Sophie Wheeler, of Skowhegan, was named to the dean’s list at Bates College, in Lewiston, for the fall/winter semester ending in December 2023. This is a distinction earned by students whose grade point average is 3.92 or higher.
Wheeler is majoring in Theater and Rhetoric, Film, Screen Studies, at Bates.
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The annual prize for Pi Day winners at Vassalboro Community School is the chance to throw a pie – whipped cream in a graham cracker crust into the face of a teacher or the principal. On Pi Day 2024, sixth-grade winners Mariah Estabrook (second from left) and Sarina LaCroix (third from left) so honored sixth-grade math teacher Stephanie Tuttle (left) and Principal Ira Michaud (right). (contributed photo)
At their March 19 meeting, Vassalboro school board members decided the two issues left undecided in February (see the Feb. 22 issue of The Town Line, p. 3) and continued review of the draft 2024-25 school budget.
Board members voted unanimously to approve a three-year contract with Jennifer Lizotte, who runs the daycare at Vassalboro Community School (VCS). The decision was accompanied by expressions of goodwill and approval from school administrators and Lizotte.
School personnel said the daycare is well run, Lizotte is cooperative with them and school staff whose children attend are happy.
Lizotte thanked school personnel for being helpful and understanding. She thanked the board for the three-year contract, which will let her plan ahead.
The present daycare space fits nicely with staff and enrollment, Lizotte said. She and board members talked about possible installation of a ceiling fan in the area for the summer term.
Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said after discussion with Shelley Phillips, director of maintenance and grounds for Vassalboro and Winslow schools, the daily rent will be raised from $25 to $28. This figure will be reviewed annually.
The second month-old issue was whether to increase school board members’ stipends, currently $40 per meeting. Pfeiffer said many comparable boards’ members are rewarded more generously.
Board members voted unanimously not to change the figure. Several said they had run for school board without knowing there was a stipend.
No one could predict whether more money would encourage more residents to run for the board. Pfeiffer was doubtful, saying the number of volunteers for local positions has been declining state-wide.
Budget discussion covered two major accounts, administration and tuition. Pfeiffer emphasized that some figures are estimates.
For example, he does not have 2024-25 insurance costs and is guessing how big the increase will be. The state will calculate and release 2024-25 high-school tuition costs in December 2024; based on the last two years, Pfeiffer has penciled in a six percent increase.
In other business, Principal Ira Michaud said Vassalboro’s average daily attendance is at 94.9 percent, slightly below the state’s recommended goal of 95 percent. He explained the two types of absences, excused (when a parent calls in to say a student is ill, or the family is going on a trip) and unexcused (when no explanation is offered). Especially in the second case, he said, teachers are encouraged to call the family to see if the school can help.
Board member Jessica Clark alerted the rest of the board to the legislative bill LD 974, titled “An Act to Establish Minimum Pay for Educational Technicians and Other School Support Staff.” If it becomes effective, in 2025 some educational technicians could be paid more than teachers, she said.
Pfeiffer said the bill, if it becomes law, will have a “significant” monetary impact state-wide. He hopes if the legislature approves it, state funding will be provided.
Clark said Vassalboro’s legislators, Rep. Richard Bradstreet and Sen. Matthew Pouliot, told her the bill is likely to pass and advised her to address her concerns to Governor Janet Mills.
Principal Michaud’s report included thanks to the Vassalboro Parent-Teacher Organization for supplies for two recent events, Bubble Day and Pi Day.
He said school counselor, Gina Davis, introduced Bubble Day, with students outdoors blowing bubbles, as an observance of the first day of spring.
Pi Day, the annual observance of the “mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159,” drew 34 contestants trying to remember as much of the endless number as they could. Michaud said the winners were, in third place, fifth-grader Ashlynn Hamlin; second place, sixth-grader Mariah Estabrook; and first-place, reciting 167 digits, sixth-grader Sarina LaCroix.
Board members plan to continue budget discussion at their regular meeting Tuesday evening, April 9. Pfeiffer is considering scheduling an additional special budget meeting.
by Mary GrowVassalboro select board members’ March 21 meeting featured a discussion with John Reuthe and Rebecca Lamey, from the Webber Pond Association (WPA), about the health of Webber Pond and associated water bodies.
The water level in the Vassalboro pond is controlled by an outlet dam. Water quality is influenced by run-off from surrounding land and, Reuthe explained, by inflows from Three Mile Pond, Three Cornered Pond and Mud Pond.
A history of water quality problems led to a management program developed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that includes an annual fall drawdown intended to flush excess nutrients down Seven Mile Stream into the Kennebec River.
Reuthe, WPA president, said warmer water has encouraged the growth of blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which can sicken people and pets.
WPA officers are working with Maine Rivers (the organization that led the opening of local streams to alewife migration) to develop a new watershed management plan encompassing the four connected ponds, Reuthe said. A plan written about 20 years ago, with help from the Kennebec Valley Soil and Water Conservation District, was not implemented and is outdated.
Because Three Mile Pond is partly in China and Windsor, Mud Pond is in Windsor and Three Cornered Pond is in Augusta, the effort will involve multiple municipalities. Reuthe and Vassalboro Town Manager Aaron Miller have already begun discussions with Windsor’s town manager.
Lamey said WPA will apply for a federal 604(b) grant, referring to a program that is part of the Clean Water Act, to begin the new watershed study. Vassalboro has several residents whose expertise will be helpful, including a grant-writer, she said.
Future plans include more dam improvements, Reuthe said, in cooperation with Maine Rivers. Although the projects he and Lamey outlined will be expensive, he assured select board members WPA is not –yet – asking for substantial town funds, only for expressions of support from the select board.
Reuthe told select board members the $5,000 voters allocated to the WPA at the 2023 town meeting was spent as intended, to make the dam gates easier to control and add equipment storage at the dam and to buy water quality testing equipment.
The public hearing on amendments to Vassalboro’s Marijuana Business Ordinance with which the March 21 meeting was scheduled to begin drew no audience. Board members and planning board member Douglas Phillips briefly discussed the changes, which include renaming the ordinance Cannabis Business Ordinance. The topic will be continued at the April 4 select board meeting.
Board members also postponed a decision on repaving the parking lot at the former East Vassalboro school, now the Vassalboro Historical Society headquarters. After reviewing three proposals with cost estimates, they referred board member Rick Denico, Jr.’s, questions about the project to the expertise of public works department members.
In other business March 21, select board members unanimously:
— Left the town office hours adopted in January as they are. Miller said residents who expressed opinions are pleased, especially with the earlier opening.
— Approved closing the transfer station on Easter Sunday, as has been done in past years.
Miller said he has no new information related to the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s finances. The district has a rate increase scheduled April 1 for its about 200 customers, who have told select board members they cannot afford even present rates.
Select board members have been working on the issue since before the Dec. 14, 2023, meeting which drew more than five dozen people to discuss reasons and potential remedies for the financial problems (see the Dec. 21, 2023, issue of The Town Line, p. 2).
The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
by Mary GrowAt their March 25 meeting, China select board members continued preparations for the June 11 annual town business meeting. They scheduled a special meeting Monday evening, April 1, to review the town meeting warrant (if Brent Chesley, who was absent March 25, is able to attend); their regular meeting April 8 is the deadline for a final warrant.
As of March 25, the draft warrant includes three ordinance revisions: amendments to the Planning Board Ordinance; changes to chapters 2, 3, and 11 of the Land Development Code, prepared by town attorney Amanda Meader to meet new state affordable housing requirements; and a new solar ordinance that, if approved, will become chapter 8 of the Land Development Code.
As of March 25, the draft warrant includes three ordinance revisions: amendments to the Planning Board Ordinance; changes to chapters 2, 3, and 11 of the Land Development Code, prepared by town attorney Amanda Meader to meet new state affordable housing requirements; and a new solar ordinance that, if approved, will become chapter 8 of the Land Development Code.
In other business March 25, select board members awarded the bid for a new storage vault attached to the town office to the lower of two bidders, Ralph McNaughton Construction, of Corinna, Maine, for more than $267,000.
Sheldon Goodine, chairman of the building committee, reminded board members that the high price includes a lot of “mechanicals” to keep the addition lighted and heated.
Board chairman Wayne Chadwick commented that delaying a decision would not bring the price down. Goodine said the project has been under discussion for four years.
Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said the town does not have $267,000 to spare at the moment. She and board members discussed funding sources, like the board’s voter-approved contingency fund; the town’s undesignated fund balance (informally called surplus); or perhaps, with voter approval on June 11, reallocated Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds.
Board members authorized Hapgood to discuss with the McNaughton company reducing the cost by having China’s public works crew do some of the groundwork.
Hapgood warned board members of another large pending expenditure: the proposed 2024-25 Kennebec County budget would raise China’s county tax by 39 percent, an increase of $238,000.
The public hearing on the draft county budget was scheduled for Wednesday evening, March 27. Hapgood planned to attend; Chadwick said he would if he could.
Board members postponed action on two agenda items, a request from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office (KSO) to put an antenna on the radio tower at the China town office and a proposed easement over land at the Branch Mills dam.
Hapgood said attorneys were discussing liability issues that might come up if KSO shared the town’s tower. She proposed offering use of the tower for free, since expanding KSO’s range would be a public service. Chadwick and fellow board member Blane Casey, with the proposed county budget fresh in their minds, leaned toward asking for payment.
The manager said there were still unanswered questions about the proposed easement.
In addition to final action on the June 11 meeting warrant, Hapgood expects the April 8 meeting agenda to include a presentation on the town’s valuation from assessor William Van Tuinen.
Few humans understand that a year in which two digits in our current Gregorian calendar add up to a third digit – like 2024, because 2 +2 = 4 — is a Gathering Year for the Improbables.
The last such year was 2013 (2 + 1 = 3). The next will be 2035 (2 + 3 = 5).
No human understands what criteria the Improbables use to choose their gathering place. There have been many theories and surmises over the centuries; none has had predictive value.
It is clear, however, that this year the small town of China, Maine, has been honored.
The earliest sighting, in late January, was of a pair of unicorns just off Maple Ridge Road, near the Winslow town line. The person who saw them did not report the sighting until this week.
“I’d had a couple beers, and I thought I was seeing things, like white horses with branches somehow stuck on their heads,” he confessed. “Couple beers don’t usually bother me. Couple unicorns, now, that’s a different story.”
A strange Yeti-like creature captured by a game camera near China Lake with China Baptist Church in the background.
The first Himalayan Yeti (also called the Abominable Snowman) was photographed by a game camera at a home on the northeast side of China Lake, apparently sampling suet from a bird-feeder. Two nights later, he or she returned with two other adults and a youngster. The homeowners took down the feeders and the camera.
In Thurston Park in February, cameras put up to deter vandals spotted 11 Bigfeet (Sasquatches), probably Canadian, and 11 Yowies from Australia playing a game that seemed to be similar to cricket. A park volunteer who studied the film said the Yowies won by a substantial margin, despite being less accustomed to winter weather in Maine.
A Deer Hill resident swears the animal who loped across Deer Hill Road in front of her car late one night was a werewolf. “I watch lotsa horror movies; I know one of them things when I see it,” she explained.
The werewolf was heading west, she said – “probably going down to the river hopin’ to find runnin’ water so’s he could get a drink.”
As word of unusual appearances began to spread, more people came forward to tell their tales. They include:
— The bird-watcher who is convinced he saw a roc over Three Mile Pond – “No, it was definitely not a big eagle. Not even big eagles come that big.”
— The Weeks Mills woman who did not dial 911 when a dozen centaurs filed down her driveway. “I’m a part-time 911 dispatcher myself, and I know what I’d be thinkin’ if I got a call like that,” she explained.
— The South China resident who watched a troop of elves hold an archery contest in his yard. “Man, those little guys can shoot – right into the bulls-eye every time, and so fast you couldn’t hardly believe it,” he said admiringly.
— Two China Village residents who interrupted their morning jog to see why the ducks in the open water by the causeway were agitated: they watched Poco, the 50-foot-long water snake from Pocomoonshine Lake, in Washington County, welcoming Champ from Lake Champlain, in Vermont, and Nessie from Loch Ness, in Scotland.
If past Gatherings are a guide, the Improbables will meet and greet in China until April 1. That evening, they will return to their homes until April Fools Day 2035.
OUR TURF: Emily Poulin, of South China, snapped this goldfinch and chickadee disagreeing on who belongs.
BEE’S BUFFET: Jayne Winters, of China, photographed this bee feasting on nectar last summer.
JUST CHILLIN’: Cassandra Goodine snapped this photo of a chickadee hanging out.
Jud Smith, center, flanked by his mother Lisa Libby, left, and his father Zachary Smith. (contributed photo)
Judson Smith, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Vassalboro Community School (VCS), has been accepted for high school at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM), in Limestone.
Jud is an honor roll student at VCS, a member of the JMG (Jobs for Maine Graduates) program and the Gifted and Talented Program and president of the student council. He played soccer last fall.
His father, Zachary Smith, said Jud has long been interested in math and science, partly because of his parents. Smith, with a background in biology and medicine, is a Psychiatric Physician Assistant, and his wife, Lisa Libby, is a pharmacist.
With his parents’ support, Jud went to MSSM’s summer camp for two years. Jud added, “They offered classes where you were able to launch rockets and calculate what distances they would cover.”
At MSSM, Jud intends to focus on chemistry. He is considering a career in chemical engineering, and looks forward to the “more challenging material” he expects at MSSM.
“It is a very high honor for any student to be accepted to this prestigious institution,” Vassalboro school superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said.
Part of the crowd at the winters of the past memory-session sponsored by the China Historical Society. (photo by Eric W. Austin)
On the afternoon of Sunday, March 17, I parked in a puddle across from the China Baptist Church on Causeway Road. The day was cold and gray, but notably, China Lake was almost entirely free of ice, marking an unusually warm and (mostly) snow-sparse midwinter in Maine.
I was attending a memory-session at the Baptist church, organized by the China Historical Society, dedicated to reminiscing about winters past. Inside, several tables were set up with historic items brought by attendees or provided by the historical society, alongside a collection of photos. My attention was captured by a photo of an old-fashioned rail engine buried in the snow, with several men shoveling it out.
Bob Bennett, a member of the society, explained that the photo depicted one of the engines from the narrow-gauge railway that once connected China, Albion, and Branch Mills. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, this railway was a bustling conduit for passengers and goods (mostly milk and potatoes). (Incidentally, Bob Bennett has plans for a tour of the narrow-gauge railway this summer, and interested individuals are encouraged to contact him or the society to reserve a spot.)
The session began with an old film recently digitized by the historical society, showing ice harvesting on China Lake. The film was grainy and silent, which left me wishing for a lively piano soundtrack to accompany the visuals.
David Rodrigue speaks to the group. (photo by Eric W. Austin)
Ron Morrell (photo by Eric W. Austin)
Ron Morrell, who moderated the discussion along with Scott McCormac, then invited the audience, comprising about two dozen residents, to share their memories. The conversation turned to the scale of ice harvesting on China Lake and the Kennebec River, where over 40 operations would take place each winter. The ice was cut with large saws and stored in sawdust-packed houses near the water.
A few attendees shared fond childhood memories of playing in the sawdust. One story, told by Harold Charles, involved two sisters who got back at their bothersome older brother by burying him up to his neck in sawdust at a local ice house.
Questions about the longevity of the stored ice led to discussions about the sawdust from local sawmills in Vassalboro, which was essential for preserving the ice all year. The conversation also touched on Maine’s ice being exported as far as Africa and the cobblestones used as ballast for the returning ships, which contributed to many of New England’s cobblestone roads and walkways.
The China Historical Society’s call for more winter photos from residents was highlighted, with a promise to digitize and return any photos shared.
Scott McCormac, president of the China Historical Society (photo by Eric W. Austin)
Following this, Harold Charles read from a diary entry or letter from the 1940s or ’50s, which included amusing advice on predicting the severity of the coming winter based on observations of corn husks, onion skins, and the behavior of squirrels.
Neil Farrington (photo by Eric W. Austin)
The discussion also covered memorable difficult winters, with Neil Farrington recalling skating through fields after an ice storm, and another resident reminiscing about the town’s post-New Year’s Christmas tree bonfires.
A brief slideshow showcased images from China, South China, and Branch Mills, with one resident explaining the purpose of wooden planks laid along the sidewalks to avoid the mud, due to the unpaved roads of the time.
The session wrapped up with anecdotes about E.B. White, known for Charlotte’s Web, who once spent a night in China, and reminiscences about the challenges of keeping warm in older times.
The event was documented by Tom Parent, with photos and audio recordings soon to be available from the China Historical Society. To join the society, a nominal membership fee of $10 (for individuals) is required.