VASSALBORO: TownCloud Inc. selected to design and maintain new website

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by Mary Grow

After another long discussion, Vassalboro select board members at their Oct. 19 meeting unanimously accepted town Manager Aaron Miller’s recommendation: TownCloud, Inc., will design and maintain the new town website.

TownCloud representatives Christopher Haywood, Chief Amazement Officer, and Dennis Harward, Wizard of Light Bulb Moments, made a presentation and showed a sample website at the Sept. 7 select board meeting. Board members created a committee to review alternatives, whose members reported at the Sept. 21 meeting. Discussion continued Oct. 5.

Resident David Trask, who has been doing the town website, is ready to step aside. He offered advice at the Oct. 19 meeting, as did several other residents with relevant experience.

The Sept. 7 committee listed some of the features they considered desirable in a website; Miller explained how TownCloud could provide each. For example, the site can include a calendar of official municipal events, like select board meetings; and forms to fill out on line, like registration for recreation department programs.

Miller thinks TownCloud will be easy for residents to navigate. An important advantage from his viewpoint is the comparatively low cost: $3,600 for a three-year contract, or $1,200 a year for the first three years.

Changes can be made if needed, the manager said. If TownCloud is unsatisfactory, he said Vassalboro could buy out the contract.

Replying to one of Trask’s concerns, Miller said he believes TownCloud is mobile-friendly, so people without computer access can use their mobile phones. The present Vassalboro website is not mobile-friendly, Trask said.

Related questions discussed were upgrades needed to town office electronics, to handle the new telephone system Miller wants and other electronic upgrades; and whether or on what terms to allow the public to join municipal meetings on line.

Board members talked inconclusively about ways public discussion could be moderated or comments could be prescreened, to avoid the kinds of abuse other Maine municipalities have reported.

Board members returned to the topic of the North Vassalboro fire station roof, assisted by aerial photos fire chief Walker Thompson said were taken by a drone. After discussion, they postponed action on bids for repainting the roof and for replacing it, agreeing instead to have it inspected.

They approved the fire department’s request for a new refrigerator at the North Vassalboro station and a new oven at the Riverside station, to be purchased with up to $2,500 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. The kitchens are used when the department hosts fundraisers and other public events, to provide cold water for firefighters and for similar purposes.

In other business Oct. 19, board members approved recreating Vassalboro’s advisory energy committee. They suggested starting by asking if members of the previous committee will serve again. Other interested residents, especially those with expertise in energy management in public buildings, should contact the town office.

Resident Holly Wiedner said state Department of Transportation staff sent ideas for experimental traffic-calming measures in East Vassalboro village.

Miller intends to propose changes in the list of projects for which Vassalboro officials can spend Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds. For one thing, he said, state law has been amended to allow expenditures on municipal buildings. TIF money might also be used for the East Vassalboro traffic issues, with an amended local plan.

Any change in a municipal TIF plan requires public input – select board members talked of a January 2024 public hearing – and approval by town meeting voters and the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

The manager reported 2023 road paving was finished, at a lower cost than expected. He suggested the possibility of using left-over funds for more paving in the spring of 2024, sparking another brief argument over whether to pave additional pieces of dirt road or repave additional already-paved stretches.

Miller shared 114 responses to the survey sent out with tax bills. On the questions submitted by the planning board, results were as follows:

  • Additional measures to control phosphorus run-off into water bodies, 81 in favor and 13 opposed.
  • Limiting commercial development to certain areas of town, 74 in favor, 20 opposed.
  • Setting aside land for conservation and recreation, 87 in favor, 15 opposed.

The select board’s survey questions were open-ended – how do residents learn about town events? What changes would they like to see? What concerns do they have? – and the answers took up several pages.

Resident Laura Jones recorded the Oct. 19 select board meeting. She has made the recording, and copies of the survey results and other documents, available on Facebook at @laurajonescommunitymatters.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Nov. 2.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Agriculture – Part 7

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Holderness cattle

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro

Recent articles have mentioned two Vassalboro men, Thomas Stackpole Lang and Hall Chase Burleigh, who each deserve more attention for their agricultural contributions, along with Lang’s father, John Damon Lang.

The early focus of the two families’ agricultural activities was what Alma Pierce Robbins, in her Vassalboro history, called the John D. Lang farm, which, she wrote, became the Hall Burleigh farm and by 1971 was a dairy farm owned by Romeo Rossignol.

The farm was on the west (Kennebec River) side of what was then the main road between Augusta and Winslow. The main road – Route 201, aka Riverside Drive — has been partly relocated, and this section is now the northernmost piece of old Route 201, paralleling the older road. It is named Burleigh Road.

John Damon Lang (May 14, 1799 – 1879) was, according to an on-line source, a Vassalboro native. Henry Kingsbury, in his Kennebec County history, said Lang came to Vassalboro from Rhode Island before 1836. Robbins said he was born in Gardiner and built a house on the river in Vassalboro by 1841.

Lang married Ann Elmira Stackpole (1800-1879, maybe; sources differ), a Vassalboro native (maybe). Their six children, born between 1822 and the 1830s, included Thomas Stackpole Lang (1826-1895).

The elder Lang was a businessman and a farmer. In his chapter on Vassalboro, Kingsbury described the businesses that made the Getchell’s Corner area of northwestern Vassalboro an early commercial center.

Among them was “a steam saw mill, built as a water mill first, on the river shore on what was then the Lang farm.” Lang built the mill “for cutting the logs of the farm,” but soon abandoned it, Kingsbury wrote.

North Vassalboro, with water power from China Lake’s Outlet Stream, became another commercial center. Kingsbury credited Lang for much of its development, writing that he helped two brothers-in-law develop their “wool carding and cloth dressing mill on the dam” into a woolen mill. It was running by 1836 and was an economic mainstay for much of the following 120 years.

Lang and partners invested in shipbuilding, too, Robbins and Kingsbury said. President Ulysses Grant appointed Lang a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners that Congress established in April 1869. Board members represented different Protestant religions (Lang was a Quaker); their responsibility was generally to advise on more constructive policies toward Native Americans.

Samuel Boardman mentioned John Damon Lang and Thomas Stackpole Lang repeatedly in his chapter on agriculture in Kingsbury’s history.

He described them as “early and continuous importers and improvers of sheep, having always the best flocks of Southdowns and Cotswolds.”

Writing about the North Kennebec Agricultural Society, organized in 1847, Boardman listed both Langs among “noted breeders and farmers” who helped it succeed. He named John Lang among the early importers of Ayrshire cattle (from Massachusetts, in 1855 and 1856).

Another of John Lang’s contributions Boardman mentioned was an article on Holderness cattle Lang wrote for an 1874 publication titled Agriculture of Maine. As Boardman tells the story, the import of Holderness was by chance: in 1812, a privateer out of New York captured a British ship bound for Halifax with a Holderness bull and cow aboard and brought them to Portland.

Descendants of these two Holderness, “known as the ‘Prize’ stock,” reached Sidney and Vassalboro, Boardman wrote. He did not specify that Lang owned or bred them.

British Shorthorn cattle

Lang did breed British Shorthorns. Boardman wrote that in 1860 he and his son Thomas jointly imported Shorthorns from two prominent cattlemen in Massachusetts and New York “and bred with a good deal of spirit.”

Before the family’s interest in Shorthorns, Boardman wrote that Thomas Stackpole Lang’s Herefords were among cattle shown at North Kennebec Agricultural fairs from the 1850s; and the younger Lang was one of the first local men to bring in Holsteins (in 1864, from a Massachusetts breeder).

The Eastern Kennebec Agricultural Society, organized in the spring of 1868, had its half-mile track on a 16-acre parcel off Dirigo Road, in China, and held its first exhibition there that fall. Boardman wrote that when the society added an exhibition hall in 1869, Thomas S. Lang, a major exhibitor, was a speaker.

(This society held annual fairs through 1874. Bad weather – in more than one year, Boardman implied – reduced revenue; debt accumulated; and the society sold its real estate in 1877.)

The Langs’ interest in cattle waned after the Civil War. Boardman wrote that they had 32 Shorthorns at the North Kennebec Agricultural Society’s 1864 fair, “but soon after disposed of their animals to give attention to another class of stock.”

This other class was almost certainly horses, and Thomas Stackpole Lang was probably the leader in the switch to horses. As readers learned two weeks ago, he brought the famous trotting horse, General Knox, to the Kennebec Valley in January 1859. Robbins wrote that in 1860 Lang was “Master of Ceremonies at the ‘Horse Breeders Association’ exhibit in Augusta.”

The breeding business that Lang started in 1859, Boardman wrote, “soon took high rank among the most noted in the country. This was maintained for many years and brought Kennebec county into great prominence.”

Lang started with four stallions, including General Knox, and one brood mare, Boardman said. He added five more stallions, including Gideon of the Hambletonian line (mentioned last week).

Boardman had high praise for General Knox. “He was one of the most remarkable horses ever owned in Maine, and has done more toward improving our stock of horses, bringing the state into prominence as a horse breeding state and causing more money to come to Maine from other states for the purchase of fine horses than any other single horse ever owned here,” he wrote.

He called Lang “one who builded better than he knew when his breeding operations were being carried on.”

In 1868, Boardman said, Lang bought from the government of Nova Scotia a stallion named Annfield. J. W. Thompson’s 1874 booklet listing noted Maine horses, found on line, says Annfield was a bay with black points, “small star in forehead, and white feet behind.” He stood 16 hands high and weighed more than 1,100 pounds.

A “special agent” of the Nova Scotian government imported Annfield from England (no reason was given), where he had won several races. Lang sold Annfield to a breeder in Oxford, Maine, in 1871 (again, no reason was given).

The list of Annfield’s central Kennebec Valley descendants includes three daughters, Ann, a chestnut born in 1869, and Victoria, a roan born in 1871, both bred by H. G. Abbott, of North Vassalboro; and Eugenie, a sorrel born in May 1869 and bred by C. A. Fuller, of Fairfield Center.

In addition to the big Lang farm on the Kennebec River, John Damon Lang must have owned a parcel on the west side of Webber Pond. Robbins wrote that when a road was laid out there in 1886, the landowners who received town compensation included “heirs of J. D. Lang.”

* * * * * *

Hall Chase Burleigh was born in Fairfield on Dec. 13, 1826. Robbins wrote that after he married Clara (or Clarissa) Kelly Garland (in the fall of 1853, in Fairfield, an on-line genealogy says), the family moved to what had been John D. Lang’s farm, in Vassalboro. But Robbins also called Burleigh, “of Vassalboro” when she said he was “developing a Hereford herd” by the 1840s.

Boardman gave more details on the Hereford breeding operation. He wrote that Burleigh cooperated with a Fayette breeder in the 1860s, and in 1869 (still living in Fairfield, according to Boardman) joined with George E. Shores, of Waterville, to buy what was then considered “the most famous herd of Herefords on the continent” from a Québec breeder.

Three years later, there were enough Herefords for each man to take a separate herd. In 1879, Burleigh (by then definitely in Vassalboro) went into partnership with Joseph R. Bodwell, of Hallowell, and the two got serious about importing Herefords, some from Canada, most from England.

In the next half-dozen years, Burleigh made five trips to England to inspect potential additions to the herd. In 1883, he chartered a steamship to transport 200 cows in one load.

In total, Boardman said, the two men imported more than 800 Herefords. Some stayed in the area; most were shipped to southern and western states. Between 1880 and 1890, according to Burleigh’s obituary (found on line), he sold more than a million dollars worth of stock.

In 1881, Boardman wrote, Burleigh took some Herefords on “the grand Western circuit of the great inter-state fairs,” where they “won everywhere in all classes in which they were shown.” In 1883, he took cattle to the Kansas City, Chicago and New Orleans fairs, again winning prizes.

Boardman wrote that on the 1883 tour, a two-year-old heifer named Burleigh’s Pride, a Hereford-Polled Angus cross, was awarded “the champion gold shield for the best animal of any sex, breed or age, exhibited by the breeder.”

In 1891, Boardman said, Burleigh’s Herefords “won fifteen first prizes, eleven second prizes and one third prize at the Maine State Fair.”

Polled Aberdeen Angus

Burleigh and Bodwell brought in Polled Aberdeen Angus between 1880 and 1884, the second time this breed had come to the United States. In 1883 and 1886 they imported Sussex cattle, which Burleigh and his son Thomas were still breeding in 1891.

Bodwell took time out to get elected Maine’s 40th governor in 1886. Inaugurated Jan. 6, 1887, he died in office Dec. 15, 1887. (Edwin Chick Burleigh, the 42nd Maine governor, was one of the Palermo Burleighs [see the Jan. 5, 2023, issue of The Town Line]. They seem to have no direct connection to the Vassalboro Burleighs.)

Hall Burleigh, his obituary said, was a state legislator in 1889 and state assessor in the 1890s.

Burleigh’s wife Clara was born Sept. 18, 1833, in Winslow. The couple had seven daughters and four sons, born between July 1854 and May 1874. Robbins wrote that three of the 10 “settled on farms in Vassalboro.”

The oldest daughter, born March 5, 1856, and named Clara after her mother, “retired from teaching and raised turkeys on her farm for many years,” Robbins wrote.

Son Thomas, born Oct. 4, 1868, “took over the home farm,” Robbins wrote. Boardman said he, too, bred cattle.

Next to youngest daughter Nettie, born May 2, 1874, first gained public attention when she was 11 years old: she and her 15-year-old brother Sam began publishing a local newspaper called The Clarion in March 1886 (see the Dec. 3, 2020, issue of The Town Line for more information on this newspaper).

Nettie began teaching in Vassalboro schools around 1893. Robbins said she had a successful career in local and state politics, including becoming the first female selectman in Vassalboro in 1922. She bought what Robbins called the “Old Doe Farm” where she continued the family tradition of raising thoroughbreds (horses, cows or both? Robbins did not specify.)

Hall Chase Burleigh died May 17, 1895; his widow died Feb. 3, 1915. They are buried in Winslow’s Drummond cemetery with other family members, including children Clara May (died Jan. 8, 1934); Thomas Garland (died Oct. 7, 1951) and his widow; Samuel Appleton (Nov. 27, 1870 – 1952) and his wife; and Nettie Caroline (died March 2, 1963).

Your writer found one clue to the location of the second-generation Burleigh farms. On March 30, 1931, the Maine legislature established the approximately 1,700-acre Natanis Game Preserve, in Vassalboro.

The legislative act described its western boundary as the Kennebec River and listed included and abutting landowners. Among those included are Clara C. (Clara May?), Nettie C. and Thomas G. Burleigh.

Information from current Vassalboro residents suggests that the game preserve was slightly north of Oak Grove Road, which goes east from Riverside Drive less than two miles south of Burleigh Road.

The Maine hunting rules list “Oak Grove Area, Vassalboro” under the heading “Closed and Special Regulation Areas.” If this area is the Natanis Preserve, the 1931 law says it is illegal to “hunt, chase, catch, kill or destroy any wild bird or wild animal” therein.

Main sources

Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Robbins, Alma Pierce, History of Vassalborough Maine 1771 1971 n.d. (1971).

Websites, miscellaneous.

An afternoon of viewing a slice of the ‘Roaring ‘20s’

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The audience takes a trip to the past with silent films at the Vassalboro Historical Society. (photo by Roberta Barnes)

by Roberta Barnes

Sunday October 15, 2023, the Vassalboro Historical Society opened a window into the past by showing silent films written and produced by Holman F. Day, a native of Vassalboro.

photo by Roberta Barnes

These black and white silent windows into the past remind us of the importance of body language, musical sounds, and even tapping of the foot. While in silent films we cannot hear what is spoken, the actions and body language of the characters speak in a language sometimes overlooked.

Another important part of silent films, just as in films today, was always the piano or organ music. At one time I spoke to an older woman who had watched silent movies in theaters and said how there was always a piano player. It is the music that tells you if a person is joyfully running to something or fearfully running from something. Sunday in Vassalboro Joel Estes, a music teacher from Temple Academy, in Waterville, with his electric keyboard provided the perfect sound background that enhanced the actors’ actions.

Prior to showing the first silent film, Suzanne Griffiths presented the history of Holman F. Day, born in Vassalboro 1865. Griffiths covered his career as a newspaper man, journalist, novelist, poet, and filmmaker. While she spoke, the society’s president Janice Clowes, and others set up the popcorn maker and made certain there was enough coffee and bottled water for film viewers.

David Theriault explained differences to expect between black and white silent films of yesterday, and today’s movies filled with special effects. Any needed dialogue and background story appears written in full screen rather than in captions as we see in today’s films. Once people sat down with popcorn the lights were turned off, and the score or music introduced the film Knight of the Pines. This silent comedy filmed in the cold around Augusta, Maine, in 1920 was produced by Holman Day Film Company.

Following a short intermission, more popcorn and Kent London speaking about Day’s life, the lights were again turned off. Music introduced the 1921 silent film Brother of the Bear. Written by Day, this film introduces a tame bear adopted by a man living in a shack in the forest. Between the body language of those not knowing the bear had been trained, and the keyboard sounds, spoken words are not required to know what is happening in the film.

The afternoon of delights from the 1920s ended with the silent film, My Lady O’ the Pines. It revolves around Norah Collison, a young woman who owns a huge timberland in Maine, full of white pines. Collison is played by Mary Astor, who later became one of Hollywood’s big stars.

The afternoon of visiting a part of our past closed with a raffle of several donated arrangements of white roses.

Roberta Barnes is a freelance contributor to The Town Line.

photo by Roberta Barnes

VASSALBORO: Town awarded 95K heat pump grant

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Thanks to the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, Efficiency Maine, Eco Heat Maine and volunteers from the Vassalboro Conservation Commission, the Town of Vassalboro received about $95,000 worth of heat pump systems and service at the Town Office, North Vassalboro Fire Station and the Public Works Garage.

The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future has awarded $34,745 in grants to the Town of Vassalboro. This project qualifies for $60,348 in Efficiency Maine grant money. The town was asked to contribute $3,693 toward this endeavor at the October 5 selectboard meeting.

The process began in June by joining the Community Resilience Partnership. As a result the town has shown commitment toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in energy efficiency.

Here are the improvements that will be done expected by the end of November:

North Vassalboro Fire Station – (2) 18k wall mounted heat pumps in the upstairs meeting room – $13,869.

Town Office – (2) 18k btu heat pumps in the meeting room; (1) 15k btu heat pump in the clerk’s office; (2) 7.5k btu heat pumps in the town manager and assessors’ offices; and (2) 5k btu heat pumps in the bookkeeper and CEO offices – $39,878.

Public Works Garage – (4) 32k btu heat pumps in the garage; and (1) 9.5k btu heat pump in the director’s office/meeting room – $44,038.

Vassalboro planners approve subdivision application; postpone other

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by Mary Grow

At their Oct. 3 meeting, Vassalboro planning board members approved the subdivision application they postponed at their September meeting, and postponed a new application, for a small solar development, to November.

Darrell and Jessica Field presented requested additional information on their application to divide a lot in a subdivision on Katie Drive into two lots (see the Sept. 14 issue of The Town Line, pp. 2-3). Board members reviewed the 18 criteria for approval of a major subdivision, found the Fields’ project met them all and approved the application unanimously.

The solar project was presented by John Korkos, a project manager with ReVision Energy, on behalf of Ryan Bolduc, owner of apartment buildings including the former Volmer’s nursing home at 332 Main Street, between North and East Vassalboro villages.

Korkos explained that the requested project is a solar installation covering less than half an acre, intended to power the adjacent apartment building and others of Bolduc’s buildings. Power generated would go into the grid, but would not be sold; Bolduc intends what he generates only to earn credits for his properties.

Planning board members could not decide whether the project is a commercial solar development they need to approve, or the equivalent of a homeowner’s personal solar installation that does not need board action.

The power is going into the grid, which suggested commercial generation to some board members. But it is not to be sold, so, others argued, it is not used commercially.

Reference to definitions in the Vassalboro solar ordinance (Chapter 11 of the site review ordinance, added by voters in June 2023) and the moratorium ordinance (approved in November 2022 to give time to write and approve the solar ordinance) did not answer the question. Board members therefore voted unanimously to table the application until they get a legal opinion.

Board chairman Virginia Brackett told Korkos she would let him know as soon as possible whether he would be needed at the November board meeting.

Board members had no additional information on Ronald Weeks’ application, postponed in September; nor did they have an application for Kassandra Lopes’ relocation from one North Vassalboro building to the one next door, discussed in September.

Because the first Tuesday in November is Election Day, the next Vassalboro planning board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the town office meeting room.

VASSALBORO: Website management topic undecided, again

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members sat behind their new laptop computers at their Oct. 5 meeting, for a long discussion that partly focused on the themes of residents’ knowledge of and involvement in town government.

One topic, left undecided again, was selecting a company to manage the town’s website, including presenting select board and other committees’ meetings live to an on-line audience and recording them for future viewing.

At their Sept.7 meeting, board members hosted a presentation on the TownCloud municipal website plan. They then created a committee to investigate more possibilities. (See the Sept. 14 issue of The Town Line, p. 2.)

Laura Jones, reporting for the committee, said members discussed what Vassalboro residents want and need and weighed pros and cons of TownCloud, Michigan-based Revize (serving Winslow and Camden, among other Maine municipalities) and Kansas-based CivicPlus (serving Lewiston and Belfast).

After discussing the companies’ offerings and costs, board members again tabled the issue. On Sept. 7, they had postponed a decision to Dec. 14, not expecting the committee report so promptly.

A related question about future web-shared meetings and the current Facebook page that Jones maintains was whether to allow public comment. Board members considered reports from nearby towns of people, often non-residents, interjecting irrelevant, offensive and abusive comments during public on-line meetings.

Town Manager Aaron Miller said the town’s attorney advised against allowing the public to post to the town Facebook page because comments might be inappropriate and town staff would need to spend time monitoring the site.

Select board members voted not to allow public comment on the Vassalboro Facebook page. As alternatives, Miller and board members encouraged residents to come to select board meetings, where chair man Chris French welcomes audience participation, or to contact board members, Miller or the town office by email, telephone, letter or personal visit.

Town appoints new CEO

Vassalboro’s new codes enforcement officer, Jason Lorrain, of Boothbay, attended the Oct. 5 select board meeting, where town manager Aaron Miller introduced him to board and audience members.

Lorrain was Boothbay’s codes enforcement officer, building inspector and plumbing inspector for seven years. Miller said he would start work in Vassalboro on Oct. 10.

He succeeds Robert Geaghan, Jr., who, several months ago, announced his intention of resigning by the end of October.

Board members made no decisions about what Jones and audience members said are another 20 or more Facebook pages and Instagram accounts set up by other town boards and committees.

In other business Oct. 5, Miller reported Vassalboro received state grants of a little over $95,000 for heat pumps in the town office building, the town garage and the North Vassalboro fire station. (See the town website, www.vassalboro.net, for details.)

Select board members unanimously approved appropriating $3,693 in town matching money from federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.

Miller expects the heat pumps to be installed in mid or late November. He said the town can apply again for heat pumps for the Riverside fire station and the transfer station.

The manager reported on his discussion with a representative of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on what more can be done to improve Eagle Park, located on the west bank of Outlet Stream between North and East Vassalboro.

The park already has trees planted, thanks to efforts by the town Conservation Commission. (See photographs on the front page of the June 29 issue of The Town Line.) Miller expects state funds to reimburse the town for the $3,200 worth of trees.

Select board signs letter of support for Webber Pond dam grant

Vassalboro select board members unanimously agreed at their Oct. 5 meeting to sign a letter of support for a grant application that, if successful, will provide federal funds for an improved fishway at the Webber Pond dam.

Resident Nate Gray, who works for the state Department of Marine Resources, said the Webber Pond dam is one of several projects included in a state grant application to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for $1.5 million. Chances of receiving the grant will increase if each local application provides evidence of municipal officials’ support and local matching money.

Vassalboro’s match of $50,000 could come from the income from the town’s alewife fishery, he suggested. The town contracts with an alewife harvester who traps and sells the small fish each spring – they’re used for lobster bait, and online sources list other uses – and shares the revenue with the town.

An improved fishway, plus the state-funded new culvert on Whitehouse Road, should double the number of alewives reaching Webber Pond and thus increase the harvest revenue, Gray said. He commended the state Department of Transportation for its help in opening culverts in various parts of Maine to improve access for migrating fish.

After considering three options, Gray said, the application is to fund a Denil fishway, like those already in place at the China Lake outlet dam and Ladd and Box Mills dams on Outlet Stream.

Gray said the deadline for the NOAA grant application is Oct. 16. He expects the grant recipients will be announced by mid-February 2024.

The manager asked select board members to consider how they want the park to look and be used, and to invite East Vassalboro resident and Conservation Commission member Holly Weidner to their Oct. 19 meeting for more discussion. Additional improvements might include a second path to the stream, picnic tables and a gazebo, though Miller also wants to leave open space.

Resident Thomas Richards informed board members of a water problem in North Vassalboro. On the east side of Main Street, he said, the ground is so saturated that the flagpole in front of the former school building is affected, and he has been told the next-door property-owner has trouble mowing his soggy lawn.

Richards does not know the cause of the problem. He wanted to make sure town officials were aware of it as they prepare to discuss Main Street repaving and related issues with state Department of Transportation officials.

French proposed a review and possible update of Vassalboro’s Marijuana Business Ordinance and TIF Ordinance. He added that the town’s transfer station committee might request a review of what he said is a 1988 transfer station ordinance.

Miller added amendments to the recreation committee bylaws and an addition to the town’s personnel policy to the list of documents board members should consider.

Resident Douglas Phillips reminded board members they had previously discussed using ARPA money to install a generator at the town office, so it could function during prolonged power outages. That topic, too, is slated for future discussion.

The next Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the town office meeting room.

Vassalboro Historical Society quilt show a success

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submitted by Janice Clowes

During the weekend of October 7 & 8, 2023, the Vassalboro Historical Society (VHS) held a Quilt Show and a raffle. The quilt exhibit showcased vintage, heritage and contemporary quilts that were donated to the Society over the years. Two quilts were donated as part of the raffle. One quilt was a lovely twin quilt in blue, black, and white made by Judy Wentworth Goodrich.

Another quilt sewn by Peggy Dore Lawrence was donated for a raffle item. This quilt was of particular interest due to its connection with Peggy’s mother Phyillis Dore who donated her time and efforts throughout her life to the betterment of her community. The quilt was a “Crazy Quilt” pattern using fabrics that Phyillis had collected through the years. Phyillis’ quote “No Scrap Would be Left Behind” was the sentiment of the quilt donated.

The quilts were last displayed 18 years ago, in 2005. At that time the museum displayed approximately 20 quilts and coverlets. Since that time more than 30 additional quilts have been added to the VHS collection and range in historical value from the early 1800’s to the present.

The quilts were presented throughout the building (the former East Vassalboro Grammar School) and incorporated the fabrics to enhance its many ongoing exhibits.

The displays also centered around the month-long fundraising event which was a raffle showcasing various Vassalboro businesses, farms and individual patrons with values nearing $3,000.

VHS would like to thank the many patrons who supported by both donating the raffle items and those that took time to come and enjoy the quilts.

They look forward to future events of this kind and will keep you posted via VHS Facebook, Instagram (@vassalboroHistoricalSociety), website www.vhsme.org or you can call the museum at 207-923-3505 or email at vhspresident@gmail.com.

Photos of some of the quilts at the Quilt Show and raffle (photos by Laura Jones):

photo by Laura Jones

photo by Laura Jones

photo by Laura Jones

photo by Laura Jones

photo by Laura Jones

photo by Laura Jones

photo by Laura Jones

Vassalboro scouts welcome home Honor Flight veterans

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Front row, from left to right, Arrow of Light William Vincent, of Vassalboro, Life Scout Nathan Polley, of Vassalboro Troop and Webelos Cub Scout Eli Richmond, all of Pack #410, in Vassalboro. second row, Cub Pack #604 Tiger Cubs Jeffrey Blais and Jett Jordan. Third row, Troop #410 Scoutmaster Stephen Polley. Fourth row, Wolf Scout Lux Reynolds, Wolf Scout Connor Millett, Dragon Scout Lila Reynolds, all Pack #410. Fifth row, Star Scout Michael Dellinger and Life Scout Cole Fortin, both Troop #410; the third scout carrying the American flag is Life Scout Macgyver Blundon, Troop #604 and the fourth scout carrying Scout flag is Tenderfoot Scout Ricky Phillips, of Winthrop Troop #604). All those in Vassalboro Pack and Troop #410, are from Vassalboro. (photo by Chuck Mahaleris)

by Chuck Mahaleris

Scouts from Vassalboro and the Winthrop area were on hand to welcome home the 24 veterans when they returned home after visiting Washington, D.C. as part of Honor Flight’s third “mission” of 2023.

“The event was a wonderful opportunity to teach scouts about both the Duty to God and Duty to Country, as well as the importance of using some of their personal time to honor those who have sacrificed for the life opportunities we all have living in this great country,” said Christopher Santiago, of Vassalboro, Pack #410 Cubmaster and Troop #410 Asst. Scoutmaster.

The veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War, were able to tour, experience, and reflect at the memorials erected in their honor and memory through the efforts of Honor Flight. The scouts were part of the group welcoming back home these heroes from past conflicts.

Amanda Jordan said, “I’m so very proud of my two sons Jeffrey and Jett in their Cub Scout adventure today for Honor Guard and welcoming home the Veterans!”

Samantha Doody-Remington, Scoutmaster of Troop #604, said, “It is so important to teach each generation the valor of the generations that came before them. These scouts got to talk to and welcome home a man who stood up and served his country during the Vietnam War. When he got home, Arthur Wells probably didn’t get the best welcome and we wanted to make sure he knows how important he is to so many people. America is grateful not only for Arthur’s service but all of those who served. Welcoming them home is the least we can do.

EVENTS: UVD event rescheduled

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photo credit: United Valley Democrats Facebook page

The United Valley Democratic (UVD) Committee ‘End-of Summer’ Event will instead celebrate Autumn on Saturday, October 7, at 327 Stevens Shore Road, in Palermo. It was originally scheduled the day the hurricane passed close to Maine’s coast, when many residents lost their power.

United Valley Democratic Committee (formerly the China Democratic Committee) was recently organized by combining Democratic committees from the adjacent towns in the Sheepscot River Valley including China, Vassalboro, Palermo and Windsor. While continuing to grow with other towns, the UVD committee meets regularly on the third Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., and welcomes new members. Their facebook page has the most current event details.

Mark Brunton, chairman of the UVD Committee, explained the need for the reorganization, “UVD brings people together to make our communities stronger, healthier and improve the lives of all our neighbors. It made sense to combine our committees to raise our visibility and let people know they are welcomed to join us.”

To show your support, join the United Valley Democratic Committee’s Fall Celebration on October 7, from 2 – 8 p.m.

For more information, contact the UVD Committee at unitedvalleydems@gmail.com.

VASSALBORO: HVAC main topic for school

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

A main discussion topic at the Vassalboro school board’s Sept. 19 meeting was HVAC – heating, ventilation and cooling – with the emphasis on cooling.

Vassalboro Community School (VCS) was uncomfortably warm during the September hot spell. Assistant principal Tabitha Brewer said teachers in the top-floor classrooms were invited to move their classes to cooler spaces elsewhere in the building.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer pointed out that when the VCS building was built in 1992, cooling “was not even on the architect’s radar.” Now, he and Director of Maintenance and Grounds Shelley Phillips are seeking input as they consider three main options: ceiling fans, heat pumps or a whole new HVAC system.

Ceiling fans would be the quickest and least costly option, as a temporary fix. Phillips brought photos of what she labeled “newer style commercial ceiling fans:” three blades “styled more like a wind turbine,” variable speed, with a 20- to 25-year life expectancy.

Winslow High School has them, she said, and staff find them effective and not disruptively noisy. They cost around $500 each; if fans were ordered this fall, they could probably be installed over Christmas vacation.

VCS has a heat pump to cool the office area for administrators who work in the summer, Pfeiffer said. Phillips has doubts about relying on heat pumps to cool so large and complex a building as VCS, which she said has 77,000 square feet of interior space.

There would have to be many of them, at $5,000 to $6,000 apiece, she said. Although state energy efficiency funds contribute to the initial cost, the pumps would need replacing every eight to 12 years without, as far as she knows, state aid.

A third option would be to hire an energy management consultant to review the current system, talk with staff and make recommendations for the building, probably including lighting as well as HVAC. This choice would be expensive and would take time.

From the audience, Chris French, chairman of the Vassalboro select board, suggested there might be state energy efficiency grants to help with the cost.

Resident John Melrose (who was instrumental in signing up Vassalboro for a solar farm project that has reduced electricity bills for the town and the school, Pfeiffer remembered) recommended assessing building energy use as background information for a consultant. A consultant might well come up with ideas locals had not considered, he added.

School board members intend to continue the discussion at future meetings. Board member Zachary Smith is leaning toward installing ceiling fans as a temporary solution.

“I just want the teachers to hear that we hear them, and we have a plan,” he said.

In other business Sept 19, VCS Principal Ira Michaud reported the school year had begun well. Pfeiffer, speaking for finance director Paula Pooler, said the budget is in good shape so far.

French asked if there was interest in exploring joining an organic waste diversion program. Pfeiffer suggested French and Phillips talk about it; Phillips said she has heard they’re expensive.

Board members discussed beginning to plan for the June 2024 promotion ceremony, remembering more elaborate pre-Covid recognitions of departing eighth-graders.

The next Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Vassalboro Community School.