Issue for March 6, 2025
Issue for March 6, 2025
Vassalboro Methodist Church new lift activated
During the largely attended funeral of Cathy (White) Fisher on March 18, 2023, some people in leadership positions at the Vassalboro United Methodist Church (VUMC) were struck by how unsatisfactorily their building was set-up for people with physical challenges… by Dale Potter-Clark
Town News
Thurston Park committee continues planning future activities
CHINA – China’s Thurston Park Committee members continued planning future activities, undeterred by bad weather having canceled their February China Ice Days plans…
Planners review town’s subdivision ordinance
CHINA – Four China Planning Board members spent a short Feb. 25 meeting reviewing preliminary updates and clarifications to the town’s subdivision ordinance…
Cemetery committee talks about fiscal year
VASSALBORO – At a short Feb. 24 meeting, Vassalboro Cemetery Committee members talked about plans for the rest of the current fiscal year and the new one beginning July 1, and about the lack of information about the past…
Long discussion takes place about Long Pond Acres
WINDSOR – At their February 11,2025, meeting, the Windsor Select Board heard from Town Manager Theresa Haskell that she received a letter from Delta Ambulance confirming the $35 per capita fee imposed on the town for ambulance service…
COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: Tariffs to dramatically increase energy burden on Maine families
CENTRAL ME — In the early hours of the morning, President Trump enacted 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, with 10 percent tariffs on Canadian energy imports. These tariffs are poised to have a devastating effect on Maine families who are already struggling to keep up with rising energy costs… by Lucy Hochschartner Maine Conservation Voters’ Climate and Clean Energy Director
PHOTO: Cup-a-Joe, and lunch to go
CENTRAL ME — The Cup Café, located at 103 Dr. Mann Rd., Skowhegan, in the Methodist Church, provides free coffee, snacks and lunch-to-go on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. – noon. All are welcome! Charleen Gordon, kitchen leader, serves a cup of coffee to guest, Bradley Chipman.
Erskine Academy student to participate in Poetry Out Loud State Finals
CHINA — As Poetry Out Loud celebrates its 20th anniversary, Maine’s most talented high school students took the stage at the Poetry Out Loud State Finals, on Monday, March 3, at 5 p.m., at the Waterville Opera House. This milestone year honors two decades of inspiring students across the country to explore poetry through recitation, building confidence, public speaking skills, and a lifelong appreciation for literature…
Breznyak named to Saint Anselm College dean’s list
WATERVILLE — Saint Anselm College, in Manchester, New Hampshire, has released the dean’s list of high academic achievers for the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year. Mark W. Cronin, Dean of the College, announced that Abigail Breznyak, a Biology (BS) Major from Waterville, was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2024 semester at Saint Anselm College, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
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.
Webber’s Pond Comic
Webber’s Pond is a comic drawn by a local central Maine resident…
Local happenings
EVENTS: Benefit supper to help defray costs as family deals with cancer for second time
PALERMO – Community members Elizabeth and Michelle Glidden, and six others, will be hosting a benefit spaghetti supper, raffle and auction for Heather Bragg and her family. This will be held on Saturday, March 22, from 4 – 6 p.m., at the Palermo Consolidated School…
EVENTS: Palermo planning board to meet
PALERMO – The Palermo Planning Board will meet Thursday, March 13, 2025, at the Palermo Town Office, at 6 pm. Purpose is to conduct official review of plans for the proposed Pine Hill subdivision on Hostile Valley Road, Tax Map R11, Lot 27C…
EVENTS: St. Patrick’s public supper at Vassalboro Methodist Church
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro Methodist Church will re-start their regular monthly public suppers on Saturday, March 15, with an “Old Fashioned New England Boiled dinner with an Irish Twist.” The meal will be served 4:30 – 6 p.m., at 614 Main Street…
EVENTS: Local central Maine Town Meetings schedule for 2025
CENTRAL ME – List of area town meetings. To be included in this list, visit our Contact Us page or send an email to The Town Line at townline@townline.org…
Obituaries
CLINTON – Jackie Dorko, 84, of Clinton, passed away on Sunday, February 23, 2025. Born in Eagle Lake on July 7, 1940, she was the daughter of Lorena and Donah Pelletier…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Apple Tree Pruning Workshop
VASSALBORO – There will be an apple pruning workshop on Saturday, March 8, from 9:30 a.m. – noon, at 167 Tabor Hill Road, in Vassalboro. Cost is $10 and registration deadline is March 3… and many other local events!
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Windsor Primary Schools (new)
WINDSOR HISTORY — The area was first settled in the 1780s, mostly by people moving inland from Bristol and Damariscotta via the Sheepscot River. Organized around 1790 as New Waterford Plantation, it became Malta on March 3, 1809, Gerry in 1820 and Windsor in 1822…. by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Palermo residents – Part 2
PALERMO HISTORY — In case readers have not had enough genealogical confusion, this article continues with information about Palermo’s first three school committee members, elected in January 1805, and their families. Christopher Erskine, Stephen Marden and Samuel (or Samual) Longfellow were leaders among Palermo’s early settlers…. by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Palermo early settlers
PALERMO HISTORY — As a break from trying to figure out which schoolhouse was in which end of town, your writer decided to profile some of the people mentioned in last week’s article about Palermo schools, starting with a sampling of the town’s first residents. The result is the following tantalizing tangle of contradictions and unanswered questions…. by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Palermo elementary schools
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
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, March 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: Valoree Martin, So. China
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | I have an idea: let’s play a game! Everybody likes a game. We’ll call it – get a load of this ingenious title – Fact or Fiction! Many of us have pets, and we also like to watch animals. Let’s ask some questions and see if you can tell if it is fact or fiction…
GROWING YOUR BUSINESS
by Dan Beaulieu | Having happy and satisfied customers is the most rewarding aspect of owning a business. If you concentrate on your customers and focus on delighting them you will never run out of business…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | Poet Lee Sharkey (1945-2020) moved to Maine in 1971 and taught writing for several years at the University of Maine’s Farmington campus. She was also a social and peace activist, mentored aspiring writers from many walks of life, particularly those in prison and psychiatric hospitals, and protested the Iraq War as a member of the Women in Black which frequently held rallies in the state capital…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
HEALTH | While it is normal for small children to use a pacifier or their thumb to calm down or to stop crying, prolonged usage of either can lead to oral health problems down the line…