by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

And now for more Solon town news: I was never contacted by anyone at the town office about the new Solon Community Garden but it was started a year ago. My sincere apology for not reporting about it before. I went to the Solon Town Office the other day to ask about the new building near the town office. It seems that I am way behind in reporting events going on there, but had never received anything about it to share with those who live in Solon.

The Solon Community Garden was started last year in 2019 by a group of dedicated gardeners. Deb Gerry came to the selectmen with the idea and a proposal. The selectmen and fire chief agreed to allowing the town land along Rogers Lane to be used for the garden.

They applied for and received a New Balance Move More Kids Foundation grant of $1,371.55 in 2019.

This year they applied for and received a $2,000 grant from the New Balance Move More Kids Foundation to build a 12-foot x 16-foot greenhouse on the site. The construction labor is being donated by two local builders. Other donations include a new storm door and an auto vent system. The greenhouse will have a cold frame inside to extend the growing season and other grow beds.

Volunteers are always needed and appreciated. There are also outside beds available to anyone needing a space to grow some plants. Contact Deb Geary at 643-2203 to volunteer or to ask for a space.

The above news was given to me at the Solon Town Office, and I was informed that there is an article in the 2019 Town Report on page 105.

Again, I would like to stress that I deeply appreciate and look forward to local news to share with you! ….And my apologies that I am just getting this in about the Solon Community Garden, it sounds like a wonderful project. (I must confess that I didn’t read the Solon Town Report much this year and it was the first time I have not gone to a meeting, but I had eye surgery at the time and everything was a big blur….) For others of you who didn’t see the Solon Town Report this year, there is more that I will be writing about the Solon Community Garden.

More Solon news: The Library is open to the public starting June 9 with some restrictions on the number of people allowed inside at one time.

The Solon road crew is out working on the roads and brush cutting and clipping. Please respect their safety and slow down as you drive through their work areas.

Regarding our cemeteries: There is an issue with people taking memorial objects off grave sites. Please do not take items placed at a grave site of a loved one that do not belong to you.

There will be no 4th of July parade this year. We are still undecided on the July 4th fireworks. We will decide later this month about doing them on the fourth or sometime in September.

Solon Fundraiser For Scholarship: This year Mr. Corson organized a fundraiser for a scholarship in memory of Solon custodian Jeanie Wooster, who passed away last June following a battle with cancer. Jeanie had worked as a custodian at our school for over 30 years and was very special to all of us. Mr. Corson proposed that we offer a scholarship to a graduating senior at Carrabec High School who had attended Solon Elementary School.

Mr. Corson got a big piggy bank that he displayed at every family event such as our Open House and our Christmas Program. People were invited to donate to the Jeanie Wooster Scholarship Fund by depositing money in the piggy bank.

In late May, Mr. Corson opened the bank to count the money and found that we had raised $200. The staff chose a senior to win the award, and that winner will be announced at the Awards Night at CHS this week. We will also announce the winner on our Facebook page. Thank you to all of the students and families who contributed to this scholarship fund.

And now for Percy’s memoir: My face in the mirror Isn’t wrinkled or drawn. My house isn’t dirty, The cobwebs are gone. My garden looks lovely, And so does my lawn. I think I might never PUT MY GLASSES BACK ON!

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

This morning I’m going to write about Water Witching! This information is from an old yellowed bit of paper that I saved from years gone by… “Nearly every rural community in the United States has a water dowser who claims to be able to locate underground water by means of a diving or dowsing rod. The gift seems widespread or, at any rate, there are quite a few people who think (or try to persuade others to think) they possess the knack of finding water by use of a stick.

What is dowsing? Kenneth Roberts in his book Henry Gross and his Dowsing Rod gives a definition: “When certain sensitive individuals hold between their fingers a flexible Y -shaped branch with no intention of bending it, twisting it or moving it, the branch will, under certain conditions, turn downward. It bends in the hands of the individual who is holding it, even seems to turn itself with extreme force and independent of the will of the operator.

When such an individual grasping a branch or a dowsing rod, passes over a region crossed by subterranean and unknown sheets of water, the rod twists down with almost irresistible force.

Whether we accept this as fact or fiction, the art of dowsing is as old as the hills. It has been suggested that Moses had something like a divining rod in his hand when he found water in the wilderness. Such rods were a favorite subject with writers for centuries. In 1659 Gaspard Schott denounced the dowsing rod in his Magiae Universalis Naturae et Artis, proclaiming it an instrument of the devil. However, Schott seems to have had second thoughts on the matter, for some years later he wrote that people “…of great piety have used it with really marvelous results.”

Divining, or dowsing, for minerals was common, too. A large number of the Cornish tin mines are said to have been discovered by a diviner from Saxony in Elizabethan days.

There are people who refer to water dowsing as “water witching,” feeling that it is a supernatural procedure, but they are outnumbered by the skeptics who see nothing but fraud in the entire affair. These disbelievers claim that the movements of the stick are faked or they are due to unconscious muscular contractions. Dosing exponents, on the other hand, maintain that the movements are independent of the muscular control of the operator.

Would like to add a few words to the above article. I am very proud to state that I am, indeed a dowser or Water Witcher!… and I can’t explain the wonderful feeling when I first feel that stick starting to turn in my hand and point down to where the water is!…. It is beyond a miracle!

And now some news from Happyknits: In the “remaining the same” column, they are still closed to the public, but they can provide a curbside pickup or mail delivery for anything they have that your heart desires. Give them a call when they’re in the shop (Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., or contact them by email or on Facebook and they will be happy to fulfill your request.

The Maine Yarn Cruise carries on in 2020, with a new format, through September 7. Instead of traveling from shop to shop in your car, try visiting each of the participating shops virtually. There is no passport or entry fee this year, so it’s easy to participate at any level. Each shop will feature its own special event or project, and a purchase from Happyknits will give you a chance to win one of the prizes, which they’ll reveal over the summer.

And now for Percy’s memoir: LIFE: Life’s made for living, And giving and sharing, And daring and caring. Life’s made for doing, Pursuing of dreams, Sowing and growing, Whatever the means. Revealing and feeling, And finding that you Must learn how to take it, To make it come true. Along with its ups, In spite of its downs, Life’s made of losses, and crosses and crowns. (words by Grace E. Easley).

And now an extra special one from Percy….Laughing Helps…it’s Like Jogging Inside.”

Hope these few words help in this difficult time.

photo: Simply Rustic Facebook page

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

I am so excited and happy to tell you about a wonderful, new shop that has opened in Solon. It is named Simply Rustic, at 1654 River Road, on Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The phone number is 431-0028.

I was very impressed with all the many items for sale in the house where Gary and Cindy Rogers and their family lived in years ago. It was very welcoming as I went in the door, and I immediately spied something I couldn’t live without! Here is a list of some of her wares: Lamps, small furniture, signs, candles, jewelry, pip berry garlands, Boot jacks, jams, jellies, pickles, dilly Beans, New and used wraths by Wanda Blanchett.

Much USA-made large wooden sunflowers for outside, granite cheese boards, local honey, local maple syrup, stands from live edge wood, and Goats milk soaps and lotions.

Hope you will all support Cindy with her new and unusual shop!

I received an e-mail from Happy Knits in Skowhegan that says Happyknits is now open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., for phone orders and curbside pickup. Whether its yarn, needles, accessories or patterns, they will be happy to bag it up or mail it out to you. Give them a call, or contact us by email or on Facebook.

Came across an old The Carney Brook Chronicle, dated April 17, 1998, paper that I wrote for back in those days, when I was looking for things to write about now, in a world that has changed. That paper was owned by Terry Drummond and he was very good about putting in whatever I wrote.

That week it happened to be, Memories of a Lost Art, by Marilyn Rogers. The end of an era took place 22 years ago and log driving has become a lost art. It is my belief that history should be remembered as it was before progress set in with the constant rumble and roar of the big trucks now on our highways. Twelve years later I wrote a similar article for the Somerset Reporter. Perhaps there aren’t too many log drivers left in this area that will recall fond memories from these words, but it is my hope that some in the younger generation will find it interesting. The words of the wonderful book Salt say it so well: “If somebody don’t go after things like that – it’s an art that will be lost forever. There will be no remaking of it.

This story will center on river driving in the Dead River area. It started every year as soon as the ice was out, usually in late April. The drive would start on the south branch of the Dead River and it took about two weeks to put in a landing. Large cranes were used to pile the river banks high with pulp, which often extended out into the stream where the pulp wood froze together.

There were two boatmen and a dynamite man to each bateau, a small boat used in river drives, and they would have to open the stream so the pulp could begin its only one journey to the mills drown stream. This was done by poling the bateau upstream where the dynamite man would place charges of dynamite on a long pole, light the fuse and place it under the pile of wood and then get down stream quickly before it blew. It usually took two days of using dynamite before the stream was clear and what was left on land was bulldozed into the stream and then the “rear” started.

Men in the bateaus picked off the center jams and others waded in the cold water clearing pulp from the bushes along the banks . It took about three weeks to drive the south branch – this was eleven hours a day, seven days a week. The men had to work while they had water.

The south branch was all rapids with one set of rips after another except for five miles of quick, deep water and then more rapids. The north branch was also driven but it didn’t have as many rapids. Different companies did each drive. For many years there wasn’t any drive on big Spencer Stream but in the years 1957 through 1959 it was driven again. Ten thousand cords of pulp was taken out each year and two men worked every day breaking up jams when the water was low. I interviewed my stepfather, Clarence Jones, for the information in this story. (Will continue the story next week, but must leave enough room for Percy’s memoir, and here it is…:

“The more you read, the more you know, The more you know, the smarter you grow. The smarter you grow the stronger your voice, when speaking your mind or making your choice.”

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Here I sit on this Monday morning with no paper to read, it doesn’t start the week off right. But here I sit at this computer, hoping I can write something to cheer you all up after what is going on in this crazy mixed up world!

I’m going to start with these words on one of the many little snip-its I have saved called Life’s Little Instructions: Watch a sunrise at least once a year, Strive for excellence, not perfection, Plant a tree on your birthday, Return borrowed vehicles with the gas tank full, Compliment three people every day, Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them, Leave everything a little better than you found it, Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures, Be forgiving of yourself and others, Remember other people’s birthdays, Have a firm handshake, Send lots of Valentine cards, Sign them, “Someone who thinks you’re terrific,” Look people in the eye, Be the first to say, “Hello,” Return all things you borrow, Make new friends but cherish the old ones, Keep secrets, Plant flowers every spring, Always accept an outstretched hand, Stop blaming others, Take responsibility for every area of your life, Wave at kids on school buses, Live your life as an exclamation not an explanation, Keep your promises (no matter what) and Count your blessings.

I know that’s a lot to remember, but just a few might help.

Last week I wrote some about the Senior Center that was started in Solon years ago. Came across another little clipping with a picture showing the newly-elected Senior Citizen Board; Named as the advisory committee at the Solon Senior Citizen’s center were Mrs. Deborah McAllister, vice chairman, Mrs. Artie Heald, secretary, Eldred Heald, chairman, and Bert W. Paul, treasurer.

There have been several letters to the editor on the CMP Corridor, both for and against, lately. I’m sure you all know where I stand on that issue, since I grew up in Flagstaff. I came across the following words from the book, Moods and Memories, by Nikolai Dejevsky, Drowned Village.

The lake stretches away into tranquility, primal pulsations – Just the mild shiver of the pine carpets cascading the banks, Just the doppelganger clouds skimming the surface. Breathe deep and slow, drink in the scene, savor nature’s best from the vantage point of the dam Which created the lake. Nature preserved, power generated – perfect harmony, you say. In part, yes, but in part no – more like shards of cold hearts which cast a pall over good intent and makes the heart shiver. At least you can spare a consideration for the dead in Flagstaff village, which lies beneath the lake surface before you. A tiny place drowsing in a small valley off the main road. That was all it was before the dam surveyors showed up. But it was rooted in time and place with a church and graveyard, no doubt, With its own sense of identity and pride. How can we tell? Who’s left to ask now that Flagstaff ‘s gone? The dam was their death sentence; the lake won out over village, and well, that was that, case closed, progress guaranteed …The residents got resettled elsewhere, dispersed into oblivion. What happened to the church and the graves? Nobody seems to know. The nearby towns have suffered collective amnesia; Local guidebooks and tourist brochures are silent. Seems less than decent; seems there’s a whiff of guilt in the air. Did the power people make promises, like moral hush money? Did the neighbors sacrifice Flagstaff, wash their hands of it? Did the neighbors sacrifice Flagstaff, wash their hands of it ? If they did, then does the good electricity they rely on and the clear lake water they enjoy not bite back occasionally? Does not the power flicker and the water taste bitter from those drowned graves and abandoned spirits of Flagstaff?

(I don’t know when the above was written, but I would like to answer a few questions asked. The graves were moved to Eustis before Flagstaff was flooded. I would also like to add a small piece of a clipping that I have. (Nearly all of the buildings which have been purchased by the Central Maine Power Co. have been resold and the new owners are making every effort to salvage the materials before rising water makes this impossible. It appears that about six sets of buildings which have not been sold to the company will be inundated when the new lake is at high water mark. I have pictures of them after they were flooded. Never did find out if they got money for their homes and land. (And the statement made in the above poem that really disturbed me was (“Did the neighbors sacrifice Flagstaff, wash their hands of it? I can verify that I did not sacrifice Flagstaff, but I am almost the last one left, and I’m still hanging in there!

And now, from Percy’s memoirs:

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. For the Lord grants wisdom. Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm. Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth. Words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

This is the rest of the Solon School News letter that I received last week. Solon Students Win District MEA Awards: Six Solon students are the recipients of awards in the RSU #74 MEA Awards Program. Awards are given to the student or students who receive the highest score in reading, math, and science in the district on Maine Educational Assessment each year.

Fifth grader Kaitlin Dellarma won the math award for her perfect score on the fourth grade MEA last spring.

Five Solon fifth graders received perfect scores in reading/English language arts on the fourth grade MEA last spring. Winners were Kaitlin Dellarma, David Dixon, Jillian Robinson, Veronica Hoffman, and Kaylynn Clark.

CCS sixth grader William Rogers achieved highest score in the district in science on the MEA he took as a fifth grader at the Solon School last spring.

Each winner received a certificate and a check for $50. Their names are displayed on a plaque at CCS. Thank you to Chet and Sara Hiskox and the Solon, CCS, and Garret Schenck PTO’s for supporting this award program. Congratulations to our winners!

As a Valentine’s day activity and an annual tradition, the students played Hearts in multi-age groups on February 13.

K-5 students who turned in their vacation week bingo cards got a chance to go snowshoeing with Ms. Rich in the fields behind the school on February 28. The bingo cards showed the healthy activities students did during vacation instead of screen time.

Solon Celebrates Happy Birthday Maine Week: During the week of March 13, Solon Elementary School celebrated the State of Maine’s 200th birthday with lots of special activities. These included daily guest readers (like Maine boxer Brandon Berry, dress-up days, daily trivia contests, and a “Munch & Learn” activity. We thank Mrs. LaChance and Mrs. Stevens for organizing the week’s events for us.

Again, I thank the person who sent me all of the things happening at our school in the past months and I hope and pray that things will be back to normal in the Spring.

Received the following e-mail from Sarah, Karla and Mary Lou, at HappyKnits, in Skowhegan.

Dear Yarn Friends, We wish we could see you in person, but until that day comes, we’d like to let you know of a few different ways you can replenish your yarn supply ( and support us here at Happyknits, too!)

Sarah is still happy to mail yarn, needles and accessories directly from Happyknits to you. Contact us via Facebook or email (leave a phone number , please) and she will call you back.

We’ve partnered with Berroco to bring you there 1-2-3 Dropship Program. It is as easy as 1-2-3: You (# 1)find a yarn or kit at Berroco, then contact Happyknits (#2) to place your order, and then (#3) Berroco ships your purchase to your house. By the way, they’re offering this for more than just Burroco yarns – Lang, Lopi and others are also acailable.

Making things with fiber is how many of us are staying focused these days. Let us know if we can help. Until we meet again, please keep yourselves safe! Sarah, Karla and Mary Lou.

There are several things that are keeping me going these difficult days: Praying, watching the many different birds at our feeders and knitting pin cushions as if they are going out of style! Knitting is surely a good way to calm down, I swear by it, but praying is at the top of my list.

Came across a recipe for “A Happy Marriage,” recently, and I’m sending it as Percy’s memoir: Take two happy people and separate them from their parents. Add the following ingredients in generous proportions: Love, Acceptance, Respect, Communication, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Self-Control, Commitment, Faith, Hope and Truth. Mix together, then thoroughly sift in daily life. Strain out jealousy, arrogance, selfishness, provocation and accounting of wrongs. Bake in the trials and tribulations of life for 50 years, then celebrate when golden. (This was hand written on a pretty piece of paper but it doesn’t say who thought up that good advice.) Hope you like it, and that it will help sooth you in these troubled times.