I’M JUST CURIOUS: Have you ever wondered…

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by Debbie Walker

Have you ever wondered how long different things might last? Well, I found a few listed in an HGTV magazine awhile back. I thought maybe it might hold some interest for you. It’s an odd assortment of subjects listed in an ABC index. Here we go:

Aloe Vera gel – 12 months once it’s been opened. It’s suggested to store it in the fridge.

Bulbs – 10-15 years These bulbs are of the plant variety, not electrical.

Cast Iron pans – Generations (finally something that lasts). Suggested to use warm water and a non-scratch scrub brush.

Deli-meat – Up to 5 days. (Told you it is an odd assortment). Best if kept in meat drawer.

Exterior Paint Job – Up to 10 years preparation, the quality of paint and color play into it.

Fertilizer (dry or liquid) – Forever. If it clumps or crystals break with a trowel.

Hot Water Heater (tank) – up to 12 years, (tankless) up to 15 years. Maintenance is big issue – should be flushed out when heat system gets checkup.

Ice Pops – Up to 18 months. Home made only about three weeks. Store in back of freezer.

Skipped J, K on to L

Laptop – three to five years. That one is funny! I know kids who can kill them off fast. Then you have me who has been using my adult granddaughter’s cast off for over six years!

Mattress – Up to 10 years. If it’s not a pillow top it ought to be rotated two times a year. We’re waking up achy, may be time for a new one. The achy can’t be because of US growing old.

Nut Butter – Up to 6 months. Store opened jars in fridge. Oil separation is normal, if it smells like oil paint, it’s bad.

Skipped O & P

Quinoa – three years. Keep it in cabinet away from heat source. It’s not a grain and any moisture may make it sprout.

Razor Blades – up to six weeks If you shave more than 2 times a week, anything over six weeks you’ll get razor burns and nicks.

Shower Curtain Liner – one year.

Skipped T,U & V

Wood Cutting Board – A lifetime, maybe even a passer-oner.

Skipped X,Y & Z

Okay, on to something else. Have you ever heard of Spoonerism? I hadn’t but I like it! It is an error in speech or a deliberate play on words where letters are switched between two words in a phrase. Examples follow:

Heard at a wedding: “It is kisstomary to cuss the bride.”

Heard a nervous college student on an official visit: “Is the bean dizzy?”

Heard from many a mother: “Now you go upstairs and shake a tower!”

Heard from aggravated fan: “I can’t believe they scored a Dutch town!”

I’m just curious how many times I have done the word swap! Thanks for reading! Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com. Don’t forget this winter when you can’t get out to get a paper, we are online!

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Singer: Laura Nyro; Director: Yannick Nezet-Seguin

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro

Smile, Columbia AL 33912 LP ,1975.

The late Laura Nyro was one very gifted singer, songwriter and pianist. A number of songs, Stoney End, Stoned Soul Picnic, Wedding Bell Blues, etc. have been covered by such artists as Barbra Streisand and the Fifth Dimension.

The 1975 Smile is a sterling example of the searing beauty and power of her on-going themes – life in the Bronx. Sexy Mama, Children of the Junks, Money, I am the Blues, Stormy Love, The Cat-song, Midnite Blues, and the title song mirror the drug addictions, needs to survive, and the moments of joy and love that preoccupy and sustain us. An album highly recommended.

Yannick Nezet-Seguin

Yannick Nezet-Seguin

The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra Collection
Deutsche Grammophon 4835345, 6 CDs, live concerts 2008-2018.

Presently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and other orchestras, Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts the Rotterdam Philhar­monic in works by Beethoven, Shosta­kovich, Mahler, Tchaikov­sky, Bruckner etc. The performances are good, especially the Bruckner 8th Symphony, and would fit the needs of anyone wanting a set of choice basic repertoire.

Author Mark Allen Leslie to speak about new book at Winslow Library

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Winslow area families put their lives and fortunes on the line connecting to the Underground Railroad

Maine’s connection to the famous Underground Railroad that helped free runaway slaves in the mid-1800s does not begin and end with Harriet Beecher Stowe. Indeed, people from Kittery to Ft. Fairfield, including Waterville-Winslow, Augusta, China and Vassalboro, conspired to break the law — the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 — forming a network of “safe houses,” hiding slaves from slave hunters and scurrying them to Canada. If caught, these Underground Railroad “conductors” faced fines and jail.

At the Winslow Public Library at 6 p.m. on Oct. 18, author Mark Alan Leslie will weave the tale of the brave families who housed and fed slaves in hidden rooms, attics and elsewhere en route to the next secret “way station” on the “railroad.”

Former Morning Sentinel reporter Mark Allen Leslie

“Some called slavery ‘the absolute power of one person over another — the vilest human behavior and institution,’” said Leslie. “Others called it ‘essential to our economy and prosperity’ and even ‘a humane institution which provided food, shelter and family’ to the African race.”

“Slavery was the one issue that has been able to tear America apart, and that included Mainers,” he added.

And slavery remains in the news. The Treasury Department plans to add Harriet Tubman, a heroine of the Under­ground Railroad, to the $20 bill. Also, the Brunswick home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, a National Historic Landmark since 1962, was placed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The former parlor room, where it is believed she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is open to the public as “Harriet’s Writing Room.”

Publisher’s Weekly hailed Leslie’s novel, True North: Tice’s Story, about a slave’s escape over the Underground Railroad through Maine, naming it a Featured Book for 2016. The Midwest Book Review cited Leslie’s “genuine flair for compelling, entertaining, and deftly crafted storytelling.”

And AFA Journal called Leslie “a seasoned wordsmith” whose contemporary novels are “in the class with John Grisham.”

A longtime journalist whose career started as a reporter for the then-Waterville Sentinel, Leslie first burst on the literary scene in 2008 with his novel Midnight Rider for the Morning Star, based on the life of Francis Asbury, America’s first circuit-riding preacher.

Since then, in addition to True North he has written The Crossing about the Ku Klux Klan in Maine in the 1920s and three contemporary thrillers: Chasing the Music about the hunt for King David’s music of the Psalms, The Three Sixes about Islamic terror cells in America, and the just-released The Last Aliyah about the Jewish escape from America when the United Nations bans Jewish emigration to Israel.

A book signing will follow Leslie’s presentation.

ERIC’S TECH TALK – Deepfake: When you can’t believe your eyes

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A screenshot from the fake Obama video created by researchers at the University of Washington.

by Eric W. Austin

Fake news. Fake videos. Fake photos. The way things are heading, the 21st century is likely to be known as the Fake Century, and it’s only going to get worse from here.

About a year ago, I came across a short BBC News report. It talked about an initiative by researchers at the University of Washington to create a hyper-realistic video of President Obama saying things he never said. On Youtube, they posted a clip of the real Obama alongside the fake Obama the researchers had created. I couldn’t tell the difference.

Welcome to the deepfake future.

“Deepfake” is probably not a term you’ve heard a lot about up ‘til now, but expect that to change over the next few years. The term is derived from the technology driving it, deep learning, a branch of artificial intelligence emphasizing machine learning through the use of neural networks and other advanced techniques. When Facebook tags you in a photo uploaded by a friend, that’s an example of deep learning in action. It’s an effort to replicate human-like information processing in a computer.

Artificial intelligence is not just getting good at recognizing human faces; it’s becoming good at creating them, too. By feeding an A.I. thousands of images or video of someone, for example a public figure, the computer can then use that information to create a new image or video of the person that is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.

No, Einstein never went bicycling near a nuclear test. This photo is fake.

Of course, this sort of fakery has been around for a long time in photography. Do an unfiltered Google image search for any attractive female celebrity, and you’re likely to find a few pictures with the celebrity’s head photoshopped onto the body of a porn actress in a compromising position. Search for images of UFOs or the Lock Ness Monster, and you’ll find dozens of fake photos, many of which successfully fooled the experts for years.

But what we’re talking about here is on a completely different level. Last year I wrote about a new advancement in artificial intelligence allowing a computer to mimic the voice of a real person. Feed the computer 60 seconds of someone speaking and that computer can re-create their voice saying absolutely anything you like.

Deepfake is the culmination of these two technologies, and when audio and video can be faked convincingly using a computer algorithm, what hope is there for truth in the wild world of the web?

If the past couple years have taught us anything, it’s that there are deep partisan divides in this country and each side has a different version of the truth. It’s not so much a battle of political parties as it is combat between contrasting narratives. It’s a war for belief.

Conspiracy theories have flourished in this environment, as each side of the debate is all too willing to believe the worst of the other side — whether it’s true or not. I have written several times about the methods Russia and others have used to influence the U.S. electorate, but it’s this willingness to believe the worst about our fellow Americans that is most often exploited by our adversaries.

Communist dictator Joseph Stalin was infamous for destroying records and altering images to remove people from history after they had fallen out of favor with him.

Likewise, when the Roman sect of Christianity gained ascendancy in the early 4th century CE, they set about destroying the gospels held sacred by other groups. This was done in order to paint the picture of a consistently unified church without divisions (“catholic” is Latin for “universal”).

In both these cases, narratives were shaped by eliminating any information that contradicted the approved version of events. However, with the advent of the Internet and a mostly literate population, that method of controlling the narrative just isn’t possible anymore. Instead, the technique has been adjusted to one which floods the public space with so much false and misleading information that even intelligent, well-meaning people have trouble telling the difference between fact and fiction.

If, as Thomas Jefferson once wrote, a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to a successful democracy, these three elements – our willingness to believe the worst of our political opponents, the recent trend of controlling the narrative by flooding the public consciousness with misinformation to obscure the truth, and the advancements of technology allowing this fakery to flourish and spread – are combining to create a challenge to our republic like nothing we’ve experienced before.

What can you do about the coming deepfake flood? Let me give you some advice I take myself: Make sure you rely on a range of diverse and credible sources. Regularly read sources with a bias different from your own, and stay away from those on the extreme edges of the political divide. Consult websites like AllSides.com or MediaBiasFactCheck.com to see where your favorite news source falls on the political spectrum.

We have entered the era of post-truth politics, but that doesn’t mean we have to lose our way in the Internet’s labyrinth of lies. It means we need to develop a new set of skills to navigate the environment in which we now find ourselves.

The truth hasn’t gone away. It’s just lost in a where’s Waldo world of obfuscation. Search hard enough, and you’ll see it’s still there.

Eric W. Austin writes about technology and community issues. He can be reached by email at ericwaustin@gmail.com.

FINANCIAL MATTER$ – IRA withdrawals: how much is too much?

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by Jac M. Arbour CFP, ChFC
President, J.M. Arbour Wealth Management

People are living longer and, thus, living longer in retirement. This is both the good news and the bad news. Sure, living longer is a great thing, but in the world of financial planning, it is causing concerns for a number of retirees. One of the questions we are consistently asked is “will I have enough?” It’s a great question! Once you consider how many people are living into their late eighties or early nineties, the volatility of the markets, and how investment risk is now in the lap of the investor more so than ever (due to fewer pensions), it is understandable why so many people are wondering if they will outlive their money.

So what is the right amount to take? There are many things to consider and there is no simple answer. If you have an advisor, I suggest you review the following talking points on an annual basis to help derive the best answer for you:

Time Horizon: How many years do you plan to receive an income from your investments? Things such as health and the timing of the income payments should be considered and discussed annually.

Investment Objective: Are you focused on the growth of the account or more so on income? Maybe you are focused on a combination of the two. Maybe you are focused on something completely different. Clarifying the answer to this question will help determine the allocation of your portfolio and help answer some questions that pop up when discussing the following talking points.

Risk Tolerance: Conservative, Moderate, Balanced, Growth, and Aggressive. Which of these categories best suits you? What is aggressive to one person might be conservative to another and therefore, makes it important to understand what is truly meant by each of these categories. Have your advisor explain the expectations of each.

Target Rate of Return: Are you looking for slow and steady and higher predictability, or are you shooting for the moon and ready for a ride? Higher rewards often times means increased risks, which can lead to seemingly lower consistency when it comes to income planning.

Legacy Plans: Do you want to spend your last penny on your last day or do you want to leave something to the loved ones or to a charitable organization? Knowing how much you want to leave behind is a major factor when determining how much to spend while alive.

Consider discussing these topics and others with your advisor. Any of them is a good place to start the conversation. If we can be of any assistance to you in anyway with the above, or any concerns you may have with your retirement planning, please reach out for a free retirement planning consultation. As always, I hope this helps you and your family to make better financial decisions. See you next month.

Trivia Question: How many days does a person have to complete an indirect rollover of an IRA? A. 180 days B. 90 Days C. 60 days, or D. 30 days

Answer can be found here.

Jac M. Arbour, CFP®, ChFC®, is president of J.M. Arbour Wealth Management, 77 Water Street, Hallowell, ME 04347; phone: 207-248-6767 | cell: 207-431-3376 | fax: 207-620-7264; www.jmarbour.com; www.facebook.com/jmawealth.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Flu-Fighting Facts

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(NAPS)—The flu is nothing to sneeze at. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), influenza has resulted in between 9.2 million and 35.6 million illnesses annually since 2010. The best way to stay out of such statistics, the CDC says, is for everyone who is eligible and at least 6 months old to get a flu shot as soon as the vaccine becomes available.

To help, all CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic locations have the vaccine available seven days a week with no appointment needed.

Study Shows

That may be just as well, since the annual survey, conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CVS Pharmacy [1], found that two-thirds of those surveyed get a flu vaccine every year or plan to get one this year, a 5 percent increase from last year.

One reason so many are flocking to get the shot is the knowledge of last year’s flu season—which according to the CDC had flu levels that were the highest observed since 2009. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed[2] say that knowledge of last year’s severe flu season makes them more likely to get a flu shot this year. On a similar note, among the 27 percent of parents of children under 18 whose child did not get the flu vaccine last year, 26 percent say they are more likely to get their child vaccinated this year after learning about the notably high flu levels during last year’s flu season.

The percentage who get vaccinated at a pharmacy stayed at 22 percent, but the percentage of employed adults who get vaccinated at their workplace fell from 22 percent to 15 percent while those who got vaccinated by a health care professional rose from 44 percent to 48 percent.

The survey also found that doctors’ opinions (39 percent), where insurance is accepted (38 percent), and convenience (33 percent) rank among the top three factors in determining where to go for the shot. The flu vaccine is a preventive service under the Affordable Care Act, so it’s fully covered and available at no cost through most insurance plans, including Medicare Part B.

Nurse’s Advice

“Surprising to many, it can actually take up to two weeks for the flu vaccine to build immunity,” explained Angela Patterson, Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer at MinuteClinic. “Because of this, CVS Pharmacy recommends patients get their flu shot as soon as the vaccine becomes available to ensure patients are the most protected before flu season peaks. Furthermore, influenza strains tend to change each year, so it’s very important to get vaccinated annually to make sure you are protected.”

What Else You Can Do

Here are four suggestions:

1. Stay home if you’re sick. The survey found that two out of three respondents would still go to work if they had flu-like symptoms.

In fact, flulike symptoms haven’t stopped some people from going out in public in general:

  • 28 percent have gone to the supermarket
  • 12 percent have picked up a child from school or day care
  • 10 percent have taken public transportation.

2. Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based cleansing gel.
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
4. Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs.

Learn More

Consumers can visit www.CVS.com and www.MinuteClinic.com for further information and to find a nearby pharmacy or clinic. Customers get a $5 off $25 coupon when they get the shot at CVS Pharmacy or MinuteClinic.

[1] Survey was conducted in the United States by The Harris Poll on July 12-16, 2018, among 2,020 adults ages 18 and older.
[2] U.S. adults surveyed who did not get a flu shot last year.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Moose hunting season is underway; what is the status of the herd

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

The Maine moose hunting season is underway. It has not always been that way.

The moose hunting season was reintroduced in 1980 on an experimental basis, when 700 permits were issued to residents. At that time, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife estimated the moose population to be in the vicinity of 20,000 – 25,000 animals.

A campaign was begun in 1983 by a group of moose lovers to place the moose hunting question on a referendum ballot. The initiative failed. The legislature subsequently gave the DIF&W the authority to establish the number of moose permits handed out each year, while maintaining control of the moose lottery.

In 2002, for the first time in 21 years, state wildlife biologists recommended reducing the number of permits, for fear that the moose population may have been on the decline. There had been a high level of calf mortality with the culprit possibly being the tiny blood-sucking ticks that have become so numerous in recent years. Ticks killed more than half of the moose calves in northern New Hampshire during a peak year. It was feared the same was happening in Maine.

After expanding for most of the 20th century, the moose population of North America has been in steep decline since the 1990s. One solution to this problem is for the legislature to allot more funds so more research can be done regarding the density of the moose population. Something they have failed to do.

This year, Maine issued 2,500 moose hunting permits.

In northeastern North America, the moose’s history is very well documented: moose meat was often a staple in the diet of Native Americans going back centuries, with a tribe that occupied present day coastal Rhode Island giving the animal its name. The Native Americans often used moose hides for leather and its meat as an ingredient in a type of dried jerky used as a source of sustenance in winter or on long journeys. Eastern tribes also valued moose leather as a source for moccasins and other items.

The moose vanished in much of the eastern U.S. for as long as 150 years, due to colonial era over-hunting and destruction of habitat.

European rock drawings and cave paintings reveal that moose have been hunted since the Stone Age.

Moose are not usually aggressive towards humans, but can be provoked or frightened to behave with aggression. In terms of raw numbers, they attack more people than bears and wolves combined, but usually with only minor consequences.

When harassed or startled by people or in the presence of a dog, moose may charge. Also, as with bears or any wild animal, moose that have become used to being fed by people, may act aggressively when food is denied.

A bull moose, disturbed by the photographer, lowers its head and raises its hackles. Like any wild animal, moose are unpredictable. They are most likely to attack if annoyed or harassed, or if approached too closely. A moose that has been harassed may vent its anger on anyone in the vicinity, and they often do not make distinctions between their tormentors and innocent passers-by.

Moose also tend to venture out onto highways at night. In northern Maine, especially, moose-vehicle collisions are common. The problem with that is the center of mass of a moose is above the hood of most passenger cars. In a collision, the impact crushed the front roof beams and individuals in the front seats. Collisions of this type are frequently fatal; seat belts and airbags offer little protection. In collisions with higher vehicles, such as trucks, most of the deformation is to the front of the vehicle and the passenger compartment is largely spared.

Moose lack upper front teeth, but have eight sharp incisors on the lower jaw. They also have a tough tongue, lips and gums, which aid in eating woody vegetation. A moose’s upper lip is very sensitive, to help distinguish between fresh shoots and harder twigs. A moose’s diet often depends on its location, but they seem to prefer the new growths from deciduous trees with a high sugar content, such as white birch.

Moose also eat aquatic plants, including lilies and pondweed. (We could sure use a few of them on Webber Pond). Moose are excellent swimmers and are known to wade into water to eat aquatic plants. This trait serves a second purpose in cooling down the moose on summer days and ridding itself of black flies. Moose are thus attracted to marshes and river banks during warmer months as both provide suitable vegetation to eat and as a way to wet themselves down. Moose avoid areas with little or no snow as this increases the risk of predation by wolves and avoid areas with deep snow, as this impairs mobility.

So, moose are a vital commodity to Maine, and we must do what is necessary to preserve them, and continue to harvest them responsibly.

Can anyone answer this question? If you have a legal moose hunting permit, you are on your way to the hunt, and you collide with a moose and kill it – and you survive – does that count as your moose, or can you continue to the hunting zone and claim a second moose?

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

When was the last time the New England Patriots lost three games in a row?

Answer can be found here.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: The meaning of “Unity”

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by Debbie Walker

One of the definitions for the word Unity is ‘harmony.’ If the town fathers named the town of Unity for its harmony I’ll bet they never pictured this past weekend. The Common Ground Country Fair is the ultimate of proof of unity (harmony) in their little town.

Once a year, the third weekend of September, MOFGA sponsors the Common Ground Country Fair, in Unity. MOFGA is the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardener’s Association (Website is www.mofga.org/the-fair/schedule). If you weren’t able to attend and are curious that website is full of information.

It seems a lot of people look forward to the experience of the fair. In fact last year it is said that 60,000 people from all over the country were on those grounds. If you look up their website your questions as to ‘why’ will be answered. The content is amazing.

There is education of value to many different ages and interests. There are demonstrations to peak a curiosity into a possible serious interest. There are many activities for children of all ages. There are foods you may never have experienced before. There are also entertainers.

Unity is a small town surrounded by small towns. Sixty thousand people affect each one of these towns. It looks to me like this fair may be a little inconvenient, three days a year, for residents due to traffic, however it is great for the merchants of Unity. The surrounding town’s merchants must also enjoy the extra business brought their way with them doing little to no marketing for such. Today I saw something else.

On a day I was out riding without my yard sale/thrift store shopping buddies (and I was on my way to a meeting) I couldn’t believe all the yard sales set up in private yards and parking lots! Just think, all that traffic and they didn’t have to advertise. If I think of it next year I will try to remind everyone of the fun to be had at the Common Ground Country Fair or in surrounding towns!

I’m just curious about one activity. Who would and why would anyone want to be part of the Harry S Truman Manure Pitch contest? (It was listed on their site!)

In the spirit of the weekend I am adding these little jokes I found in Blum’s Farmer’s and Planter’s Almanac:

Gardening is cheaper than therapy……………and you get tomatoes.
A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.
How well is your garden going to grow? ………. Only thyme will tell.
Why did the gardener quit? ………… His celery wasn’t high enough.
Why didn’t anyone laugh at the gardener’s jokes? …………..They were too corny.
What’s the gardener’s favorite sport? …………..Squash
Why was the gardener so busy over the weekend? …….. He had a really long Honeydew list.
Garden Wisdom: ……. The best way to garden is to put on a wide brimmed straw hat and some old clothes. And with a hoe in one hand and a cold drink in the other, tell somebody else where to dig.

OK, OK, now I am just curious if I will be allowed to write again! Thanks for reading, don’t forget about our website and please send me any questions or comments to dwdaffy@yahoo.com.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Yellow Rolls Royce/Umbrellas of Cherbourg Excerpts

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Yellow Rolls Royce/Umbrellas of Cherbourg Excerpts

Cinema Sound Stage Orchestra, Somerset records, LP, 1965.

Rare photo of D. L. Miller

The 1964 films, Yellow Rolls Royce/Umbrellas of Cherbourg generated original musical sound tracks. The above release had no connection with the originals. The Cinema players were hired by D.L.Miller, a fascinating businessman worthy of a biography while the group consisted of Hamburg Philharmonic musicians.

The Ray Charles Singers

Miller created Somerset because of the huge demand and success of of other labels’ low priced LPs. He then scouted for talent among a variety of superb musicians – conductors Sir Adrian Boult, Horst Stein, Hugo Rignold, singing group the Ray Charles Singers etc. His arguably most well known 101 Strings, recorded a pile of albums that sold millions and are still popular.

Riz Ortolani

Film composers Riz Ortolani (1926-2014, Yellow Rolls Royce) and Michel Legrand (1932, Umbrellas) have left sizable legacies. Their music on this record is imbued with charm and carefree gaiety. Interestingly, Ortolani plagiarized a passage from Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances for one of the Yellow RR tunes. While I generally like Le­grand’s music better for its consistently beautiful qualities, I was eager to hear Ortolani’s excerpts because of my previous lack of any familiarity with him. What I heard was okay but with a few bland moments.

Michel Legrand

All in all though, the record can be heartily recommended to film music connoisseurs and any other interested collectors.

It has been out of print for many years yet copies are listed for sale on Amazon.

 

 

 

 

SOLON & BEYOND: News from the Solon Elementary School

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

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

My thanks go out to the Solon Elementary School person who sent me the Solon School Newspaper to share with you. Welcome To New Staff: We want to welcome two new social workers to our school. Beth Higgins has worked in RSU #74 for a number of years. This year she will work at Solon, Garret Schenck, and Carrabec High School. Lacey Frost is a new social worker who will work at all four district schools. She previously worked as a social worker at MaineGeneral Medical Center.

Another new staff member at our school is Elaine Jillson, who joins our Special Education Department as an educational technician. Mrs. Jillson worked at Carrabec Community School before coming to Solon.

We also welcome Heidi Day, our new physical education teacher. Mrs. Day has taught P.E. for eleven years at Noble High School in Berwick. She is a Carrabec graduate who got her degree at UMF.

Natalie Costello will work as a math interventionist for the first 12 weeks of the school year through a STEAM Grant that RSU #74 wrote in collaboration with RSU #13 and RSU #59. Ms. Costello will work with students in grades 4-6 to help boost their math skills. She will work in Bingham for the second 12 weeks of the year and in Madison for the last 12 weeks.

At Solon Elementary School, we welcome back Ms. Annie Griffith as our preschool assistant teacher. Miss Annie worked with us two years ago and took last year off to spend with her new baby. We are glad to have her back this year.

Open House will be held at Solon Elementary School on Wednesday, September 26, from 6 – 7 p.m. Enjoy refreshments, visit the classrooms, and shop at the PTO Book Fair.

Solon Elementary School has a very active PTO, which has provided lots of special activities and items for our students over the years. Please consider joining the PTO. For information, contact PTO President Alicia Golden or the school.

The PTO generally meets on the second Thursday of each month, at 6 p.m.

Remember to send in your box tops for education labels! Every box top helps the PTO raise money for school activities.

The PTO is looking for new parents to join them. They look forward to new members from our new families.

Have been very upset about the proposed CMP Corridor lately, and looked up some old clippings I had saved. One of them isn’t too old, it was from the Maine Sunday Telegram, September 24, 2000, and the headline is; Flagstaff: Maine’s most unusual lake. Paved roads, burned trees and other remains of two towns lie beneath the man-made lake’s shallow waters. It was written by Michelle Pavitt, and I am going to print some of her observations. She says she was surprised “to learn that Flagstaff Lake is a man made water body. But I would never have guessed that the lake was the watery grave of two former towns. CMP bought Flagstaff residents’ property, buildings were either moved or simply razed. Before flooding the 18,000-acre flowage area, woods crews clear cut the region, then set unauthorized fires to finish clearing the timber. The land remained in that barren state through the winter of 1950. By spring thaw, the towns were submerged under 12 feet of water.”

Must stop there for now in order to get Percy’s memoir in this weeks’ column. I know how much many of you like his words of wisdom! The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. by Dante Alighieri (ca. 1300).