PHOTO: A rare pileated sighting
Dwayne and Renée West saw this pileated woodpecker while walking along Sheepscot Lake on February 18.
EVENTS: North Pond Pike fishing derby slated for Saturday
The North Pond Association is hosting a Pike Ice Fishing Derby at North Pond from 6 a.m. – 2 p.m., on Saturday, February 22, 2025.
This family fun derby features two divisions: one for participants aged 16 and older, and another for children aged 15 and under. Prizes in both divisions are awarded based on the heaviest pike caught. In the first division, the prizes are $500 for first place, $200 for second place, and $100 for third place. The prize for the children’s division is a Lifetime Fishing License. Organizers will be stationed at the boat landing on North Shore Drive on the Mercer/Smithfield town line for the weigh-in at the end of the derby. Come on out and make a day of it!
Tickets can be purchased online until just before the kick off of the derby on Saturday, February 22, at 6 a.m. $15 for ages 16 and up and $5 for ages 15 and under.
Derby Rules and Details
You are responsible for knowing and following all applicable Maine Fishing Laws and Rules found online at the link provided.
Laws & Rules: Fishing: Fishing & Boating: Maine Dept of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Organizers will decide the day before the derby whether the ice conditions are safe. However, you are responsible for ensuring the ice is safe for yourself, your equipment, and any guests you bring.
Check the Facebook event page as they share updates on the leaderboard.
The weigh-in station will be located at the boat landing on North Shore Drive near the CBI shelter. Submissions for weigh in starts at 6 a.m.
They reserve the right to decline any submission from individuals suspected of cheating and will notify the warden service.
Your pike must be free of all snow, ice and not be frozen solid prior to weigh in.
They will note your name along with the weight, length, and the time you weighed in for any tiebreakers.
In the event there’s a line of submissions right at 2 p.m., they will ensure everyone gets recorded within a reasonable time.
Once your submission is recorded you are free to take your fish back with you. If you do not wish to keep your pike, they will take it off your hands.
Local couple celebrates 63rd anniversary at Sweetheart Breakfast
The Willettes observed their 63rd wedding anniversary at the South China Committee Church’s Sweetheart Breakfast, on February 8. (photo by Jayne Winters)
by Jayne Winters
The South China Community Church (SCCC) held its first Blessed Breakfast in July 2023. Well-known for its turkey pie suppers, the Council decided to try something new because of the rising cost of turkey pies and declining attendance during the cold, dark winter months. What started as a “test run” has become a consistent, well-received fundraiser, and perhaps more importantly, a place for folks to meet with old friends and make new ones, often lingering over a second or third cup of coffee.
Forty-three people attended our “Sweetheart Breakfast” on February 8 and everyone was surprised to learn that one couple, the Willettes, were celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary! Hopefully, the music provided by SCCC’s Mary Matteson, as well as the chocolates and carnations, helped make their anniversary just a little more special.
The Blessed Breakfasts are held the second Saturday of every month from 8 – 10 a.m. The menu includes scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, tater tots, pancakes with local Maine maple syrup, biscuits with sausage gravy, fruit, a variety of homemade pastries, and of course, coffee, tea, orange juice, and hot chocolate. Needless to say, no one ever leaves hungry!
Many thanks to everyone who continue to help make these breakfasts such a success: those who donate and prepare food, set up tables, help in the kitchen, clean up and especially our “regulars” who come faithfully every month. We’re truly blessed to be able to serve such a wonderful community and look forward to having you join us!
Issue for February 13, 2025
Issue for February 13, 2025
Variety store in China Village celebrates grand opening
China’s newest specialty store & deli, China Lake Provisions, is hosting its official grand opening this weekend. Located in China Village near the Post Office, the store is having a ribbon cutting ceremony this Friday, February 14th at 3:30pm. The celebration coincides with the China Lake Fishing Derby and all community members are invited to join the festivities and explore the new store’s offerings! They plan to be open for business at 7:30am on Derby Day… by Gillian Lalime
Town News
Select board reviews manager’s budget draft
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro select board members held their first review of Town Manager Aaron Miller’s draft 2025-26 town budget at a Feb. 4 workshop meeting. They went through the document category by category and frequently line by line…
Planners approve new 7-lot subdivision on Seaward Mills Road
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro Planning Board members unanimously approved a new seven-lot subdivision on Seaward Mills Road at their Feb. 4 meeting…
Select board discourages two residents asking for town expenditures
CHINA – At their Feb. 10 meeting, China select board members discouraged two residents recommending town expenditures…
Area scouts earn merit badges at badge college
AUGUSTA — Scouting America, formerly the Boy Scouts of America, turned 115 years old on February 8. Scouts from central, western and southern Maine celebrated by doing something Scouts have done since the program began. – they earned merit badges… by Chuck Mahaleris
Winter greetings from SymmeTree Arborist
VASSALBORO — Gosh it feels nice to have a protective and insulative layer of snow on the ground. We hope you have been staying safe and warm during these winter months. This time of year, cozied up by our woodstoves or taking long walks through the woods, we begin to remember the cold season of trees and the transformations they, too, experience…
Students at Winslow inspired to start first unified cheerleading team
WINSLOW — When a group of special needs students at Winslow High School expressed interest in being cheerleaders, senior Adeline “Addie” Blackstone decided to make it happen. With full backing by school administration, a commitment by 13 of her fellow Winslow varsity cheerleaders to be mentors, and financial support from the ShineOnCass Foundation, Coach Addie is now leading the school’s first Winslow Unified Cheer Team… by Monica Charette
EVENTS: China Ice Fishing events – February 14-16
CHINA — Listing of events for China Ice Fishing weekend.
PHOTO: Champions
OAKLAND — Messalonskee boys grades 3/4 travel team won an absolute thriller on Sunday. Playing Corinna in the championship game, the Eagles went to sudden death overtime.
Area students named to president’s list at Plymouth State
CENTRAL ME — Area students named to the Plymouth State University president’s list for the Fall 2024 semester, in Plymouth, New Hampshire. They are Kaiden Kelley, Art and Design major, of South China, Dylan Flewelling, Exercise and Sport Physiology major, of Oakland, Sidney Hatch, Social Work major, of Oakland, and Riley Johnson, Psychology major, of Windsor.
Oak Grove School Foundation offers grants
CENTRAL ME — The Oak Grove School Foundation is accepting applications for grants to support the education and cultural needs of students and non profit organizations in the greater Central Maine area…
Name that film!
Identify the film in which this famous line originated and qualify to win FREE passes to The Maine Film Center, in Waterville: “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is March 6, 2025.
Local happenings
EVENTS: Shakespearean Homeschoolers to present The Merry Wives of Windsor this weekend
MONMOUTH – This year the Southern Maine Association of Shakespearean Homeschoolers (S.M.A.S.H.) is performing The Merry Wives of Windsor…There are two performances left 6:30 p.m., on February 14, and 2 p.m., on February 15, at Cumston Hall… by Abigail Maxwell
EVENTS: Lincoln County Historical Association offers heritage craft workshops
WISCASSET – During the month of March, Lincoln County Historical Association’s education outreach program will offer a series of heritage craft workshops. The workshops will be held on March 2, 16, and 30 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. They will feature stenciling on canvas, basketry, hand brooms, and foil art. The program is generously supported by a grant from the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust…
EVENTS: Palermo planning board postpones meeting
PALERMO – The Palermo Planning Board meeting, schedule for Thursday, February 13, 2025, at the Palermo Town Office, at 6 pm., the purpose to conduct official review of plans for the proposed Pine Hill subdivision on Hostile Valley Road, Tax Map R11, Lot 27C, has been postponed.
EVENTS: Gene Letourneau ice fishing tourney on tap for Sunday
WATERVILLE – The Annual Gene & Lucille Letourneau Ice Fishing Derby will take place on Sunday, February 16, at the Muskie Community Center, 38 Gold Street, in Waterville, as a fundraiser for Spectrum Generations (Meals on Wheels)…
EVENTS: Waterville Historical Society monthly history talk on Ed Muskie
WATERVILLE – February’s history talk is on the road, just a few streets away at 38 Gold Street, Waterville, at the Muskie Community Center of Spectrum Generations! It is a fitting place since this will be about Edmund S. Muskie…
EVENTS: The Waterville Opera House raises the curtain on its 2025 season with The Cottage
WATERVILLE – The Waterville Opera House (WOH) kicks off its 2025 theatrical season January 31 – February 9, with The Cottage, a hilarious new comedy by Sandy Rustin…
EVENTS: Erskine Academy to host 8th grade open house
CHINA – Erskine Academy invites all eighth-grade students and their parents from the surrounding communities to attend the 8th Grade Open House, on Wednesday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m., in the gym…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: So. China library to hold open house
CHINA – The South China Public Library will hold a free open house on Wednesday, February 19, from 10 a.m. – noon, at 27 Jones Road… and many other local events!
Obituaries
SIDNEY – Ginna Dix, 48, of Sidney, died unexpectedly on Saturday, February 1, 2025, at Maine Medical Center, in Portland. She was born in Augusta on November 7, 1976, the daughter of Wayne Flagg and Nanci Stitt Kittredge…
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Palermo elementary schools (new)
PALERMO HISTORY — The Town of Palermo’s first settlers arrived around 1776 or 1777. By 1778 the area was called Great Pond Settlement, because, Milton Dowe explained in his 1954 history, it was “near the Sheepscot Great Pond,” now 1,193-acre Sheepscot Lake (the third largest in Waldo County, according to state data last reviewed in 1992)…. by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Albion schools
ALBION HISTORY — The Town of Albion, north of China and east of Winslow, had half a dozen European families by 1790, according to Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history. The area, including until 1818 the north end of present-day China, was organized as Freetown Plantation in 1802… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: China High Schools – part 2
CHINA HISTORY — Yet another private high school in China, Erskine Academy, opened in September 1883 and is thriving today. The China bicentennial history gives a detailed account of its origins: it became a private academy because China voters at the beginning of the 1880s refused to accept donated money for a public high school… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: China High Schools – part 1
CHINA HISTORY — The Town of China had five high schools at various times in the 19th century. The one in China Village lasted into the 20th century; Erskine Academy in South China (next week’s topic) was founded in 1883 and is thriving in 2025… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, February 13, 2025
Identify the people in these three photos, and tell us what they have in common. You could win a $10 gift certificate to Hannaford Supermarket! Email your answer to townline@townline.org or through our Contact page. Include your name and address with your answer. Use “Common Ground” in the subject!
Previous winner: Nichole Bilodeau, W. Gardiner
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | While pulling my car out of the garage the other morning, I noticed three robins in a tree across the street. What is more inspiring than seeing that first robin of the spring?…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | The 1987 Maine Speaks anthology contains what has elsewhere been often considered the most famous 20th century short story from our Pine Tree State – The Ledge, by Lawrence Sargent Hall (1915-1993)….
PHOTO: Champions
Messalonskee boys grades 3/4 travel team won an absolute thriller on Sunday. Playing Corinna in the championship game, the Eagles went to sudden death overtime. After four consecutive jump balls to start the overtime Parker Taylor went to the foul line to shoot two! After sinking the first shot the Eagles claimed the CMBC 3/4 boys championship! Front row, from left to. right, Jamison Bouchard, Parker Marquis, and Colston Partridge. Second row, Tucker Reynolds, Liam Luther, Caleb Levesque, and Cole Chavarie. Third row, Colten Holmes, Kellum Corbett, Parker Taylor, Aulden Dorsey, and Jackson McLaughlin. Back, Coach Dorsey, Coach McLaughlin, and Coach Taylor. Absent from photo is Revan Gurney and Colton Curtis. (photo by Mark Huard)
Students at Winslow inspired to start first unified cheerleading team
Addie Blackstone, center, along with fellow Winslow Varsity Cheerleaders mentor special needs students to bring Unified Cheer to their school’s sports program. Front row, from left, Addie Blackstone and Maya Veilleux. Second row, Paige Owen and Henry Olson. Visible in back row, Kennedy Dumond, Brooklynn Michaud, Addie Benavente, and Kylie Barron.
Text and photos
by Monica Charette
When a group of special needs students at Winslow High School expressed interest in being cheerleaders, senior Adeline “Addie” Blackstone decided to make it happen. With full backing by school administration, a commitment by 13 of her fellow Winslow varsity cheerleaders to be mentors, and financial support from the ShineOnCass Foundation, Coach Addie is now leading the school’s first Winslow Unified Cheer Team.
“I have such compassion for the students in the Unified community who don’t get the same opportunities that I do,” Blackstone said, sharing that she did some research, wrote a proposal, and presented her idea to start a unified cheer team to school.
Winslow High School Unified cheerleaders at practice after the school started its first unified cheer team. Spotting (left on the floor) Addie Benavente, Maya Veilleux, Jocelyn Lizzotte, Kylie McCafferty (top of formation), Nydia Alverado (faculty coach), Kennedy Dumond, spotter (right on the floor) Hayden Breton, with Coach Addie Blackstone (right front) cheering them on.
Unified sports combine students with and without intellectual disabilities to play on the same team to promote inclusion and acceptance. Multiple area high schools, as well as the Alfond Youth Community Center, have unified basketball teams that compete against each other. Thanks to Blackstone and the varsity cheerleaders, Winslow now has its first unified cheer team.
Blackstone received her school’s ShineOnCass Junior Service Award last year, along with a $100 gift by the Foundation to pay it forward. Blackstone said the honor inspired her to “go further” to spread kindness.
ShineOnCass Junior Service Awards are presented annually to service-focused students at Messalonskee, Waterville, Lawrence, and Winslow high schools in memory of Cassidy Charette. Charette, a Messalonskee junior who died in a hayride accident in 2014, was a longtime community volunteer and youth mentor.
“When I won the ShineOnCass Junior Service Award, I knew that this was exactly how I wanted to pay it forward – to honor Cassidy, and spread her light,” Blackstone said.
But there were a few things needed to get started, like uniforms for the 19 cheerleaders. Inspired by Addie’s volunteer work, the ShineOnCass Foundation provided additional funding so the team would have matching T-shirts to wear at all games.
Monica Charette, Cassidy’s mother and executive director for ShineOnCass, said Blackstone’s enthusiasm and spirit to give back to her school community inspired the Foundation to provide additional funding to start the program this year.
“I am so thankful for the support of my community and from ShineOnCass for helping me make this happen,” Blackstone said. “It’s gone far beyond what my dreams could ever have imagined. Getting to see how much the students love cheering and how much joy it’s spreading throughout the community is incredible to watch.”
Winslow students, as well as parents and other community members, are filling the bleachers at home games in support of both unified basketball players and the sport’s new cheerleaders.
Kelly Daignault, unified science teacher and the cheer team’s student advisor, notes the positive effect from partnerships between students and peer mentors.
“We are so fortunate to have caring students at Winslow High who want what is best for their peers,” Daignault said. “As a Unified Champion high school, our teachers work together to bring the philosophy of inclusion into the classroom and do whatever we can to support them.”
Debbie Michaud, whose daughter Brooklyn is a special needs student on the cheer team, says Brooklyn is most excited when she is cheering on her peers.
“Allowing Brooklyn to have the opportunity to cheer makes my heart so happy,” Michaud said. “Brooklyn has such joy, and this experience allows her to share that joy with everyone around her. When she is on the sideline cheering, she is a student like everyone else.”
For Brooklyn, it is just pure happiness being part of a team. “I love my cheer friends! And I get to wear a bow!”
A fundraising event for Winslow Unified Sports “Dine to Donate” will be held February 24 and 25 at Opa, on Main St., in Waterville, where 10 percent of all food sales will be donated to Winslow’s Unified basketball and cheer programs. Upcoming games are being held on February 13, at 3:30 p.m., at Winslow High School.
REVIEW POTPOURRI: Maine Speaks anthology
by Peter Cates
Maine Speaks anthology
Lawrence S. Hall
The 1987 Maine Speaks anthology contains what has elsewhere been often considered the most famous 20th century short story from our Pine Tree State – The Ledge, by Lawrence Sargent Hall (1915-1993).
However, before today (February 2, 2025), I was totally unfamiliar with the story, and the writer, let alone the resulting popularity after it was first published in 1959; I simply started reading it out of curiosity and became sucked into its skillfully drawn atmosphere of suspense and dread.
The plot depicts a fisherman taking his 13 year-old-son and 15-year-old nephew out early one Christmas morning to a rock ledge off the Maine coast to shoot ducks. His boat is moored at an outlying island where the three take a skiff roughly 300 yards further to the ledge.
They are bagging birds by the dozens, highly anticipating the delicious eating; in the excitement of the moment, they don’t notice that the skiff has loosened and floated dangerously far away until only visible in the distance and they are now stuck on the ledge with no means of getting off before high tides.
Meanwhile, the freezing cold waves are rising around the ledge. I am not going to reveal the ending.
But I will provide a couple of passages conveying the situation, atmosphere and attitude, sometimes simultaneously, as in the first example:
“They had it figured exactly right for today. The ledge would not be going under until after the gunning was over, and they would be home for supper in good season. With a little luck the boys would have a skiff-load of birds to show for their first time outside. Well beyond the legal limit, which was no matter. You took what you could get in this life, or the next man made out and you didn’t. ”
As can be seen, with situation, the preceding quote conveys the seemingly careful planning of every detail in this venture, leaving little to chance – “They had it figured exactly right”; with atmosphere, the imminent danger – “the ledge would not be going under”; and with attitude, the rationalizing dishonesty of the fisherman in taking “what you could get in this life. ”
The second quote hints at the possibility of a lurking bombshell in one otherwise perfectly nice day:
“This could be one of those days where all the right conditions masked an incalculable flaw.”
One of Hall’s beliefs was that he considered great fiction more true to life and fact to be mere fact because great fiction seeks out the truth behind mere facts. “Fiction….reveals beyond what perhaps happened what could, or would, or should happen.”
Elsewhere, he stated that he wrote “out of fascination with the experience of humankind living on this planet.”
Hall got his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, in 1936 and a Ph.D from Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1943, doing his thesis on another Bowdoin alumnus, Nathaniel Hawthorne, which he later published.
During World War II, Hall worked for the Office of Strategic Services, better known as the OSS, an earlier incarnation of the CIA where he ran a censorship unit.
From 1946 to 1986, he was an English professor at Bowdoin and resided on Orr’s Island, near Harpswell, where for a few years he also ran a boat yard.
In 1999, novelist John Updike included The Ledge when he edited The Best American Short Stories of the Century, praising it as “timeless – a naturalistic anecdote terrible in its tidal simplicity and inexorability fatally weighted in every detail.”
PUBLIC NOTICES for Thursday, February 13, 2025
STATE OF MAINE
PROBATE COURT
COURT ST.,
SKOWHEGAN, ME
SOMERSET, ss
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
18-A MRSA sec. 3-801
The following Personal Representatives have been appointed in the Estates noted. The first publication date of this notice February 6, 2025. If you are a creditor of an Estate listed below, you must present your claim within four months of the first publication date of this Notice to Creditors or be forever barred.
You may present your claim by filing a written statement of your claim on a proper form with the Register of Probate of this Court or by delivering or mailing to the Personal Representative listed below at the address published by the Personal Representative’s name a written statement of the claim indicating the basis therefore, the name and address of the claimant and the amount claimed or in such other manner as the law may provide. See 18-C M.R.S. §3-804.
2023-306 – Estate of IRENE E. LANDRY, late of Madison, Maine deceased. William H. Landry, 6 Landry Lane, Madison, ME 04950 appointed Personal Representative.
This notice is especially directed to Joseph T. Robinson and Daniel J. Robinson, heirs of IRENE E. LANDRY, addresses unknown.
2024-253 – Estate of HARRY C. CATE, SR., late of Palmyra, Maine deceased. Lora Cooper, 103 Blueberry Lane #41, Laconia, NH 03246 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-267– Estate of ROBERT P. GOODMAN, late of New Portland, Maine deceased. Tara Goodman, 8267 Austin Street, #616, Queens, NY 11415 appointed Personal Representatives.
2024-322 – Estate of KATHERINE MCALPINE, late of Skowhegan, Maine deceased. Woodlawn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center c/o Tammy Roscia, 100 Waterman Drive #401, South Portland, ME 04106 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-396 – Estate of JUDITH MILLER, late of Bingham, Maine deceased. Constance Hubley, 714 Mt. Pisgah Road, Winthrop, ME 04364 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-404 – Estate of GEORGE R. VIGUE, late of Madison, Maine deceased. Valmore G. Vigue, 707 White School House Road, Madison, ME 04950 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-405 – Estate of NICHOLAS P. AMBULOS, late of Skowhegan, Maine deceased. Cheryl Knowles, 24 Chandler Street, Skowhegan, ME 04976 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-406 – Estate of CARLENE W. VIEKMAN, late of Solon, Maine deceased. Peter W. Viekman, 54 Preble Avenue, Anson, ME 04911 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-408 – Estate of THOMAS L. PARADIS, late of Canaan, Maine deceased. Sandy K. Hunt, 22 Tobey Road, Canaan, ME 04924 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-409 – Estate of DEBORAH L. DUREPO, late of Skowhegan, Maine deceased. Nichole LaPlant, 11 Beauford Street, Skowhegan, ME 04976 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-410 – Estate of MICHAEL S. SZCZEPKOWSKI, late of Ripley, Maine deceased. Lynda J. Marcon, 491 Lane Road, Chester, NH 03036 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-411 – Estate of RONALD R. WATSON, late of Cambridge, Maine deceased, Rhonda A. Taylor, 50 Desert Road, Freeport, ME 04032 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-412 – Estate of PATRICIA A. SHEA, late of Fairfield, Maine deceased. Mark A. Shea, 52 Maple Street, Presque Isle, ME 04769 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-413 – Estate of JAMES L. PADGETT, late of Canaan, Maine deceased. Carroll Delbaugh, 59 Main Street, Canaan, ME 04924 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-417 – Estate of CHESTER R. GARLAND, late of Solon, Maine deceased. David K. Garland, 9146 Southwest 102nd Circle, Ocala, FL 34481 appointed Personal Representative.
2024-418 – Estate of OBADIYAH W. COOVER, late of St. Albans, Maine deceased. Charles and Amy Coover, 375 Square Road, St. Albans, ME 04971 appointed Co-Personal Representatives.
2025-002 – Estate of DANIEL G. HANSON, late of St. Albans, Maine deceased. Kathleen D. Hanson, 41 Hanson Drive, St. Albans, ME 04971 appointed Personal Representatives.
2025-004 – Estate of DAVID J. MAYO, late of Fairfield, Maine deceased. James Mayo, 12 Andrea Avenue, Benton, ME 04901 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-005 – Estate of THERESA L. MAXSON, late of Ripley, Maine deceased. Jonathan M. Maxson, P.O. Box 73, Harmony, ME 04942 Appointed Personal Representative.
2025-006 – Estate of JEFFREY J. MICHAUD, late of Fairfield, Maine deceased. Samantha Michaud, 13 Montcalm Street, Fairfield, ME 04937 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-007 – Estate of JAMES P. HASTINGS, JR., late of Skowhegan, Maine deceased. John D. Hastings, 180 Harts Neck Road, St. George, ME 04860 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-010 – Estate of PAMELA A. MITCHELL, late of Pittsfield, Maine deceased. Derori Loral, 214 West 20th Street, #19, New York, NY 10011 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-011 – Estate of CHARLES T. COBB, late of Harmony, Maine deceased. Judy Mitchell, 65 County Road, Eastport, ME 04931 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-014 – Estate of DANIELLE A. RAWSON, late of New Portland, Maine deceased. Lynda C. Pinkham, P.O. Box 482, Kingfield, ME 04947 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-016 – Estate of MARLENE M. DUBAY, late of Norridgewock, Maine deceased. Karl Dubay, 94 Bigelow Hill Road, Norridgewock, ME 04957 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-018 – Estate of GAIL A. BESSON, late of Fairfield, Maine deceased. Ann M. Holzworth, 77 Grant Road, Solon, ME 04979 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-019 – Estate of RONALD R. MCGANN, late of Norridgewock, Maine deceased. Joel A. McGann, 223 Madison Road, Norridgewock, ME 04957 and Sandra L. Neubauer, 547 Airport Road., Norridgewock, ME 04957 appointed Co-Personal Representatives.
2025-022 – Estate of ROLF SCHMALZER, late of Rockwood, Maine deceased. Lynn Schmalzer, 3903 St. Marks Road, Durham, NC 27707 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-025 – Estate of RANDY S. KITCHIN, late of Detroit, Maine deceased. Amy Kitchin, 306 Mount Road, Burnham, Maine 04922 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-026 – Estate of KATHLEEN M. ABREU, late of Norridgewock, Maine deceased. Jeremy S. Goodwin, 5512 7th Street South, Arlington, VA 22204 appointed Personal Representative.
2025-027 – Estate of MALCOLM C. SMALL, late of Norridgewock, Maine deceased. Jared J. Small, 26 High Street, Harmony, Maine 04942 appointed Personal Representative.
TO BE PUBLISHED February 6, 2025 & February 13, 2025
Dated: February 6, 2025 /s/Victoria M. Hatch,
Register of Probate
(2/13)
STATE OF MAINE
PROBATE COURT
41 COURT ST.
SOMERSET, ss
SKOWHEGAN, ME
PROBATE NOTICES
TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN ANY OF THE ESTATES LISTED BELOW
Notice is hereby given by the respective petitioners that they have filed petitions for appointment of personal representatives in the following estates or change of name. These matters will be heard at 10 a.m. or as soon thereafter as they may be on February 19, 2025. The requested appointments or name changes may be made on or after the hearing date if no sufficient objection be heard. This notice complies with the requirements of 18-C MRSA §3-403 and Probate Rule 4.
2024-415 – AERIN J. WILLEY. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Aerin J. Willey, 11 Morning Dew Drive, Fairfield, ME 04937 requesting name to be changed to Aerin J. Wyze for reasons set forth therein.
2025-001 – KAITLYN MARIE IAFRATE. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Kaitlyn M. Iafrate, 169 Oak Pond Road, Skowhegan, ME 04976 requesting name to be changed to Kaitlyn Marie Lancaster for reasons set forth therein.
2025-015 – AMBYR DOVE NELSON KNIGHT. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Ambyr D.N. Knight, P.O. Box 46, Madison, ME 04950 requesting name to be changed to Ambyr Dove Nelson for reasons set forth therein.
2025-020 – JUSTIN WILLIE WIGHT-ROY. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Justin Wight-Roy, 33 Indian Ridge, Skowhegan, ME 04976 requesting name to be changed to Justin Willie Roy for reasons set forth therein.
Dated: February 6, 2025 /s/ Victoria Hatch,
Register of Probate
(2/13)
Winter greetings from SymmeTree Arborist
Gosh it feels nice to have a protective and insulative layer of snow on the ground. We hope you have been staying safe and warm during these winter months.
This time of year, cozied up by our woodstoves or taking long walks through the woods, we begin to remember the cold season of trees and the transformations they, too, experience. Soon the Maples will run their sap. It’s this coming time of winter: cold nights and warming days, we’ll begin to prune our orchard trees. It’s nice to have some sun and warmth for this annual task, which takes place before winter ceases.
If you have any fruit trees that need tending, Galen & Ashton will begin serving our Central Maine community starting at the end of this month (February) – early April.
Please reach out to schedule a free estimate, or be in touch if Galen has pruned your trees before and they are in need of another haircut this winter. We’ll put you on the schedule!
Benefits of Fruit Tree Pruning According to FEDCO:
If you have any fruit trees that need tending, Galen & Ashton will begin serving the Central Maine community starting at the end of this month (February) – early April.
Once your fruit tree begins to bear you will want to prune annually.
Most pruning should be done in late winter or early spring.
Good pruning brings sunlight to all parts of your tree. Maximum sunlight encourages more and higher-quality fruit. Sunlight also encourages fruit buds to form for next year’s crop.
A well-pruned tree will produce larger fruit and will tend toward more annual bearing.
Good pruning discourages fungal diseases and promotes greater spray penetration.
There’s an old saying that a bird should be able to fly through your fruit tree.
You can call or text us at: 207-458-7283 or respond to this email: office@symmetreearborists.me.
Area scouts earn merit badges at badge college
Ryan Poulin, President of New Dimensions Federal Credit Union, instructs Scouts including Elizabeth Blais, of Windsor, shown here on Personal Fitness Merit Badge. (photo by Chuck Mahaleris)
by Chuck Mahaleris
Scouting America, formerly the Boy Scouts of America, turned 115 years old on February 8. Scouts from central, western and southern Maine celebrated by doing something Scouts have done since the program began. – they earned merit badges.
The Kennebec Valley District hosted its annual Merit Badge College at Augusta’s First Church of the Nazarene and welcomed Scouts from nearby such as Augusta, Winthrop, Chelsea and Windsor to as far away as Gorham, Falmouth, Wilton, and Pittsfield.
“I am very impressed by our Scouts,” said Program Chairman Julie McKenney. “While other kids are sitting at home playing video games, these Scouts are learning about Graphic Arts, Architecture, and Digital Technology. The Merit Badge College could not happen without the volunteer Scouting leaders who are giving up three Saturdays to develop tomorrow’s leaders.”
McKenney, of Belgrade, stressed that these instructors are experts in the fields they are teaching. Such as Ryan Poulin, of Sidney, who taught Personal Management Merit Badge and is also the President of New Dimensions Credit Union. “Americans do not always make good financial decisions,” Poulin said. “Personal Fitness Merit Badge helps give the Scouts the tools they need to help them make good decisions down the road so they know how to avoid pitfalls and how to deal with them if they should happen.” One of the youth in his class was Augusta Troop #603 Star Scout Elizabeth Blais, of Windsor. “Merit Badges teach you important skills you can use throughout your life,” Blais said. She hopes to be an Eagle Scout one day.
Chris Clark, of Damariscotta, is a Tenderfoot Scout in Troop #213 draws in Scouts from all over Lincoln County. “I like learning things in Scouting,” Clark said during Coin Collecting Merit Badge class. “It’s fun.”
Theresea Poirier, of Augusta, one of the organizers of the event, said that over the course of three Saturdays nearly fifty Scouts will earn a total of 84 merit badges. “We began organizing this event back in November. It takes a lot of time and dedication from our volunteers to put it all together,” Poirier said. The most popular badge Scouts signed up to take was Family Life which is required for Eagle.
Kennebec Valley District Commissioner Christopher Santiago of Vassalboro was impressed with the results. “This is fantastic,” he said. “Merit Badges can introduce youth to a career interest or a hobby that will stay with them for life. There are 139 Merit Badges available ranging from Emergency Preparedness and First Aid to Environmental Science and Nature to Reading and Sustainability. I would love to see every Scout try to earn them all.”