REVIEW POTPOURRI: Robert Frost, American poet

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Robert Frost

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Robert Frost

American poet

American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) was one of the very few who could earn a living from poetry alone, not having to do other jobs . He was also the only winner of four Pulitzer prizes for poetry.

Frost’s main subject material was living in New England, mostly its trials and tribulations and a few moments of its joys. His poetic technique was the native colloquial speech of New Englanders and the poems had simplicity, infinite re-readability and deeply profound themes that resonated.

My favorites are The Road Not Taken, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (“Miles to go before I sleep”), Mending Wall (“Good neighbors make good fences”) and the very tragic Home Burial.

Robert Frost was very friendly and he could be difficult, to which many folks could reply, “So what else is new ?”

He and his wife, Elinor, had six children – four daughters and two sons. The two oldest daughters outlived their father while the two youngest died shortly after birth. The older son died at four years old of cholera; his younger one committed suicide at 38 years old. Elinor passed away in her early 60s in 1938 of a heart attack, himself during prostate surgery, at 88, in 1963.

Robert Frost had the honor of reading a poem in January, 1961, at JFK’s inauguration, and was given honorary degrees from several colleges and universities, even though he never graduated from one.

To conclude, a quote from his poem, The Road Not Taken:

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood….I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.”

FOR YOUR HEALTH: What to do if you lose your health insurance

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Transamerica Center for Health Studies

(NAPSI)—Losing your health insurance can be stressful and confusing as you explore the options for new coverage. To recover, it is important to understand all your options, their costs and potential restrictions before purchasing new coverage. Careful planning can help you find the coverage that best meets your needs.

If you are in the market for new insurance, you are not alone. Nonprofit Transamerica Center for Health Studies’ annual consumer survey found that over one in three (35 percent) insured adults acquired new health insurance in the past 12 months. And a strong majority (61 percent) of uninsured respondents said cost prevents them from obtaining health coverage.

Do you need health insurance? While the Internal Revenue Service no longer penalizes individuals on their federal taxes if they do not have health insurance, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont and the District of Columbia all require residents to be insured or pay a tax penalty. Other states are considering adopting a health insurance mandate as well, so be sure to check these tax requirements. Even in states that do not require it, health insurance can help protect you (and your loved ones) from high medical costs, expected or not.

It is a very difficult situation when you lose your health insurance—whether you lost your employer-based coverage, can no longer afford your current premium on individual coverage, lost your parents’ or spouse’s coverage, experienced a divorce, or have a new addition to your family. At that moment of uncertainty and concern for your health, what are your options for new health insurance coverage?

Join Your Parents’ or Spouse’s Plan

If you are under 26 years old, you may be added or remain on your parents’ health insurance (if it covers children). Adult children can join or remain on a parent’s plan even if they are married; not living with their parents; attending school; not financially dependent on their parents; or eligible to enroll in their employer’s plan.

If you are married and your spouse’s employer-based coverage covers dependents, you can be added to that health insurance. This change to your spouse’s employer-based coverage may be limited to the company open enrollment period once each year.

Shop the Exchange

Another place to look is your state’s Health Insurance Exchange. About 80 percent of customers purchasing a health plan through the Exchanges qualify for a subsidy on their premiums, depending on their income level. Health Insurance Exchanges are the only place to offer these subsidies, which are available for singles with a 2019 annual income between $12,140 and $48,560, or income between $25,100 and $100,400 for a family of four. (Income limits are different in states that offer “expanded” Medicaid coverage, meaning a wider number of low-income residents can qualify.) You can check for basic information about your state’s Exchange on our website: www.TransamericaCenterforHealthStudies.org.

It is important to know that you have up to 60 days after losing your previous insurance or experiencing a life event (new baby, marriage, etc.) to purchase coverage in an Exchange. Otherwise, you have to wait until the Exchange open enrollment period each fall to sign up.

Determine Eligibility for Medicaid

If you are lower income or unemployed, you may qualify for Medicaid in your state. Generally, the income limit is about $12,140 for singles and $25,100 for a family of four, though state requirements vary. Medicaid provides full health coverage with little or no out-of-pocket cost to you and your family. Some states have work/community engagement requirements for adults. You can check a state’s Medicaid income qualifications and requirements on our website: www.TransamericaCenterforHealthStudies.org.

Buy Direct

You can also purchase health insurance directly from an insurance provider. Health plans with the “essential health benefits” required by the Affordable Care Act can be purchased directly from health plans, often on the website. You might also consider working with an insurance broker who can help you understand the different plan options available to you and the levels of coverage.

Consider Gap and Short-Term Insurance

Some health insurance products that do not qualify as major medical health insurance are also available. They are sometimes called gap insurance, but you should know the limitations of these plans before purchasing.

  • Critical illness insurance provides a cash payment if you are diagnosed with cancer, have a heart attack, suffer a stroke or another serious and costly illness.
  • Accident insurance gives you a cash payout if you are in an accident. A plan may have daily payouts for specific events, such as a cash payment for every day you spend in the hospital.
  • Short-term health insurance plans also do not comply with the Affordable Care Act, but they can provide you with health insurance if you need a stopgap until obtaining full coverage. Short-term health plans can provide catastrophic health coverage but some states limit their availability. It is important to note that short-term medical plans are not required to cover mental health services, outpatient prescription drugs, substance use disorder treatment, maternity care or other essential health benefits. Moreover, short-term plans do not cover pre-existing conditions and may deny you coverage based on your past medical history.

Before you sign up for health insurance again, do your homework and shop around. That is the best way to make sure you find the best option for your needs.

Transamerica Center for Health Studies, a division of the nonprofit private foundation Transamerica Institute®, is focused on empowering consumers and employers to achieve the best value and protection from their health coverage, as well as the best outcomes in their personal health and wellness. www.TransamericaCenterforHealthStudies.org.

SOLON & BEYOND: Lynnette King, retiring from Margaret Chase Smith Library after 29 years

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

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

I’m wondering how all of you have survived the hot, sticky weather we’ve been having recently? But then, we shouldn’t complain, after the extra cold, stormy winter we suffered through last winter!

Received an e-mail from Angela Stockwell about the Margaret Chase Smith Library. “It’s always busy at the MCS Library. After 29 years of dedicated service, Lynnette King is retiring. We will miss her and wish her well. Advanced Placement history students learned about primary source research. Maine author Paul Doiron’s talk about his latest book drew a large audience. It was great! Maine students impressed judges at National History day in Maryland. Winners of the MCS Leadership Excellence Awards at West Point and Annapolis were selected. Essay winners are highlighted in this issue as well. We’re pleased to announce the renaming of the seminar room to the Merton G. & Harriet P. Henry Conference Room.”

Have been thinking a great deal about the Old Days as Flagstaff Memorial Chapel Old Home Days are fast approaching on August 3 and 4. Received a letter from my cousin RM Yehle about the events that will be going on at this annual event. On August 3, at the Dead River Area Historical Society, in Stratton, from 1 – 3 p.m. The focus will be on Clarence Jones, with family members present to meet and greet, and tell stories.

Or you can meet at 12:30 p.m. at the Flagstaff Memorial Chapel and take a ride (boat or vehicle) into the Stevens’ farm (now the Ruey Stevens Baldwin camp) and Duluth Wing’s (now Kenny’s) camp. Boat and/or vehicle transportation will be provided by Kenny and RM.

On August 4, at 10 a.m., at the Flagstaff Chapel, there will be a church service with Peter Farnsworth officiating. At 1 a.m., at the Flagstaff Memorial Chapel, there will be a potluck lunch, Drinks, plates, and silverware will be provided. At noon at the Flagstaff Memorial Chapel there will be the annual meeting.

RM ended this letter with these words,” Please try to attend all or some of these activities! Let’s try to increase our attendance – bring friends, let others know, post the flyer around town.

She is right, the attendance gets smaller and smaller every year. I am one of the oldest, or maybe the oldest, who attends. My good friend, who is a year younger than me always comes from New York for this occasion.

I had saved a yellowed Central Maine Newspaper dated June 6, 2002, with the headline, Make Flagstaff Lake a certain stop. There is a large picture of the lake with these words under it: “A view of Flagstaff Lake from the causeway in Stratton. The 26-mile long lake was formed more than 50 years ago by flooding three communities. ”

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled Hymns and Haws: Dentist’s hymn, “Crown Him With Many Crowns.” Baker’s hymn, “I Need Thee Every Hour.” Contractor’s hymn, “The Churches One Foundation.”;Weather forecaster’s hymn ,”There Shall Be Showers of Blessing.” IRS’s hymn: “All to Thee.” Optometrist’s hymn: “Open My Eyes That I Might See.” Tailor’s hymn:”Holy! Holy! Holy!” and Shopper’s Hymn: “By and By” These words were printed in Guidepost in August 1996.

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: Getting the word out; Who are you and what do you do?

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Growing your businessby Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

No matter how great your small business is, if nobody knows about it, you will fail. I have talked to many business owners who tell me that they do not need to advertise or market their companies right now because they have all the business they need. I always remind them that they have all the business they need today, but will they in the future? Remember the great recession of 2008: how much business did you have after that?

Growing a business is just that…it is growing. A business that is not always growing is dying. That is just a simple rule of business. And the last thing you want to have to do is start playing catch up when you are out of business to work on. No, the best way to keep your business thriving is to always be telling people about it. The more people who know about your business the better it will be and the more your business will grow.

Here are six very easy and economical ways to market your company:

  • The website: Sorry, you need a website. This is the world we live in today. By using one of the many services, such as www.godaddy.com, you can actually build your own website in a matter of hours. Make sure the site is clear, concise and carries your company message. It needs to not only have all the pertinent information about your company (name, and contact information, services you perform and rates if applicable) but make sure you personalize it as well. Tell your story, add testimonials and referrals. Show photos of you and your team. In short, make the site user friendly enough that people are going to want to hire you.
  • Create a paper flyer. Once again, if you have a computer this is easy to do. Basic software packages like Microsoft Word provide attractive templates you can use to create your flyers. Once again, make sure the flyer is colorful and attractive and has all the pertinent information about your company. If you don’t have a computer at home, then go to the library. The Waterville Public Library, for example, not only has computers and printers, they will also be happy to help you use them.
  •  Make sure you distribute these flyers. Either mail them, or hand them out. When you finish a project in a neighborhood, before you leave, distribute flyers to the other houses in that neighborhood. It doesn’t take much effort and it will pay off in the end.
  • Make sure your apparel and your vehicle all display your company name and contact information. And also have lawn signs available to plant in front of the customer’s home if you are a service company working at that home. Ask for permission, of course. In most neighborhoods, people will notice when work is being done on a house and will often approach the service company to come and check out a potential project at their house as well. It happens all the time.
  • Place ads in newspapers such as this one. The ads are very economical and are seen every week by thousands of people. It’s the best advertising money you can spend.
  • And finally get those referrals. They are worth their weight in gold. Nothing works better than one of your customers being so pleased with you and your company that they tell everyone they know about you. When a customer tells you that you have done a great job, is the perfect time to ask her for a referral, or better yet, a testimonial you can use in all of your marketing materials.

These are a few of the easy and most economical ways you can market your business. Have some fun with it. There is nothing better than working on growing your business.

Dan Beaulieu has owned his own business consulting firm since 1995, during that time he has helped hundreds of companies all over the world with their sales growth challenges and issues. Originally from Maine he returned a few years ago and is ready and willing to help his fellow Mainers start and grow their business. He can be reached at 207-649-0879 or at danbbeaulieu@aol.com.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: War on ticks rages on; or was it all because of biological warfare?

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

A popular subject of discussion this summer has been the proliferation of the tick population in our area over the last several years. Myself, I have had three ticks on me so far this summer, and I take all the precautions I think I could. One of them, I have no idea how it attached itself to me. A second one was found after working in my garden, while the third was noticed shortly after I had been picking black raspberries in my backyard. My wife and I have also seen deer ticks wandering around in camp, even between the sheets in our bed. Go figure!

Recently, Republican Rep. Chris Smith, of New Jersey, offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, requiring the Pentagon inspector general to conduct a review about whether the military may have experimented with making ticks into biological weapons.

The amendment recently passed in the House by a voice vote. The order would require the inspector general to examine whether the Department of Defense experimented with ticks and other insects regarding its use as a biological weapon between the years of 1950 and 1975. It must now go to the Senate for a vote.

Smith’s amendment would ask what were the parameters of the program, who ordered it, was there ever any accidental release anywhere or at anytime of any diseased ticks, were any ticks released by design, did the program contribute to the disease burden, and could any of this information help current-day researchers find a way to mitigate these diseases?

So far this year, 217 cases of Lyme disease have been reported in Maine.

The theory is that bioweapons specialists packed ticks with pathogens that could cause severe disabilities, disease and death among potential enemies to our country. Smith said his reasoning for introducing the amendment was based on a number of books and articles suggesting that significant research had been done at U.S. government facilities, including Fort Detrick, Maryland, and Plum Island, New York, to turn ticks and other insects into bioweapons.

These books, however, have been questioned by some experts who dismiss long-held conspiracy theories that the federal government helped in the spread of tick-borne diseases. Smith also claims that federal agencies, even the Center for Disease Control, may have had a hand in the cover up concerning the findings about the spread of Lyme disease.

Also, Willy Burgdorfer, who passed away in 2014, a leading authority in his field, once revealed that he and other bioweapons specialists put pathogens in ticks to “cause severe disabilities, disease and even death to potential enemies.” He said he worked for three years in the 1950s at a military lab in Colorado that looked into research techniques allowing for the rapid identification of pathogens for defensive purposes.

The CDC currently spends about $11 million on Lyme disease research.

But, there is a controversy involving this theory. Yale researchers have found that DNA studies from a couple of years ago showed that Lyme disease has been present in North America for at least 60,000 years. That was before man occupied this continent.

Lyme disease has also been traced to amber from 15 million years ago in what is now the Dominican Republic. It has also been found in a frozen body in the Alps.

In other research conducted at Yale University, they theorize Lyme disease has spread in recent years due to deforestation that has led to the build up of suburbs in New England and the midwest, creating ideal conditions for the deer ticks. Our warming climate is also contributing to these conditions.

So, the question now is who is right? Was there a conscience effort to develop bioweapons with Lyme disease in the 1950s and ‘60s, or has Lyme disease been around for millions of years? Americans have the right to know.

If it is true that ticks were being primed for biological warfare, Rep. Smith wants the public to be informed.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Ty Cobb is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. What number did he wear for the Detroit Tigers?

Answer can be found here.

Give Us Your Best Shot! Week of July 25, 2019

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

GOT AN ITCH?: While walking her favorite trail in Winslow, Tina Richard, of Clinton, captured this eagle taking care of an itch.

FREQUENT VISITORS: Rachel and Will Kahn, of the Neck Rd., in China, have had these two porcupines visiting them for the past few weeks.

Give Us Your Best Shot! Week of July 18, 2019

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

PLENTY OF ACTION (part 1): Pat Clark, of Palermo, photographed a woodchuck crossing her backyard.

PLENTY OF ACTION (part 2): Pat Clark, of Palermo, also photographed this family of geese near a pond.

RETURNS: Janet Soucy snapped this one-footed duck at Pellerin’s Campground, on China Lake. She says it has returned the last four years, and they have named her Peggy Sue.

I’M JUST CURIOUS – Caution: Sugar Free Candy

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by Debbie Walker

This may be a subject most people would rather not think about much less talk about, if they have any awareness about it. Sugar free candies are not totally free of punishment.

If anyone could eat a whole bag of Oreo cookies (and probably some have done such) there is a price to pay. We all know this. Even though we are in the USA there is a price of pounds (not to be confused with the English pound values at $1.25). Ours is actual weight gain.

When we purchase sugar free anything, we may believe we are doing something good for our bodies and to some degree it probably is (I won’t get into that debate here). It does allow some folks a treat they wouldn’t be able to have otherwise. I am sure they are grateful for that little freedom.

Have you ever purchased a sugar free candy and read all the print on the bag? I believe that’s something few people would do. I don’t think I ever did before my dad had a mishap with some chocolate.

Dad was a diabetic and I guess mom was trying to help him stay sugar free when she bought him a small bag of sugar free chocolates.

Mom had read the bag and knew about the “caution.” She also knew dad would not read it, so she tried to explain it to dad. Dad being “dad,” he wasn’t hearing much of it. He was already eating a piece and I guess he liked it.

I will get back to this shortly. I first want to tell you how this got brought back to my mind.

I don’t know how the subject came up but my son-in-law, Todd, asked if I had ever seen Amazon’s reviews on the Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears. He continued by reading a couple of them to me. As I continue let’s leave it this way. People bought them, ate a few too many and had ‘stories’ to tell, just not for folks with weak stomachs.

So… Dad ate his candy, all of it, despite the caution mom tried to give him. Let’s just say he wasn’t able to make it the 30 feet to the bathroom in time to be of help to him! Lesson Learned!

I’m just curious if you will remember you have now been cautioned.

I am finishing this up with some cute sayings I saw on little posters at the Slippery Rock Strawberry Festival last month. Hope they give you a chuckle:

‘If it scares you it might be a good thing to try.’

‘I don’t care about my Prince Charming. Where are the forest animals that clean?’

‘I’ll call it a smartphone the day I yell “where’s my phone?” and it yells “Down here! In the couch cushions!”

‘Some days my life feels like trying to stand on a hammock!’

‘Not only did I fall off the diet wagon, I dragged it into the woods, set it on fire and used the insurance money to buy cupcakes’

‘Welcome to adulthood, I hope you like ibuprofen’

‘I’ve put myself in timeout until I can play nice with others. This may take a while.’

‘Google Earth gives you the opportunity to see anywhere in the world…so what do you do? You look at your own house!’

I’m just curious what silly sayings you have heard. Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com Thanks for reading!! Enjoy the sunshine!

REVIEW POTPOURRI: The Desert Song

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

The Desert Song

Mario Lanza, Judith Raskin etc.; RCA Victor LSC-2440, LP, recorded 1959.

Mario Lanza

Mario Lanza (1921-1959) was one of the finest tenors who ever lived, when it came to beauty, tone, powerful one-on-one communication and love of singing. I have a number of his recordings covering opera arias, popular songs from the ‘40s and ‘50s, Broadway show tunes, Christmas carols etc.; but I have most often enjoyed his singing of the two operettas, Rudolf Friml’s The Vagabond King and Sigmund Romberg’s The Desert Song, both of them taped shortly before his sudden death from a blood clot on October 7, 1959, and with the late soprano, Judith Raskin (1928-1984).

Sigmund Romberg’s operetta was based upon the book by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, and Frank Mandel. Its first performance in New York was November 30, 1926, at the Casino Theater on Broadway and 39th Street, after successes in Wilmington, Delaware, and Boston.

Judith Raskin

Lanza and Raskin’s duets in the title song and One Good Boy Gone Wrong resonate with the great duet recordings of Nicolai Gedda and Mireille Freni in La Boheme, Jussi Bjoreling and Victoria de los Angeles in Madame Butterfly, Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann in the Tosca Love Duet, Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine’s Passing Strangers, Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s Something Stupid, Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore’s My Romance and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Maria Stader’s in Mozart’s Magic Flute, The solos of Lanza’s One Alone and Raskin’s Romance are some of many reasons life is worth living.

Selections from the album can be heard on YouTube.

Before his death, he was approached by RCA Italiana to record a few operas. Unfortunately, fate intervened. His widow, Betty, died of a drug overdose in early 1960. three of their four children since then; two sons, Marc and Damon, from heart issues, and a daughter, Colleen, after being hit by a driver while crossing the street and dying two weeks later in a coma.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Invasive insects already in Maine; Free presentation on invasive forest pests set

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Emerald ash borer is now found in the St. John Valley and in York County. Beetle larvae feed under tree bark, pupae overwinter in the wood and the tiny adults emerge in spring leaving D-shaped exit holes. (Photo courtesy Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry)

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

There are invasive pests making their way into Maine, and it is important that we learn more about them. One of them, the Emerald Ash Borer, has already been spotted in Vassalboro.

This week, I will turn my column over to Hildy Ellis, of the Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District, who will be holding an informational program on these insects that are raising havoc on our forests.

by Hildy Ellis

Invasive forest pests like emerald ash borer (EAB), hemlock woolly adelgid are already having devastating impacts on Maine’s forests; browntail moth is affecting human health as well as tree health; Asian longhorned beetle, with a large host range could be the next invader on the horizon! On Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. – noon, Hildy Ellis, of Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) will present a program about these invaders at Merryspring Nature Center, in Camden, as part of their Saturday workshop series.

Using slides and an outdoor tree ID walk, this workshop will help landowners and users, as well as landscape and forestry professionals, learn to

  • identify current and potential invasive forest pests and their host species,
  • understand the threats to our forests and woodlands posed by these pests,
  • limit their spread, and
  • how to report suspected pest sightings or damage to trees that may be a result of pest infestations

All participants will receive an information packet with fact sheets about the major pest species, a list of host trees that the species may be found on, how to make decisions about treatment, current quarantine information for EAB in Maine, and other relevant information. The following recertification credits are pending for this program: Professional CFE credits by the Society of American Foresters. Category 1-CF: 2.0; and Pesticide Applicator credits by the Board of Pesticides Control: 2.0.

Knox- Lincoln SWCD, a member of the Maine Association of Conservation Districts, is presenting Invasive Forest Pest Outreach Programs through a grant from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Materials are funded in part by a Cooperative Agreement from the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. More information about invasive forest pests in Maine may be found at https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/index.htm.

FMI and to RSVP for this free workshop, visit www.knox-lincoln.org/invasive-forest-pests, contact Julie at 596-2040 or julie@knox-lincoln.org.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Who was the first manager of the Texas Rangers in 1972?

Answer can be found here.