Local ballerina performs on world stage

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by Dan Cassidy

Gabrielle Perkins is a petite 20-year-old ballerina from Oakland, who is headed to New York City to work with the American Ballet Theater Studio Company.  The position will be with either American Ballet Theater main company, or other companies around the world.

Perkins attended Messalonskee High School in her freshman year. She also studied at Maine Central Institute, in Pittsfield, during her sophomore year, so she could train in ballet.  She returned to Messalonskee, to get in more classes and earned her high school diploma in three years.  “It worked out because I got into Vaganova Ballet Academy, in Russia, because I had all those extra classes.  I was able to graduate a year early, and train in Russia for a year in 2013-2014,” Perkins said.

Gabrielle Perkins

Gabrielle Perkins shown dancing at the San Francisco Ballet School.
Photo courtesy of Erik Tomasson

She contacted the director of the San Francisco Ballet and told them she was interested in attending their training program.  “I was accepted there and spent two years dancing in their summer program, where I just finished up,” she said.

Perkins, a tenacious young lady, has been dancing since she was four years old.  When she was seven, she realized that she really wanted to do ballet. She also studied ballet at Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Summer Course in Seattle, along with the San Francisco Ballet’s summer program.

She was offered a contract with Mariinsky Theater at the Primorsky Stage, but turned it down as she already signed a contract with American Ballet Theater Studio Company.  She is going to New York City in September,  “I am very excited,” she said.

Local performance scheduled

Perkins will be performing for Bossov Ballet Theater, the school she trained at when she was very young.  She’ll be dancing to a ballet based on the story Don Quixoté.   She will also perform as a solo dancer at one point in the show, and there will be other dancers performing in Corts De Balle.  The show is to be held at at the Williamson Performing Arts Center, at Lawrence High School, in Fairfield, at 7 p.m., July 29, and Saturday, July 30, at 2 p.m..

“I really like performing and working hard in the field and constantly wanting to improve,” she said.  “With that, the more you improve, the more you gain, and the best part is being a ballet dancer on the stage and performing.  It’s like other athletes who are constantly trying to improve, and ‘we’, ballet dancers are doing the same thing, trying to improve.  It’s an accomplishment. Down the road, I’m hoping to continue dancing and staying healthy, and being able to do what I love.”

Gabrielle grew up in the Oakland, Sidney area.  Her parents, Mike and Kelly have watched her perform in San Francisco and have been instrumental in her career.  She also has an older brother Chris.  Mike Perkins is a retired police officer, runs a driving school and is transportation supervisor for RSU #18.

Gabrielle is well on her way to possibly becoming a prima ballerina some day soon.

Bingham, Mayfield and Kingsbury become wind power sites

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page6pict3by Dan Cassidy

Part Two and Conclusion

Electricity headed south

John Lamontagne, Senior Director of Communications for SunEdison, said  there are three Massachusetts utilities that have contracted to receive the energy from the project, National Grid, Unitil and Eversource.

“The approximate cost of the project is about $420 million to develop and build the project,” he said.  “There are a number of financial organizations who have financed the project.”

SunEdison conducts extensive environmental studies when citing a wind project, according to Lamontagne.  “We conducted bird and bat studies to ensure the project is not in the migration path of any bird and bat species.  We continue monitoring of the project after it is operational to ensure the impacts to wildlife are minimal.  Certainly, there are some impacts to birds and bats, but we want to be sure they are kept at an absolute minimum.”page6pict1

Turbines at the project are routinely maintained and inspected by an on-site crew.  Turbines go through quarterly reviews and annual inspections to ensure they’re kept in good working order as much as possible.  “In addition, the turbines are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at our Renewable Energy Operations Centers in California and Boston,” Lamontagne said.

The project has seen about 300 full time jobs created since the site construction started.  “Once the project is completed, Bingham and surrounding communities will receive millions in tax revenues,” he said.  “Although the energy goes to out-of-state utilities, the county should see a windfall in terms of revenues to pay for goods and services.”

Lamontagne said that when the Mars Hill project was built in 2007, folks saw their taxes drop 25 percent, once the project went on-line.  When the project was completed in Oakfield last year, folks in that community are seeing a massive benefit in their tax bills.  “Bottom line, communities see benefits in terms of jobs and economic benefits when the project is built.”

Locals chime in

Many local residents have been keeping in touch with the wind tower project.  They have seen, towers, wind blades, of about 185 feet long and a lot of other pieces heavy equipment go by on the streets, headed to the job sites.

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One of the towers on its side so electronics can be placed inside. The tower stands approximately 100 meters, (330 feet). Photos by Dan Cassidy

“We are totally impressed,” Steve Steward, first selectman of Bingham said.  “It is quite a big project.  When it’s all completed, the cost of the project will be over $400 million,” he said.

The tax savings in Bingham should be affected next year, according to Steward. There are 11 towers located in Bingham that will be about $4,000 per tower.  “The other towers are located in Mayfield, an unorganized territory and Kingsbury.”

The Town of Bingham negotiated $8,000 per tower that they would pay.  “There was no ceiling, $4,000 was the minimum they have to pay for tax relief, so we accepted $8,000, and I was happy with that.”

The construction is going smoothly, and most residents are comfortable with that.  A note of interest is that the 56 wind towers being erected are not visible from Route 201.

Stanley Redmond, a local long time resident and a wood harvesting Land Agent has seen a lot of heavy equipment go right by his door on Route 201 over the last several months.  “How great it is to see science so advanced today and to watch all the people involved in installing these wind towers and see how professional they are doing their great work,” he said.

“The operation of installing these giants is something entirely different than what we thought it would be,” he said.  “Everyone involved are in great hopes these wind towers will prove to be very helpful for many reasons and will be accepted with open arms by all.  It will be interesting to see the decrease cost of purchasing power from these giant wind towers once they start turning the blades.  The engineer and all the associates should receive our thanks for such a remarkable job.”

Example tower sights

Lamontagne compared the Oakfield Wind towers in Piscataquis County, as an example, “that town will receive $26 million in tax benefits and community benefit payments over the next 20 years. “As a result, folks in that community have seen their tax bills dramatically reduced.”

“Full-time Oakfield residents now receive tax breaks and an annual check for about $2,000 per year, a benefit that will be in place for 20 years,” he said.

Pelletier named to dean’s list at Lebanon Valley

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Kaitlynn Pelletier, of Waterville, was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester. Dean’s list students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.4 out of 4.0.

Pelletier, a graduate of Messalonskee High School, in Oakland, is pursuing a bachelor of science, bachelor of arts in music education and music at The Valley.