FOR YOUR HEALTH: New Hope for Treating Neurodegenerative Diseases

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Dr. Silver, renowned spinal cord injury and regenerative medicine researcher, studies new treatments for MS and Alzheimer’s.

(NAPSI)—Scientists have searched for decades without success for ways to repair the devastating damage caused by neurodegenerative diseases, but there are now new compounds in clinical development that offer hope.

The Problem

When there is a mass die-off of neurons in the body, the central nervous system misfires like a faulty circuit board—one that cannot be fixed without replacing the blown fuses. This major physiological malfunction tends to trigger the onset of some of the hardest-to-treat neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS).

These are terrible afflictions that affect millions of North Americans. They also cost the healthcare system billions of dollars a year, mostly spent on managing physical and mentally debilitating symptoms that inexorably get worse.

What’s more, current treatments can only “modify” (slow down or mitigate) the destructive effects on the human body caused by the mass death of neurons in the brain or spine.

The Search For A Solution

With that all said, many people may be relieved to learn of a small Canadian-headquartered biotech start-up that offers new hope to tens of millions of sufferers of neurodegenerative diseases. With Phase 1 clinical trials already underway, NervGen Pharma believes it’s on-track to become a big breakthrough thanks to its blockbuster drug candidate—NVG-291.

NVG-291 is a peptide (a small protein) that works by targeting the protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (PTP?) receptor that blocks nerve repair following injury, whether from trauma or conditions such as MS or Alzheimer’s disease. NervGen targets nerve cell repair, while promoting plasticity to create new neural pathways.

NVG-291 is the brainchild of Dr. Jerry Silver, a renowned spinal cord injury and regenerative medicine researcher whose pioneering work addresses a diversity of conditions defined by a damaged central nervous system. These include degenerative diseases, spinal cord damage, stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Researchers are currently conducting trials in healthy volunteers. This will transition to studies for several of these medical aliments. In particular, the company has stepped up its interest in NVG-291’s ability to tackle Alzheimer’s disease.

The company works with Dr. Ksenia Kastanenka of Massachusetts General Hospital—which has a long history of supporting cutting-edge research and innovation in medical research—to study NVG-291 in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s also preparing to enter a Phase 1b clinical trial for Alzheimer’s patients in 2022 following ongoing Phase 1 safety trials for the drug candidate.

An Expert’s Opinion

According to NervGen’s CEO, Paul Brennan, “The multiple preclinical studies that we are conducting, as well as our planned Phase 1b study, are important milestones for our Alzheimer’s program, which, if successful, will provide a meaningful benefit to patients and significant potential for NervGen.

“What differentiates NVG-291 from other drugs in development is that it leverages multiple mechanisms for repairing nerve damage, while most others focus on a single approach. Alzheimer’s disease is a complex condition and likely caused by multiple factors. We believe that a systems approach to treating the disease is an important distinction.”

Brennan adds, “All told, NVG-291’s ability to remyelinate and enhance plasticity is a one-two knockout punch for repairing a damaged central nervous system, which is the end result on a diversity of neurodegenerative diseases, as well as traumatic brain and spinal injuries. NVG-291 could herald a revolutionary new paradigm in treating all of these chronically debilitating conditions.”

The company’s continued strides toward launching this new class of drugs offers renewed hope to millions.

Learn More

For further facts on the research and clinical trials, go to www.nervgen.com.

SCORES & OUTDOORS – Monarch butterflies on the decline: what caused the death of this one?

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Monarch butterfly.

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

One day last week, as we were backing out of our driveway, I noticed something hanging from the front door knob. I stopped, and my wife jumped out to see what it was. What else but a political notice to vote “No” on Question 1. That is not the subject of this column. What is that on her way back to the car, at the base of a pine tree, she picked up a dead monarch butterfly. What had caused its demise?

I have seen a handful of monarchs this summer.

The monarch butterfly is the most widely recognized of all American butterflies with its distinct orange, black, and white wings. While beautiful, this coloring actually sends a warning to predators that the monarch is foul tasting and poisonous. Found throughout the United States, as well as Mexico and Canada, one of the most notable characteristics about the monarch is the astonishing 3,000 mile journey some will make in the fall to their wintering grounds in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Mexico or to southern California, depending on which part of the United States or Canada they migrate.

Millions of monarch butterflies make the trip down to Mexico to roost for the winter. During the migration tens of thousands will land on a single tree in certain areas along their migratory path.

Monarchs can travel between 50 – 100 miles a day; it can take up to two months to complete their journey to winter habitats.

Wherever there is milkweed there will be Monarch butterflies. The monarch is widely distributed across North America, from Central America northwards to southern Canada, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts.

Milkweed produces glycoside toxins to deter animals from eating them, but monarchs have evolved immunity to these toxins. As they feed, monarch caterpillars store up the toxins in their body, making them taste bad, which in turn deters their predators.

Monarchs can produce four generations during one summer. The first three generations will have life spans from 2 – 6 weeks and will continue moving north. During this time they will mate and have the next generation that will continue the northward migration. The fourth generation is different and can live up to nine months. These are the butterflies that will migrate south for winter to either Mexico or southern California.

It is predicted that one of the many effects of climate change will be wetter and colder winters. If they are dry, monarchs can survive below freezing temperatures, but if they get wet and the temperature drops they will freeze to death. Because hundreds of millions of monarchs are located in such a small area in the Sierra Nevada of Mexico during the winter, a cold snap there could be devastating.

Monarch butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees. They will sit in the sun or “shiver” their wings to warm up.

As the world warms, suitable habitat will begin to move northward resulting in a longer migration. This means the monarchs may be forced to adapt and produce another generation to reach further north. It is uncertain whether they will be able to do so. Therefore, few monarchs may be able to make the longer trip back to Mexico for winter.

Other threats to the monarch include habitat loss and loss of milkweed which they depend upon as larva to survive. Illegal logging remains a problem today in Mexico in protected areas and is devastating monarch winter habitat.

Whether monarchs are present in a given area within their range depends on the time of year. They are one of the few migratory insects, traveling great distances between summer breeding habitat and winter habitat where they spend several months inactive.

From Sep­tem­ber into early October, fall southern migration to Mexico begins, with the majority of monarchs following the reverse path south along the central migratory corridor. Monarchs from the Northeast head south along the Atlantic coast, concentrating in the states that make up the Delmarva Peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay on the journey. Florida is a stop for many monarchs before they fly over the Gulf Coast to Mexico. A much smaller population of monarch butterflies lives west of the Rocky Mountains.

There are populations of monarchs in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and some islands of the Caribbean, as well as in New Zealand. Monarchs may have been blown to these places in storms or naturally dispersed there by island-hopping, or they may have been introduced by humans. These populations are not part of the annual migrations on the North American mainland.

The monarch migration is one of the greatest phenomena in the natural world. Monarchs know the correct direction to migrate even though the individuals that migrate have never made the journey before. They follow an internal “compass” that points them in the right direction each spring and fall. A single monarch can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles.

The monarch population has declined by approximately 90 percent since the 1990s. Monarchs face habitat loss and fragmentation in the United States and Mexico. For example, over 90 percent of the grassland ecosystems along the eastern mon­arch’s central migratory flyway corridor have been lost, converted to intensive agriculture or urban development. Pesticides are also a danger. Herbicides kill both native nectar plants where adult monarchs feed, as well as the milkweed their caterpillars need as host plants. Insecticides kill the monarchs themselves. Climate change alters the timing of migration as well as weather patterns, posing a risk to monarchs during migration and while overwintering. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the species’ status.

One easy way to help monarchs is to participate in the National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife program by planting a pesticide-free monarch habitat garden filled with native milkweed and nectar plants. North America has several dozen native milkweed species, with at least one naturally found in any given area.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has designated the monarch migration a threatened phenomenon. In 1986, the Mexican government created the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve which protects 62 square miles of forests in the Sierra Madres where hundreds of million of monarchs spend each winter. The Biosphere Reserve was expanded to include 217 square miles in 2000. Local organizations are also working to stop the illegal harvesting of trees on the reserve to protect wintering habitat.

I guess we’ll never know what killed this particular monarch.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Name the two NFL teams that have a human face on the sides of their helmets.

Answer can be found here.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Some advice on customer service

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by Debbie Walker

Customer service is another one of those business items that owners and operators should force themselves to take notice of. I know right now they are just concerned to get more staff. That is witnessed by the many “hiring” signs in front of their businesses.

Hiring is going slow so now is the best time to tune up who you do have. If you are shorthanded, you probably have unhappy customers and employees. I believe that because I have heard it from friends. Because business has been so far behind and it is tough to take care of the numbers you are dealing with, an attitude adjustment of all would be great timing.:

One thing I know is the basics of customer service are quite uncomplicated. Most everyone wants to be acknowledged. It’s really very easy. You simply have eye contact with the customer and either tell them you will be right with them, or you signal them with your index finger held up, most people understand that as “just a minute”. I can’t tell you how much grief that can save in customer service by just giving that little attention.

Twice in the past week I have stood at a service counter for several minutes each. Clerks were on the phone and assisting other people. One was “chatting” with a co-worker. “Chatting” when a customer is being ignored is a big no-no. The clerks all ignored the fact that I was standing there. That little bit of eye contact and a smile acknowledging that I was there would have made a big difference in how I was feeling.

Oh yeah, and customer service is anyone who is being paid for their services rather by the hour, by commission or maybe by the treatment. It includes clerks in a store or even doctors. It’s all customer service. It’s because of these people waiting that you even have a position.

It’s a shame all offices and stores don’t do some training on customer service. What little bit it would cost them; they wouldn’t even notice, however, their customers/clients would notice.

One evening in a grocery store a little old lady in line just ahead of me asked the clerk to read her something on a label. That extremely rude clerk started ranting off to that woman about how she wasn’t hired to baby-sit people or read to them. I read it to her myself. As she left the cashier started running her mouth about “these old people”. With every word out of her mouth I was seeing a darker shade of red. I know she wanted my agreement, however, what she got was, “I hope if you make it to her age all you find for assistance is someone like yourself.” After I finished checking out I had a chat with the store manager. That just wasn’t a winning fit.

Having worked on front line registers and a variety of other customer service positions I know there are people who will try your patience. Stores and offices would be wise to do some of this training. If the company doesn’t offer it, train yourself, there are books. It will help you live longer.

We’re all in a hurry these days. Sometimes we forget we are not the only ones in this hurry-up life. It would be nice if we could all slow down a bit and be more compassionate towards others.

It’s just a thought but if you take good care of the customers you do have, you will get them and more. Smile. Laugh with your customers, A little common sense and courtesy can go a long way.

I’m just curious if you will find more patience this week. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org with any comments or ideas. Thanks for reading, Have a great week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Book: The Haldeman Diaries

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President Richard Nixon, left, and H. R. Haldeman

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

The Haldeman Diaries

The Haldeman Diaries, a massive book of almost 700 pages, was issued by Putnam a year after the death of H.R. Haldeman (1926-1993) who served as Chief of Staff for former President Richard Nixon for four years before being quietly pressured to resign by his boss in the spring of 1973 during the Watergate scandal.

He ran a very zero tolerance tight ship and was a genius of efficiency and a consummate workaholic, putting in 48-hour work weeks, and loyally being Nixon’s hatchet man. I first became aware of him in 1970 after reading a Sunday Parade magazine puff piece, portraying him as hard working and Mister Geniality.

About a month before Haldeman resigned, Newsweek did a more thorough and quite fascinating cover story on him. It reported his Medusa stare at erring underlings, his having more access to Nixon than any other human being on earth (which included Nixon’s wife Pat and daughters Tricia Cox and Julie Eisenhower), his having little interest in music, art and literature, and his complete devotion to his wife and two children, although spending very little time with them during the White House years.

His marine-style crew cut aptly conveyed his quite authoritative command of everything that went on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, only doing Nixon’s bidding. Absolutely nobody got to see the president in the Oval Office without Haldeman’s approval; calling him the pit bull at the door is an understatement.

The Diaries came about after Nixon appointed him as the second top man at the White House, as recounted by the author in his own preface:

“Robert Rutland, a close personal friend and eminent Presidential scholar, urged me to record faithfully in a journal the major events of each day and my thoughts regarding them. He believed that this had never been done by someone working so closely with the President. At least my ‘diaries’ would provide a fascinating account for my children and grandchildren; more importantly, they could prove to be an invaluable asset to historians and scholars.”

Haldeman hit the nail on the head with that last statement.

Nixon was often referred to as Tricky Dick but quite a number of presidents have played dirty including the notorious FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt), while Nixon’s predecessor LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson) was complimented by a labor union leader as “no slouch either.”

The September 9, 1970, entry in the Diaries amidst a ruthless political campaign against the Democrats conveys Nixon’s personality here – “Really wants to play the conservative trend and hang the opponents as left-wing radical liberals. Said to say, ‘Our opponents are not bad men, they are sincere, dedicated, radicals. They honestly believe in the liberal left.’ And force them on the defensive.”

Haldeman’s earlier best seller The Ends of Power is also highly recommended.

William MacEwan

William MacEwan

I rec­ent­ly found a 78 among my piles of records by a singer I had never heard of before, tenor William MacEwan (1871-1943) performing The Old Rugged Cross in a very good 1927 English Columbia recording that sold 250,000 copies worldwide by 1933 while sheet music sales totaled 20 million by World War II.

Max von Sydow

Max von Sydow

A powerful piece of acting is that of Max von Sydow, in the 1975 film Three Days of the Condor, portraying the assassin Joubert staring into the abyss just before he leads two other killers on a murder spree against seven CIA researchers in a quiet New York City office. He also comments on the peace and comfort of having no conscience to Robert Redford’s character.

Robert PT Coffin’s essay Kennebec Crystals continued

More from Robert PT Coffin’s essay Kennebec Crystals about Maine’s winter ice industry:

“And down in New York and Philadelphia prosperous citizens were getting down their ice cream freezers. Children in Richmond and children under the shadow of the Blue Ridge were running starry-eyed behind high carts with letters frosted and dripping with icicles. The letters on those carts spelled ‘Kennebec Ice.’ Further south, the crystals of Maine touched the fruit of the Caribbees. Far down off the Horn and up the other side, ships with bones bred in Maine forests carried the Maine treasure to the Pacific. Trains plowed through the dusty cornlands of Nebraska and on to the Rockies, carrying Maine ice. And a whole nation knew the clear taste of the Kennebec. Half the world, too, England and France, and Holland.

“But all that was in the twilight days of wooden ships, when Maine women still kept their neat houses moving around the world. That was when the wizards had not wakened new secrets out of electricity and steel. That was in the eighties and nineties.”

Concluding paragraphs next week.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Insulin at 100: How The Discovery Improved Lives

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Managing type 1 diabetes is getting easier thanks to research by the NIDDK.

(NAPSI)—The discovery of insulin 100 years ago led to many research and clinical advances that have greatly improved strategies used to help people manage diabetes to live longer and healthier lives.

Before insulin, physicians treated people with diabetes, a disease that occurs when blood glucose—or blood sugar—is too high, by recommending changes in their diet. In 1921, scientists at the University of Toronto found that pancreatic extracts from healthy dogs reduced blood glucose levels in other animals with diabetes. By 1922, the pancreatic extract, now known as insulin, was chemically processed and used in studies to treat people with type 1 diabetes.

This discovery, which led to the development of better insulin formulations over time, also led to a series of research studies conducted or supported by the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) that have dramatically changed how people with diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes, live. For instance:

  • In the 1970s, NIDDK researchers developed a more effective form of artificial human insulin using DNA technology. This artificial human insulin was purer and of higher quality than the animal-based insulin.
  • In 1983, the NIDDK launched the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). This study showed that when people with type 1 diabetes use insulin to keep their blood glucose levels as close to their target range as possible, they are at significantly less risk for developing diabetes-related eye, kidney, and nerve diseases.
  • Since 1994, the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications or EDIC trial has followed DCCT participants to show that keeping blood glucose levels steady over time helps people with type 1 diabetes live healthier and longer.

The discovery of insulin also led to research that has made managing diabetes easier and more effective. Such results led to the development of continuous glucose monitoring, insulin formulations that work faster or last longer throughout the day and keep blood glucose stable longer, and wearable insulin pumps.

Despite the many ways in which insulin has improved the well-being of people with type 1 diabetes, managing blood glucose levels is still a challenge. That is why the NIDDK continues to support research into insulin and other diabetes management tools and technologies. For example:

  • NIDDK scientists are studying ways to make insulin more patient-friendly by developing formulations that do not need to be refrigerated and creating smaller, easier-to-use insulin pumps and blood glucose monitoring devices.
  • Recent research shows artificial pancreas technology, also known as closed-loop control, can automatically monitor and regulate the delivery of insulin, which may reduce patient burden and help keep blood glucose levels in a healthy range.
  • The NIH’s Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network, or RADIANT (www.atypicaldiabetesnetwork.org), helps researchers better understand unusual or unknown forms of diabetes.
  • The NIDDK continues to study how type 1 diabetes occurs and how to prevent the disease. For instance, the NIDDK-supported TrialNet (www.trialnet.org) project is a collection of screening tools and research studies designed to help scientists learn how to slow or stop type 1 diabetes before or soon after patients are diagnosed.

The NIDDK remains committed to conducting diabetes research to help patients with diabetes live healthier lives and make the goal of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes more reachable.

To learn more about diabetes, including the latest research, visit the NIDDK website at www.niddk.nih.gov.

SOLON & BEYOND: Pine Tree 4-Hers meet in September

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

The Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club met on Saturday, September 11, at the Solon Fire Station. In attendance were Kaitlin Delarma, Jillian & Desmond, Robinson, Katelyn & Devyn DeLeonardis, Isabella Atwood. There wasn’t any craft project during this meeting. Members re-tagged their projects to exhibit in the New Portland Fair.

Members received their fair money from Dover and Skowhegan fairs.

At the Skowhegan State Fair, the club received a blue ribbon on their Educational Exhibit and four members received Best of Show with their projects. The club also received the People’s Choice Award at the Skowhegan Fair. The October meeting starts a new year of 4-H. Children nine years old and older are welcome to join at the next meeting to sign-up.

Next meeting will be Saturday, October 9, at 9:30 a.m., at the Solon Fire Station. My many thanks go out to Hailey Dellarma for sending the above news about the club.

And I also received a very welcome letter from the Solon Elementary School: The Principal’s Message: Welcome back to school to students who have been with us and those who are new to our school. We hope it will be a great year! We continue to follow the Maine CDC recommendations regarding physical distancing (three feet), hand washing, and symptom screening. Parents have the option of whether they want their child to wear a mask, although masks must be worn, by law, on school buses. Our goal is to keep our students and staff healthy and safe and to keep our school open.”

The principal can be found at Solon Elementary School on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons and Tuesday and Thursday mornings. At other times you can find him at his other school, Garret Schenck Elementary School, in North Anson. Secretary Mrs. McFadyen will be happy to help you get in touch.

Mrs. LaChance is our lead teacher again this year so she will help with a number of things including planning activities and handling discipline. We appreciate your support of your children’s education. Let us know how we can help you.

SCHOOL SUPPLY DONATIONS:

We want to thank people and organizations who have donated school supplies to our school this fall. Mrs. Ann Jackson, New Hope Women’s Shelter Madison Health Center United Way of Mid-Maine, thanks for your support!

We have several new staff members who joined our team this fall. We hired a new first grade teacher, Ms. Rachel Layman, to replace Mrs. Carol Campbell, who retired last spring. Ms.Layman, a Solon native and Carrabec High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Maine at Farmington. Last year she worked at our school in the pre-school program.

MS.LAYMAN: In Tittle I we have a new staff member. Ms. Samantha Taylor grew up in Anson and graduated from Carrabec as well as the University of Maine at Farmington with two bachelors of fine arts degrees, one in visual arts and one in music. She will work with Mrs. Rogers to support students in their learning. We also have a new physical education teacher, Mr. Paul Caplan. Mr. Kaplan graduated from Carrabec High School and the University of Maine at Presque Isle. He will teach P.E. at Solon, Garret Schenck, and CCS to students in grades K.-5.

STAFF MEMBER IN NEW POSSION: Mrs. Amanda DeLeonardis has moved from her position as a Title I ed tech to a teaching position as a learning interventionist at our school. This new position, funded by coronavirus relief funds, provides us with more support for students needing intervention in literacy and math to help them to be successful.

I will finish that one up next week.

Now for a quick word from Percy: “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”

SCORES & OUTDOORS: How rare are black squirrels?

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From left to right: Black squirrel, Fox squirrel, and Grey squirrel.

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

I know they exist, but just how many are there?

Several years ago I had the rare opportunity to see a black squirrel in Waterville. Last Monday, while driving along the Seaward Mills Road, in Vassalboro, I spotted another one as it was crossing the road in front of me.

In North America, black squirrels are uncommon, with one estimate putting them at a rate of one in every 10,000 squirrels. In 1961, students at Kent State University, in Ohio, released 10 black squirrels that had been captured by Canadian wildlife authorities. The squirrels now populate the campus and have become the school’s unofficial mascot. Their coloring might help them hide from predators, which might come in handy at Kent State: The campus is also home to hawks.

Black squirrels have been spotted in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and now scientists believe they know why. Like many animals with unusual color schemes, black squirrels are the result of a genetic detour. Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge University, and the Virginia Museum of Natural History, collaborated on a project that tested squirrel DNA. Their findings, which were published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, demonstrated that the black squirrel is the product of interspecies breeding between the common grey squirrel and the fox squirrel.

The black squirrel is actually a grey squirrel with a faulty pigment gene carried over from the fox squirrel that turns their fur a darker shade. (Some fox squirrels, which are usually reddish-brown, are also black.)

Scientists theorize a black fox squirrel may have joined in on a mating chase involving grey squirrels and got busy with a female. The black fur may offer benefits in colder regions, with squirrels able to absorb and retain more heat, giving them a slight evolutionary edge.

According to Mental Floss’ Jake Rossen, black squirrels are relatively rare, constituting just one in 10,000 of the seemingly ubiquitous rodents.

Black squirrels are actually grey squirrels with a genetic mutation that causes them to have black fur. They are more aggressive and territorial than the grey squirrels too, and the result is that the black squirrels will usually run all the other squirrels out of an area.

According to this new research, however, black fur actually results from a genetic mutation. This explains why the black squirrel is somewhat rare, making up for an estimated one in every 10,000 squirrels.

Black squirrels are the same species as grey squirrels, with the only difference being their fur color. The new work builds on research from 2014, which found that the black fur is caused by the grey squirrel having a pigment gene with a missing piece of DNA.

In mythical folklore, the black squirrel symbolism does not mean good luck. Instead, it means solar eclipse according to some legends. Therefore, a black squirrel is the enemy of humanity and needs to be destroyed if mankind wants to enjoy the heat and light of the sun. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to go out and dispatch a black squirrel just because he’s hanging out in your neighborhood.

Black squirrels normally live up to a year, but some have lived up to 10 years. Black squirrels will eat anything they are offered, often feeding on nuts and acorns, any kind of seed, fruit, insects and even bird eggs. Mating occurs from December through January.

WINTER PREDICTION UPDATE

I’m still watching Mother Nature to see what else I can learn from her signs.

I’m still getting mixed messages. I hate to say this, but the majority of signals from nature are that we should prepare for a severe winter. One of the signs is trees, flowers and vegetables. When leaves drop early, autumn and winter will be mild. However, when flowers bloom in autumn, a bad winter is at hand.

Well, the leaves are falling early, but the flowers are blooming late. I have a wild rose bush on the corner of my property, and it has bloomed for the third time this year. Usually, I get one, sometimes two. My neighbor across the street has two large lilac bushes. As everyone knows, lilacs usually bloom around Memorial Day. Well, these two bushes have bloomed for a second time this year. I have never heard of that.

Grey squirrels are also an indicator. I am seeing more and more of them with bushy tails. Another sign of a severe winter.

Again, draw your own conclusion, but I don’t think we are going to get the mild winter repeat from last year.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What is the New England Patriots logo commonly referred as?

Answer can be found here.

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, October 7, 2021

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

SOARING HIGH: Tina Richard, of Clinton, photographed this immature eagle flying high in the sky.

GUARDING THE FOOD: Pat Clark, of Palermo, captured this Baltimore Oriole standing guard at a suet feeder.

CHECKING THINGS OUT: Jayne Winters, of South China, snapped this deer in her backyard.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Dart’s escape

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by Debbie Walker

Apple Tree Notch is the home of the Bailey fairy family and many of their friends. Mom and Papa Bailey had noticed that as their fairy children grew older their home became busier.

Their children could in a matter of seconds turn their quiet little home under the apple tree into a very busy, crazy home. Can you just imagine Momma Bailey trying to clean her home when three little children came flying through the door? Some times they were running, sometimes flying, flitting and scurrying between Momma and Papa trying to tell them about their adventures that day.

Well, this day was no different. All three of the Bailey children came rushing through the door and following closely behind was their friend, Dart. He was a very excited young dragon fly. They all began flying and flitting around between the parents and of course Dart was “darting” around, that was how he had gotten his name.

Papa finally stood up from his chair and said, “Everyone stop, there are too many talking at the same time, Momma and I just can’t understand. Dart it sounds as if you are the one with the adventure, so you may tell us. Daisy, Fern and Twig settle down while Momma and I listen”.

It was hard for the excited three to settle down. They were excited remembering how Daisy had escaped the big house behind Apple Tree Notch. The child, Tristin had almost put Daisy in a vase of water as a present to her parents. The escape had been a close call and now this!

Dart began to explain. I was just flying around with some friends. We were playing a game of chase. One of my friends made a quick swoop past the open door of the house. “I missed him and flew right into the house. I saw the people there but they didn’t see me, so I hid behind the curtain.”

“A short time after the house got quiet, I thought everyone had left. So I started trying to wing my way out from behind the curtains. Sometimes I still can’t control my wings as well as I would like to.”

“I heard the mother of the house say to herself, “what is that noise I hear?” I knew she was looking for me. That made my wings flap even harder against the window.” “The woman moved the curtain out of the way, and she caught me in her hand. I was so scared, but I got out and flew, only to land behind another curtain and I knew she was still after me. Papa, Momma, I was so scared. I was afraid my wings would get torn or something worse.”

“The lady was still after me. I couldn’t help flapping my wings and again she found me. You won’t believe what the woman did. She grabbed me and I thought that was it for me. The woman spoke to me. She said, “little dragon fly if you will slow down just a second I will help you out.” The next thing I knew I was on her open hand, and she let me fly out the door! That’s when I almost hit Twig as I was flying away. That woman let me go, just like that and I’m not hurt at all!”

Momma and Papa saw the sparkle of light from the Sprite, the guardian of all the local children. They saw him fly out the door, so they knew everything was alright.

Momma had been fixing dinner while Dart was telling his story. She said “Well Dart with all that flying you must be tired and hungry.” The whole family giggled as they looked at Dart. He had lit on a cushion and fallen fast asleep.

No harm was done. They ate dinner as Dart slept dreaming of his release by the woman. Apple Tree Notch is certainly full of adventures, but for now things were quiet.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy a little kid’s stuff.

Debbie Walker of Lecanto, FL. Contact me DebbieWalker@townline.org with any questions or comments.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Church steeples; Author: Thornton Wilder; Singer: Kay Starr

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George Fox

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Church steeples

The Protestant church steeples still seen in The Town Line’s surrounding communities include the towering beauty at the China Village Baptist Church. Back during the decades of 80 or more years ago, some of these steeples summoned the citizens of the surrounding communities to Sunday morning assemblies to an extent not seen as often today, no matter what the weather was.

This might seem like a big leap here but bear with me for a moment. I was reminded of the required weekly attendance at both church and Sunday school from my parents, for what seemed like untold years to my immature mind, at the East Vassalboro Friends Meeting AND how often we kids heard about Quakerism’s 17th century founder George Fox (1624-1691) after recently reading a quote from him about steeples in his Journal, itself quoted in a critical essay by Sir Victor S. Pritchett (1900-1997).

Pritchett wrote:

“One hesitates, since Freud, to admit to a strong personal feeling for church steeples, and yet who does not respond to the ring and vividness of that phrase which occurs again and again in George Fox’s Journal and which puts the man and his book a key higher than the common chord of living – ‘As I was walking in a close with several Friends, I lifted up my head and espied three steeple house spires and they struck at my life.'”

Both Fox’s Journal and Pritchett’s 1991 Complete Collected Essays, which contains over 1,300 pages of his book reviews, are highly recommended.

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play Our Town is a wistful and, at odd moments, sardonic tribute to pre-World War I village life in the fictional Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire, in three acts with the subtitles 1901, Daily Life; 1904, Love and Marriage; and 1913, Death and Eternity.

Whether it’s two housewives, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb, chatting outdoors while snapping stringbeans, the alcoholic church organist Simon Stinson rehearsing the choir on Wednesday night, the young high school graduates George Gibbs and Emily Webb falling in love or the recently departed spirits of a few villagers conversing in a holding pattern at the cemetery while a funeral is occurring during a driving rainstorm, Wilder caught the immediacy of life more than a century ago in this village quite brilliantly.

One quite apt quote from the main character who’s referred to as the Stage Manager – “We like to know the facts about everybody.”

A very good movie version came out in 1940 starring William Holden, Thomas Mitchell, Martha Scott, Faye Bainter, etcs.

Kay Starr

Kay Starr

Jazz singer Kay Starr (1922-2016) recorded a Capitol lp, Movin’ (ST 1254) which contains 12 positively vibrant performances of Great American Songbook classics – On a Slow Boat to China, I Cover the Waterfront, Around the World, Sentimental Journey, Night Train, Indiana, Lazy River, etcs. She had the arrangements of the gifted conductor Van Alexander while the album was produced by Dave Cavanaugh.

And it can be heard on YouTube.

Robert PT Coffin essay Kennebec Crystals continued

Continuing with Robert PT Coffin’s essay Kennebec Crystals, on Maine’s once most important winter industry, the harvesting of ice from the Kennebec River:

“May saw the ice ships arrive and tie up at the docks. The Kennebec crystals came down the runs, slithered across the decks of the four-masters and into the holds. When a number of the old hulls were loaded, which had once breasted the waves on the underside of the world, white under thunderclouds of sail, a tugboat steamed down-river on a neap tide, dragging the old veterans of the Atlantic back to the Atlantic again, below Popham.”

More next week.