SOLON & BEYOND: Uncle Jack and the revenge of Bigelow Mountain

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

This week I have some recent news which I am going to start with. It is about the dedication of a new name for the Solon, Embden Bridge and the subject is Jotham and Emma Stevens. This is the info regarding the bridge dedication which took place at the bridge on Sunday, July 25, 2021, with the following family and friends present. Debbie Veneziano, brother Rusty (Clayton) Stevens, nieces Ashley McGowan and Breanna Conners (her daughter Denver), June Ann Giroux, my dad’s sister and her son Skip Giroux, all were the direct descendants present. Rod Hatch from Embden was instrumental in making this happen.

Lief and I also attended this wonderful occasion on that beautiful day. (If anyone reading the above can let me know of any other news about the above please let me know.

This old news is taken from a Somerset Reporter, Skowhegan, Maine, January 31, 1974 : and it is called Uncle Jack’s revenge: Bigelow Mountain’s bad medicine, by Bob Dunphy. “Last October the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURK) held hearings to procure information necessary to zone the wildlands of Maine, including the Bigelow Mountain area.

The Flagstaff Corporation presented the plan to develop an 800 acre plot at the base of Bigelow Mountain. They had owned and paid taxes on 10 percent of the land for 10 years. They had spent more than $500,000 in preliminary surveys and had built more than eight miles of road long before LURC had been created.

The proposal would have met every pollution regulation in Maine today, in an area now free from human pollution, and would have served as a proving ground for all the new ideas on waste disposal, and with a master plan to comply with all the new laws and subject to the approval of all state personnel. It would have been compact with all new buildings; not a sprawl of ‘A’ frames, trailers, converted busses, slab shanties and farm houses that now extend from the Kingfield-Carrabassett Valley town line to Eustis on the other side of the mountain.

Actually, the Bad Medicine of Bigelow Mountain started many years ago. An Abnaki Indian called “Uncle Jack” told the Secret of Horns Pond to a white woman, and so angered the Great Spirit that he not only condemned the Indian’s soul to eternal damnation, but drove out the white people and destroyed the beautiful Dead River Valley as well. Uncle Jack had always lived in the Dead River region. No one knew how old he was but some people thought that he was the Indian that put out the birch bark maps that guided Benedict Arnold’s army to Québec and drove out the moose that saved the soldiers from strarvation at Flagstaff when their supplies were washed away by the flood. If this was true, no one ever gave the old man any credit for it, because he was always looked upon with fear and suspicion. But the old fellow was a true patriot and whenever they had a Fourth of July celebration at Flagstaff, he always moved his wigwam close to town.

The tragedy happened at the last celebration when the boys from Flagstaff had stolen the old Revolutionary War cannon from Stratton and were really having a Revolutionary ball. Uncle Jack was there for the fourth and someone gave him a jug of hard cider. This really turned the old man on and when a high-stepping white woman gave him the eye, he knew that this was the sign he had been waiting for ever since the white men had killed all the Abnaki women at Old Point. The old buck lost no time in escorting her to his wigwam. After much elbow bending and Indian wrestling he fell into a deep sleep. The white woman, kind soul that she was, decided that she would remove his moccasins and mittens to make the tired old man more comfortable. She could not get the garments off but she did awaken the old Indian in her efforts and he told her how they could never be taken off by anyone but himself. He told her how he sat in his birch bark canoes in the rays of the setting sun, looked deep into the pond and saw these fish sitting upon their nests keeping their eggs warm with their soft furry bodies. And how they used their short stubby tails to fan away ice particles in the frigid water that would have frozen to the nests and lengthened the incubation period and ended the life cycle.

He said that these tiny creatures would never leave the nests to feed and, if it took too long, the poor things would starve. He said that the fish could never be taken by hook and line as they fed only upon bits of reindeer moss and other lichens that were carried by the winds from the mountain peaks and dropped into the pond, and that the Indians must wait for the right moon when the summer ice would freeze at the bottom of the pond and carry these strange creatures to the surface. He told her how there would never be too many because they grew very slowly and many times only the tiniest fish would be left in the water near the shore when huge pieces of ice would carry great numbers of the larger ones to the surface where they would die from lack of air before the ice melted enough for them to get water into their gills.

This must have been what angered the Great Spirit, because the next morning the white woman was found in a state of shock, the wigwam burned to the ground and Uncle Jack was gone.

That is about half of this very interesting story and I will be finishing it next week. Hope you enjoyed it.

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, August 5, 2021

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

SIX-POINTER: Tina Richard, of Clinton, photographed this 6-point buck recently during one of her nature walks.

 

FRIGID DAY: Jayne Winters, of South China, captured this female cardinal last winter, sitting in a pine tree.

BUCK MOON: Mark Huard, of Winslow, snapped this “buck” moon at the end of July.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Words from Joey’s book

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by Debbie Walker

Tonight, I am using one of my books, one of the many, authored by Joey Green. You might have seen him on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno, Good Morning America, and The View. When does he find time to write?

I have a few of his cleaning books. Next I will have to try: Last Minute Travel Secrets, Last Minute Survival Skills, The Electric Pickle (that has my curiosity bell ringing!), Dumb History, and Weird and Wonderful Christmas. It will take me a while to collect them all.

Tonight, I am using his book Clean It, Fix It, Eat It. I love to flip through a book first to see what attracts my attention. It never fails, something jumps out at me. This time it worked again!
Try this (maybe just for fun or let me know what your idea would be): Solar-Powered Water Heater: Clorox, Coca-Cola and Downy. Save the empty bottles and by dinner, the water is hot enough to use for washing dishes, puppies etc., With enough containers you can heat a child’s pool!

This book has chapters from Bathe It to Wear It. I can’t even pick a favorite chapter at this point.

For some reasons I am having trouble with flies, I am going to try:

FLIES: Alberto VO5 Hair Spray: As the book says, I can’t kill the things with a swatter, The trick here is to spray flies with Alberto VO5 hair spray. It freezes their wings and smells better than insecticides. I will try this one today.

MOSQUITOES: Joy dish detergent: Put two or three drops of Lemon Joy in a dinner plate, fill with water, and place the dish on the patio. They will fall in and die (with a little look).

CLEAN IT: Use Maxwell House Coffee grounds to scrub pots and pans that have a build-up of food and stains. Rinse well.

CLEAN IT: EGG: Clean a broken egg from the floor with Morton Salt. Poor salt over the broken egg. Let the salt blend with the egg and let sit for a minute. Then easily wipe up mess with paper towels.

FIX IT: Maybelline Crystal Clear Nail Polish: Paint clear nail polish over stones in costume jewelry to prevent them from falling out. Repeat when necessary. This also works if put on over screws of your eye-glasses.

FIX IT: PLEDGE: Spray Pledge furniture polish in the track of your sliding patio door. It helps keep dirt out and slides easier.

COOK IT (title of book is Eat It but the closest I found was Cook It) Coca Cola: Baked Beans cooked with a half can of Coca Cola will prevent flatulence. (Some families have used this for years but I never heard of it before).

COOK IT: ZIPLOC STORAGE BAGS: Fill a gallon size bag with cake batter ingredients then squeeze the bag to mix. {How neat is that!!}

I didn’t even make a tiny dent in this wonderful book tonight. I believe we need to visit this book often, hopefully Joey won’t mind. This book is accumulated hints Joey received from his fans. I hope he understands that I am a fan and I love telling people what I have learned. Enjoy! He has books to be bought and a website.

As usual I am just curious how these things work for you. I have tried some and will be trying more. Please contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org with any questions or comments. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week.

SOLON & BEYOND: Back when I did the community cookbook

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

Have been going through some of my old columns to find something to write about, and found some about when I was visiting people to get their picture to put in the paper. Found some interesting ones in the year 2004. (This was before Percy!) It was when I was visiting people to get their pictures and a recipe to put in this column. Back then my column was called “The Community Cookbook,” by Marilyn Rogers, and the first one states”Catching Up With Dale”. It was hard to catch up with Dale Redmond – she is a very busy person — but we finally connected at the Solon Congregational Church one cold day recently.  (The following article was on February 7, 2004.)

Dale was born in Jackman and graduated from high school there, then went on to get an associate’s degree in animal medical technology from the University of Maine at Orono in 1975. She has lived and worked in many places: She resided in Weld for 10 years. She worked for UNUM, in Portland, and then returned to college at the University of Maine, Presque Isle, where she received a lab technician degree. From Presque Isle she went to Greenville and worked at the Goodwill Veterinary Clinic, until she became ill and had to quit working.

She then moved back to Jackman to be near her parents and in August 1991 she received a liver transplant at New England Medical Center, in Boston. She was in the hospital for six weeks following the surgery and stayed in the area for a while for check ups, etc.

She returned to Jackman until 1995, when she moved to Solon, and Dale has been with Dana Hall ever since. Dale loves to cook and, in the past, has done lots of catering. She She now works at Williams General Store, in Bingham. She is very active in the Solon Congregational Church and serves as treasurer. She is a past Hospice worker and is still very interested in that work.
Dale enjoys oil painting, gardening, and has a passion for reading.

She shared her recipe for Dump Cake. Ingredients: Grease a 13 – x 9 inch pan, dump one can of sweetened applesauce into it. Dump one can of crushed pineapple on top of that. Spread one package of dry yellow cake mix over that. Melt one cup of butter or margarine and pour over the top of the cake mix. Sprinke 1-1/2 cups chopped nuts over all. Do not stir. Bake at 350° F for one hour. Top with whipped cream to serve.

Will now finish with these words from Percy who had done a column in January 2008. while I was in Florida. I am thrilled beyond belief that she is letting me write this column again, since so many of you have told her that you prefer my writing instead of hers. Since I don’t have any real news to share, I have been reflecting on what subject to write about. I think perhaps Happiness might be a good topic to delve into. Our bi-line each week being “Don’t Worry be Happy,” and she’s been using it for years, before I started here. Does that make you stop and think just how happy you really are ? Some quotes I can think of are, “Cheerfulness greases the axles of the world, “Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.” “True happiness consists in making others happy.” But the one I like the best is, “There are two essentials to happiness: something to do, and someone to love.” It gives me great pleasure to behold the sappy look on my human’s face when I lavish her with love, (I curl up in her lap and put my paw as far around her neck as I can and sing at the top of my lungs!) That is pure ecstasy, and makes me happy also.

And now for a few quotes from some famous people , Benjamin Franklin once said, “The U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.”

And now for Percy’s memoir, Old gardeners never die, they just lose their bloomers!

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Tips For Shedding Those Pandemic Pounds

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Enjoying the abundant fresh fruits and vegetables of the season can help you emerge from the pandemic fit and healthy.

(NAPSI)—Living may be easier during the warmer weather seasons but that doesn’t mean your wellness goals should be swept under the rug. To help, GOLO, the pioneering wellness solutions company, has a range of healthy suggestions for the summer, whether you’re at home, road tripping with friends and family, or grilling in your backyard.

#1. Develop an action plan: Use this time as an opportunity to develop a nutritionally balanced meal plan that focuses on real, whole foods that charge your metabolism and help you feel energized.
A structured meal plan can help you lose weight and get healthier. For example, the company’s Metabolic Plan focuses on repairing metabolic health with whole foods that are affordable, simple to prepare and easy to find in a restaurant or convenience store.

It’s effective because:

• You stay fuller longer and don’t have to fight with hunger and cravings.
• You can eat delicious foods that you want to eat—you are in control.
• There’s no diet isolation. You eat the same foods as your family and friends

#2. Don’t be afraid to rock out at your cookout: The truth is everyone enjoys a good backyard cookout. The key is to make sure that you’re enjoying the tastes of the season without having a detrimental effect on your healthy eating plan.

#3. Burn off pandemic pounds: It’s essential to take advantage of the warmer weather to exercise away those pandemic pounds that many people packed on over the past year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends adults do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and15 minutes) to 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Preferably, aerobic activity should be spread throughout the week.

Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on two or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.

Switching up your seasonal fitness regimen can be key to staying motivated and consistent when building new, healthier habits.

Learn More

Visit www.golo.com for further facts and tips.

CRITTER CHATTER: Little stinkers at the Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center

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Contributed photo

by Jayne Winters

Over the past month, I’ve had the unexpected pleasure to see skunk families waddling along the side of the road. Just watching them makes me smile, so voila – the topic of this month’s column! I suspected Carleen had written about skunks in the past and sure enough, I found an article, some of which follows:

“Delightful to behold – but little stinkers, literally! We have cared for many skunks over the years. Most have been weaned by the time they arrive at the Center. They have come in various sizes, from some that could fit in my hand to mature animals. This year [1996] I received a little one that needed to be bottle fed and I made a mistake I will not repeat. (If a young one chokes while nursing, don’t pat it on the back or you will wear skunk perfume!)

We have been asked many times if young skunks can spray. Yes, they can, and yes, we have been sprayed. The skunk will give warnings before it sprays – stomping its front feet while backing up, hissing, growling or running away, if possible. When these tactics fail, then it will resort to spray: it contorts its body into a “U” shape so that its head and rear face the enemy, contracts muscles and out comes the yellow, oil, stinky mist.”

I did some research on-line and found there are four species native to North America: Striped, Eastern Spotted, Hooded and Hog-nosed. While related to members of the weasel family, the skunk’s closest relative is the stink badger. Tail included, they average 20-30 inches in length and weigh 6-10 pounds; their life span in the wild is usually 2 – 4 years, up to 10 in captivity. Skunks are adaptable as long as food and shelter are available and thrive in different habitats. They rarely travel more than two miles from their dens, typically settling down within a couple of miles of a water source.

Skunks are most active at dusk or night and are generally solitary except during mating season and when raising litters of four to seven kits, from April through June. The young are born blind and deaf, but open their eyes after about three weeks and are weaned after about two months; they stay with their mother for a year, when she’s ready to mate again. The male plays no part in raising the kits. Skunks have strong front feet and long nails, excellent for digging up grubs, worms and insects (including bees and wasps); berries, nuts, fungi, bird eggs, salamanders and snakes are also on the menu as seasons change. Although they have poor vision, their sense of smell and hearing are excellent. They don’t hibernate, but are inactive during winter, often gathering in communal dens (tree hollows, brush piles, abandoned burrows and underneath porches or garages) for warmth. A group of skunks is called a “surfeit.”

That sulfuric spray skunks are known for? It has a range of up to 10 feet, can be smelled up to 3-1/2 miles away and is powerful enough to ward off bears! They carry enough “chemical” for five or six successive sprays, requiring up to 10 days to produce another supply, and usually don’t spray other skunks except between males in mating season. Most predators learn to not attack skunks, but I found it interesting the great horned owl is an exception: in one case, the remains of 57 striped skunks were found in one owl’s nest.

I asked Don about Petunia, a skunk Carleen mentioned in her article. Petunia was blind and could not be released, so he resided at Duck Pond for about a year. Sadly, he developed a cancerous growth on his neck and had to be euthanized. There are currently three skunk kits residing in carriers in Don’s kitchen, all under two months of age with an expected fall release.

The Wildlife Care Center continues to receive greatly appreciated assistance from other rehabbers to help with summer admissions while Don and Amy deal with health concerns. We ask that you check these websites to see if there is a rehabber closer to you to help make 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/rehabilitation.html

Donald Cote operates Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center on Rte. 3 in Vassalboro. It is a nonprofit state permitted rehab facility and is supported by his own resources and outside donations. Mailing address: 1787 North Belfast Ave., Vassalboro ME 04989; Tel: (207) 445-4326. EMAIL: thewildlifecarecenter@gmail.com.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: How Music Grew in Brooklyn

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Maurice Edwards

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

How Music Grew in Brooklyn

Maurice Edwards; Lanham, Maryland; Scarecrow Press; published 2006; 380 pages.

This hefty book of at least 10 pounds could rightfully be considered a coffee table book. A history of the Brooklyn, New York, Philharmonic, it was also a labor of love for its author Maurice Edwards (1922-2020) who had been involved with the Phil­har­monic since its official beginning in 1954, later becoming executive director before retiring during the mid ‘90s.

His successor in the executive position suggested that Edwards write a history of the orchestra, its connection with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and its impact on the lives of so many music lovers in the surrounding communities. He responded as follows:

“Not being a musicologist, a historian, or even a music journalist, I was flattered but a bit humbled by the very idea. Was I qualified for the job? Would that be true retirement? Was I not rather ready for a respite?

“Yet, realizing that I could never fully sever all relations with the orchestra I had lived with for so many years and indeed helped develop, I decided that maybe it was not such a bad idea after all, and I accepted the challenge.

“I soon found myself turning into a veritable ‘Phantom of the Orchestra’, haunting the Brooklyn Academy of Orchestra where the Philharmonic was housed until seven years ago [1999], plowing through the orchestra’s irregularly kept archives (often mixed up with the Academy’s), refreshing my memory through the perusal of old programs, board meeting minutes, newspaper minutes, newspaper articles and reviews, and interviewing some of the survivors of the rocky journey of this nonprofit arts organization through the wiles, guiles, and hazards of the for-profit business world. All of this began to tell its own story to me, namely, How Music Grew in Brooklyn: A Biography of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, and so I proceeded to record it.”

Prior to 1954, the classical concerts in Brooklyn were happening as early as the 1850s with the arrival of immigrants from Europe who were gifted performers needing a livelihood, the listeners who were eager to hear music and the wealthy patrons who bankrolled the concerts. Early conductors included the very colorful charletan Louis Antoine Jullien (1812-1860) and his protegé Theodore Thomas (1835-1905).

Jullien went to debtor’s prison after his return to France and rightfully for swindling would-be investors but was gifted as an orchestra trainer. Thomas was simultaneously music director of one of the earlier Brooklyn Philharmonics, the New York Philharmonic across the East River, and his own Theodore Thomas Orchestra; he provided ample work for his core players in all three groups, developed adventurous programs of works both old and knew and courted wealthy investors before he left for the Chicago Symphony position in 1890.

After 1954, the orchestra’s Music Directors were Siegfried Landau until 1971, Lukas Foss from 1971 to 1990, Dennis Russell Davies through 1996, and Robert Spano to 2004, each one of these Maestros gifted musicians and adventurous programmers who didn’t believe in playing it safe, unlike too many conductors of major orchestras in recent years who program the same 50 works over and over. From 2004 to when the orchestra disbanded , due to much less financial support, in 2012, its conductors were Michael Christie and Alan Piersen whose work I am unfamiliar with.

Edwards was not a great writer but he was thorough in his documentation of programs, the ups and downs of its history, and the almost ad nauseam quoting of media coverage. In conclusion the book depicted an important orchestra which contributed much to the appreciation of live classical music concerts among all age groups, not just those over 60.

Edwards was married to the wonderful Romanian poet Nina Cassian (1924-2014).

From RPT’S essay Kennebec Crystals

“Tramps, even, were coming. And all the black sheep of a hundred faraway pastures, beyond Maine, were swinging off the sides of freight cars in the chill gray of the morning. Drifters from far beyond New England.”

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Immature bald eagles sometimes mistaken for golden eagles

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Bald eagle, left, and golden eagle.

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Sitting with friends around a camp fire a while back, one of the neighbors said, that while kayaking that afternoon, she had seen a Golden eagle. I immediately chimed in that they were an endangered species, and were not known to exist in Maine (according to something I had read years ago).

The following day, while taking a boat ride around Webber Pond with some friends who are year-round residents on the pond, he asked if we had seen the Golden eagles. That did it.

Was it possible for Golden eagles to exist on Webber Pond. My friend went on to say he had witnessed them on the ice during the winter, actually devouring some fish that had been left on the ice by fishermen.

To prove his point, he steered the party boat toward the west shore of Webber Pond, where, high in the top of a tree, was this large nest, occupied by some rather large birds. We were not able to discern what was occupying the nest from that distance. Bald eagles were circling in the area. I was still not sold.

Well, research taught me that Golden eagles, one of the largest and fastest of raptors in North America, do exist in Maine, although a rarity, mainly to the west and north of Moosehead Lake. So, now are they moving east in our state? Maine hosts golden eagles in all seasons, but is currently on the edge of both the breeding and wintering range in the East. Most migrants in the East pass west of Maine. Very few golden eagles are in the state at any time of year.

Golden eagles, Equila chrysaetos, can be found throughout the northern hemisphere. A large population exists in the western Rockies and north into Alaska. In the east, a small breeding population occurs in Maine, Labrador and Québec Province, although its range is greatly reduced from its former extent down the Appalachians to North Carolina.

According to Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, Golden eagle populations appear to have been stable between 1966 and 2014. Partners in Flight estimates their global breeding population to be 300,000, with 35 percent spending some part of the year in the U.S.

Golden eagles are listed as an endangered species in Maine. The decline in their numbers is directly attributed to environmental contaminants, especially DDT, that caused reproductive impairment during the post World War II era. Although these contaminants are now banned, they still persist in the birds’ bodies. Maine’s golden eagles depend heavily on wading birds as prey, which had high levels of contaminants. Five dead golden eagles have been found since 1985. Golden eagle eggs recovered from a nest in 1996 showed high levels of DDE, a variant of DDT.

Golden eagle populations have declined in the east throughout the 20th century, and were extirpated 20-40 years ago in the eastern states. Only 10 nesting territories have been documented with certainty, but at least 18 more locations are suspected. Six successful nesting attempts were recorded at three Maine eyries [nests of birds of prey] from 1955-1967. Goldens disappeared from Oxford, Franklin and Somerset counties during the 1980s. The last known nesting pair in Maine existed until 1999, then disappeared completely. That pair was heavily contaminated and had not produced young since 1986.

Today, Golden eagles can fall prey to collisions with automobiles, wind turbines, and other structures or from electrocution at power poles. Urbanization, agricultural development and changes in wildfire regimes have compromised nesting and hunting grounds.

There have been sporadic sightings of Golden eagles in recent years, and it is hoped that individual eagles from Canada may be moving into previously unoccupied eyries. Counts at hawk watch sites seem to indicate the Eastern population is slowly recovering. Golden eagles still nest in Québec and Labrador. As a result, they are spotted annually in Maine during migration season.

Adults may live 15 – 20 years in the wild, although they have been known to live 46 years in captivity. The oldest recorded Golden eagle in the wild was at least 31 years, 8 months old when it was found in Utah in 2012.

Once I was almost convinced the two friends thought they had seen golden eagles, I asked if they had misidentified immature bald eagles, which resemble each other. Both told me the birds they saw were much larger than bald eagles. My skepticism continues. Golden eagle wingspans can extend up to six feet, with a 40-inch body, and can weigh 8 – 13 pounds. Bald eagles have a body length of up to 40 inches, with wingspans of 6 – 7.5 feet, and a body weight of between 6.5 – 14 pounds. Many sources say the bald eagle has sometimes been considered the largest true raptor in North America, outsizing the Golden eagle. I summary, Bald eagles are larger than Golden eagles.

Golden eagles are uniformly brown throughout their lives. They get their name from amber or golden highlights on the head and neck. Golden eagles have shorter hawk-like bills, their lower legs are feathered to the ankles, and they soar with slightly uplifted wings, whereas a bald eagle flies with its wings stretched straight out so you can see their “fingers.” Golden eagles remain with the same mate for life. The female is larger than the male, otherwise, they look identical.

Sightseers and photographers should stay away from the nest during the nesting season, which is February through August. Like bald eagles, golden eagles are disturbed by human activities near the nests. Humans should avoid the nests during the nesting period.

Wintering areas for Maine golden eagles can stretch to the Maritime Provinces, depending on the availability of food. Their normal diet consists of ground squirrels, marmots, ptarmigan and seabirds.

I’m still not convinced they saw Golden eagles on Webber Pond.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Who holds the Boston Red Sox career record for being hit by a pitch, Mo Vaughn, Kevin Youkilis or Jim Rice?

Answer can be found here.

Reaction to announcement of possible closing of Albion Elementary School

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COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

by Katrina Dumont, Kara Kugelmeyer, Billy-Jo Woods

Dear Fellow Albion Resident(s),

Our town has had its own school(s) since its founding in 1804.

Today, we are faced with the reality that the MSAD #49 School Board has decided to close the Albion Elementary School, as part of the MSAD #49 new school construction project.

Closing our only school will have many impacts (listed below) on our town both socially and economically.

Fortunately, as citizens of Albion, we have many options that we can explore and take action on in response to this decision (options below). The purpose of this letter is to inform fellow residents of our options, and invite all Albion residents to join future discussions on what option(s) the town should pursue.

After discussion with the Albion Selectboard, the residents (listed below) have started a committee that has been exploring:

  • What realistic options does the town have in response to the school closing: keep school, close school, school choice, etc. (see options below).
  • What would be the impacts (positive and negative) on the students, residents, and town with the closing of the Albion Elementary school.

An overview of the information that we have gathered to date is below. Detailed information can be found at https://albionschoolfutures.squarespace.com/ Also sometime in the next few months there will be a special public meeting to discuss our options (to be scheduled).

Below is more about the school closing and options:

On March 18, 2021, the MSAD #49 School Board accepted the recommendation of the new school building committee to close the Fairfield Primary building, consolidate the elementary schools, and close the Albion and Clinton Elementary Schools. While the purpose of the new building has not been fully envisioned, it will house some if not all of the elementary grades.

The vote on the motion passed 10-2-1, with the Albion School Board members voting against the motion. The closing of our school, which does not need or have to happen, will be tied to a vote to fund the new school. The final vote to try and close our school, which is a district wide vote (so even if Albion votes no the school can still be closed), will most likely be held in June of 2022 (next year).

It is fair to say that receiving state funding for a new school can be seen as a win for MSAD49, yet it is equally true that closing the Albion elementary school will have many harmful and long term negative impacts on our residents, young students, and our town.

While the location of the new school has not been posted on the district’s school consolidation webpage, all evidence points to that it will not be in Albion or in Clinton. Also while a large part of the cost of the new school will be paid for by the state, the towns in the district will need to pay the remaining costs to build the new school. Finally, while our current school building in Albion is older, it’s still an adequate building for our students, even by the state’s ratings and standards.

So what does closing our school mean for our town?

Sadly the vast majority of studies (educational, social, and economic) on rural school closings conducted across the U.S., including in Maine, show that when a rural town loses its only school to consolidation, especially an elementary school, even when residents have access to a new school in a nearby town, the following negative outcomes occur.

  • For young children, longer bus rides and larger class size, often negatively impacts their overall academic performance, (reading, writing, and math), and lessens their connection to the people in their local community
  • The sense of community and town identity is hugely diminished for all residents and many people stop wanting to move to the town
  • For students and families who don’t live near the school, the ability to easily participate in school related extracurricular activities, like sports, becomes much harder
  • The future of the town as a inviting place to live and raise a family is hugely diminished, and the town’s population decreases, increasing the tax burden on the remaining citizens (you still have to pay school taxes no matter what)
  • In rural towns the farther a residence is from a school, the value homes and property decreases, as does the ability to attract future buyers for homes
  • Taxes increase as home and property values decrease
  • Local school related taxes (the biggest part of tax bills) increase regardless of cost savings with a new
    building, as the major portion of the school budget is salaries
    Fortunately, as citizens of Albion, we have options that we can explore and take action on. It is fair to say that all of these
    options have some upsides and downsides. Our options include:

    • Vote NO! When the district wide vote to close the school(s) happens next year, vote against closing the school(s). *This a district wide vote so all towns in the district get to vote on closing our school, so if Albion votes no and the rest of the towns vote yes, the school still closes.
    • Withdraw from the MSAD #49 district with three different possible options:
    1. Keep our elementary school (home rule) and have school choice (children can go to any schools in the area) for middle and high school. The school would have different leadership. Children could still go to Lawrence or Benton elementary. We can afford to do this at the current tax rate.
    2. Close our elementary school but have school choice (can go to any schools in the area, including MSAD #49) for all grades. Children can still go to Lawrence or Benton elementary. We can afford to do this at the current tax rate.
    3. Join another district and negotiate to keep our elementary school and school choice.
    • Stay in the district and support the closing of our elementary school.

You can learn more details about the options, the impacts, and the new school project at https://albionschoolfutures.squarespace.com/ If you wish to join the committee looking at the options, have questions etc. please email: albionschoolfutures@gmail.com.

Community Commentary is a forum The Town Line makes available for citizens to express their opinions on subjects of interest to our readers, and is not necessarily the views of the staff or the board of directors. The Town Line welcomes, and encourages, supportive comments, differing opinions, counterpoints or opposing views. Keep the rebuttals positive, and informative. Submissions containing personal attacks will be rejected.

FOR YOUR HEALTH – NervGen Pharma: A“Blockbuster Drug” in the Making?

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(NAPSI)—More than 6 million people in the U.S. live with Alzheimer’s, and that number continues to increase each year. In 2021, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the nation $355 billion. The Alzheimer’s Association predicts those costs will rise to $1.1 trillion by 2050.

A Canadian-headquartered biotech startup, NervGen Pharma Corp. (TSX.V: NGEN) (OTCQX: NGENF) has just entered into a research agreement to study its NVG-291 drug in Alzheimer’s disease models in animals as it prepares for its Phase 1b clinical trial in Alzheimer’s patients slated to start in 2022.

This development comes on the heels of pharmaceutical heavyweight Biogen being granted FDA approval to commercialize aducanumab – a drug that removes amyloid-beta plaques from the brain as a means of slowing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in patients. This approval is in spite of the fact that aducanumab’s effectiveness has been questioned by many Alzheimer’s experts.

The sceptics include Dr. George Perry, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the University Chair in Neurobiology at the University of Texas, San Antonio and one of the most published and cited researchers in the Alzheimer’s field.

He believes that NervGen’s potential for NVG-291 is a far more “exciting” and potentially effective treatment for Alzheimer’s than Biogen’s controversial new drug. “NervGen’s drug candidate leverages a unique and powerful multimodal mechanism of action that has been shown in preclinical studies to increase both autophagy and plasticity while also reducing microglia inflammatory expression, representing an exciting new approach to treating Alzheimer’s,” says Dr. Perry.

It has the potential to be one of the most disruptive pharmaceutical drug therapies of the modern era, especially for treating Alzheimer’s disease. And that gives it considerable “blockbuster drug” potential – a tantalizing opportunity that is only now just becoming apparent.

This is due to the fact that NVG- 291 is designed to heal nerve damage by unleashing the body’s natural ability to repair itself. Besides treating Alzheimer’s disease, this new therapy has also shown considerable promise in preclinical studies in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.

According to Paul Brennan, NervGen’s President & CEO, “NVG-291 has the potential to redefine how nervous system damage is treated across multiple indications, whether caused by trauma or chronic disease. This is an important first step to bringing this therapy to patients, and we look forward to completing our ongoing Phase 1 study and moving quickly to treating Alzheimer’s patients.”

A Breakthrough Therapy: How NVG-291 Works

Any time there is damage to the nervous system – whether via trauma such as spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury, or a neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s, MS or ALS – scar tissue is formed. The body releases chemicals called CSPGs (chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans) within the scar in order to reduce the damage.
They are initially helpful and play a protective role, but there is also a down- side to these CSPGs as over time they actually go from helping to obstructing the body’s ability to repair itself.

NervGen’s drug, NVG-291, releases this molecular inhibition, resulting in the initiation of multiple repair mechanisms including neuron regeneration, increased plasticity and “remyelination” – the process of replacing myelin, the tissue that often surrounds and protects neurons and which is often damaged as a result of diseases such as MS.
As a revolutionary treatment for Alzheimer’s disease alone, NVG-291, has the potential to make NervGen a future star of the biotech sector. For instance, consider that Wall Street analysts are now estimating peak annual sales for Biogen’s new drug will range from $10 billion to $50 billion.

It is well worth reiterating that no drugs have been approved anywhere in the world for nerve regeneration and remyelination, as well as improved plasticity in damaged nerves. Existing treatments for these diseases are often targeting the symptoms, not the underlying disease progression itself. NervGen is addressing a significant unmet medical need for the treatment of nervous system damage due to trauma and diseases.