Fundraiser for McCormack’s employees coming this Saturday, October 26, to Winslow Congregational Church

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photo: McCormack Facebook page

Delicious $5 take-out soup-and-bread lunch will support McCormack Building Supply employees impacted by the recent devastating fire

Winslow Congregational Church will host a delectable take-out soup-and-bread lunch to raise money for McCormack’s Building Supply employees impacted by the recent devastating fire. The take-out lunch will be held at the church, located at 12 Lithgow Street, in Winslow, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 26. Cost of your take-out soup-and-bread lunch is just $5, with all proceeds going directly to McCormack’s employees, to help them address financial challenges brought on by the fire.

Please consider helping McCormack’s employees as you enjoy a yummy take-out lunch!

Mark your calendar now!

For more information, please visit www.WinslowUCC.org.

Vassalboro public works director cited for service

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Vassalboro Public Works Director Eugene Field (Photo by Mary Sabins)

At the October 3 meeting of the Maine Chapter of the American Public Works Association, in Bangor, at the Maine Municipal Association Convention, Vassalboro Public Works Director Eugene Field was presented with the 2018 Public Works Leader of the Year Award. Gene was chosen after nomination by the Vassalboro Selectmen and the Town Manager for his nearly 40 years of dedicated and commendable service to the residents of the town of Vassalboro.

Northern Light Inland Hospital initiates innovative solution to ensure food bank access

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Northern Light Inland Hospital is responding to the problem with an innovative solution to ensure access to food banks for patients who do not have dependable transportation.

Nearly one in six households in Kennebec County lacks enough food to maintain healthy, active lifestyles for all household members. Nutritious food is available, yet many families can’t access the food because they don’t have transportation to a food bank. Northern Light Inland Hospital is responding to the problem with an innovative solution to ensure access to food banks for patients who do not have de­pendable transportation.

The new transportation initiative, funded by a John T. Gorman Foundation grant, builds on an existing partnership between Northern Light Inland Hospital and Good Shepherd Food Bank to provide emergency food bags to families in need at Inland’s primary and specialty care practices, emergency department, inpatient units and other care site.

Inland Hospital providers and staff routinely screen patients for food insecurity, and patients whop have immediate needs are offered emergency food bags on the spot. If transportation to the food bank is also found to be an issue, the provider can refer the patient for transportation assistance. The hospital explored many different solutions to the problem and found that arranging a taxi ride would help the largest number of food insecurity patients get access to the food they need.

“One of the biggest struggles is getting people to the food, and food to the people,” says Bridgette Gemelli, community health navigator, Northern Light Inland Hospital. “Some people can welk to the food bank but can only carry so much back to their homes.”

In her role as community health navigator, Bridgette considers each person’s unique needs and helps them find solutions to a range of issues that affect quality of life. Her work often includes providing education about and connections with resources available in the community and strategies to help patients overcome barriers.

“You can’t recover from illness or live your healthiest possible life if you aren’t getting the proper nutrition,” says Crystal Richard, director, women’s health at Northern Light Inland Hospital. “In order to improve overall health and wellness, we need to get to the root of the problem, which is sometimes transportation.”

Inland Hospital’s approach to addressing food insecurity for its patients may serve as a model for other hospitals to follow. The initiative, funded through spring 2020, augments Inland’s ongoing work with several community organizations to address the most significant problems that affect health for the people of Kennebec County.

For more information, please contact Bridgette Gemelli, community health navigator, at bgemelli@northernlight.org or 207-861-6091.

Common Ground Round 10: Win a $10 Gift Certificate

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DEADLINE: Friday, November 8, 2019

Identify the people in these three photos, and tell us what they have in common. You could win a $10 gift certificate to Retail Therapy boutique, 11 KMD Plaza, Kennedy Memorial Dr., Waterville, next to the Dairy Queen!* Email your answer to townline@fairpoint.net or through our Contact page with subject line “COMMON GROUND 10.”

Please include your name and address with your answer, so we can mail your prize if you are the winner!

You may also mail your answer to The Town Line, PO Box 89, South China, ME 04358. (To be eligible for the drawing, you must email or snail mail your answer to us.)

* Should there be more than one correct answer, a random drawing will be held to determine the winner.

Previous winner: Deb Titus, of Vassalboro

Left to right, Harvey Korman, Lyle Wagoner, Vicki Lawrence. All were regulars on the Carol Burnett Show.

 

 

Week of October 17, 2019

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Undetermined origin

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Photo by Roland D. Hallee

Smoke can be seen billowing from Winslow’s McCormack Building Supply, on Lithgow, from the Waterville side of the river, on October 11. The state fire marshal’s office has concluded that the cause of the fire to be undetermined. Accord­ing to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, fire investigators said the fire started near a building in the back of the complex, known as the pine shed, where white pine lumber was stored.

The monetary loss from the fire will exceed $4 million. Investigators interviewed about 25 people who were in or near the buildings when the fire broke out about noon on Friday. Those interviewed included employees, customers, and employees of a paving company which was paving on the property. Investigators said they could not rule in or out any one source for the fire because of the extensive damage.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Removing the mystery from a prostate cancer diagnosis

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(NAPSI)—According to the American Cancer Society, about one in nine American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. A leading cause of cancer in men, more than 173,000 new diagnoses are expected in the U.S. this year. Fortunately, this disease can be treated successfully, especially if caught early.

What To Do

If you’re 50 or older or have a family history of prostate cancer, you should speak to your doctor about whether screening for the disease is right for you.

Understanding Prostate Cancer

“In the early stages, the most common symptoms of prostate cancer are no symptoms at all,” says Deepak A. Kapoor, M.D., founder of the non-profit, Integrated Medical Foundation, and President of Advanced Urology Centers of New York.

There are four stages of prostate cancer. Stage one is diagnosed very early and confined to the prostate. At this stage, the patient is unlikely to be experiencing any symptoms. He may not need treatment beyond regular follow-up blood tests, exams and possibly biopsies. The disease is very treatable. When diagnosed early, the five-year relative survival rate is almost 100 percent.

Why Do Some Men Resist Routine Screenings?

Many men are embarrassed by the digital rectal exam, concerned about treatment or fear they can’t afford it.

Some Answers

Testing: Since the 1980s, prostate cancer was being diagnosed with a simple blood test, the PSA. It checks the level of prostate-specific antigen in your blood.

In the past, there was controversy about whether having a prostate cancer screening done was beneficial or if it produced more harmful effects due to complications from over-testing. PSA testing was the best thing available for a long time.

New tools now exist that provide much more information, giving predictability about the aggressiveness of the cancer and data to help urologists safely manage their patients’ disease. With this information, urologists have higher numbers of appropriate candidates on active surveillance regimens. Using tests such as the Gleason grade score, overall patient health and risk factors—age, race, ethnicity, family history and exposure to Agent Orange—urologists can determine with confidence how aggressive the cancer is and which patients will do well on active surveillance. They will also know which therapy options will be the optimal for the patient.

Making it easier for doctors and their patients to do this testing is the full-range of diagnostic equipment and supplies available through the trusted advisors at Henry Schein Medical, a provider of medical and surgical supplies to health care professionals.

Treatments: There are many ways to treat prostate cancer, including hormone therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and cryoablation. The newest innovation being successfully utilized is immunotherapy, which uses your own immune system to identify, target and destroy the cancer cells without harming the body’s own “good cells.” Your doctor can help you decide what’s best for you.

It is important to remember that you have the most options available when prostate cancer is diagnosed early and is in the most treatable stage. It is important for men to be vigilant with their routine screenings.

Paying: Many insurance policies will pay for diagnostic tests and in some places, such as New York State, there’s no co-pay or co-insurance cost sharing responsibility for diagnostic prostate cancer screenings (with such policies). This puts PSAs on the same level as mammograms, thanks to efforts of advocates and doctors such as those at Advanced Urology Centers of New York, one of the largest urology group practices in the country.

Learn More

For more facts, visit the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org and Integrated Medical Foundation (IMF) https://imfcares.org/. IMF provides screenings, education and support services FREE.

Tech students reach out and help barbershop singers

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Maine-ly Harmony chorus members display their safety riser backs, from left to right, Dee Dumais, Cathy Anderson, Betty Avery, Candace Pepin, BJ Pellett, Lea Davis and Dotti Meyer. (Photo courtesy Maine-ly Harmony)

by Lea Davis

Maine-ly Harmony women’s a capella barbershop chorus travels around the state performing for civic and church organizations, senior citizens, VA veterans, open houses, festivals, fund-raisers, Valentine greetings to individuals, the list goes on and on. The women who harmonize together bring smiles wherever they go. The members rehearse on Wednesday evenings at the Emmanuel Lutheran Episcopal Church, in Augusta. At rehearsals and performances, they stand on risers to be able to see the director and to be seen by audiences. But singers positioned on the high back row of the risers have been uneasy for some time, fearful that a move could result in falling backwards. Well, the ladies fear no more!

Thanks to teacher Bob Stewart, at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center (LRTC) and his students, the singers now have riser bars across the back to keep them safe!

It all came about when chorus member, and former Lewiston High School teacher, Dee Dumais, contacted the LRTC regarding the need for riser bars. Since students are geared to work on community projects as well as school projects to enhance and promote their valuable skills, Bob was receptive to considering the project for his Sheet Metal and Welding Class. To the delight of the chorus members, the juniors and seniors of his two-year program tackled the challenge. And what a challenge it was!

Most of the construction was custom made, with no manual or instructions, other than YouTube videos and comparisons with the back rails of the risers used by Lewiston’s high school chorus. Some issues involved pipe bending, he said, which had to be very specific, as well as reworking dimensions, sizing and measurements. Reworking also involved the welding because the process can cause warping of the metal.

The clamps that hold the rails to the risers had to be redone a couple of times to allow installation to be user-friendly. It turned into a three-year intensive project for Bob and his students, with a few setbacks along the way, and all done while other class projects were ongoing. The riser bars were completed last June, with the juniors and soon-to-be-graduating seniors adding much labor to the finishing touches.

Students who participated on the project were Caleb Anthony, Daniel Bolton, Joe Cloutier, Griffin Johnson, Justin Merrill, Garrett Sampson, Connor Sullivan and Corey Wires. Bob said that he and his students feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in their efforts and hope that Maine-ly Harmony will remember them with fondness whenever they sing on the risers (which is every week!)

Lewiston Regional Technical Center encompasses students from area schools in Lewiston, Oak Hill, Lisbon, Edward Little, Poland, Leavitt Area High School and Christian Academy, as well as home-schooled students. Bob Stewart is only the second instructor of sheet metal and welding, hired in 2005 to replace retiring long-term instructor Rene Chicoine. Bob credits his predecessor for being a great instructor and the driving influence for keeping him in school when he attended Rene’s 1985-87 class, adding, “Rene’s kindness and LRTC’s ability to give me purpose and a place to shine truly changed the course of my life.”

Maine-ly Harmony members are grateful, indeed, and breathing easier these days when their repertoire includes dance moves in such songs as “Could I Have This Dance” and “I Heard It On the Grapevine!”

McGlauflin graduates from Emerson College

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Paige McGlauflin from Sidney recently graduated from Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, receiving a BS degree in journalism.