that is rarely used for picking blueberries. If the town decides to say what large land owners can or cannot do with their land, have it done in a planned manner, rather then a reactionary one.

As a town we do not have a comprehensive plan or zoning. To me trying to define where commercial solar arrays can be placed is a backwards approach to zoning. If we are going to pick and choose how we go about deciding on how land is going to be used, then do it right. Look at the town as a whole, not as bits and pieces.

5.) Protecting our Natural Environment

I think our main responsibility in terms of the natural environment is to focus on air, land, soil and water – all of which are impacted by climate change and global warming. I think while we might like some type of regulation placed on commercial solar arrays, that commercial solar arrays be recognized for the positives that they provide for Vassalboro. The regulation/ordinance should not impede the implementation of new commercial solar arrays. I don’t see any compelling need to implement a moratorium on commercial solar arrays as there are so few (if any) active projects in Vassalboro, and I will oppose the moratorium related to commercial solar array development in Vassalboro.