REVIEW POTPOURRI – U.S. President: Martin Van Buren

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Martin Van Buren

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Martin Van Buren

When I was in third grade, an aunt gave me a calendar with paintings and photos of all the presidents from George Washington to Dwight D. Eisenhower. I remember being fascinated by these names and faces: Washington’s implacable dignity, John Adams’ cherubic candor, Jefferson’s humane inscrutability, etc.

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) with his bald head and wavy hair similar to that of the Three Stooges Larry Fine, had a good-natured congeniality and aura of approachability.

Reading up on his career in New York state politics and his subsequent rise to national clout, I now see how the term used to describe him, “sly fox”, was an apt one.

A few examples:

Van Buren was sympathetic to the farmers but also allied himself with the insidious Tammany Hall party machine which would influence so much of what went on in New York.

He supported state Governor Dewitt Clinton’s spearheading of the building of the Erie Canal but then threw his weight behind Clinton’s opponent in a re-election campaign.

He believed in the expansion of voting rights but opposed universal suffrage.

He opposed the annexation of Texas as a slave state but was otherwise silent, seeing the abolition of slavery as a threat to national unity (in 1848, he would speak out against slavery as the chosen candidate for the short-lived Free Soil party, a coalition of anti-slavery Democrats, Whigs and abolitionists.).

His skills as a mediator and good listener were highly conducive to building some bridges between political foes, as was his occasional support of policies anathema to his allies.

Van Buren’s wife Hannah died at 35 of tuberculosis in 1819. In 1838, their son Abraham married Angelica Singleton (1818-1877), a second cousin of former First Lady Dolly Madison who finagled the match. During the remaining two years of Van Buren’s presidency, she served as her father-in-law’s hostess with consummate elegance.

Van Buren outlived presidents Harrison, Tyler, Polk and Taylor and witnessed the election of the 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Being born to Dutch-speaking parents, Van Buren learned English as a second language.

CRITTER CHATTER: Area farmers help with much needed milk supply

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by Jayne Winters

I wasn’t sure what this month’s article would be about, but after just a few minutes of talking with Don, we agreed a thank-you was in order to some local farmers who recently helped during a shortage of fresh milk for this year’s fawns.

When I visited Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab in June, I was immediately drawn to one of the newest admissions: a days’ old fawn whose mother had been hit by a car. She was one of about 16 Don has cared for so far this summer and after a little urging from Don, quickly drained her noontime bottle. Although one of Don’s “favorite” critters (the other being foxes), fawns require 24/7 care due to their feeding schedules. Don usually orders powdered milk from a company in Arizona in anticipation of many injured or orphaned coons and fawns arriving in April/May.

The company makes milk that is protein/fat specific for wild animals in zoos and those in the care of rehabbers. The obvious advantage of the dry form is you make only what you need so nothing is wasted or spoils; the liquid is warmed in the microwave, but is only good for 24 hours. The cost is $200/pail, plus shipping, and Don typically uses eight pails a year. For the very young fawns, he prefers to feed with fresh goat milk that he’s been able to obtain locally, averaging 165 gallons/year. Luckily, fresh milk can be frozen until needed. The first morning feeding is 6 – 7 a.m., with subsequent bottles provided every six hours around the clock. Even though they’re hungry, some fawns – especially the youngest – are reluctant to take a bottle. Changing the nipples on the bottle often does the trick, but by then the milk may need to be warmed again. Fawns will drink milk until Labor Day and then gradually switch over to grass, leafy greens (clover, dandelions, etc.) and finally, grain.

Last month found Don in dire need of goat milk as the order from Arizona had been delayed. I contacted Jamie and Heidi Bray, friends of mine who have a small farm in Somerville. I had recently visited their newborn goat kids and knew mom Kiwi was providing a good supply of milk. They were happy to drop some off at Duck Pond and put Don in contact with good friends Anil and Kelly Roopchand, who own Pumpkin Vine Family Farm, a pasture-based goat dairy also located in Somerville. Don made a drive out to the farm and was duly impressed with the tour and milking operation by Anil’s and Kelly’s son, Keiran. He was especially appreciative of the milk donations: neither the Brays nor the Roopchands would accept payment. In addition, Don has been in contact with Tom and Lynn Ryan, of Little Valley Farm, in China, who have supplied him with fresh goat milk for years. With another possible Winslow source, it looks like he and the fawns are all set for the summer!

Once the fawns are large enough to fend on their own, they’re released in the group they were brought up with rather than individually as there’s more security in numbers. And Don is adamant about not releasing after October, right before hunting season.

As I got ready to leave, Don had a call from an IF&W biologist about four gray squirrels whose nest had been accidentally displaced by CMP workers repairing a line. After assessing them, they’ll likely be transferred to another rehabber in Boothbay for more care. I also got a few photos of a gray fox kit that was too small for an outside pen and was being housed in a dog carrier in the house. You never know what you’ll find at Duck Pond!

Don continues to keep admissions and long-term residents at a limited number by transferring many rescued critters to other rehabbers who have generously offered to assist in their care. Please check these websites to see if there is a rehabber closer to you to help keep critter care at Duck Pond more manageable: 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 nonprofit 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.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS – Sundays were special: Especially when dad didn’t work

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Waterville Post Office, built in 1911, as seen in this 1960s photo.

by Roland D. Hallee

Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, life on the plains was relatively simple. During the winter, it was school, and during the summers, we pretty much discussed that a couple of weeks ago.

But Sunday’s were special.

Being from a French Catholic household, Sundays always began with the Sunday Mass at St. Francis de Sales Church. The whole family, six of us – father, mother, my three brothers and me. The Mass back then was celebrated in both French and Latin, and it would last well over an hour. Sometimes, my mother had her hands full keeping us focused. My dad wasn’t always with us because he sometimes worked the 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. shift at Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, in Winslow.

When my dad came with us, we would ride to church. When he didn’t, we would walk.

After church, we would head home and begin preparations for the Sunday dinner. That was always the major meal of the week. It would consist of chicken, ham, beef, or pork with all the potatoes and vegetables, and always…always something sweet to finish it off. Sunday dinner would usually last from noon to about 2 p.m., where everything was discussed from how school was going, how our sports teams were doing, world politics, and, of course, when dad was at Sunday dinner, we got our weekly lesson on how to run a papermaking machine, and the process of making paper. At one point, I was sure I could go to the mill and run that machine myself.

Occasionally, I would go next door – we lived in a duplex with our grandparents living next door. There I would find my grandfather sitting by the radio, listening to his favorite program, La Melodie Francais, hosted by Edgar Poulin, who lived on Water St., in a house located across the street from the present-day Forrest J. Paré VFW post. (By the way, Mr. Poulin was grandfather to The Town Line’s business manager and China resident, Claire Breton.) He would play old French music from Canada. My grandfather, who was a jokester with a great sense of humor, would call the show, La Maladie Francais, which translates to The French Sickness.

My grandfather was Canadian-born, but later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He would sit in his big, stuffed chair, and do a jig with his feet, without getting out of the chair. It was a pleasure, and entertaining, to watch him do that.

Every once in a while, after church, if the weather was nice, we would take a Sunday drive out to the country. Now, back then, once you reached the end of Silver St., and crossed the bridge, you were in the country, heading up the Oakland Road, to Oakland, which is now called Kennedy Memorial Drive. There was Mea­der’s Horse Farm, on the left, where JFK Plaza is now, and nothing until you reached the Penny Hill Farm, which is now the doctors’ complex and Eye Care of Maine. We would sometimes stop for fresh vegetables. If you headed north up Main St., you would be in the country when you reached what is now Elm Plaza and all the other businesses located on both sides of the road. There was nothing but open fields.

Occasionally, my dad would somehow work up the courage, and after reading the morning paper, call out to the four of us and say, “How about if we go see a Red Sox game?” So, off we’d go, head to Boston on a Sunday morning, and return home that evening. You always had a feeling he would do that after he would read that the Sox were playing a doubleheader that day. Get two games for the price of one. On July 20, 1958, I actually saw Jim Bunning, of the Detroit Tigers, pitch a no-hitter. I also saw Ted Williams hit the 521st and last home run of his career on September 28, 1960, in his last major league at-bat.

Enough of that!

Sundays were always a family day back then, again, when my dad didn’t work the “day shift.” We would all dress up for church, and pretty much stay that way the rest of the day. Doing anything to ruin your “Sunday best” would put you in a deep bunch of trouble. My mother was meticulous, and she expected us to do the same.

It never seemed to rain on Sundays.

Read other installments in this series here.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Swans are sighted on west shore of Webber Pond

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Swan

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

It has been reported that a bevy of swans has been spotted on Webber Pond. Interesting. So I had to investigate. Oh, by the way, a bevy of swans is when they are on the ground. While in flight they are called a wedge.

The swan is known around the world for its beauty, elegance, and grace.

The swan has the ability to swim and fly with incredible speed and agility. This bird is also very intelligent, devoted to its mate, and highly aggressive about defending its young. They are a common sight in temperate and colder climates around the globe.

The English word “swan” is also shared with the German and Dutch. It likely has its roots in the older Indo-European word swen, which means to sound or to sing.

This bird is much faster on land than you might suspect with speeds of 22 miles an hour. In the water, it can also achieve speeds of around 1.6 miles per hour by paddling its webbed feet. But if they stretch out their wings, then swans can let the wind carry them at much higher speeds while also saving energy.

These birds feature prominently in human mythologies and arts around the world. Some of the most famous stories involve metamorphosis and transformation. A Greek legend claims that the god Zeus once disguised himself as a swan. The famous 19th century Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake, which derived from Russian and German folk tales, is the story of a princess transformed into a swan by a curse. And of course, the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Ugly Duckling is about a duck that transforms into a swan.

Swimming gracefully through the water, these birds are an impressive spectacle whose characteristics include a large body, a long and curved neck, and big feet. Each species has different colored plumage. The common mute swan is almost completely covered in white feathers except for an orange bill and some black markings on the face.

These birds rank as the largest waterfowl and among the largest birds in the world.

Among these birds’ most remarkable social characteristics are the intense bonds they form with one mate for life. Unlike many other species of birds (even the closely related geese and duck), this has a few distinct advantages. First, it allows the pair to learn from their reproductive failures and develop better strategies. Second, the couple will share several duties, including the construction of nests, which they build out of grasses, branches, reeds, and other vegetation. This makes them far more effective than it would be on its own. Third, because of their long migratory routes, they have less time to acquire a mate, so the lifelong bond actually saves them time.

These birds are quite defensive animals that will do anything to protect their young. To drive off threats, they will engage in a display called busking, which involves hissing, snorting, and flapping with their outstretched wings. Due to their relatively weak bones, this display is largely a bluff that has little force behind it, but it doesn’t stop them from gloating. After driving off a predator, they make a triumphant sound. They also communicate through a variety of other vocalizations that emanate from the windpipe or the breastbone, including in some species a geese like honk. Even the so-called mute swan can make hissing, snoring, or grunting sounds.

After the breeding season, the bird migrates to warmer climates in the winter by flying in diagonal V formations with around 100 individuals. When the lead bird tires, another one takes its place at the front. These birds can be either partially migratory or wholly migratory depending on where they nest. The fully migratory species typically live in colder climates and may travel the same route thousands of miles every year toward warmer climates.

These birds are endemic to ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries, and wetlands all over the world. Most species prefer temperate or Arctic climates and migrate during the colder seasons. The common mute swan is native to Europe. It was later introduced into North America (where it flourished).

Swans are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals. When swimming in the water, it feeds via a method called dabbling in which it flips upside down and reaches down with its long neck to the vegetation at the bottom of the floor. The bird can also come up onto land in search of food.

These bird’s large size, fast speeds, flying ability, and rather aggressive behavior (at least when threatened) are a deterrent for most predators, but the old, ill, and young (especially the eggs) are sometimes preyed upon by foxes, raccoons, wolves, and other carnivorous mammals. Habitat loss, pollution, and overhunting have all posed a persistent threat, but they can adapt quite well to human habitations, and the cultivation of ponds and lakes for local wildlife has kept population numbers high. In the future, swan habitat and migratory patterns will be affected by climate change.

Thanks to years of protection, the swan genus as a whole are in excellent health. According to the IUCN Red List, which tracks the population status of many animals around the world, every single species of the swan is listed as least concern, which is the best possible conservation prognosis. Population numbers, though not known with precise accuracy, appear to be stable or increasing around the world. The trumpeter swan endemic to North America once fell to as little as 100 birds in 1935, but it has since been rehabilitated.

Swans have symbolized different things to different people. They were a symbol of religious piety in ancient Greece. They were revered for their purity and saintliness in Hinduism. And because of their lifelong bonds, they’ve also symbolized love and devotion around the world.

The common phrase “swan song,” which means a mournful call at the moment of the swan’s death, appears to be a myth. It is still regularly used in modern English to signify a final graceful exit, but the origin of this belief is not well understood. According to the author Jeremy Mynott, who wrote a book about birds in the ancient world, the phrase might have to do with the swan’s connection to Apollo, the god of prophecy and music. The philosopher Plato believed that the swan song was a “metaphorical celebration of the life to come.” Rather than bewailing their own deaths, Plato writes, the swans are “happy in the knowledge that they are departing this life to join the god they serve.” Other ancient authors were skeptical of the swan song and sought to debunk it. More recently, some scientists have tried to find a more rational and scientific explanation for this belief, but more likely it’s based entirely on symbolism and myth.

Despite their intense devotion to each other, swans do not die from grief. This appears to be a myth derived from a dubious ancient source. If a mate dies prematurely, then the surviving swan will usually find a new mate. What they feel after a mate dies is not entirely clear, since we cannot know fully what they are thinking.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Which shortstop’s league-leading 209 hits helped him win the 1997 rookie of the year award?

Answer can be found here.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: 10 tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle

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A happier, healthier you can start with a quality fitness program.

by Yiqing Song, Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, Fairbanks School of Public Health

At this extreme moment, we began working from home, away from campus, and keeping social distance for as many people as possible. As we stay home and are stuck with the foods that have been in our fridge or pantry for a while, we are temporarily living a sedentary lifestyle with increased odds of physical inactivity, excessive eating and sitting, stress, anxiety, and depression. In particular, many of us will gain some weight during the pandemic and may keep the extra weight permanently, which may carry considerable health risks for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and other health problems.

Here, I’d like to share some basic tips and resources for how to maintain your healthy lifestyle, body weight, and overall well-being while staying home and engaging in social distancing.

1. Measure and Watch Your Weight

Keeping track of your body weight on a daily or weekly basis will help you see what you’re losing and/or what you’re gaining.

2. Limit Unhealthy Foods and Eat Healthy Meals

Do not forget to eat breakfast and choose a nutritious meal with more protein and fiber and less fat, sugar, and calories.

3. Take Multivitamin Supplements

To make sure you have sufficient levels of nutrients, taking a daily multivitamin supplement is a good idea, especially when you do not have a variety of vegetables and fruits at home. Many micronutrients are vital to your immune system, including vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, and E, as well as zinc, iron, copper, selenium, and magnesium. However, there’s currently NO available evidence that adding any supplements or “miracle mineral supplements” to your diet will help protect you from the virus or increase recovery. In some cases, high doses of vitamins can be bad for your health.

4. Drink Water and Stay Hydrated, and Limit Sugared Beverages

Drink water regularly to stay healthy, but there is NO evidence that drinking water frequently (e.g. every 15 minutes) can help prevent any viral infection.

5. Exercise Regularly and Be Physically Active

At this time, at-home workouts may be a good idea. But you can also walk your dog or run outside.

6. Reduce Sitting and Screen Time

Exercise can’t immunize you from your sedentary time. Even people who exercise regularly could be at increased risk for diabetes and heart disease and stroke if they spend lots of time sitting behind computers.

7. Get Enough Good Sleep

There is a very strong connection between sleep quality and quantity and your immune system. You can keep your immune system functioning properly by getting seven to eight hours of sleep each night.

8. Go Easy on Alcohol and Stay Sober

Drinking alcohol does not protect you from the coronavirus infection. Don’t forget that those alcohol calories can add up quickly. Alcohol should always be consumed in moderation.

9. Find Ways to Manage Your Emotions

It is common for people to have feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness, and uncertainty.

10. Use an App to Keep Track of Your Movement, Sleep, and Heart Rate

A reminder: People with serious chronic medical conditions, including extreme obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are at a higher risk of experiencing complications and getting very sick from the COVID-19 infection. They should talk to their medical providers and listen to their advice.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS: Reader’s memory helps fill in the gaps

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by Roland D. Hallee

Before we continue, I want to share an email I received from Peg Pellerin, who grew up on King St., and filled in some of the gaps I left out when taking our tour of Water St. Here are her memories:

by Peg Pellerin

[Read part one here.]

Oh my gosh, Roland, your articles about the Plains of Waterville, also known as the South End, and many years prior to my time, Frenchville, brought me back to my youth with so many loving memories.

I grew up on King Street from 1952 until my parents moved to Winslow back in 1971. I went to school at Notre Dame, walking to it from the King Street side.

I’ll start with my memories of Water Street, adding a few things that were not in your articles. I don’t remember too much about Water Street from Main Street up to Poissonier’s Market, which was a few doors before the Maine Theater, also known as the Maine Bijou, which was two doors before Daviau’s Pharmacy. I do remember the White House furniture store with the round house behind it. That building now houses Radio Communications and Emery’s Meats [Note: Emery’s has since moved].

Now going back to Poissonier’s Market, formerly Bolduc’s Market, was just after the house that is now Advance 1 Cleaning Services. It’s amazing how many small, family-owned markets there were on Water Street, and they all were able to make a living. There was a laundry service tucked in there somewhere between the Maine Theater and Daviau’s Pharmacy. Dad and I would spend time at Daviau’s to get our comic books so we’d be ready for the next rainy day. Mom and I would get our ice cream sundaes and soda at the fountain. If there wasn’t a prescription for certain ailments, Mr. Daviau, the pharmacist, would figure something out, usually an old-fashioned remedy that doctors weren’t using any more.

You were correct about the aroma from Bolduc’s Bakery, which was on Veterans Court, a narrow street tucked away somewhere in the block. Mom and I would go to the bakery on Saturday mornings to get uncooked dough and she would make “gallets” (?sp) which was similar to fried dough.

Where a brick apartment building is situated between Gray and Gold streets once housed many different types of shops on the street level and apartments on the second floors. I remember walking by those shops and seeing a place that worked on leather and made hats. It was possibly a shoe shop as well. There was a furrier, when having a fur coat was fashionable. There was a small restaurant tucked in there somewhere, a watch repair shop, and some others that I don’t remember what they were.

Gold Street was the next division to the next block which had Belliveau Oil. Across the street from there, on the river side, was Picher’s Furniture and Plumbing. I remember going to both places to pay bills for my grandmother who lived on Libby Court. Before Libby Court there was Notre Dame Church/School and a large apartment building. On the corner of Libby Court and Water Street was Cote’s Market. Ah, that was the place to get your penny candy, which was a penny a piece. “Hurry up and get what you want,” would yell Mr. Cote.

I do remember the South End Café. The owner’s daughter is currently a bus driver for the Winslow School Department. Then there was Gabe Giroux, barber extraordinaire. If there was anything to know about Waterville, especially in the political scene, he knew it. I believe you were correct in saying he probably was the only Republican in that part of town.

Dick’s Variety, owned by Dick Bolduc, sold his business to my parents, Don and Virginia Rodrigue, becoming Don’s Variety. It did go back to Dick’s Variety when Dick Bolduc bought it back from my parents several years later. The empty lot next to Dick’s once was Veilleux’s Grocery Store owned and operated by Larry Veilleux. My father was a meat cutter for Larry. When Larry closed the store, dad became the meat cutter for Vachon’s Market, which was on the corner of Moor and Water streets. The building is no longer there. The fire substation was right next door to the store. My paternal grandmother lived in the apartment building on the opposite corner. It wasn’t too far to go to the store to pick up some things for my grandmother and of course say hello to dad.

Vachon’s closed and dad went on to work for Harris Baking Co., so when my grandmother needed a few groceries and meat, we’d go to Laverdiere’s Market on the corner of Grove and Water streets. Traveling further down Water Street, it became a very narrow road and ended at Couture’s Field, a very famous baseball field back in the day. I’m not even sure if it is used anymore [Note: It is still in use]. Before getting to Grove Street, on the riverside was a hair salon that my paternal grandmother frequented. It was called Bobdot Beauty Shoppe.

South Grove Street, off Grove Street, once had a florist, of which I can’t remember the name [Note: Carter’s Flower Shop]. On the opposite side of Grove Street, which now houses a trailer park, was another ball field and west of that was a town garage that housed Waterville’s school buses. I’m not sure what it is used for now [Note: It was Standard Water Proofing for a while, now Box Drop Mattresses].

Well, that’s all my memory serves, which I’m surprised it served me at all. LOL

Again, thank you for bringing me back to the times of my childhood.

Send your memories of life on the Plains to Roland at townline@townline.org.

Read other articles in this series here.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: I’m back!

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by Debbie Walker

I am back! This was the longest I have ever been sick with anything and it was NOT Covid. It was a really nasty flu that lasted weeks. What I didn’t realize, I was so making things worse. It was one of those deals you are too sick to even try to see a doctor and too stubborn to go when my daughter wanted to take me (I have learned a lesson). Just too sick to want to move.

What I wasn’t even thinking about, nor anyone else, was my prescription medications. That is how to “add insult to injury” of a situation. I really made myself much sicker for longer.

I learned not to be so stubborn (stupid) and realize the daughter very often is smarter than the mother. I also learned that someone else should always know your medication routine. I would suggest giving someone dependable a paper that has all your medication information. How you take each and when. Name of doctor and phone number for each one. These plans before any illness may save a life someday. You can consider this my latest PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

The day before I got sick, May 2, Twodles (Two doodles) birthday party for my great-granddaughter. What a “splash”, literally! There was a bounce house and water slides for all different skill levels! It was quite a day! I loved watching Addi learning what to do in a bounce house.

Twodle’s I learned is the second birthday Mickey and Mini Mouse style (her latest favorites). Mickey, Mini and the show is all very different from what I remember years ago. You have to watch to believe.

Miss Addison Grace is now two years old with an amazing vocabulary. You can have a real conversation. Amazing. Numbers, colors, animals, alphabet and loves books! (I hope to remember to put in a picture.)

As soon as I could fly I got a flight and came to Maine for recuperating at a good friend’s cottage on Unity Lake. It has been wonderful, the weather perfect I have been visited by many friends and family.

My sister and brother-in-law brought up everything necessary for a clam boil for lunch one day. He had dug the clams and he did all the cooking! What a way to get pampered!!

One Saturday morning, I read a children’s story to little ones at the library in Unity. I love to dress in some silly outfit for the reading. It is fun watching the kids, ages 3 -6 years old, reactions as I read them some funny story. I think they enjoyed as much as I did.

Fireworks! While everyone was hunting for fireworks to watch, I had my own private showing at the cottage. Cottages on the other side provided me with the entertainment! I had the best view, from inside and no fighting off mosquitoes. It was great!

It’s back to Florida this week for me. I have been up here for well over a month and I want to get back while Addi still remembers who I am. I hope you had and continue to have a wonderful summer. Here comes fall!

Thank you all for letting me know you missed me. Contact me with questions or comments at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Thanks for reading!

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Sir Malcolm Sargent

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Jacqueline Du Pré

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Sir Malcolm Sargent

Sir Malcolm Sargent

Sir Malcolm Sargent (1895-1967) conducted a huge number of fine recordings from the 1930s to not long before he died in 1967.

Ones that particularly stand out are a 78 set of a Vieuxtemps 5th Violin Concerto with Jascha Heifetz from the early 1930s and their stereo remake in 1961 coupled with one very beautiful performance of Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, itself highly recommended as a piece for newcomers to classical music.

Sargent also conducted violinist Ruggiero Ricci in two different and very distinguished recordings of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, one in 1951 and a stereo remake ten years later.

He collaborated with violinist Albert Sammons in a wonderful 1940s 78 set of Frederick Delius’s evocative Violin Concerto and, during the 1960s, with the renowned Jacqueline Du Pré (1945-1987) in the same composer’s Cello Concerto.

Sargent recorded the complete Handel’s Messiah 4 times – in 1946 for Columbia, in 1955 and 1959 for Angel and in 1965 for Reader’s Digest. He conducted live performances annually for decades. In addition to the four different sets, I have his 1932 Victor 78 of two choruses from the oratorio .

Sargent was gifted as a conductor of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas such as HMS Pinafore and the Mikado. His 1930s set of all five Beethoven Piano Concertos with Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) was the first complete one with that pianist’s interpretive wizardry as a performance standard difficult to equal.

Sir Malcolm became popular as the conductor of the annual London Proms concerts, replacing Sir Henry Wood (1869-1944) in 1947 until his own death in 1967, when he was suéceeded by Sir Colin Davis (1927-2013).

Sir Thomas Beecham

Sargent and his good friend, the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), would often meet for lunch and ex­changed gossip about their romantic escapades; because of Sargent’s taste for expensive clothes, Beecham referred to him as Flash Harry.

Although singers and soloists enjoyed working with him, orchestral players had issues with Sargent’s arrogance and general disregard for their well-being, especially with tenure. Several friends considered him a “cad” and “bounder ” while his own son was estranged from him for years.

Because of the earlier-mentioned philandering, one woman warned her friends never to take a cab with the Maestro.

Sargent’s health declined during his last years due to pancreatic cancer but he did a successful guest concert with the Chicago Symphony a few months before his death.

Many of Sargent’s recordings and broadcasts can be heard via YouTube.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: DNA verifies another wolf killed in New York

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Trail cameras set up by MWC captured these images. (photos courtesy of John Glowa)

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

This week, I’m going to give my space to John Glowa Sr., of the Maine Wolf Coalition, with an update on the mounting evidence that wolves are attempting a comeback in the Northeast:

by John Glowa Sr.

DNA analysis of an 85-pound canid shot by a New York hunter in December 2021, has verified the animal to have been a wolf. The animal was killed in central New York and the hunter posted photos of the animal on social media. At the time that it was killed, wolves had been removed from the federal Endangered Species list. They have since been reinstated to the list after a successful lawsuit by wildlife advocates.

In a collaborative effort between the Northeast Ecological Recovery Society (NERS) and the Maine Wolf Coalition (MWC), the hunter graciously provided tissue samples of the animal for DNA analysis, some of which were sent by NERS at considerable expense to the Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. We thank the hunter for his cooperation, without which we would not have gotten samples for analysis. The findings concluded that the animal was effectively 100 percent wolf with DNA from Great Lakes wolves, Northwest Territories gray wolves and Eastern wolves, in decreasing order of DNA percentage. The complex nature and purity of the wolf DNA may be consistent with a wild wolf that dispersed from Canada where various wolf populations are known to intermingle.

It has long been wrongly believed that the St. Lawrence River and surrounding area serve as a barrier to wolf dispersal. This animal is the latest of at least ten wolves known to have been killed south of the St. Lawrence River since 1993 which includes wolves killed in Day, New York, in 2001, and Sterling, New York, in 2005. Other wolves have been killed in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Brunswick and Québec. MWC, through our own research, documented the first live Eastern wolf in Maine in through scat we collected in 2019.

The presence of wolves in New York is to be expected, given the state’s proximity to documented wolf range in Canada and its abundant habitat and prey. There are tens of thousands of square miles of potential wolf habitat in the northeast, much of it in New York, which makes the northeast ideal for wolf recovery. In fact, wolves live just sixty miles from the New York border, a distance that a dispersing wolf could travel in a day or two.

The New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has long denied the presence of wolves in the state. NYSDEC agents reportedly took tissue samples of the animal for DNA analysis but the agency has issued no statement regarding their results.

The killing of this animal is just the latest stone in a growing mountain of evidence proving that wolves are attempting to recolonize the northeast U.S. and maritime Canada south of the St. Lawrence River. It is past time for the state and federal governments to take action to protect wolves in the northeast. Denying their existence, failing to conduct the necessary research to determine their status, and refusing to give them the protection to which they are entitled are all contrary to state and federal law and the intent of the Endangered Species Act.

For more information, contact: Northeast Ecological Recovery Society, Joseph Butera 83-37. 267 St., Floral Park, NY 11004, 917-855-4906: email: lorjoewolf@juno.com; or Maine Wolf Coalition, John M. Glowa, Sr., 30 Meadow Wood Drive, South China, ME 04358, 207-660-3801: email: jglowa@roadrunner.com.

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, July 21, 2022

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FOG ON THE WATER: Andrew Pottle, of Palermo, captured this early morning fog on Branch Pond.

SWEET NECTAR: Barbara Warren, of Benton Falls, photographed this Swallowtail butterfly feeding on a branch of honeysuckle.

THREE’S COMPANY: Emily Poulin, of South China, snapped these grackles positioning themselves to attack a feeder.