Harrison Timmins, 4, of Waterville, talks with Santa Claus at Kringleville, in downtown Waterville, recently. Santa is available for boys and girls to visit at his Christmas home located at The Center, on Main Street.
Photo by Central Maine, Photography staff
TNT Dance Studio dancers performed a variety of songs this year, from Pit Bull to Sesame Street, at the annual Parade of Lights, in Waterville, on November 25. The parade brings Santa and Mrs. Claus to downtown Waterville for their perennial stay at Kringleville, located at The Center near Castonguay Square, downtown.
by Dan CassidySugarloaf Mountain opens the season with a new state-of-the-art Competition Center. The new facility was built this summer in the footprint of the old Gondola station that served the Carrabassett Valley Academy and the Sugarloaf Ski Club as its tuning and waxing facility, along with meetings and locker rooms.
A ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 10 at the new Competition Center from 2:30 to 5 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.
The new center was made possible by a $1 million grant from the Bill and Joan Alfond Foundation and the combined efforts of Carrabassett Valley Academy, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Sugarloaf Ski Club. This completes the Bill and Joan Alfond Competition Center.
“CVA’s Board of Trustees has long supported the Sugarloaf Ski Club’s vision of a new competition center,” said Kate Webber Punderson, Head of School, in an e-mail interview. “In May 2015, CVA received an incredible gift from the Bill and Joan Alfond Foundation in support of the project such that the CVA Board, bolstered by the commitment and support of partners Sugarloaf and the Sugarloaf Ski Club, officially launched the effort to make this long awaited dream become a reality,” she said.
Punderson said that the Sugarloaf Ski Club had the vision, the Academy took the reins and Sugarloaf threw full support behind the project.
The new Competition Center will serve as base of operations during the U.S. Alpine Championships that will take place March 25-29, 2017. All are welcome to attend the dedication ceremony.
Ski and ride safely. Use your head and don’t forget to wear a helmet.
The China Road Christmas Park, in Winslow, is a family endeavor started a few years ago and has continued to grow. The park is filled with Christmas spirit and is a favorite of both young and old. It is open to the public on most nights, but it is recommended to check their Facebook page, China Road Christmas Park, just to make sure. The park is located at 1229 China Road, in Winslow.
Most of our birds are migratory. They come and go and you must be on the alert to see them at the right time and place. Most of our flowers have only a brief blooming period. You must look for them at a certain time of year if you wish to find them in all their beauty and fragrance. But the trees we always have with us. With them there is no hurry. They stand there summer and winter, year in and out, in all kinds of weather. Many have been standing for more than a century. This presentation is to introduce them and rouse the observer’s interest to the large, breathtaking trees around us. We are fortunate to have two “National Champions,” the largest of a particular species in all the United States. Maine has more than 160 different kinds of trees.
If you look at a group of 100 trees in a small area, you will see at least 10 different species.
The presenter, Duane Prugh, graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in electrical engineering. He is now a semi-retired computer consultant. For the past 15 years, he has been teaching at several of Maine’s Senior Colleges, taking local seniors on field trips to explore dozens of these sites. There is so much to see in our own state, and his goal is to get our senior students out of their homes for day trips to explore sites in Maine that most people don’t know exist.
The Kennebec Historical Society December presentation is free to the public (donations gladly accepted) and will take place on Wednesday, December 14, at 6:30 p.m., at the Augusta City Center, located at 16 Cony Street in Augusta.
The Albion Public Library has been selected by the Maine Humanities Council to offer “Let’s Talk About It”, a free reading and discussion group with copies of the books available through the library. This program is provided by the Maine Humanities Council’s Maine Center for the Book in cooperation with the Maine State Library.
The series, “The Gilded Age”, begins at 6 pm Tuesday, January 31 at the Albion Public Library.
Books to be read and discussed are: Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton; The Gilded Age, by Mark Twain & Charles Dudley Warner; The Rise & Fall of Silas Lapham, by William Dean Howell; Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson; and, Poland Spring, by David Richards.
The discussion will be led by David Richards, Director of the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. David holds M.A. in New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine, and a Ph.D in History from the University of New Hampshire. He is the author of Poland Spring, A Tale of the Gilded Age and is currently working on a project for the Kennebec Highlands History Project learning about Central Maine native and game maker, Milton Bradley, the “Man Who Taught America How to Play”.
“Exploring ideas and issues through literature has a unique and fun way of creating community” said Nicole Rancourt, director of Let’s Talk About It. “We find that there is great interest among adults in getting together to discuss what they’ve read with others. Having a discussion leader like David Richards can help deepen this experience.”
Books for the program are available for loan at the library. Go to the library, or call Roberta at 437-2019, to register. You can go to the library to pick up the first book of the series. The library is open Monday and Thursday 6 – 8 p.m., and Wednesday and Saturday, 9 – 11 a.m.
Vassalboro residents need to keep their eyes open for notice of a special town meeting likely to be scheduled in January 2017 to vote on recreational marijuana in town. About 30 people attended the selectmen’s Dec. 1 public meeting to talk about how town officials ought to respond to the state vote approving the recreational use of marijuana. The Marijuana Legalization Act allows residents to cultivate, manufacture, distribute, sell and test retail marijuana products and to open marijuana social clubs. Lauchlin Titus, chairman of the board of selectmen, suggested three possible options. Vassalboro could prohibit recreational marijuana use within town boundaries; it could create a moratorium for up to 180 days, which could be extended for another 180 days, to provide time to develop local regulations; or it could take no action.
Either the first or second option requires a decision by voters, not selectmen, Titus said. Selectmen concluded that it would not be advisable to wait until the June 2017 town meeting to seek voter action.
Most of those who spoke at the Dec. 1 meeting favored a ban or at least a moratorium. New state Representative Richard Bradstreet pointed out that a majority of Vassalboro voters opposed legalization on Nov. 8.
Jim Pfleging, a retired lawman from California, urged a ban and was promptly supported by four or five others.
Pfleging said the problem is not so much marijuana as what comes with it. Because business is transacted in cash due to federal prohibitions that make it impossible to use the banking system, marijuana operations become “money-laundering facilities,” likely to underpay taxes and attract thieves and other criminals.
Several speakers explored the connection between medical marijuana, legal under existing law and regulations, and recreational marijuana. No one was able to say whether Vassalboro’s crime rate had gone up since the town acquired medical marijuana facilities. There was consensus that a ban or moratorium would not affect currently licensed medical facilities; how such action would relate to their hypothetical future expansion was another unknown.
If Vassalboro is to hold a special town meeting to act on a ban or a moratorium, a quorum of 125 registered voters must be present, Titus said – more voters than attend some of the June town meetings. Audience members thought the topic would bring people out.
The Marijuana Legalization Act is currently subject to a ballot recount; assuming the yes vote stands, it will probably take effect early in January. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, the state licensing authority, has up to nine months to adopt rules for regulation and control of activities covered by the law, including developing licensing procedures, qualifications for licensure, security requirements for licensed premises and appeal procedures if a license application is denied. Titus and fellow Selectman Philip Haines doubt a state agency can adopt major rules in so short a time. Within 30 days after the rules are adopted the department is to begin accepting applications.
At the short selectmen’s meeting that preceded the marijuana discussion, Town Manager Mary Sabins said Mark Brown has taken over as police chief, after a period when he and retiring chief Richard Phippen worked together to transfer responsibilities. Selectmen again expressed interest in changing Vassalboro’s streetlights to LED lights. They asked Sabins to find out whether Central Maine Power Company is planning a change; if not, they have information from other companies.
The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting will be Thursday evening, Dec. 15.
The 15th annual Warming Up for Christmas benefit concert with Steve Fotter and Friends was held on Saturday, December 3, at the Williamson Auditorium, at Lawrence High School, in Fairfield, and helped raise $12,000 for the ShineOnCass Foundation.
Brothers Conner and Cameron Mushero perform at the Warming Up For Christmas concert on December 3. Photo by Mark Huard, owner Central Maine Photography
The foundation was created to honor the spirit, continue the work, and encourage others to live the legacy of Cassidy Charette, whose kindness and passion for others shines on!
The mission is to educate, inspire and empower youth to make their world a better place through volunteer charitable activities.
The effort envisions stronger communities led by future generations who make community service and kindness part of everyday life.
These are just some of the many ways we support the ShineOnCase:
Concert director/producer Steve Fotter. Photo by Mark Huard, owner Central Maine
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust concluded its 28th annual “Food for Good” community food drive on November 18. More than 4,850 food items and over $3,370 were collected for and delivered to local food pantries prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. “On behalf of the Bank, I would like to thank everyone who gave a gift of healthy food to our neighbors in need by donating to the food drive,” said Margie Gray at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust.
These gifts helped fill Thanksgiving food baskets and stock the shelves of local food pantries for the winter months ahead. One of the five local grocery stores that participated was Tobey’s Grocery, in South China. For each “share” of one of the Bank’s “Food for Good” Facebook posts they donated one dollar to a local food pantry. “Thanks to all our Facebook fans, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust will be contributing an additional $370 to local food pantries,” said Gray. Each of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust’s 14 branches also collected donations for the Food Drive and delivered them to their local food pantry for distribution. Among the food pantries were Loaves and Fishes and the China Community Food Pantry.
“On behalf of all Bar Harbor Bank & Trust employees, our gratitude goes out to everyone who donated so generously to our “Food for Good” community food drive,” said Gray. “Thank you for helping neighbors in need by providing them with good, healthy food.”
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust invites customers, friends and neighbors to their holiday open house events, held between Thanksgiving and Christmas at most branch locations. Please join these local community celebrations as our guest, held on the following dates from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., to welcome the holiday season and enjoy refreshments.
An open house will be held at the South China branch, located on Rte. 3 next to the South China Post Office, on Friday, December 9.