FOR YOUR HEALTH: Six Ways a Simple Eye Exam Could Save Your Life

Regular checkups by an ophthalmologist can help you see your way to good health.

(NAPSI)—It may come as a surprise to some, but an ophthalmologist can help you keep an eye on your overall health. In fact, an ophthalmologist—a physician who specializes in medical and surgical eye care—may be the first to detect if you’re at risk for a heart attack, stroke or other life-threatening conditions. That’s because subtle, early damage to tiny blood vessels in the eyes can provide important clues about what is happening in the small blood vessels of the brain and heart. 

  The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends all adults receive a comprehensive eye exam by age 40, and every year or two after age 65. 

 Surprising medical conditions that can be detected in a routine eye exam: 

 1.Cancer. This includes not only eye-related skin cancers on the eyelid or the surface of the eye, but also cancers in other parts of the body. Leukemia, lymphoma, and breast cancer can all be detected in the eye. 

 2.Diabetes. Diabetes is a leading cause of vision loss in the United States, but signs of diabetes can also appear in the eye before vision is affected. When a person with diabetes has high blood sugar levels, it can affect the blood vessels in the eye. That’s how an ophthalmologist might diagnose diabetes before other symptoms appear. 

 3.Heart disease. During a routine eye exam, ophthalmologists use a special imaging tool to examine the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. If the blood supply to the retina is reduced or blocked, this could be an early symptom of heart disease. 

 4.High blood pressure. One in three American adults has high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease if left untreated. Unusually shaped blood vessels or bleeding in the back of the eye can signal high blood pressure. 

 5.High cholesterol. Another common health condition that can lead to serious health issues is high cholesterol. A yellow or blue ring around the cornea can be a symptom, as can deposits in the blood vessels of the retina. 

 6.Stroke. An ophthalmologist can also spot plaque deposits in the arteries of the eye. If these pieces of plaque reach the brain, they can cause a stroke. Several eye symptoms are linked to stroke, such as loss of side vision, sudden blind spots, blurry vision, double vision, or sensitivity to light. People experiencing these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention. 

 Can’t Afford an Eye Exam? EyeCare America® Can Help. 

 Individuals age 65 or older who are concerned about their risk of eye disease and/or the cost of an eye exam, may be eligible for a medical eye exam, often at no out-of-pocket cost, through the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s EyeCare America® program. This public service program matches volunteer ophthalmologists with eligible patients in need of eye care across the United States. To see if you or a loved one qualifies, visit www.aao.org/eyecare-america to determine your eligibility.

Inland Hospital and Purdue Global collaborate on new Simulation Center

Leaders cut the ribbon (left to right): Kathy Corey, chair of Northern Light Health board of directors; Dr. Melissa Burdi, dean/VP of Purdue Global School of Nursing; Dr. Frank Dooley, chancellor of Purdue Global; Kim Lindlof, president of Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce; Tricia Costigan, president of Inland Hospital; and Crystal Olsen, chair of Inland Hospital board of trustees. (contributed photo)

A unique healthcare education collaboration kicked off in Waterville on June 6, 2023 as Northern Light Inland Hospital and Purdue Global officially opened the new Simulation Center for Healthcare Education and Excellence. Inland Hospital staff and board members, Purdue Global staff and students, community educators, local EMS and fire department staff, community leaders, and Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce members joined together for the grand opening of the new simulation center, located on the Inland campus. Tours and demonstrations showed off the center’s capabilities.

The center will provide unique hands-on training for Purdue Global nursing students, Inland Hospital staff, and also give access to EMS and the community’s other first responders.

The simulation center “patients” include high-tech adult, pediatric, labor/delivery mother, and neonatal manikins. They will be used for the Purdue Nursing Program and a variety of Inland Hospital staff courses, such as Advanced Life Support, Pediatric Life Support, and Neonatal Resuscitation. The four training manikins represent an investment of nearly $300,000 by Purdue Global.

“We’re excited to enhance the delivery of healthcare by developing new and innovative methods to educate and train in a simulation center like this with a laser focus on patient safety and the transition to practice,” noted Melissa Burdi, Purdue Global vice president and dean of the Purdue Global School of Nursing.

Inland leaders point out that providing exposure to various medical scenarios through simulation training allows healthcare professionals to practice and get performance feedback in real time. According to Courtney Cook, RN, vice president of Nursing and Patient Care Services at Inland Hospital, “The more exposure that a nurse or any clinical staff member has to any given situation, the more confident and comfortable they become – allowing them to provide the best care possible. The ability to walk through the treatment process, without the high stress of a patient’s life at risk, is invaluable.”

Tricia Costigan, president of Inland Hospital, praised the new collaboration saying, “This is a big win for our community and a true collaboration that benefits the patients and communities that we all proudly serve.”

“Today is an important day,” remarked Dr. Frank Dooley, chancellor of Purdue Global. “Everyone understands the need to educate more nurses to provide care. And that takes imaginative problem solvers to find solutions like the center we dedicated today. Well done.”

Inland Hospital is the fourth simulation center collaboration Purdue Global has across the country.

Community members tour the new Simulation Center and see demonstrations of the high-tech “patient” manikins. (contributed photo)

About Purdue Global

Purdue Global is a public, non-profit institution that offers online Nursing education and many other degree programs. Part of the respected Purdue University system, Purdue Global delivers personalized online education tailored to the unique needs of adults who have work or life experience beyond the classroom, enabling them to develop essential academic and professional skills with the support and flexibility they need to achieve their career goals. For more information visit purdueglobal.edu.

About Northern Light Inland Hospital

Northern Light Inland Hospital is a Waterville community hospital with primary and specialty care physician offices in Waterville, Oakland, Unity, and Madison. We are proud to be part of Northern Light Health, a healthcare delivery system of more than 10,000 employees across Maine. Our mission is to improve the health of the people and communities we serve. Part of that mission is asking “How are You?” to reconnect with people and families so we can find new and innovative ways to make healthcare work for all of Maine. Learn more at northernlighthealth.org/Inland and northernlighthealth.org/Howareyou.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Just passing on more information

by Debbie Walker

I keep coming across information that interests me and I am hoping you will find some of it useful, too. You would think with all the information I find and pass along to you that my mind would be overflowing. It might if my memory worked at all! That is not the case!

This week I found some information in my Woman’s World magazine. The info had to do with making things last longer, such as making laundry detergent go further, using baking soda. Cut your use of detergent in half and then add ½ cup of baking soda. You will save money on detergent, and they will come out fresher.

I am by no means a computer knowledgeable person and printers fall in the same bracket as computers to me. There was a note about extending the life of printer ink by changing the setting. Woman’s World said you could cue up ‘draft model’, ‘fast/quick’, ‘green’, or ‘economical’. It will use half the ink of normal mode. The quality of print won’t bother most unless you are copying pictures.

Save on sponges. Every couple of days you could microwave a damp sponge for 30 seconds. This kills mildew.

Did you know candles will burn longer if the wick is ¼ inch long? It allows them to burn more slowly and evenly, prolonging life.

This was from a First magazine. Keep in mind I have not tried everything I read; I do plan on trying this one day. The Mr. X, of my life used to always have those white marks from his deodorant and I fought the battle with every week’s laundry. The First’s tidbit says to soak a clean sponge in equal parts white vinegar and water then dab over marks. Good luck. I am going to try it, too.

Now let’s have a little fun. Do you know what Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime soda is? The inventor, before marketing his new product, decided a name change was necessary. The new name was/is 7UP. (got another one to follow this one. Brad’s drink was a concoction of water, sugar, caramel, lemon oil, and others. This, as well as others, were considered medicinal drink ends. This one was designed to promote its benefits in relieving dyspepsia or indigestion. It’s name is Pepsi-Cola.

Bruce Lee was known to have said, “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”

Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine. In 1834, it was sold as a cure for an upset stomach by an Ohio physician named John Cook. It wasn’t popular as a condiment until the late 19th century.

Eye of newt, toe of frog, and wool of bat are just archaic terms for mustard seed, buttercup, and holly leaves.

The Bloody Mary started out with the name Bucket of Blood. After Bucket of Blood, it became Red Snapper and then finally settled on Bloody Mary.

I’m just curious what I will find next to share! Please contact me with any comments or questions at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Have a wonderful week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge

by Peter Cates

Calvin Coolidge

The 30th President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) had the kind of wife in the former First Lady Grace Goodhue Coolidge (1879-1957) who was a rarity when it came to truly being on the same page as her husband. She catered to just about every whim in him possible, although Cal had such a calm balanced unflappable personality and may not have given into whims very often.
The seven pages devoted to Mrs. Coolidge in Christine Sadler’s book America’s First Ladies abound in choice anecdotes and quotes, especially in its first three paragraphs:

Grace Goodhue Coolidge

“After Grace Coolidge became First Lady in the middle of a hot August night in the Plymouth, Vermont, farmhouse of her father-in-law, she went back to bed and slept easily. Not many women could have accomplished this feat, but then nobody else was married to Calvin Coolidge; the little red-headed president who always looked as if he smelled something burning and who never spoke to anybody if he could avoid the experience.

“If Grace had not been an unusual woman she never would have married Coolidge in the first place, and her mother, for one, could never see why she did. But Grace and her merry father, Captain Andrew I. Goodhue, a steamboat inspector for vessels plying Lake Champlain, always understood the Coolidge appeal. She was the completely happy wife, and that was the secret of her phenomenal success as First Lady.

“Grace had found an extra kerosene lamp for the dramatic swearing-in rites so that anxious reporters, who rushed to Ply­mouth after news of the unexpected death of President Harding, could see what they were writing. She watched with interest while a telephone line was strung up by emergency crews. But at around two-thirty in the morning, after the hullabaloo connected with becoming president was over, it would never have occurred to her not to accompany her husband back to bed. Nor would he have permitted such deviation from the norm. And naturally she would go back to sleep if he ordered her to do so. “

So begins, on August 3, 1923, the almost six years Coolidge would serve in the White House and ones bombarded with challenges:

The scandals of Harding’s cabinet.

The rise of the Ku Klux Klan from very low numbers to 4 million members by 1924 and the increase in lynchings.

The rise of bootlegging gangsters, and not just in Chicago, due to the “Noble Experiment of Prohibition and the naïve belief of its supporters in the perfectibility of human beings.”

The sometimes violent reactions of big business, government and society itself to any form of non-conformity, not just with progressives, socialists, free-thinkers and any other individuals whose world views deviate from their norms.

The wild partying and increasingly “loose” morals to be found at social gatherings of what’s been termed the “Jazz Age.”

The frantic speculations on Wall Street.

And finally, in a strange cause and effect manner, a terrible disillusionment with the traditional values and hopes that had sustained the country since the American Revolution, especially among veterans returning from the bloodshed of World War I.

Coolidge responded much of the time to these challenges with a hands off leadership style, admittedly disastrous in certain respects, but he did keep a close eye on events.

He also may have had a problem with narcolepsy and reportedly slept 12 hours a night while still needing a four-hour nap; these figures might be slightly exaggerated, even as H.L. Mencken did not help with the real truth about Coolidge’s sleepiness by such comments as the following – “Coolidge’s chief feat was to sleep more than any other president…The itch to run things did not afflict him; he was content to let them run themselves.”

Mencken did concede some good points – “His failings are forgotten: the country remembers only…that he let it alone. Well, there are worse epitaph for a statesman.”

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Windsor’s Colburn family

by Mary Grow

Exceptionally attentive readers with exceptionally good memories might remember that Francisco Colburn was one of the commanders of Windsor’s Marcellus Vining GAR Post in the 1880s (see the May 25 issue of The Town Line).

Marcellus is not a typical Maine name, to be sure – presumably his classically-educated parents named him after the Roman Marcus Claudius Marcellus (42 – 23 B.C.). But for some reason, your writer was struck by Francisco, and began wondering why a couple in Windsor, Maine, in the 1830s would choose that name for their son.

The question remains unanswered. The search for the answer revealed a lot of information – and misinformation – about a once-prominent Windsor family.

A Civil War source found on line says Francisco Colburn was born in 1839. On Oct. 20, 1861, when he was 22 years old, he enlisted as a corporal in Company C, 1st Maine Cavalry. He was promoted to sergeant and then first sergeant in 1863, and was mustered out of service on Nov. 25, 1864.

Henry Kingsbury, in his Kennebec County history, added that he came back to Windsor and made his home on a piece of the family farm.

He married Sarah E. Chatman (1838 – 1922), daughter of Andrew Chatman, another Windsor resident. One on-line genealogy says their only child was a son they named Charles H.; born in 1865, he died in 1881, in his mid-teens.

However, Kingsbury listed four sons, all, from the wording, alive in 1892: “Francisco, George A., Horace and Raymond.” And another on-line family history says Francisco and Sarah had five sons: Francisco D., Jr. (1862 -1901); Charles (1865 – 1881); George Arthur (1867-1936); Horace (1869-1957); and Raymond (1873-1940).

Kingsbury wrote that the first Francisco served as Windsor town treasurer for 1882 and 1883. He might have been a town selectman for two years beginning in 1886: Kingsbury listed “Francisco” as a last name, with a blank for the first name, but your writer suspects a printing error.

Francisco died in 1928, in his 89th year. He, Sarah and Charles are buried in Windsor’s Oak Hill Cemetery, their graves marked by one of the five tall monuments there. A plaque lists the three names, with dates; to the south, a flat stone marks Charles’ grave, and two more flat stones to the north are labeled “Mother” and “Father.” There are no other marked graves in the plot.

In early June 2023 a new American flag stood beside the monument.

* * * * * *

Francisco’s parents were Horace Colburn (Sept. 11, 1812 – April 15, 1885) and Almena Wilson Colburn (July 1813 – Feb. 11, 1903). They and other Colburns, including some of Francisco’s brothers and sisters, are buried in Windsor’s Resthaven cemetery.

Linwood Lowden’s history of Windsor includes a reproduction of a photograph of Francisco’s mother. Mrs. Almena Wilson Colburn is standing by a large spinning wheel in the dooryard of a white-painted house with a portico across the front. She wears a high-necked, long-sleeved, floor-length dress, dark-colored with small white flowers (?). Her dark hair, parted in the middle, is drawn tightly behind her head.

Sources differ wildly on the names and lives of Francisco’s siblings; in the following paragraphs your writer combines several contradictory lists.

One says he had two older sisters for the first 10 years of his life. Ginevra was born in 1836 and died Aug. 13, 1849, when she was 12 years old. Delphena was 13 when she died Sept. 10, 1849. There might have been an epidemic that fall; Caleb W., born in 1845, died Oct. 3, 1849.

By then Horace and Almena had another daughter, Minerva, born Jan. 20, 1848, in Winslow (according to an obituary found on line). Minerva was a bookish child who soon began teaching, a career she continued until she married Dr. James A. Pierce on April 7, 1875.

The Pierces moved to Stockton Springs, where Minerva, though a semi-invalid for many years, was a well-loved community member. They had one son, James A. Pierce, Jr.

When Minerva Colburn Pierce died Dec. 26, 1900, at 88, the obituary says she was survived by her husband and son; her 88-year-old mother; one sister; and three brothers. Your writer has identified her mother and three brothers, Francisco, Joseph and Frank, but cannot name a surviving sister.

According to an on-line genealogy, Joseph (April 1843 – April 12, 1919) was born in Windsor. Kingsbury said he lived on part of the family farm and taught school in the winter from the time he was 16.

The genealogy said he married Eliza A. Wyman (Aug. 1843 – May 18, 1919) on Sept. 15, 1864, in Waterville. They had at least two children, Frederic (Oct. 1865 – ?) and Grace Almenia (Aug. 4, 1871 – Dec. 28, 1908). Joseph and Eliza are buried in Norton, Massachusetts.

Frank was Francisco’s youngest brother, born in 1854 and died in 1927. He too lived on the family farm and was a teacher from his teens.

Frank’s gravestone in Resthaven Cemetery says he married Lizzie E. Donnell (1861-1942). C. Arlene Barton Gilbert’s chapter on education in Lowden’s history lists Frank Colburn and Lizzie Donnell among 1881-82 Windsor teachers – Lizzie’s fifth, sixth and seventh terms and Frank’s eighth. Lizzie Colburn was still a Windsor teacher in 1927; by then the school year was 30 weeks, and teachers earned from $15 to $18 weekly.

Another source lists Sanford Colburn (? – Mar. 6, 1878) as one of Francisco’s five siblings (and omits Minerva). Your writer has found no other information on Sanford Colburn.

* * * * * *

Horace Colburn is mentioned frequently by both Lowden and Kingsbury.

On Oct. 21, 1839 (the year Francisco was born), Lowden said, Horace Colburn, of Pittston, bought a farm on the west side of current Route 32 (“the main road leading to China Village”), about a mile north of the Windsor Corner post office. Carlton Colburn is listed as a co-purchaser, and elsewhere Lowden added Joseph; he did not explain their relationships.

The ad describing the farm (from the May 9, 1835, issue of The China Orb, published in China Village) said it was about 150 acres, 60 acres under tillage and the rest “woodland of an excellent quality.” The property included “a young orchard”; an almost new sawmill (built by a prior owner named Nathan Tollman in or before 1832); three shingled barns, two 36-feet-square and the third 30-feet-square; other outbuildings; and a “good well of water” close to the farmhouse.

The brook that powered the mill, called Colburn Brook in Lowden’s history, was either the one now called Dearborn Brook or the tributary (unnamed on on-line maps) that joins it from the west near Meadow Brook Lane.

The 1856 and 1879 Windsor maps Lowden reproduced both show H. Colburn’s sawmill. Kingsbury wrote that in 1892 Horace Colburn’s sons were running it; Lowden believed it operated until at least 1900.

The nearly-new farmhouse was a story and half on “an excellent cellar.” Five of the six rooms on the ground floor had fireplaces.

The seller was John B. Swanton, Jr., of Bath, and the ad named local representatives Ebenezer Shaw, Esquire, in China Village, and Ebenezer Meigs, Esquire, in South China. Why it took four years to sell the farm Lowden does not guess.

Horace’s sons Francisco, Joseph and Frank all settled on the property, changing the area’s semi-official name from Linn Hill to Colburn Hill. For some years they ran the shingle mill and farmed, and Joseph and Frank taught school.

According to Kingsbury, Horace Colburn was Windsor’s town treasurer in 1848, 1850, and 1856; served as a selectman for six years, beginning in 1853; and was “twice elected county commissioner, which office he held at his death.”

Gilbert listed Horace as a member of Windsor’s 1866-67 Superintending School Committee, with Orren Tyler and C. A. Pierce. The three reported that there were 478 students on April 1, 1866. They evaluated each of the teachers, mostly local, mostly female, whom they supervised during 24 terms in 13 schoolhouses.

They then berated Windsor voters. Teachers would have done better, they wrote, with proper schoolhouses:

“Three-fifths of our school houses are not fit places for schools. They would be more appropriate for pig-pens or hen-houses, we might have said stables, but conscience forbids, for many of the parents are sending their own children to those miserable huts called school houses which they would not even think of keeping their horses or oxen in during the winter season without repairing.”

Their suggested remedy was to consolidate districts so taxpayers could build fewer, better schools, arguing that a good school a mile and a half away was better than “a nuisance” close to home.

In 1876, voters elected Horace Colburn moderator of an Aug. 12 special town meeting called to replace the tax collector, after an investigation that generated a report Lowden could not find in the town records.

Horace’s younger sons also held town offices, according to Kingsbury. He lists Joseph as supervisor of schools from 1871 to 1886, town clerk in 1883 and 1887 and a selectman for two years beginning in 1891; and Frank as town treasurer in 1884, apparently as his brother Francisco’s successor, and supervisor of schools in 1888 and 1889.

Lowden found other odds and ends of Colburn family history. For example, after Windsor Grange (Patrons of Husbandry No. 284) was organized June 2, 1886, the second Grange Master was Frank Colburn, in 1888. In 1895, there were seven Colburns among the membership: Francis (Francisco?) and his wife; Frank and his wife; J. (Joseph?), Eliza and Fred (Joseph’s wife and son?).

Two of Windsor’s early cemeteries

Linwood Lowden’s Windsor history has a section on town cemeteries, including the Resthaven and Oak Hill cemeteries in which 19th-century Colburns are buried. Henry Kingsbury listed both graveyards in his Kennebec County history.

Resthaven Cemetery, much the larger of the two, is on the east side of Route 32 just south of the Maxcy’s Mill Road intersection. Oak Hill Cemetery is less than half a mile north, on the west side of Route 32 just south of the Reed Road intersection.

said Resthaven Cemetery’s first burial was that of Persis Wheeler, in 1810; Kingsbury dated the graveyard to 1808. Lowden wrote that Persis’ husband, Samuel Wheeler, Sr., “apparently” owned the lot then, though shortly thereafter it was Joseph Linscott who deeded it to what was then the Town of Malta.

Lowden found a call for a July 1, 1811, special town meeting at which voters were asked to buy some “ground for a burying ground,” though he found no related records. He also found a May 6, 1814, record of a decision to fence the cemetery; and he quoted Linscott’s 1816 description: half an acre “in length ten rods on the said mill road [Maxcy’s Mill?] and in width eight rods situated where the graves now are.” (A rod equals 16.5 feet.)

Linscott wrote in the 1816 document that the land was intended as a “burying yard” for the Town of Malta and that he had received “the value thereof from said town.”

Lowden said this cemetery was at different times named the Burying Ground on the Ridge, the Mill Road Cemetery and the Sand Hill Cemetery. He found it was re-fenced in 1856, and in 1859, the by-then-Windsor “selectmen divided this yard into lots.”

The Colburn/Coburn/Oak Hill Cemetery, Lowden wrote, was “established as early as 1822 if not earlier.” The first burials, beginning in 1822, were members of the David Given family. Kingsbury called it “the Chapman burying ground.”

Lowden contradicted Kingsbury’s claim that Oak Hill Cemetery was owned by those who bought lots there. He listed town expenditures: a pre-1837 fence; 1847 fence repairs; in 1853, approval of a half-acre expansion, at a cost of $25.00; in 1857, voters’ rejection of a request to whitewash the fence; and in 1858, selection of a three-man committee to “lot out” the yard.

Main sources

Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Lowden, Linwood H., good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993)

Websites, miscellaneous.

LEGAL NOTICES for Thursday, June 8, 2023

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 June 1 & 8, 2023. 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 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 his 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.A. §3-80.

2023-126- Estate of ROBERT E. ANDREWS, late of Holiday, Florida deceased. Margaret Andrews, 1908 Owego Dr., Holiday, Fl 34691, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-128 – Estate of PETER CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY, late of Harmony, Maine deceased. Linda H. Kennedy, 11 Mud Pond Dr, Harmony, Maine 04942, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-130 – Estate of DIANE H. ROUNDS, late of Embden, Maine deceased. Mark Rounds, 5852 Northwest 120th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33076, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-131 – Estate of EDWARD J. DELLARMA, JR., late of Mercer, Maine deceased. Alexander F. Dellarma, 383 Madawaska Ave., Pittsfield, Maine 04967, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-133 – Estate of SANDRA M. STEVENS, late of Moose River, Maine deceased. Karen S. Tucker, 311 E Ridge Rd, Greenbush, Me 04418 and Eric P Stevens, PO Box 637, Jackman, Me 04945, appointed Personal Representatives.

2023-134 – Estate of ROBERT S. POST, late of Athens, Maine deceased. Harland R. Post, 34 Stickney Hill Rd., Athens, Maine 04912, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-073 – Estate of JOAN D. RANDALL, late of Ripley, Me deceased. Wynona Anne Randall, 69 Liberty Street, Dexter, Maine 04930 appointed Personal Representative.

2023-135 – Estate of P. LORRAINE PERKINS, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Christopher C. Perkins, 499 Bigelow Hill Road, Skowhegan, Maine and Scott L. Perkins, 140 Cournoyer Blvd., Southbridge, MA.01550, appointed Personal Representatives.

2023-132 – Estate of THOMAS B. SEWALL, late of Cornville, Maine, deceased. Elizabeth Ann Loabe, 802 East Ridge Rd, Cornville, Maine 04976, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-136 – Estate of STANLEY CHARLES BAILEY, late of Detroit, Maine, deceased. Gladys Joy Brown, PO Box 304 Corinna, Maine 04928, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-137 – Estate of NOLAN P. KNIGHT, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Sally H. Knight, 99 Russell Rd., Skowhegan, Maine 04976, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-139 – Estate of BRUCE E. FRANCIS, late of Pleasant Ridge Plantation, Maine, deceased. William Dougherty, 352 Millstone Rd., Brewster, MA. 02631, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-140 – Estate of JOAN F. ARSENAULT, late of Norridgewock, Maine, deceased. Joseph M. Arsenault, PO Box 781, Norridgewock, Maine 04957, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-141 – Estate of RICHARD F. SHEAFF, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Pamela J. Berry, 19 Free St., Skowhegan, Maine 04976, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-143 – Estate of CARL L. CROSS, late of Hartland, Maine, deceased. Vicki J. Householder, 136 Pleasant St., Hartland, Maine 04943, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-145 – Estate of GERALD OWEN STADIG, late of Harmony, Maine, deceased. Raymond and Audrey Bemis, 9 Taylor Hill Rd., Harmony, Maine 04942, appointed Personal Representatives.

2023-148 – Estate of JEFFREY R. LECLERC, late of Athens, Maine, deceased. Deirdre A. Cook, 5634 Mcleod Circle, Valdosta, GA 31606, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-067 – Estate of CLAUDETTE R. ROY, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Steven Guy Sanborn, 21 Towne Rd., Madison, Maine 04950, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-150 – Estate of LAWRENCE N. SAVAGE II, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Carlton L. Savage, 331 Waterville Rd., Skowhegan, Maine 04976, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-153 – Estate of DOUGLAS M. SAWYER, late of Seekonk, MA, deceased. Deborah A. Sawyer, 101 Pheasant Ridge Rd., Seekonk, MA. 02771, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-155 – Estate of LAURIE ANN MCFADDEN, late of Fairfield, Maine, deceased. Rayola A. Welch, PO Box 1963, Waterville, Maine 04903, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-160 – Estate of GERALD J. LANGUET, late of Fairfield, Maine, deceased. Jay Languet, 6 Mia Ridge, Sidney, Maine 04330, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-163 – Estate of BRUCE W. BUSHEY, late of Cornville, Maine, deceased. Christopher Bushey, 1060 Beckwith Rd., Cornville, Maine 04976, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-134 – Estate of CAROLYN L. LORD, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Cara Lyn Mason, 175 Malbons Mills Rd., Skowhegan, Maine 04976, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-165 – Estate of SHARON LEE BOWIE, late of Smithfield, Maine, deceased. Brianna L. Miller, 157 Smithfield, Maine 04957, appointed Personal Representative

2023-166 – Estate of RUTH E. KENNEDY, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Mary L. Laweryson, 33 Steward Hill Rd., Skowhegan, Maine 04976, appointed Personal Representative.

2023-168 – Estate of JUDITH A. LIZOTTE, late of Skowhegan, Maine, deceased. Craig Lizotte, 41 Crescent St, Skowhegan, Maine, appointed Personal Representative.

2022-339 – Estate of CORINNE B. DUDLEY, late of Skowhegan, Me deceased. Maryellen Charles, 273 Rome Road, Mercer, Me 04957 and Sally Rogers, 318 Blackwell Hill Road, Madison, Me 04950 appointed Co-Personal Representatives.

TO BE PUBLISHED JUNE 1 & 8, 2023

Dated May 24, 2023. /s/Victoria Hatch,
Register of Probate
(6/8)

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 JUNE 15, 2023. 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.

2023-125 – Estate of ANGELIQUE NICOLE SAVOY. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Angelique Nicole Savoy, 58 Madison Ave. Madison, Me 04950 requesting her name be changed to Finley Angelique Nicole Savoy for reasons set forth therein.

2023-147 – Estate of CRYSTAL KENNY MEDEIROS. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Crystal Kenny Medeiros, 34 Nokomis Road, St. Albans, Me 04971 requesting her name be changed to Crystal Kenny Medeiros LeFrancois for reasons set forth therein.

2023-156 – Estate of JILL COURTNEY COTE. Petition for Change of Name (Adult) filed by Jill Courtney Cote, 17 Bean Street, Madison, Me 04950 requesting her name be changed to Jill Courtney Satnam for reasons set forth therein.

Dated: May 26, 2023

/s/ Victoria Hatch,
Register of Probate
(6/8)

VASSALBORO: Voters have two written ballots on June 13

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro’s annual town meeting did not end after voters acted on 38 articles Monday evening, June 5. They have two written ballots on Tuesday, June 13, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.

One ballot is for local elections, for one member of the select board and two members of the school board.

For select board, there are only blank lines. Michael C. Poulin, of Vassalboro, is a declared write-in candidate. Incumbent Barbara Redmond is retiring.

For school board, incumbents Erin L. Loiko (“Libby”) and Zachary Smith seek re-election. There are two blank lines if a voter wants to write in someone else instead of one or both of those listed.

Instructions for write-ins are printed on the ballot.

The other ballot contains warrant Articles 39 and 40.

Art. 39 asks if voters want to approve the 2023-24 school budget that was adopted June 5. This school budget validation referendum has been standard in many Maine municipalities for years.

Art. 40 asks if voters want to amend Vassalboro’s Site Review Ordinance. If a majority approve, they will add to the ordinance a new Chapter XI titled “Performance Standards for Commercial Solar Energy Systems.”

The ordinance with proposed amendments is on the Town of Vassalboro website, under “What’s New in Vassalboro,” after several other items; it immediately follows the announcement of new Facebook and Instagram pages.

In the draft, the new section covers pages 18 through the top of 22. It sets out standards for building, operating, maintaining and decommissioning commercial solar farms.

Approval of the amended ordinance includes numerous lesser changes outside Chapter XI. Some complement the provisions dealing with solar farms – for example, chapters after XI are renumbered, and new definitions of “commercial solar energy system” and “solar energy system” are proposed.

Other changes clarify procedures or correct past omissions. For example, voter approval would add a requirement that a site plan application include the names of abutting property-owners. It would add definitions of multiple terms not specific to Chapter XI, like “buffer,” “property line,” “residential structure” and “setback.”

Angela Hallee promoted to ND Winslow branch manager

Angela Hallee

New Dimensions Federal Credit Union is pleased to announce its new Winslow Branch Manager, Angela Hallee, who came on board in January 2022 as head teller with 15 years in the financial industry. Soon after her arrival, her financial knowledge and experience owning a small business in Wat­er­ville, made her an excellent choice to fill the role of branch supervisor, and then finally, she was placed into her current role as the Winslow branch manager. Hallee is an alumna of Waterville High School and continues to live in Waterville while spending as much time with her grandchildren as possible.

Angela is a hard worker who goes above and beyond in the best interest of her staff and members. Angela states, “I love my position at New Dimensions’ Winslow Branch. I am excited to watch and participate in my staff’s growth and development. I find my work exciting and look forward to working with an amazing team daily. Everyone has made me feel welcomed and encouraged in my new position. I want to thank everyone at NDFCU and members who have made my transition easy.”

Ryan Poulin, CEO, who helped streamline Angela into her current role, states, “Our members deserve exceptional service, and I felt Angela would be an integral part of our team embodying the high standards our members have come to expect. I look forward to working with Angela and watching our Winslow branch grow.”

EVENTS: Senior Seminar to be held in Vassalboro

Building Two of the Olde Mill on Main Street in Vassalboro. (photo by Sandy Isaac)

A Senior Seminar, hosted by Gateway Retirement Solutions, will be held at The Mill, 934 Main St., in North Vassalboro, on Wednesday, June 21, from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

The seminar will cover Medicare parts A, B, C, and D, prescription coverage and how to compare different plans. What to do with a 401k upon retirement, and what are better options.

Speakers will be Jessica Cole, Medicare broker, life insurance broker and CoverMe broker; David Godfrey, financial advisor, and Brian Arsenault, property and casualty broker.

Ecology Ctr. accepting ninth grade enrollment

Ecology Learning Center (photo: Unity College)

The Ecology Learning Center, a public charter high school (9-12 grades) in Unity, enrollment is still OPEN for 9th grade! If interested, please fill out the Intent to Enroll form on our website.

At the Ecology Learning Center, we offer:

focused English, math, history, and science instruction; French and Spanish language courses, taught by native speakers; art electives, including music and woodworking; outdoor adventure and leadership training; FREE breakfast and lunch using locally-grown produce, prepared by students.

Reach out to info@ecologylearningcenter.org with questions.