AARP Awards Grants to two central Maine towns

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

AARP has announced 14 organizations throughout Maine will receive 2024 Community Challenge grants – part of AARP’s largest investment in communities to date with $3.8 million awarded among 343 organizations nationwide. Grantees will implement quick-action projects that help communities become more livable by improving public places; transportation; housing; digital connections; and more, with an emphasis on the needs of adults ages 50 and older.

Included in the recipients are the towns of Vassalboro and Skowhegan.

Town of Vassalboro – Raised garden beds with benches will be added outside Vassalboro’s municipal office. The new community garden will serve as an outdoor classroom and gathering space and will allow residents to grow healthy food.

Town of Skowhegan – This project will install directional signage and replace a deteriorated chain-link fence flanking an access trail, keeping walkers safely away from a steep river embankment. The town will also clear overgrown brush, plant flowers and install benches to create a pocket park.

This year, AARP awarded three different grant opportunities, including flagship grants, capacity-building microgrants for improving walkability, bikeability and accessible home modifications, and demonstration grants that focus on equitable engagement to reconnect communities, housing choice design competitions and improving digital connections to endure disasters.

The grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for people of all ages, with an emphasis on people ages 50 and older.

Since 2017, AARP Maine has awarded 71 grants and $472,438 through the program to nonprofit organizations and government entities across the state.

AARP Community Challenge grant projects will be funded in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. True to the program’s quick-action nature, projects must be completed by December 15, 2024.

Mya Williams senior class president at Lawrence High School, in Fairfield

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo by Ramey Stevens, Central Maine Photography

Mya Williams, Lawrence High School, in Fairfield, class president, graduated top 10 in her class. Mya has had a dream of being a teacher since she was little. Mya will be attending University of Maine at Farmington for education, and plans to come back to MSAD #49 to be a teacher and give back to the community that inspired her. She is an inspiration to the youth of our community, and helps to coach PAL youth in soccer. Mya is also the assistant director for the Summer PAL Program.

Nonagenarian writes book, shares at reading in Palermo

/0 Comments/in , /by

Ninety-year-old Jeannette Scates reads from her book, There Wasn’t Always Peace in the Valley. (photo by Andy Pottle)

by Mary Grow

Nonagenarian Jeannette Scates signs one of her recently published books. (photo by Andy Pottle)

Guest speaker Jeannette Wood Scates shared excerpts from her recent memoir, There Wasn’t Always Peace in the Valley, with an appreciative audience at the Palermo Library’s 22nd annual board meeting, held July 14 at the library.

The valley is Hostile Valley in eastern Palermo, where Scates and her three older siblings grew up in the house their father built around 1930. The book’s cover photo shows the Wood children: Allen, Jeannette on the lap of older sister Rachel and oldest brother Harry, with their dog, Teddy.

Asked how Hostile Valley got its name, Scates referred to a poem quoted in the book written by her “Grammie Wood,” more formally Theresa Alice Bickford Wood, when she was a columnist using the byline Molly Malone for the Kennebec Journal, in Augusta. The last two lines read:

Every Valley man has a kindly heart
And a gol durned Hostile tongue.

The book is a collection of stories and memories, from which Scates read selections, to applause, smiles and chuckles. She started with the one she called her daughter’s favorite, titled “Worldwide Travelers.”

This story tells how the travelers started with take-out from “an eatery place called ‘Mama’s Kitchen,'” where they stocked up on molasses cookies with sugar on top and soda crackers with butter and mustard. They agreed on who would drive first, and on a destination – often Boston, perhaps as far as New York, where they admired the Stone Lady in the harbor.

The story ends: “We all piled out of the old, abandoned, junk car in the backyard – AND WE WERE HOME AGAIN!” Below is a photo of a rusty two-door station wagon, glassless, with ragged fenders, amid hood-high weeds.

Illustrations throughout show family members, neighbors and other memorable figures, including the rooster who used to chase Rachel and one of Harry’s Herefords, with Harry and Rachel. Asked about the pictures, Scates said many were taken with her Brownie Hawkeye camera that Rachel gave her for her 16th birthday.

Right after the travelers’ tale is the story of Scates’ father’s 40th birthday gift to her mother. She explains that her mother had no sled, nor snowshoes, nor skates, and so was left out of the children’s winter play.

Her father somehow found the money to buy his wife a pair of skates “with silver runners” and a pair of warm stockings. He gave one skate or one stocking to each of the four children to present simultaneously.

One of Scates’ father’s jobs was driving a snowplow for the town. The book shows the “Cleartrac Tractor with a Sargent Snowplow and wings” that the town bought in 1939 and “Daddy” drove.

Themes running through the book include an appreciation of the natural world and its changes, an appreciation of family and friends and an overriding optimism. Scates does not pretend life was easy. Everyone, children included, worked hard; money was scarce; her father died when she was eight years old; and after a long, happy marriage she is a widow.

Yet she wrote in the next-to-last essay in the book, “I have been through some hard times, but I can say that the biggest part of my journey has been so rewarding and special!” In addition to generations of family and friends, she credits the Lord “who has walked beside me most of my life, and when the times got hard, He carried me as He had promised He would do.”

Asked if there would be another book, Scates was hesitant. Asked about plans for her 90th birthday, which she was to celebrate July 16, she and her son, Rudy Scates, gave vague replies. Audience members sang Happy Birthday to her, and library personnel had prepared a special birthday treat.

EVENTS: Photo contest and exhibition planned in Washington

/0 Comments/in , , /by
In celebration of the natural beauty of Washington, the Washington Lakes and Watershed Association (WLWA) is sponsoring its Fourth Annual Photo Contest and Exhibition.
You are invited to explore and submit photos of the  natural aspect of Washington waters or watershed and taken between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024. Entry deadline: July 22.
Photos will be on  the exhibition at the Corner Gallery, 302 Liberty Rd,. Washington, August 4 – 9, and at the WLWA Annual Meeting, August 10, Medomak Family Camp.
Awards for winners and second place in each of four divisions plus a People’s Choice Award for the photo with the greatest number of votes.
For full information re the rules, entry forms, and last years entries, go to www.washingtonlakesassociation.org.

AARP Maine seeks Andrus Award nominations

/0 Comments/in , /by

AARP Maine is seeking nominations for its 2024 AARP Andrus Award for Community Service, which honors individuals 50 and over who share their experience, talent, and skills to enrich the lives of others in their community. The annual award is named after AARP’s founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who founded AARP in 1958 at the age of 73.

“AARP Maine is excited to shine a light on Mainers 50+ who are using what they’ve learned to make a difference in the lives of those around them,” says Noël Bonam, AARP Maine State Director. “AARP has long valued the spirit of volunteerism and the important contributions AARP volunteers make to their communities and neighbors.”

The screening of nominees will be performed by a panel of AARP staff and volunteers. The panel will review a range of criteria including each nominee’s positive impact on their community and the lives of individuals aged 50 and over.

AARP Andrus Award for Community Service nominees must meet eligibility requirements including:

• Nominees must be 50 or older, but do not need to be an AARP member or a volunteer with AARP;
• The achievements, accomplishments or service on which nominations are based must have been performed on a volunteer basis, without pay;
• The achievements, accomplishments or service on which the nominations are based must reflect AARP’s vision and mission;
• Couples or partners who perform service together are eligible; however, teams are not;
• The recipient must live in the awarding state; and
• This is not a posthumous award.

The AARP Maine Andrus Award for Community Service is an annual awards program developed to honor individuals whose service is a unique and valuable contribution to society. Last year, Falmouth resident Phil Chin was the recipient of the award.

For more information about AARP and our work in Maine, please visit their website at www.aarp.org/me and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @aarpmaine.

EVENTS: China Historical Society going back to school

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Members of the China Historical Society (2023). (photo by Roberta Barnes)

photo source: JMG.org

by Bob Bennett

The China Historical Society will be hosting a remembrance and tour of the 75-year-old China (Middle) School following the annual meeting on Thursday, July 18. It is intended these activities will begin in the gym of the building, on Lakeview Drive, at about 6 p.m. Head Custodian Tim Roddy has offered to be the tour guide and though there is some on-going work, he is confident there will be plenty of access. The memories of the attendees will be voiced in the gym and it is hoped that many students, teachers and other China residents of all ages will be on hand to share their experiences. From previous messages and postings, it appears this event is generating quite a bit of interest and enthusiasm, and the CHS is looking forward to a fun and reflective evening; please put it on your calendar!

PHOTO: July 4 boat parade on Sheepscot Lake attracts over three dozen entries

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

(contributed photo)

The Annual July 4th Sheepscot Lake Association boat parade was a great success, with 42 boats and a jet ski participating. The Grand Marshall this year was Eileen Kirby, longtime resident and founding member of the lake association.

Two Vassalboro scouts achieve Eagle status

/0 Comments/in , /by

Eagle Scouts Nathan Polley and Cole Fortin stand before their friends and family and fellow members of Troop #410 and recite the Scout Oath and the Scout Law at their Eagle Scout Court of Honor held at the St. Bridget Center. (photo courtesy of Chuck Mahaleris)

by Chuck Mahaleris

Jennifer Fortin, mother of Eagle Scout Cole Fortin, pins the Eagle Scout medal on his Scout uniform. (photo courtesy of Chuck Mahaleris)

“Only one in four kids in America will become a Scout,” explained former Troop #410 Scoutmaster Kevin Reed. “but it is interesting to know that of the leaders of this nation in business, religion and politics, three out or four were Scouts.” Of those who were Scouts, only one in four on average will challenge themselves enough to earn the Eagle Scout rank. On Sunday, June 2, those averages were changed as two Scouts from Vassalboro. Nathan Benjamin Polley and Cole Gregory Fortin, were presented with the Eagle Scout rank.The two joined Cub Scouts together in first grade and have remained best friends throughout their Scouting experience. It was only fitting that they should be presented the Eagle Scout rank together. In the Fall, Cole will be attending Husson University and Nathan was accepted to the University of Maine’s Environmental Engineering program.

Reed continued, “Just consider a few of those who’ve achieved Scouting’s highest rank over the years. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and James Lovell; President Gerald Ford; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Aviator Steve Fossett, CIA Director Robert Gates, Hotel magnate J.W. Marriott, Film director Stephen Spielberg, and Walmart founder Sam Walton. We know what these men accomplished after becoming Eagle Scouts. Today we honor Nathan and Cole, two Scouts in a hundred. We know the things they have done in the past, imagine what they will do in the future.”

Eagle Scout Nathan Polley hugs his mother Hillary Polley after presenting her with the Eagle Scout Mother’s Pin. (photo courtesy of Chuck Mahaleris)

Nathan is the son of Stephen and Hillary Polley, of Vassalboro. Cole is the son of Gregory and Jennifer Fortin. For his Eagle Scout project, Nathan put up story book signs at the Vassalboro Community School trails and Cole led the construction of a new sign at Eagle Park.

“Becoming an Eagle Scout is a great accomplishment; being an Eagle Scout is a great responsibility. As an Eagle, the Scout Oath and Scout Law should take on new meaning for you; the motto and slogan take on new urgency,” said Greg Fortin who is also an Eagle Scout. He administered the Eagle Charge to his son and Nathan: “As an Eagle, your first obligation is to live with honor. You are a marked man, a leader; for good or ill, people will follow the example you set. Give up anything before you give up your reputation and good name. As Shakespeare said, “Mine honour is my life; both grow in one. Take honour from me, and my life is done.”” He added, “Let the practice of the daily good turn lead to a lifetime of service, for only in giving of yourself do you give anything of value.”

During the ceremony, Cole said, “I am prepared to lead others, to accomplish set tasks, to the best of my ability.” And Nathan said, “I am prepared to stand for the virtues of freedom, strength and pride.”

Scout Oath. (photo courtesy of Chuck Mahaleris)

TNT Competitive Edge dance team is heading to national competition

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Hailey Benson age 13; Amelia Benson age 9; Annabelle Tasker age 10; Kirstin Clawson age 10; Sophia Santiago age 13; Jaylenn Cugno age 18; Stella Patterson age 13 and Jayla Jandreau age 13.

by Mark Huard

Competitive Edge Dance Team is a group of young dancers based out of TNT Dance Studio, on the Center Road, in Fairfield. The Studio began as Terri’s School of Dance and was founded by Theresa “Terri” Glidden 50 years ago. It is now owned and operated by Terri’s daughter, Tiffany Glidden, and Jesse Klein. They started competitive dancing 30 years ago when Tiffany was a young child and they have continued to build a strong team of competitive dancers ever since. This year is not any different, as they are setting out to take the stage at Dance Ovations Nationals, on Cape Cod, for the week of June 26 – 30. The team has traveled all over New England this year and qualified for this national competition by competing in the regional event in Stratham, New Hampshire, in early May. They have worked all year and engaged in multiple fundraising events to be able to compete at this level.

Currently eight members strong, the team is comprised of athletes from the age of to 10 to 18. Dance Competitions are broken up by age, skill level and genre. They can compete in solo divisions, small group, large group and duo/trios. The main choreographers for TNT’s Competitive Edge team are Tiffany Glidden, Kali Vashon, and Terri Glidden. The team meets at least weekly as a team to practice their routines, listen to critiques from previous competitions and attempt to perfect technique and gain stamina. To compete on a national stage requires a commitment to excellence, discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance by the coaches and their athletes. Based on the results of the Dance Ovations Regional event, the following dances qualified for a special “Dance On” competition during Nationals, due to their high scoring placements:

Mechanical Dolls (a ballet routine choreographed by Tiffany Glidden for Annabelle Tasker age 10 and Kirstin Clawson age 10); Stepsisters Lament (a musical theater routine choreographed by Kali Vashon for Jayla Jandreau, Hailey Benson, and Stella Patterson, all 13 years old); All Aboard (choreographed by Terri Glidden for Sophia Santiago, Jayla Jandreau, Hailey Benson and Stella Patterson, all age 13) and finally The Letter (choreographed by Kali Vashon for Jaylenn Cugno, age 18, Sophia Santiago, Jayla Jandreau, Hailey Benson, and Stella Patterson, all age 13).

In addition to the qualifying routines, TNT has two dancers that qualified to compete in the Titleist Competition. These dancers – Sophia Santiago, age 13, and Jaylenn Cugno, age 18 – qualified by scoring in the top three of their respective solo divisions. Sophia is a seventh grader at Lawrence Jr. High School, in Fairfield, and is performing an acro/lyrical routine called Butterfly Fly Away that is choreographed by Kali Vashon. Jaylenn is a senior at Skowhegan Area High School, and is performing a contemporary routine called I am What I am, that is choreographed by Terri Glidden. Both dancers will engage in different events throughout the week such as interviews and opening number rehearsals with a large group of top soloists from all over the country.

In addition to an incredible amount of hard work, these dancers can attend these events due to their generous sponsors including: National Level Sponsor: Heavy Machines LLC; Competition Level Sponsors: S&K Heating, RDA Automotive and Zimba Corp; Convention Level Sponsors: Sackett & Brake Survey, Inc., Cappzas Pizza and Mattingly Products Co; Donors: Stan’s Fries, Key Appliance, Freihoffers, Cervesas, Pour House Pub, The Apple Farm, Harvest Moon Deli, Computer Improvements, Rebecca Cayford, ESQ, Rita’s Pizza, Johnny’s Seeds, Emery’s Meats, China Way, Pizza Hut, Autozone, Tin Knocker Signworks, and The Magic of Conjuring Carroll.

Former China Dine-ah to become daycare

/0 Comments/in , , /by

China Dine-ah on Lakeview Drive in China.

by Mary Grow

The former China Dine-ah, on Lakeview Drive (Route 202), which was closed by the pandemic in the spring of 2020, is moving toward becoming a daycare called Grace’s Busy Bees, directed by Grace McIntyre.

McIntyre, building owner Norman Elvin and architect David Landmann described plans to the China Planning Board at its June 25 meeting and received prompt and unanimous approval.

Board members considered the minimal external changes, the lack of impacts on neighbors and the local publicity the change has received and decided no public hearing was needed. They found the plan meets all ordinance requirements.

Board chairman Toni Wall issued the usual reminder that the decision is subject to appeal within 30 days.

The daycare will add a playground behind the building, away from Route 202. Elvin intends to build a six-foot cedar fence between the playground and the neighboring house.

Another change he plans is clearing brush along the road to improve visibility from the driveway.

Landmann said the fire alarm system has been upgraded and additional exits provided. He pointed out that state requirements the building met for a restaurant – like the septic system, which Elvin said had been thoroughly checked recently – were even more strict than requirements for a daycare.

The commercial kitchen in the building will be removed as part of a comprehensive interior renovation. Elvin said before the China Dine-ah opened, the building had been gutted, removing anything that might contain asbestos or lead.

The business needs approval from the state Department of Human Services and the state Fire Marshal. Landmann said both applications are pending.

McIntyre hopes to open Grace’s Busy Bees when school starts in the fall. She has applied for a maximum of 65 children to start, tentatively planning for up to 100 children in the future. Hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The June 25 planning board agenda included review of two existing ordinances and proposals for three new ones. Board members postponed continued discussion of China’s Land Use Ordinance and an update of the town’s marijuana ordinance.

Also scheduled for future discussion, as Wall and others collect more information and samples from other Maine towns, are:

— A Condemning Places ordinance that would allow town officials to determine a building unfit for human habitation;
— A Mass Gathering ordinance to define and regulate temporary events that draw large crowds; and
— On town attorney Amanda Meader’s recommendation, a Site Plan Review ordinance.

The next China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, July 9.