Fish kill on Webber Pond appears to be tied to parasite

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One of numerous dead largemouth bass found on Webber Pond. (photo by Roland D. Hallee)

by Roland D. Hallee

VASSALBORO, ME — Over the past couple of weeks there has been a noticeable fish kill on Webber Pond, in Vassalboro. On the east shore of the cove, dozens of dead largemouth bass have been washing ashore. The question that has been asked is why only largemouth bass have been affected.

photo by Roland D. Hallee

Fish kills have occurred before on Webber Pond, and also on China Lake, but it usually affects all species of fish, and not one in particular.

Jason Seiders, resource supervisor for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife provided some information on the subject. There has been ongoing work relating to the fish kill. The occurrence appears to be pond-wide, and not just the east shore.

Seiders says, “our staff has visited the pond multiple times to collect water quality information and to collect specimens for our fish pathologist. The ultimate cause of fish mortality appears to be high levels of parasitization by a protozoan called Chilodonella.” (Chilodonella uncinata is a single-celled organism that affects the gills and skin of fresh water fish, and may act as a facultative parasite of mosquito larva). “Chilodonella is found throughout Maine and is usually relatively benign to fishes,” Seiders adds, “unless the fish have undergone elevated levels of stress. Stress acts as an immunosuppressor to fish, and the causes of stress include a wide variety of issues.”

Seiders went on to say that since this event seems to involve almost exclusively adult largemouth bass, it is unlikely to be anything related to a discharge or point source of pollution. Those types of events would typically kill indiscriminately, not just one life stage of one species. Some likely causes of stress to adult largemouth bass in Webber Pond include: high fish numbers, rapid changes in water temperature or dissolved oxygen levels, and spawn and pre-spawn stress. The actual cause of the initial stress may never be known.

“I realize that an event such as this is disturbing. Fish kills like this are not uncommon for central Maine waters; this one is quite similar to one experienced in the Cobbosseecontee drainage a few years ago,” he explained.

For more information on fish kills, read the blog article written by the IF&W fish pathologist back in 2020, at https://www.maine.gov/ifw/blogs/mdifw-blog/when-be-concerned-about-finding-dead-fish-maines-lakes-ponds-and-rivers-summer.

According to Seiders, Webber Pond is a very productive warm water fishery, one that has often been called a “bass factory”. Webber Pond provides outstanding habitat for warm water fishes such as largemouth bass, which will likely speed along any recovery to the population.

While numerous bass have perished during this event at Webber, this will not cause the entire population to be wiped out. Animals that feed on the bass will be unharmed because the identified protozoan is harmless to wildlife. The IF&W staff will continue to monitor Webber Pond to assess potential impacts to the bass population in the short and long term.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, contact Seiders directly and he’ll help as best he can. He can be contacted at Dwayne.J.Seiders@maine.gov.

Karen Normandin appointed president of KVCC

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Karen Normandin

Board of Directors gives unanimous support

FAIRFIELD, ME — Maine Community College System (MCCS) President David Daigler announced recently that Karen Normandin has been appointed president of Kennebec Valley Community College, in Fairfield, effective June 1.

Normandin has been serving as acting president of Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC) since May 2021.

“I am honored to have been selected as the next president of Kennebec Valley Community College,” Normandin said. “This college has a long history of providing excellence in academic programming and workforce training opportunities. We are on an extraordinary journey of growth and transition.”

“As we move forward, I am excited to be in a leadership role, working with the faculty and staff to continue the great work that KVCC is known for in this community,” she said. “I look forward to continuing that tradition and strengthening the ties to our community.”

Normandin has worked at KVCC for more than 30 years, serving in multiple leadership positions, including vice president of student affairs, enrollment, marketing and recruitment; dean of student affairs; director of educational support services; and director of TRIO student support services.

“Karen is a champion of the KVCC community and will be an excellent leader,” Daigler said. “She has a deep understanding of the college and an unwavering dedication to its people and the broader community. I look forward to working with her to advance the college during this critical time.”

The MCCS Board of Trustees unanimously supported the appointment.

“Karen has extensive experience and deep ties to the students, faculty and staff at KVCC,” said Board Chairman Bill Cassidy. “Her proven leadership skills will serve the students, faculty and staff well.”

Normandin is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership at Capella University. She has a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Ball State University, in Indiana, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Saint Anselm College, in New Hampshire.

In 2020, Normandin was a John T. Gorman Fellow, which identifies and develops leaders in the public sector, and she twice received the KVCC President’s Award in recognition of her leadership within the KVCC community.

She serves as vice chairman of the Kennebec Behavioral Health Programs Advisory Board; executive board member of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce; and previously served on the Nursing Advisory Board for KVCC, in addition to being a member of multiple professional organizations.

Normandin was selected from an initial field of more than 40 candidates following a national search.

Normandin succeeds Dr. Richard Hopper, who is currently interim president of Greenfield Community College, in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

Kennebec Valley Community College, with campuses in Fairfield and Hinckley, enrolls about 2,300 students engaged in more than 35 programs of study.

Tristan Morton earns second of four medals

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Fr. Skehan pins Tristan with the second of four medals “Parvuli Dei”. (photo courtesy of Chuck Mahaleris)

Tristan Morton of Pack #603 was recognized by the Catholic Council on Scouting at a Mass in St. Mary Church, on Wednesday, April 27. The Mass was led by Father John Skehan and attended by the students of St. Michael School, in Augusta, where Tristan attends the fourth grade. After blessing the award, Fr. Skehan pinned Tristan with the second of four medals “Parvuli Dei” that follow Catholic Scouts as they mature in the understanding of the church and their faith. Reverence is one of the 12 moral elements of Scouting. Pack #603 is chartered at the American Legion Post #205, Augusta.

Northern Light welcomes Sydney Scott

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Sydney Scott

Northern Light Inland Hospital welcomes Sydney Scott, PA, physician assistant. Sydney joins the team at North­ern Light Cardio­vascular Care, lo­cated at 244 Kennedy Memorial Drive, on the hospital campus, in Water­ville.

Sydney is an experienced PA and is board certified by the Na­tional Commi­ssion on Certification of Physician Assistants. She received her Master of Physician Assistant Studies from Chatham University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Sydney believes, “It is important for both the provider and patient to listen to each other and to build a relationship of respect and empathy.”

For a referral, please contact your primary care provider. Or for more information, call Northern Light Cardiovascular Care at 861-8030.

Blood donations needed ahead of summer

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When schools let out for summer and families set off on vacation, the American Red Cross typically sees a decline in donors, which can impact patient care. It’s critically important that donors make an appointment to give now before heading out for summer activities to help maintain a stable blood supply in the coming months.

Unfortunately, the need for blood doesn’t take a summer break. Volunteer donors are the only source of blood and platelets for patients with blood disorders, trauma victims and those experiencing difficult childbirths.

In thanks for helping boost the blood supply, all who come to give through May 19, 2022, will receive a $10 e-gift card to a merchant of choice and will also be automatically entered to win a travel trailer camper that sleeps eight. Details are available at rcblood.org/camper. Those who come to give May 20-31 will receive an exclusive 20-ounce Red Cross aluminum water bottle and customizable sticker set, while supplies last.

Donors can help save a life in just an hour. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, platelets or plasma, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Health insights for donors

The Red Cross is testing all donations for COVID-19 antibodies for a limited time. Results may indicate if the donor’s immune system has produced antibodies to this coronavirus after vaccination or past exposure, regardless of whether they developed symptoms.

Plasma from routine blood, platelet and plasma donations that have high levels of COVID-19 antibodies may be used as convalescent plasma to meet potential future needs of COVID-19 patients with a weakened immune system.

The Red Cross is not testing donors to diagnose infection, referred to as a diagnostic test. To protect the health and safety of Red Cross staff and donors, it is important that individuals who have been asked to quarantine or believe they may be ill with COVID-19 postpone donation until they are symptom free for 10 days and feeling well and healthy.

At a time when health information has never been more important, the Red Cross is screening all blood, platelet and plasma donations from self-identified African American donors for the sickle cell trait. This additional screening will provide Black donors with an additional health insight and help the Red Cross identify compatible blood types more quickly to help patients with sickle cell disease. Blood transfusion is an essential treatment for those with sickle cell disease, and blood donations from individuals of the same race, ethnicity and blood type have a unique ability to help patients fighting sickle cell disease.

Donors can expect to receive antibody testing results and sickle cell trait screening results, if applicable, within one to two weeks through the Red Cross Blood Donor App and the online donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org.

Blood drive safety

The Red Cross follows a high standard of safety and infection control. The Red cross will continue to socially distance wherever possible at blood drives, donation centers and facilities. While donors are no longer required to wear a face mask, individuals may choose to continue to wear a mask for any reason. The Red Cross will also adhere to more stringent face mask requirements per state and/or local guidance, or at the request of blood drive sponsors. Donors are asked to schedule an appointment prior to arriving at a drive.

How to donate blood

Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enable the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Legion auxiliary donates backpacks and essentials to children

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From left to right, Tardiff-Belanger American Legion Auxiliary, Unit #39, of Madison members, Tammy Giguere, Karen Lytle, Tina Boudreau, Harriet Bryant, Merrilyn Vieira, Vicki Anderson, and Irma Fluet. (contributed photo)

In observance of April as Children and Youth Month, members of the Tardiff-Belanger American Legion Auxiliary, Unit #39, Madison donated backpacks and many essential items such as clothes, Pj’s, toothpaste, toothbrushes, diapers, jackets, socks, hygiene products for the older children and toys.

These items benefit the children who will enter the Department of Health and Human Services System. Most children enter with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. These backpacks provide them with items they can call their own in hopes that it makes the transition a little easier for them. This year with generous donations of items from the members of the local community and membership as well as the Auxiliary purchases, the Auxiliary donated over $1,300 worth of items!

To learn more about the American Legion Auxiliary’s mission or to volunteer, donate, visit www.ALAforveterans.org. To join the Madison American Legion Auxiliary Unit, contact Karen Lytle, President – American Legion Auxiliary, PO Box 325, Madison, ME 04950, or karen.lytle364@gmail.com, or (207) 696-4445.

Teenage historians honored

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Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On April 2, at the Winslow Congregational Church, the Fort Halifax Chapter, NSDAR presented awards to six young adults at a Student Tea held in their honor. The American History Contest is offered to students in grades 5-12. The fifth grade winner was Elizabeth Longfellow, the daughter of Hailey Longfellow and Patrick Morrison. Dominique Giroux-Paré the daughter of Michelle and Rick Giroux-Paré was chosen as the winner from the eighth grade. They both wrote on the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” and were presented Certificates of Participation. They also both received a historical coloring book published by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Carrina Chen, the daughter of Sandy and Wing Chen received the Jennie Paine Howard Award for achieving the highest rank in American History in her junior class. She was presented a medal and certificate for her outstanding work. Carrina also received a historical coloring book.

Three students were chosen by the faculty from area schools as the DAR Good Citizen Candidate. They included Megan Huesers, daughter of Katie and Thomas Huesers, of Winslow High School, Kloe McEachirn, daughter of Brandy and Corey Dow, of the Maine Arts Academy, and Sawyer Inman, the son of David Inman and Frieda Mavor, of Mt. View High School. Megan Huesers wrote the winning essay for the Fort Halifax Chapter entitled “Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It.” They all received the DAR Good Citizen certificate and pin. Megan will receive an American flag that has been flown at the Maine State Capitol.

Search for wolves in northeast

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Eastern wolf

John M. Glowa, Sr., president of The Maine Wolf Coalition, Inc., (MWC) a 501c(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to wolf recovery in Maine through research, education and protection, is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Princeton University and Michigan Technological University. This collaboration will include the collection, preservation and analysis of wild canid scats, primarily from Maine, and is the latest development in a citizen science project to assess the status of wolves in Maine begun by MWC in 2019.

Wolves were documented to have been killed in Maine in 1993 and 1996. Since then, other than MWC’s efforts, little has been done to assess the status of wolves in Maine and the northeast. Given their similarity of appearance to eastern coyotes, it is likely that additional wolves have been killed in Maine, and in fact, since 1993, no less than nine wolves have been documented killed south of the St. Lawrence River from Massachusetts to New Brunswick.

Canada’s wolf range in Ontario and Québec is just 60 miles from New York and 75 miles from Maine. In fact, an 85-pound probable wolf was killed this past winter in central New York. Wolves have been documented to travel more than 1,000 miles during dispersal, making the northeast U.S. well within range for natural wolf recolonization. Furthermore, the northeast U.S. and maritime Canada contain tens of thousands of square miles of potential wolf habitat and abundant prey, making the region suitable for the natural return of wolves.

In 2019, MWC volunteers found scat from the first live Eastern wolf ever documented in Maine. The Eastern wolf is a smaller wolf found in southern Ontario and Québec, which typically averages approximately 60 pounds. It is similar in appearance and size to the eastern coyote (aka coywolf) with which it can interbreed.

Maine may also be home to larger gray wolves dispersing south from central Canada and the Great Lakes region. To date, MWC has collected more than one hundred wild canid scats, primarily in a 3.3 million acre region of Maine called the North Maine Woods.

The assistance from Princeton and Michigan Technological Universities will help to assess the status of wolves in Maine by analyzing the scats and interpreting the results. Event­ually, our hope is to have one or more graduate students in the woods of northern Maine monitoring radio-collared wolves.

Any wolves in the northeast are currently protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has claimed that their populations have recovered in most of the U.S. They have not recovered in the northeast, despite abundant habitat and prey, and the region’s proximity to wolf range in Ontario and Québec. MWC hopes to gather information to support the continued listing of wolves in the region under the Endangered Species Act and to promote natural wolf recolonization through research, education, and protection.

For more information, contact the following: The Maine Wolf Coalition, Inc.

John Glowa jglowa@roadrunner.com; Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research
Jon Way, PhD. jon@easterncoyoteresearch.com; Princeton University
Bridgett vonHoldt, PhD. vonholdt@princeton.edu; Michigan Technological University
Kristin E. Brzeski, PhD. kbrzeski@mtu.edu.

Local Farms Day at ACB

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Come one and all to the first annual Local Farms Day at the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library at 37 Main St. in China Village. Attendees will view displays of goods of area farmers and producers with items also for sale. This family friendly event will be held on Saturday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Displays will be indoors and out. There will be door prizes and giveaways. Children will enjoy some activities including a story and craft time at 11 a.m. We will also be accepting seed donations to build up our Seed Sharing Library.

National Poppy Day is May 27

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Members of American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Unit #39, Madison will be distributing bright red poppies in exchange for a donation throughout the month of May. The Flanders Fields poppy has become an internationally known and recognized symbol of the lives sacrificed in war and the hope that none died in vain. The American Legion Family called upon Congress to proclaim the Friday before Memorial Day as National Poppy Day, which was officially designated as such in 2017.

Honor our fallen warriors and contribute to the continuing needs of our veterans on National Poppy Day, May 27, 2022.

“Wearing the poppy on National Poppy Day and throughout Memorial Day weekend is one small way to honor and remember our fallen warriors who willingly served our nation and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom,” said American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Unit #39 President Karen Lytle “We must never forget.”

The poppy also honors hospitalized and disabled veterans who handcraft many of the red, crepe paper flowers. Making the poppies provides a financial and therapeutic benefit to the veterans, as well as a benefit to thousands of other veterans.

When The American Legion Family adopted the poppy as its memorial flower in the early 1920s, the blood-red icon became an enduring symbol of honor for the sacrifices of our veterans from the battlefields of France in World War I to today’s global war on terror. The American Legion Auxiliary raises about $4 million each year distributing poppies throughout the nation, with 100 percent of the funds raised going directly to help veterans, military, and their families.

The American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) is a community of volunteers serving veterans, military, and their families. Our members also support the mission of The American Legion in improving the quality of life for our nation’s veterans.

The more than 600,000 ALA members across the country volunteer millions of hours annually and raise millions of dollars in service to veterans, military, and their families. Founded in 1919, the ALA is one of the oldest patriotic membership organizations in the U.S.A. To learn more and to volunteer, join, and donate, visit www.ALAforVeterans.org or if you like to join a local unit, contact Karen Lytle, President, American Legion Auxiliary, Tardiff-Belanger Unit #39, PO Box 325, Madison, ME 04950, or karen.lytle364@gmail.com or (207)696-4445.