Area observances of Memorial Day

/0 Comments/in , /by

All gave some…some gave all: Flags line all the graves at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, in Augusta.
Photo by Kevin Giguere, Central Maine

by Central Maine Photography Reporter/Writer Jessica Laliberte

Local service organization leaders pose at the veterans memorial in South China. From left to right, Rick Fischer, Jeff Zimmerman and Neil Farrington.
Contritured photo

A sea of red, white and blue fills the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, in Augusta, as thousands of flags adorn the graves of soldiers buried in the cemetery. This is the 11th year of the event. The ceremony featured music from the Public Safety Pipes and Drum Corp, the singing of the National Anthem, prayer by a local deacon, and brief remarks from Maine Governor Paul LePage.

Hundreds of volunteers including Scouts, veterans, civilians and other civic groups joined forces to place a flag on the grave of every soldier buried in the cemetery, about 15,000 in total, on Saturday, May 27.

As the volunteers dispersed to the graves with flags in hand, the bagpipes playing Amazing Grace echoed in the chilly morning air.

The flags were purchased through donations. According to Donald Simoneau, a past state commander and organizer of the event, about 750 veterans die each year and are buried at the Maine Veterans Cemetery.

If you would like to donate you can make checks payable to the American Legion “Grave Flag Program,” P.O. Box 900, Waterville, ME 04901.

In honor of their service: Derek Fennell, a Marine veteran from China, with his two sons, Kamren and Evan, places flags at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, in Augusta, on May 27.
Photo by Kevin Giguere, Central Maine Photography staff.

Hayward inducted into Spanish National Honor Society

/0 Comments/in , /by

The World Languages and Cultures Department at Eastern Connecticut State University, in Willimantic, Connecticut, recently held its annual induction ceremony for Sigma Delta Pi, the national honor society for Spanish.

Kirstin Hayward, of Augusta, was one of the inductees. Hayward’s major is Continuing Education.

Sigma Delta Pi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies..

Local law enforcement honors those fallen in the line of duty

/0 Comments/in , /by

A color guard consisting of various law enforcement agencies carry the colors during the ceremonies in observance of National Police Week, in Augusta, on May 18. Photo by Mark Huard, owner Central Maine Photography

by Jessica Laliberte
Central Maine Photography staff

Law enforcement officers, family and friends gathered in Augusta on May 18 to honor the more than 80 police officers, wardens and troopers who have died in the line of duty in the state of Maine. The event, part of National Police Week, has been held annually for 26 years. It is sponsored by the Maine Chiefs of Police Association.

“We are a country built upon the foundation of law and rules. As a civilized society, it is imperative that all of us recognize these laws and understand the small and fragile line that separates us from chaos and lawlessness,” said Falmouth Police Chief Edward Tolan, who is also the president of the Maine Police Chiefs Association. Tolan and Attorney General Janet Mills addressed a crowd of more than 100 people including many state legislators and other state dignitaries.

Maine State Police Colonel Robert Williams, of China, left, and Maine Game Warden Service Colonel Joel T. Wilkinson, salute the fallen. The game warden service has suffered the most in-the-line-of-duty fatalities than any other Maine law enforcement agency. Photo by Mark Huard, owner Central Maine Photography

Both praised police officers for “accepting danger everyday.” Tolan continued by saying what cannot be tolerated is “lack of respect some people show police.” The ceremony featured many police honor guards, the Maine State Police Pipes and Drum Corps and dozens of police officers from all over the state. A roll call of the names of the 84 law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice was read by retired chief Darrell Malone, Sr. No new names were added to the memorial this year. The most recent death was Game Warden pilot Daryl Gordon, who died in a plane crash in 2011. Gordon was the 15th game warden added to the wall, which is more than any other agency. The names of 10 troopers from the Maine State Police also appear on the wall. Nationally, 45 police officers have been killed in the line of duty so far in 2017;145 police officers were killed in 2016. Their names were etched into the National Police Memorial in Washington, D.C., earlier in the week.

Kennebec Historical Society receives grant to preserve history

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Kennebec Historical Society emphasizes the collection of Kennebec County family and organizational documents and photographs. Twenty years ago, the society’s catalog was entirely on paper. At this point, however, it has been moved to a computer database available for interested researchers at their headquarters at 107 Winthrop Street in Augusta.

To stay current and useful to our clients, the Kennebec Historical Society believes that the next step is to move its database to the internet and offer not just indexes but also scanned images of complete documents, transcriptions of handwritten and printed documents, and images of photographs and other objects.

Although it will take some time and financial resources to get to that point, the KHS collections committee believes that now is the time to take steps in preparation. This means that as well as indexing documents using key words denoting subjects, locations, organizations, events, type of items, and names, so called this meta data, we need to start “digitizing” our items; that is, scanning photographs, using optical character recognition to convert printed items to text documents, and transcribing hand written documents. If we start doing this now, we won’t have to go back and do it later when we are ready to move to the internet. But this adds considerable time to the act of cataloging items. We have found that we are building up a backlog of uncatalogued materials as we purchase items and receive them as donations.

In February 2017, they applied to the Maine State Archives for a grant from the Historical Collections Grant Program, funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, to hire interns to help in the cataloging for the internet effort and therefore reduce or eliminate backlog. In March, they received notification that the request for $3,628.26 had been approved, in full. The request will cover hiring interns for the spring and fall and purchasing of supplies and computer hardware to support the “digitization” effort. Combining this with donations they receive to support summer interns should move them well on their way to elimination the immediate backlog.

Current researchers at the society will immediately see the results of this effort as records of newly cataloged items will contain full text transcriptions that can be read and/or printed at the society. Photographs will also be available for printing as will scans of documents.

Barbershop chorus elects officers

/0 Comments/in , /by

Maine-ly Harmony officers, from left to right, Cathy Anderson, of Jefferson, president; BJ Pellett, of Winthrop, vice president; Janet Dunham, of Belgrade, treasurer; Candace Pepin, of Augusta, secretary; Betty Avery, of Augusta, and LouAnn Mossler, of South China, members-at-large. Contributed photo

Mainely-Harmony women’s barbershop chorus held its election of officers for the 2017-18 season. The new board includes President Cathy Anderson, of Jefferson, Vice President BJ Pellett, of Winthrop, Treasurer Janet Dunham, of Belgrade, Secretary Candace Pepin, of Augusta, and members at large Betty Avery, of Augusta, and LouAnn Mossler, of South China. Officiating the ceremony was Dotti Meyer, of Jefferson, and representing the membership was Kathy Joyce, of Bowdoinham. The chorus, directed by Kathy Greason, of Brunswick, meets every Wednesday evening from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Salvation Army Church, 36 Eastern Ave., Augusta.

All women are invited to attend. For more information, contact Nancie at 293-4779 or email hugabook4@yahoo.com.

Area students named to Merrimack College fall dean’s list

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Merrimack College, in North Andover, Massachusetts, has recognized two local students who have achieved dean’s list for Fall 2016:

Allison Leighton, of Oakland, and Leyna Tobey, of Augusta.

 

Area students named to Merrimack College fall semester dean’s list

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Merrimack College, in North Andover, Massachusetts, has recognized two local students who have achieved dean’s list for Fall 2016:
Allison Leighton, of Oakland, and Leyna Tobey, of Augusta.

 

HCCA receives lead poisoning prevention grant

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Healthy Communities of the Capital Area, serving southern Kennebec County, is delighted to have received a Lead Poisoning Prevention grant from the State of Maine Health and Human Services to reduce lead poisoning in Augusta and Gardiner. The grant, recognizing the interconnected nature of communities, provides support for a coalition with representatives from the cities of Augusta and Gardiner, landlords and organizations serving young families. This group will collaborate on ways to reduce childhood exposure to lead, and educate the public on best lead poisoning prevention practices. For more information, and to become involved, contact Project Coordinator, Karen Tucker at ktucker@mcd.org or 207.588.5012.

Isaac H. Gingras named to St. Lawrence University dean’s list

/0 Comments/in , /by

Isaac H. Gingras, of Augusta, has been selected for inclusion on St. Lawrence University’s dean’s list for academic achievement during the fall 2016 semester, in Canton, New York.

Gingras is a member of the class of 2018 and is majoring in government. Gingras attended Cony High School, in Augusta.

Kennebec Historical Society presents “Les Magasins” for March program

/0 Comments/in , /by

In 1952 there were at least 76 grocery stores in Augusta (Mannings). In addition, there were meat markets, fruit and vegetable stores, confectioneries, bakeries, fish stores and several drug stores. Most if not all were independently owned. Sand Hill, Augusta’s Franco-American neighborhood, had a larger concentration of neighborhood grocery stores – Magasins. Depending on the source, from 18 to 27 stores operated on Sand Hill at various times.

This 48-minute documentary explores the history of small, family-owned grocery stores located on Sand Hill in the early to late 20th century. Several former Sand Hill individuals whose families owned and operated neighborhood stores were interviewed to capture a representative sense of life on The Hill. The documentary uses historical photographs from the Kennebec Historical Society’s digital archive collection, as well as photos provided by the families themselves and St. Michael’s Parish. While the documentary focuses on Sand Hill, the broader story applies to the city as a whole, describing a close-knit community made up of shopkeepers in a time before big-box stores, malls and too many cars.

Speaker, Norm Rodrigue, was born in Augusta in 1949 and raised on Sand Hill, came from a family of seven children. His father and grandfather were classic Franco-American mill workers who worked at the Bates/Edwards Mill. He attended St. Augustine School and graduated from Cony High School. He earned a BA in English and a masters in public administration from the University of Maine at Orono and an MBA from Thomas College.

After a career in business, Norm retired and pursued his longstanding interest is still photography. His photos have been exhibited locally and have won several awards and his photo cards are sold at various local businesses. Recently, Norm took up videography and is using it to explore local history, another longstanding interest. Norm has produced two other videos including: Streams in the Seasons, a video depicting the sights and sounds of streams on Kennebec Land Trust properties spanning an entire year; and A Simpler Time, a video about three contemporary downtown Augusta tradesmen, showcasing early 20th century trades, including a milliner, cobbler and vintage audio/stereo repairman.

The Kennebec Historical Society March Presentation is free to the public (donations gladly accepted) and will take place on Wednesday, March 15, at 6:30 p.m., at Le Club Calumet, located at 334 West River Road in Augusta.