CRITTER CHATTER – Flying rodents: part 2

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by Jayne Winters

Continued from last month

As a follow-up to last month’s article about the flying squirrel at Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center, I wanted to share some information I found from my on-line research. January’s column included a general overview from articles written by Carleen Cote several years ago, but I was curious about their habitat, diet, family structure, etc.

One source stated the only flying squirrel found in North America was the northern, but several other sites confirmed what Don has recently learned: there are two species of flying squirrels in Maine. Warming climate and habitat loss have caused the smaller, more aggressive southern flying squirrel to expand its territory (recent Canadian studies indicate there are already hybrids from crossbreeding).

Both species are light brown in color, with grayish or white bellies; the northern is larger by a couple of inches, reaching a length of 10-15 inches. Flying squirrels are entirely nocturnal, with oversized eyes that are adapted for low light conditions. Their diet is varied and includes tree sap, nuts, fruit, seeds, fungi, lichen, insects, carrion, bird eggs and yes, even baby birds. Rotting wood is a great spot for favorite foods, and although they’re awkward on their feet, they will scavenge on the forest floor. While flying squirrels are known to store food for winter, they’re not as active in caching, compared to chipmunks and other squirrels.

Flying squirrels generally nest in tree cavities, but will also build nests underground and leaf nests called dreys. Except when raising their young, flyers frequently shift from nest to nest and often huddle together in colonies during winter months to maintain body temperature. They don’t hibernate, but limit activity during cold periods to reserve body fat. Breeding is between March and May with the male (“buck”) pursuing multiple females (“does”). Gestation is five to six weeks, and the female is the sole parent on duty after delivering one to six pups. Their eyes open at one month and youngsters can leave the nest at six weeks of age. They’re weaned after two months and “flying” at three, but may live with mom for another four to eight weeks before moving out. In warmer climates, the southern flyer can have two litters a year.

“Flyers” don’t actually fly, but glide with large flaps of skin called patagia, that stretch between all four legs and act as a parachute when the squirrels launch, allowing them to soar up to 300 feet horizontally. They maneuver easily in the air and can make 90-degree turns around obstacles. The flat tail serves as a rudder, and just before landing, its upward movement decreases its speed, with the legs absorbing the shock. They’re also expert climbers.

Flying squirrels are reasonably common and are not listed as threatened in Maine. Other than predation by owls, hawks, bobcats, lynx, weasels, fox or coyotes, the biggest threat to flyers is probably habitat loss. Because they are nocturnal and tree nesters, they may be especially susceptible to climate change here, as they will experience highest temperatures during their daily resting phase.

Sadly, the flying squirrel at Duck Pond did not survive. Don was preparing to move him to a larger enclosure in the basement so he could get more exercise, but in relocating the cage discovered that he had died, probably from internal injuries. Don did wonder, however, if the squirrel died of loneliness, as flyers tend to overwinter in groups of 75-80 individuals.

Although admissions slow down during the winter months, Don will get calls from folks worried about young animals now on their own. Many are learning how to manage without parental care, but others may be orphaned or injured, struggling to survive. Don continues to take them in, but does transfer rescues to other rehabbers who continue to provide assistance to help keep critter care at Duck Pond manageable. Please check the following web sites to see if there is a rehabber near you: https://www.mainevetmed.org/wildlife-rehabilitation or https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/wildlife/living-with-wildlife/orphaned-injured-wildlife/index.html –

Donald Cote operates Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center on Rte. 3 in Vassalboro. It is a non-profit state permitted rehab facility supported by his own resources & outside donations. Mailing address: 1787 North Belfast Ave., Vassalboro ME 04989 TEL: (207) 445-4326. PLEASE NOTE THE PRIOR wildlifecarecenter EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT BEING MONITORED AT THIS TIME.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Many in primary care want patients to share mental health concerns

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Michele Long, CNP, reviews the results of the GeneSight test with her patient

(NAPSI)—Nurse practitioner Michele Long has been Beth’s primary care provider for years. So, when Beth started experiencing symptoms of depression, she scheduled an appointment with Michele. 

It was the right decision. According to Beth, “Michele made me feel very comfortable talking to her about my mental health.”

Talking about mental health with primary care providers is something doctors and nurse practitioners want more people to do. According to the GeneSight Mental Health Monitor national survey from Myriad Genetics, more than 83 percent of primary care providers (PCPs) wish more of their patients would tell them about their mental health concerns. 

Yet, more than half of surveyed clinicians don’t think patients are aware that PCPs and nurse practitioners are fully trained to diagnose and treat mental health conditions. 

“It would be great if patients knew that they could bring up their mental health concerns to me,” said Long. “But it is also my responsibility to complete depression and anxiety screening with them.” 

Regular mental health screenings at primary care appointments are a good first step in addressing patients’ mental health, bridging the communication gap, and accurately diagnosing those suffering with mental health conditions. However, diagnosis is just the beginning of what is often an uphill battle to find the appropriate medication and dosage to alleviate patients’ symptoms. 

One tool that may help providers is the GeneSight test, which is a genetic test that determines how your genes may affect medication outcomes. Providers get a report about which medications to treat depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other mental health conditions may require dose adjustments, be less likely to work, or have an increased risk of side effects based on a patient’s DNA. 

Long uses the GeneSight test to help reduce the medication trial-and-error process. After seeing that a prior depression medication didn’t work for Beth, Long ordered the GeneSight test and used the information to decide how to change Beth’s prescription. Today, Beth says she “feels so much better” and more like herself.

“Finding effective treatment can be a very frustrating process for patients. They often feel defeated when a medication doesn’t help them,” Long said. “GeneSight is a valuable tool that helps me find solutions for patients who have entrusted me with caring for their mental health.”

For more information about genetic testing and mental health, ask your clinician or visit genesight.com.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS: The “in”famous downtown rotary

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by Roland D. Hallee

This week we’re going to venture a little from The Plains, and go to the north end of Water St., where it intersects with lower Main St., where there once was a rotary. Pretty much where the five-way intersection of Water, Spring, Main, Front and Bridge streets come together. There was two-way traffic on both Main and Front streets, and the Spring Street connector didn’t exist. The rotary was two lanes wide, fairly easy to navigate by car, but no-man’s land for a pedestrian. It was especially challenging on Saturdays when people would go downtown to shop, many walking from The Plains.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: President Chester Arthur

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Chester A. Arthur

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Chester Arthur

For me, 21st President Chester Alan Arthur (1830-1886) always gave the impression of being a stuffed shirt prig with his Billy goat sideburns and mustache. But, like his predecessors and, as of 2023, his 25 successors, he was certainly a fascinating individual with a story uni­quely his own.

The tag, Gentleman Boss, became attached to him; during his years of political leadership, he was described by one journalist of the era as “usually wearing a Prince Albert coat, buttoned closely in front, with a flower in the upper button-hole and the corner of a colored silk handkerchief visible from a side pocket.”

Arthur’s childhood involved frequent changes of address and biographers have no certainty as to whether he was born in Vermont or upstate New York.

His mother, the former Malvina Stone (1802-1869), came from a very tough background in very rural Vermont while his father, William (1796-1875), was born in Ireland and was a Baptist preacher whose happy-go-lucky disposition may have led to frequent changes of churches in Vermont and upstate New York .

Arthur’s siblings included six sisters and two brothers, most of whom lived to ripe old age into the 1900s.

Arthur worked his way through law school by teaching and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He struggled to find work his first two years in Manhattan but in 1855 represented an African-American woman who had been refused transportation on a streetcar.

The client was awarded $500 and Arthur’s arguments resulted in other African-Americans receiving better treatment on public transportation.

In 1859, Arthur married Ellen Herndon (1837-1880) and they had three children – a son who died at three years old and another son and daughter, both of whom lived into the 1900s like several aunts and uncles.

Arthur’s wife died from pneumonia shortly before he became president, so his sister Mary McElroy (1841-1917) very effectively assumed hostess duties in the White House.

During the 1860s and ’70s , Arthur rose higher in New York state politics with the help of a few rather devious individuals but he kept his own hands clean and proved very effective as a Quartermaster General during the Civil War in charge of supplies for the troops; and in 1871 as collector of customs for the Port; and maintained his own reputation for complete honesty. Ironically, he never served in Congress before being nominated by the Republican strategists as Garfield’s vice-president and then, after his predecessor died from bullet wounds, entering the White House.

Arthur achieved Civil Service reforms but little else and eventually lacked the support of his own party because of its feuding divisions.

In 1884, the Democrats sent Grover Cleveland to the White House. Totally exhausted by his workloads, Arthur’s health went downhill within 20 months after leaving Washington and he died on November 18, 1886, at the young age of 56.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Supplement Your Dental Care Routine

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You can help keep your smile shining, even when your diet isn’t adequate, by taking vitamin and mineral supplements as you need them.

(NAPSI)—Brushing and flossing are the main tricks of the trade for maintaining a healthy smile, but if you want to expand your dental health from the inside out, you may want to consider nutritional supplements.

“Most people can obtain all the necessary vitamins and minerals from a balanced diet, but for some, supplements can be helpful as nutrition deficiencies can lead to conditions such as inflammation and tooth loss if left untreated for too long,” said Kiran Malhi, DMD, a dental consultant for Delta Dental of Washington.

Six Suggestions For A Stronger Smile

In tandem with brushing, flossing and consistent trips to the dentist, these six supplements can jump start an even healthier smile:

Calcium: Calcium helps more than just your bones—it can help your teeth too. While calcium is found in dairy products, fish, vegetables and nuts, you can also take calcium as a supplement if you have roadblocks to accessing calcium-rich foods.

Phosphorus: Phosphorus aids in calcium absorption into the body, helping to strengthen teeth by protecting and rebuilding tooth enamel. Many people get enough phosphorus in their diets through meat, fish, milk and whole grains, but it is available in supplement form for those with dietary restrictions.

Vitamin A: Vitamin A helps in saliva production, which is beneficial to your overall oral health. Saliva functions in breaking down foods and cleans bacteria between teeth. The vitamin is found in orange-colored fruits and vegetables, fish and eggs. Vitamin A tablets and gummies are widely available and also keep eyes and skin healthy.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C helps your gums as well as your teeth, keeping connective tissues in the gums strong to hold teeth in place while deficiencies in vitamin C can be the cause of bleeding gums and gum disease. Chewable or liquid forms of vitamin C are erosive, however, and can cause the loss of enamel if taken in excess, though they’re safe at the recommended dosage. Vitamin C is present in many fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin D: Vitamin D protects against oral health conditions such as gingival inflammation, cavities and gum disease, as it plays a significant role in tooth mineralization. Like calcium, vitamin D can be found in fish or vitamin D-fortified foods like milk and cereal, but for convenience, it is available in supplement form.

Zinc: Zinc can eliminate cavity-causing bacteria and control demineralization. The vitamin can also help with gum diseases such as gingivitis and other common periodontal problems. A bonus is that zinc helps fight bad breath.

Learn More

For additional information about how to get and maintain a healthy smile, visit www.deltadentalwa.com/blog.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Poet: Richard Aldridge; Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff; Band Leader: Gene Rodemich; Movie: The Killers

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Richard Aldridge (left), Rachmaninoff (center), Gene Rodemich

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Richard Aldridge

Born in New York City, poet Richard Aldridge (1930-1994) attended summer camp here in Maine most of his childhood and, as an adult, would eventually settle down with his wife in Phippsburg while teaching high school English in Bath.

Although his name is new to me, his work became renowned among other poets and he edited and published a 1969 anthology, Maine Lines.

Before sharing a poem of his that is contained in the ever-fascinating 1989 anthology Maine Speaks, I offer his own very astutely stated words on why poems matter:

“The most important thing in life to any person is another person, not a whole number of other people. That is why poetry will always fill a vital place-in essence, it is an art where three really is a crowd. You should be able to hang around with a good poem just as you do with a good or best friend. As with a best friend, a poem you really like will have said something to you in a way that touches bottom, while at the same time it will just be there, on call any time. If it could see and think, it would observe you growing and changing and reaching all the time. And you, coming back and back to it from time to time, will see new angles and depths and reaches that you never quite knew were there at first acquaintance.”

I read this credo of belief that does resonate while also remembering that most all of the successful poets in America still needed day jobs, Robert Frost being one of those select few who earned a living from his books after his first one was published in 1913 when he was 38.

Now for Richard Aldridge’s, A Sharing of Silences, with the inscription, West Point, Maine, underneath the title:

“late fall, the summer people gone
into the village store I go
six fishermen are sitting around
just talking joking supper done
because I have stuck out
now seventeen Maine winters
still have the wife I started with
have had their children now and then
up at the high school off in town
they let me in a little
by not going quiet like wind dying down
or worse just up and easing out
and yet their talk takes on
the slightest shade of guardedness
because I do teach English
after all which means of course
good grammar is my holy flame
and too (they hear) write poems
and such so who knows what
I might go off and copy down
if they could only understand
the only words I care to find
are those the counter image of
the windworn creases in their brows
the bark-like hardness of their hands
the upright carriage of their pride
and those are not for finding”

West Point, Maine, is roughly seven miles southeast from Bath where, as stated earlier, Aldridge taught and it is part of Phippsburg on the Casco Bay Peninsula.

The poem evokes a way of life and the divisions that can occur among different people living that way of life in a small community, the ever perpetual theme of aloneness in the community, of experience that is shared versus experience that can never be shared.

People want to know things about you but do not want you to know things about them, watching you yet wary of you.

The poet injects elements of great potential for more than one story in certain lines- we’d like to know more about “the summer people gone” , those sometimes obnoxious individuals from a distance who do boost the local economy with their dollars; “six fishermen…just talking… joking… [at] the village store ” who fear most all outsiders; and the poet narrator who teaches the children of those fishermen “now and then/up at the high school off in town” but still has the fishermen interacting with him in their minimally sociable manner combined with “the slightest shade of guardedness”…not ever knowing what their children’s English teacher “might go off and copy down.” God forbid!

These hints of story brought to mind another Maine poet Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) who lived out most of his life in Gardiner and later in New York City, but who was born in Head Tide which is 26 miles northwest from Phippsburg.

Robinson’s poems such as Mr. Flood’s Party, Richard Cory, Miniver Cheevy, Tristan, etc. had innumerable hints of stories.

A poem well worth brooding upon!

In his rambunctious 1930 book on theology, Treatise on the Gods, H.L. Mencken comments – “The only real way to reconcile science and religion is to set up something that is not science and something that is not religion.”

Rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Symphony, a masterpiece of unutterable beauty, has generated shelves of different recordings in which the score is either presented in its over 1 hour complete, sometimes sprawling magnificence or with some cuts in the passages. Both approaches were sanctioned by the composer, depending on his mood.

I own a batch of different recordings, each of which has interest, but one I have consistently enjoyed of the cut version, and for more than 45 years, is a 1959 recording featuring Alfred Wallenstein (1898-1983) conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in what might be the greatest one he ever made. It has pulse, characterful detail, and delectable notes and hangs together like no other recording I know of.

It can also be heard on YouTube .

Gene Rodemich

A 1921 ten-inch acoustically recorded Brunswick shellac disc (#2060) features one of the better dance bands of that era led by Gene Rodemich (1890-1934) who later worked for NBC Radio before dying from lobar pneumonia at the young age of 44.

The two selections are Margie and the rather obscure Irving Berlin Home Again Blues, both which can be heard on YouTube.

The Killers

Two movies that still stick in the memory are Bing Crosby’s 1944 Going My Way, in which he portrayed a Catholic priest, with the very good co-stars Barry Fitzgerald, mezzo soprano Rise Stevens, and the Little Rascals own Alfalfa; and the 1964 film noir, The Killers, starring Lee Marvin and Clu Gulagher as two highly professional hit men who do convey much nuance in their character development, as unlikable as they are; former President Ronald Reagan in what would be his last movie role before he entered the political arena, and a role in which he very convincingly portrayed a gangster; Angie Dickinson as Reagan’s devious wife; and the now underrated actor John Cassavetes as the victim of the hit men.

The film was very, very loosely based on Hemingway’s classic short story.

SCORES & OUTDOORS – Porcupines: nuisance or ecological necessity?

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Porcupines. Nuisance, or ecological necessity?

It all depends with whom you talk. I know some people who are overrun by the animals to the point where they are raiding the gardens, and having to deal with their dogs being injured by porcupine quills due mostly to their own curiosity. While others find a use for them.

Simply put, porcupines are rodents. That puts them in the same class, and are actually related, with raccoons, rats and beavers. They are indigenous to the Americas, Southern Asia, Europe and Africa. They are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and beaver.
They can grow in size to be 25 – 36 inches long with an 8 to 10-inch tail, and weigh from 12 – 35 pounds.

The common porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, is an herbivore, so look out gardens. It eats leaves, herbs, twigs and green plants. They may eat bark in the winter, evidence of which I have seen in many places. The North American porcupine often climbs trees to find food. Like the raccoon, they are mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day.

Because of the scarcity of predators, porcupines are plentiful and are not endangered.

The name porcupine comes from Middle French porc espin (spined pig). A regional American name for the animal is quill pig.

The porcupines’ quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, and they are embedded in the skin musculature.

Quills are released by contact with them, or they may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body. The porcupine does not throw quills, but the flailing muscular tail and powerful body may help impel quills deeply into attackers. The quills’ barbed ends expand with moisture and continue to work deeper into flesh. Porcupine quills have mildly antibiotic properties and thus are not infectious. Quills, however, may cause death in animals if they puncture a vital organ or if a muzzle full of quills leads to starvation.

Once embedded, the hollow quills swell, burn and work their way into the flesh every time a victim’s muscles contract, digging a millimeter deeper each hour. Eventually, they emerge through the skin again, some distance from the entry point though sometimes they spear right through the body.

I have had first hand knowledge of how painful a porcupine quill can be. Many years ago, my children had chores to do after they came home from school. One of them was to make sure they picked up after themselves following their after-school snack. Upon returning home from work, I found a folded paper towel on the counter. I grabbed it to crush it into a ball to throw away when this sharp pain shot through my hand. When I unwrapped the towel, I found a porcupine quill inside, but now imbedded in my hand. It turned out my daughter had brought it home from school to show it to me. She obtained the quill from a “show and tell” session at school.

Because they have few effective predators, porcupines are relatively long-lived. The average life span of the porcupine is 7 – 8 years, however, they have lived up to 15 years in the wild, and 18 years in captivity. A predator needs to learn only once to leave a porcupine alone. Bobcats, great-horned owls, mountain lions, coyotes and wolves, when extremely hungry and unable to catch anything else, may give it a try anyway. The fisher, however, is a skilled porcupine killer. It uses its speed and agility to snake around a porcupine’s rear guard defense and viciously bite its face until it dies.

The remains of the porcupine that died while lodged between the wheels of a camper trailer sometimes this late winter or spring. (photo by Roland D. Hallee)

At one time, however, especially when game was scarce, the porcupine was hunted for its meat and considered a delicacy. A practice that continues in Kenya today. Because they are slow, and can remain in the same tree for days at a time, they are about the only animal that can be killed simply with a large rock. Native people of the North Woods also wove elaborate dyed quillwork decorations into clothing, moccasins, belts, mats, necklaces, bracelets and bags. Because the work was so time-consuming and highly valued, quill embroideries were used as a medium of exchange before the coming of Europeans.

When not in trees or feeding, porcupines prefer the protection of a den, which can be found in rock crevices, caves, hollow logs, abandoned mines and even under houses and barns.

Porcupines are highly attracted to salt. They may chew on any tool handle that has salt left from human sweat. They have even been known to chew on outhouse toilet seats. Road rock salt is very tempting to them, and puddles of water from the snow-melt in the spring are especially luring and could account for their high road-kill mortality rate. They have even been seen gnawing on automobile tires that have been exposed to rock salt.

In Maine, porcupines join a short list of other animals that are open to hunting all year, including coyotes, woodchucks and red squirrels.

So, are porcupines a nuisance, or do they have a role in the grand scheme of things, ecologically?

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Name the five NFL teams to win only one Super Bowl.

Answer can be found here.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Top 5 nutrients you need in your diet

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You’re probably not getting enough of these vitamins and minerals. Here’s how to fill your plate with power foods for your body and mind.

You try your hardest to eat a healthy diet (you really do!). That’s a smart habit, since food is the best source of most of the key nutrients your body needs. But you’re likely still missing out on some important vitamins and minerals.

“Americans don’t always eat the right foods,” says registered dietitian Bonnie Taub-Dix. She’s the author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You from Label to Table. “We aren’t getting enough fruits and vegetables, which are a great source of many nutrients.”

The good news: It’s not hard to make every meal a nutritional powerhouse. And it takes only a few small tweaks to your meal plan. Read on for a top-5 list of essential nutrients your body needs and the foods that will deliver them.

Nutrient you need: Potassium

Your body needs potassium for almost everything it does. Potassium supports normal blood pressure and helps your kidneys function smoothly. It also supports nerve function, helps your muscles contract and more.

Fill your grocery cart with: Potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe, apricots, bananas, prunes, raisins and oranges.

Broccoli Cantaloupe Apricots Bananas Prunes Raisins Oranges

Nutrient you need: Calcium

This mineral is crucial for bone health, but there’s a good chance you aren’t getting enough of it, says Taub-Dix. Men need around 1,000 mg of calcium per day, and women need 1,000 to 1,200 mg. Calcium is found in dairy products such as: Cheese, yogurt, milk and calcium-fortified orange juice.

Nutrient you need: Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, so it plays a crucial role in boosting bone health. You need 15 micrograms of vitamin D per day. If you’re a milk drinker, you don’t have to think too hard about it: Cow’s milk is fortified with vitamin D. Many plant-based milk alternatives, such as almond milk and oat milk, are also fortified with D. Other good sources include: Fatty fish, such as trout, salmon, tuna and mackerel (these are the best natural sources of vitamin D), Fortified yogurt and eggs. Eggs

Nutrient you need: Magnesium

There are a lot of important reasons to get enough magnesium in your diet,” says Taub-Dix. Magnesium helps your muscles and nerves function properly, regulates blood sugar levels and blood pressure, and builds bone health. Some of the best are: Nuts, legumes, whole grains, leafy green vegetables, fortified breakfast cereal.

Nutrient you need: Iron

This mineral helps support muscle metabolism and healthy connective tissue. Your body also uses iron to produce hemoglobin. That’s a vital protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body.

Red meat is an excellent source of iron. Your body absorbs two to times times more iron from animal sources than it does from plant sources, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. But don’t stress if you’re not a meat eater: You can also get this nutrient from a variety of legumes, vegetables and fortified foods.

Good animal sources of iron are: Red meat, turkey, chicken, oysters. Some top nonanimal sources of iron include: Fortified cereal, enriched bread and pasta, beans and peas, spinach, tofu, dried fruits such as raisins, and broccoli.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS: Working for the extras

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An old sawmill with a rock dam.

by Roland D. Hallee

Life on The Plains in the 1950s and ‘60s was pretty simple. World War II had ended a few years earlier, the Korean War was raging, but I was too young to remember that. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the “man who defeated Hitler” was elected president in 1952, and the country was going through some kind of industrial revolution.

In Waterville, the mills were cranking out products, unemployment was down, and families were growing.

Our dad worked at Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, in Winslow, and brought home a decent pay check for those days. He worked his way up to machine tender, which means he primarily ran the paper making monstrosity of a machine.

At the Sunday dinner table, when he was able to be there since he worked shift work and had to be at the mill sometime, he would go through the process of making paper. Whether it was tissue paper, bathroom tissue, or the base paper that would later be processed into wax paper, it was relayed to us. Three of the four of us would later decide we didn’t want to spend our lives in the mill. One brother, the oldest, became a chemical engineer, specializing in the pulp and paper industry.

Even though our dad provided well for our family, there were no handouts. I don’t ever recall having an “allowance”. We were provided with the necessities, and that was it. Any frills, or “wants” we had, had to be earned. And don’t think we got paid to mow the lawn or shovel snow, those were expected.

So, we went out and got paper routes. That, in itself, was a life experience. Me at the age of 12 years.

For six days a week – no paper on Sunday – we were up at 4:30 a.m., went out the front door to fetch our bundle of papers that had been left by a Morning Sentinel delivery driver. We prepared the papers for each door we would visit. Some were folded in half, some folded into thirds, and even some we “boxed” for throwing up two or more stories in apartment buildings. No need to climb three flights of stairs when you could chuck the papers up there. We had 83 customers spread throughout our neighborhood.

We would load the papers in our wagon, and venture out the door. To steal an old slogan of the U.S. Postal Service, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night would prevent us from our appointed rounds.” And there were days when we would rather still be in bed. On rainy days, we had to make sure the papers stayed dry, or it would affect our tips. Following snow storms, we had to trudge through mounds of snow banks, sometimes sinking up to our knees. It was always dark, because we had to complete our route by 6 a.m. We had to be ready for school by 7 a.m. School started at 8 a.m. in those days, and we walked. We couldn’t be late. And I won’t even go into the battles we had with dogs.

Clinton Clauson

I remember the night Gov. Clinton Clauson died. The papers had been delivered to our house, and we were ready to go when a truck pulled up, took away the papers, and left us in a lurch. A little while later, a new bundle was delivered with the front page story. Some of our customers still didn’t understand, and we barely made it to school on time.

Oh, but in the summer time, it was a different story. It was light early, and we didn’t have to worry about school. I can remember some mornings when, following our deliveries, we would sit on the back steps, and enjoy the aroma of doughnuts and bread in the air. Probably from Bolduc’s Bakery, on Veteran Court.

Of course, delivering the papers was only part of the job. In the evenings, we had to go collect our money from the customers. That could be a challenge, especially from those who were unemployed.

Economics played a large part in our decision to give up the routes when we were about ready for high school. The paper back then was 45-cents a week. People would give us half a dollar and tell us to “keep the change.” Well, in due time, the cost of the subscription went to 47-cents, and the customers still gave us half a dollar, and said, “keep the change.” Besides, there were other opportunities about to present themselves. Going to work at the Sentinel when we turned 16 years old.

With that job, which paid 75-cents an hour, we worked from 1 – 4 a.m., six days a week, and still had to make it to school on time. During this period of working these jobs, I missed three days of school, only because my maternal grandfather had passed away.

But, the lesson was learned. Anything you want in life, you have to go work for it.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: James Garfield

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James Garfield (left), Lucretia Garfield (right)

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

James Garfield

Former 20th President James Abram Garfield (1831-1880) was the last of the Ohio Republican Triumvirate to serve in the White House, following his predecessors Grant and Hayes.

Garfield grew up in poverty on a farm and was the youngest of five children, three of whom died before he was born (One brother James Ballou Garfield died at the age of three in 1829.); only one sister, Mary (1824 – 1884) lived to adulthood, surviving her youngest brother by four years.

Garfield’s father Abram (1799-1833) was born in Worcester, New York, while his mother, the former Eliza Ballou (1801 – 1888) had spent her childhood in Richmond, New Hampshire, and outlived both of her surviving adult children.

To avoid starvation, Garfield and his sister helped their mother on the farm with all of the heavy work and he did not begin his formal education until the age of 18. Being a quick learner, he breezed through college and, at the age of 25 and already an accomplished teacher, became president of his alma mater, Hiram College.

Garfield was also an Orthodox Christian and became a highly accomplished preacher and orator. Listeners felt, as one wrote later, “as if they had been transplanted away from earth to some tranquil, beautiful region of heaven.”

His talent as a speaker served him well when he ran successfully for the Ohio Senate in 1859 and later for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Like his two Ohio predecessors, Garfield served with distinction as an officer during the Civil War.

Ironically, for reasons too detailed to go into, he was elected to the U.S. Senate while still Representative but never served there because, about the same time, he became the Republican candidate for the White House and won by a narrow margin over his Democrat opponent General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824 – 1886).

Garfield’s major accomplishment as president may have been pushing the investigation into fraudulent expenditures in the U.S. Post Office which involved a number of high-ranking fellow Republicans, resulting in indictments and prosecution.

Unfortunately, his presidency was short-lived.

On July 2nd, 1881, the president was at the D.C. train station heading to New England with his two sons when the psychotic Charles J. Guiteau (1841 – 1882) fired two bullets into Garfield, who very strangely was traveling without any bodyguards, as Lincoln’s assassination had been considered a fluke and his successors saw little need for protection.

After two months of being unsanitarily poked and probed, President Garfield died on September 19, and was succeeded by Vice-President Chester Alan Arthur (1830 – 1886).

Garfield married Lucretia Rudolph (1832 – 1918) who was a calm and supportive wife and shared with her husband a love of books. Like former First Lady Lucy Hayes, Lucretia was also a college graduate. They had seven children, among whom two died by the age of three while the others lived to ripe old age.