With the removal of the Lombard Dam, in Vassalboro, another section of the China Lake Outlet Stream is flowing freely. (photo by Matt Streeter)
photo by Matt Streeter
The caption for the above photo has been corrected. It was an editing error.
Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)
At their May 21 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members reluctantly voted to raise the bill for a full-price school lunch from $2.75 this year to $2.85 for the 2019-2020 school year.
A food service memo requested the increase, explaining that it is required by the federal government, whose officials found almost a decade ago that schools were undercharging for paid meals.
Federal money reimburses Vassalboro $3.31 for each free lunch and 31 cents for each paid lunch. Vassalboro should charge the $3 difference, so that reimbursement for free meals no longer subsidizes paid meals. A federal calculator sets 10 cents a meal as the maximum annual increase until the $3.00 figure is reached. Failure to comply could lead to loss of federal funds.
On another topic, Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said the board can choose to extend Title I services to all students, instead of only to those identified as needing extra academic support. The federal Title I program is intended to help disadvantaged students, those at risk of not doing well in school for any of a variety of social or individual reasons.
In the plan is approved, Curriculum Coordinator Mary Boyle said, Title I staff can work with students before they fall behind. She and Principal Megan Allen agreed staff would be working differently, not more, so there would be no cost increase.
Boyle is under contract with Vassalboro as a holdover from former AOS (Alternative Educational Structure) #92. School board members intend to review the three-year contract with the former AOS at a future meeting –probably not at the June 18 board meeting, Pfeiffer said, as shared personnel will be very busy with end-of-school work.
In other business May 21, board members accepted with regret resignations of Educational Technician Ellen Goodrich and bus driver Rosalie Woods and hired bus driver Clayton Rice.
They approved moving five first-year probationary teachers to second year; four second-year probationary teachers to third year; nine more from third-year probation to continuing contracts; and three from continuing to annual contracts.
They approved a 2019-2020 school calendar and a school board meeting schedule.
This year, school will end with a half day of classes on June 18, later than originally expected because of five snow days.
Before school is out, voters will have acted on the 2019-2020 budget twice, at the open town meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 3, at the school and again at the June 11 budget validation written-ballot vote.
The June 11 ballot includes local elections, with School Board members Jessica Clark and Kevin Levasseur unopposed for re-election. Voting will be at the town office, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Lynn Kidd, left, from Search, reviews literature with an attendee at the Vassalboro Senior Fair. (photo by Jeanne Marquis)
As the caregiver for my 94-year old father, it didn’t take me long to realize I didn’t have all the answers. I did manage to stay one step ahead of his needs by purchasing a walker well in advance and stowing it away in the hall closet. Yet, there have been issues that haven’t had such obvious answers. On May 22, the FAVOR (Friends Advocating for Vassalboro’s Older Residents) committee hosted a Senior Fair at the St. Bridget’s Center, 864 Main Street, Vassalboro, bringing area agencies together to provide information to seniors and their families.
Spectrum Generations provides services for elders and adults with disabilities to stay in their homes. Bridges homes services, a division of Spectrum Generations, offers adult day services and outings into the community. The family caregiver support program at Spectrum Generations offers educational opportunities. Spectrum Generations makes it clear that’s it ok for caregivers to ask for help by providing a helpline, 1-800-639-8703. More information can be found at spectrumgenerations.org.
Maine-ly Elder Care provides senior care on a fee basis including in-home care, home modification and seasonal property clean up. More information is available on Maine-lyeldercare.com .
Debbie Johnson-Nixon, chairman of the Friends Advocating for Vassalboro’s Older Residents (FAVOR). (photo by Jeanne Marquis)
Direct Community Care partners with the Veterans Administration providing case management and in-home support services. Their mission is to increase independence and integration into the community. Direct Community Care can be reached at 207-512-2424.
SEARCH is a free support service sponsored by Catholic Charities. Lynn Kidd, from SEARCH, explained that she carefully matches trained volunteers with the needs of seniors, from all faiths. The success of their program comes from the supportive relationship that grows between volunteers and the seniors. Their goal is to enable vulnerable seniors to remain in their homes with services that range from an hour of conversation to weekly running errands. More information can be found at ccmain.org/SEARCH .
Vassalboro Food Station Pantry provides food for 101 local seniors who are faced with the harsh reality of rising costs of medications and utility costs. The pantry is located at 679 Main Street in Vassalboro, open Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon.
Vassalboro’s Senior Fair also included organizations who feed the minds and artistic souls of seniors and their families. Common Street Arts of Waterville held a painting workshop providing a sampling of the many classes they offer the public of all ages. A calendar of events for Common Street Arts can be found at Watervillecreates.org .
Vassalboro Historical Society provided a display of what their organization offered and a listing of their bi-monthly programs. The Schoolhouse Museum, 327 Main Street, will be open with regular hours from June through Oct., 2nd and 4th Sundays, 1-4 pm.
The Senior College offered by the University Maine at Augusta was represented at the Senior Fair. Fair attendee, Priscilla Doel said these courses are “the best kept secret” and spoke highly of the art she has taken through this program. For more information, check out UMASC.org.
As a caregiver, I left the Vassalboro Senior Fair with a folder full of much-needed information to help me care for my father, but more surprisingly I found plenty of inspiration for myself, as a recently turned senior who wishes to stay active.
by Mary GrowAt their May 16 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen talked again about the speed limit on South Stanley Hill Road and about redesigning the transfer station, coming to no conclusion on either issue.
State, not municipal, officials set local speed limits. Town Manager Mary Sabins said she had an email from David Allen of the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) presenting two options for the South Stanley Hill Road:
Sabins said Allen, who was at a conflicting meeting that evening, recommends leaving the limits as they are. Residents who signed a petition bringing the request to selectmen and those who spoke May 16 want a longer 25-mile-an-hour zone, citing housing density and the number of blind driveways. Several also mentioned that the signs separating the 30 and 45 zones are not opposite each other, leaving a stretch with two different limits depending on which way a vehicle is traveling.
Selectmen postponed further discussion until Allen can join them.
Board member John Melrose presented a sketch of a possible new traffic pattern at the transfer station that would maximize one-way traffic and minimize the need to back up to drop off recyclables and trash.
Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus proposed a revision that Melrose thought sounded good. “I think anything is better than the way it is,” Titus commented.
Plans include a second entrance east of the present one. Melrose said Allen approved it as meeting state requirements for sight distance. His idea is that big trucks hauling trash would use one entrance, private cars and small trucks the other.
Public Works Director Eugene Field said adding an entrance might require relocating a drain pipe.
Selectmen postponed a decision until they have more information, including the location of the drain pipe and how often trash-hauling trucks come in during regular hours when they would overlap with residents’ vehicles.
Melrose also continued discussion of his proposal to revive Vassalboro’s Trails Committee. He presented a list of five conservation and sanctuary properties in town.
In other business, selectmen decided to meet only once a month in July and August, as in past years. They chose July 18 and August 15 as meeting dates.
Their next regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, May 30. Vassalboro’s annual town meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 3, at Vassalboro Community School, and continues with written-ballot voting Tuesday, June 11.
The Ladd Dam in North Vassalboro. (Photo by Roland D. Hallee)
The Ladd Dam, in North Vassalboro, will soon have a technical fishway installed to allow alewives to move past it to their spawning ground. It’s not the final step in the overall project, but a critical one, and scheduled to start this summer following plans developed by the Department of Marine Resources, and US Fish and Wildlife Service, working with local engineers and dam owner Ray Breton. Maintaining the Ladd Dam impoundment will keep the swimming area, a favorite spot on hot summer days.
The work is an important step in the Alewife Restoration Initiative which will re-establish passage from the ocean to China Lake. The goal of the project is to restore an annual migratory run of 800,000 – 950,000 adult alewives (river herring). Two dams have been removed to date, the Masse and Lombard Dams. The Ladd, Box Mill and Outlet Dams will be fitted with technical fishways. The Ladd Dam is located just upstream from the Box Mill Dam. The work is part of a greater Kennebec restoration effort that dates back to the 1980s. It builds on the success at Benton where alewife numbers were estimated at just 400,000 in 2008, but jumped to a record 5.7 million last year.
In March, Town of China voters approved $25,000 to support fish passage work at the Outlet Dam which controls the China Lake water level but does not allow alewives to make their way into or safely out of the lake. Fish have been stocked in China Lake by the Department of Marine Resources and can be seen schooling in the lake in large numbers through the late summer and into the autumn. Some fish are able to make their way out of the lake but the remaining dams lack fish passage to ensure their survival as they make their way downstream to the ocean.
Voters from the Town of Vassalboro will be asked to support the project as well by approving the transfer of revenue received by the town from the current alewife harvest at Webber Pond to support the work at Outlet Stream.
Restoring alewife runs contributes to the health of the entire Gulf of Maine because alewives are forage fish for the larger species including cod, haddock, tuna, striped bass — and food for eagles, ospreys, otters, and raccoons.
The nonprofit organization Maine Rivers has been coordinating the project. Chuck Verrill, president of Maine Rivers, sees long-term value in river and stream restoration. “It’s our hope that this work will provide benefits to future generations who will grow up seeing the stream come alive with an annual migration of fish.” Locally, community members are hopeful that the restoration work will help improve the water quality of China Lake that has suffered from algae blooms. The historical presence of alewives was reconfirmed with the discovery of letters and documents in the Massachusetts Archives.
The restoration of alewives to China Lake has been a priority for the Maine Department of Marine Resources for many years, based on agency goals to restore historic runs of this native species. This past spring, the Department stocked 25,000 native alewives directly into China Lake to jump-start restoration efforts. “We know this kind of work takes long-term vision and great attention to detail over several seasons. We are pleased to see this progress,” said Patrick Keliher, Commissioner, Maine Department of Marine Resources.
The project relies on partnerships and is supported by the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust, the China Region Lakes Alliance, the China Lake Association, Maine Rivers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Towns of China and Vassalboro.
Funding has come from sources including: Patagonia, Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, The Nature Conservancy in Maine, MNRCP, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Davis Conservation Foundation, and the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.
by Mary GrowVassalboro Planning Board members unanimously approved all three applications on their May 7 agenda, attaching a condition to one.
Permits were approved for:
Codes Enforcement Officer Richard Dolby said Dowd’s will be the fourth licensed marijuana-growing business in Vassalboro.
by Mary GrowAt their May 2 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen signed the warrant for the June 3 and June 11 town meeting and discussed a proposal it includes asking voters to spend $1,000 to improve Soldiers Memorial Park in East Vassalboro (Art. 27).
Selectman John Melrose came up with the park plan as part of the 2021 observance of Vassalboro’s 250th anniversary.
The tall granite statue of a Civil War soldier on a field between the East Vassalboro boat landing and the former East Vassalboro schoolhouse, now the historical society museum, would remain the centerpiece of the park. The soldier stands on a platform listing names of Vassalboro’s Civil War veterans. Melrose still hopes someone knows where the soldier’s missing rifle is and will help the town reclaim it.
Melrose’s plan calls for a handicapped-accessible walkway from Route 32 to the statue, a circular walkway around it, gardens on both sides and storyboards commemorating Vassalboro residents’ service in wars from the Revolution to Vietnam.
The process of removing dead and diseased trees and planting new ones on the school and park grounds has started, with help from Fieldstone Gardens, the public works crew and volunteers (including local beavers). Melrose plans to continue to collaborate with interested town organizations, businesses and individuals.
There was a brief discussion of moving the two monuments in front of the old town office in North Vassalboro to the park, if North Vassalboro residents are willing. The older monument recognizes Vassalboro men who served in the War of 1898 and World War I (identified as “The World War 1914-1918”), with names listed. The younger and smaller, put up by Ronco-Goodale American Legion Post #126, honors “All veterans from Vassalboro.”
The other two selectmen support Melrose’s plan.
Discussion of the land encompassing the boat landing, park and former school touched on three related issues: state plans to rebuild Route 32, including the need to define road right-of-way boundaries before planting roadside trees in the park; ARI (Alewife Restoration Initiative) plans to install a fishway at the China Lake outlet dam; and boundaries between town-owned land and land owned by the Kennebec Water District (KWD).
The June town meeting warrant includes a request to authorize selectmen to approve modifications to the dam to restore passage for alewives into China Lake.
Town Manager Mary Sabins said she and KWD officials are still negotiating renewal of the agreement under which KWD has managed the dam in return for a $1,200 annual payment from the town. KWD, under new managers, now wants to double the payment and lessen its duties.
Vassalboro’s include accepting the KWD proposal, perhaps with modifications; taking over dam management and paying KWD nothing; or, as state law allows, abandoning the dam. The assumption is that if Vassalboro abandoned the dam, self-interest would require either KWD or the Town of China to take it over, the former to maintain water levels and quality, the latter to protect the taxes paid by shoreline owners.
In other business May 2:
The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting will be Thursday evening, May 16. The annual town meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 3, at Vassalboro Community School, where voters will act on the first 63 warrant articles, including municipal and school budgets. The last three articles – local elections, confirmation (or rejection) of the school budget and a decision on continuing the school budget ratification vote for three more years – will be presented for a written-ballot vote on June 11. Polls at the town office will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Earl Brown (right) accepts his commemorative certificate from American Legion Commander Tom Richards (left). (photo by Eric Austin)
The fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, in France, was still burning on Monday evening, April 15, as a small group gathered at St. Bridget’s Community Center, in Vassalboro, to celebrate the service of the soldiers who had freed that country from Nazi occupation 75 years earlier.
Legion Chaplain Pearley Lachance opens the ceremony in prayer. (photo by Eric Austin)
The devastation unfolding in Paris was clearly on the minds of everyone, as Pearley Lachance, American Legion chaplain for Bourque-Lanigan American Legion Post 5, in Waterville, opened the ceremony in prayer. “We are witnessing, via television, the destruction by fire of Notre-Dame, in Paris,” the chaplain intoned solemnly. “Paris was liberated by our brave troops in 1944. Many of them came home with memories of having visited this holy site. To the remaining veterans of that great war, we are grateful, and pray that God protects them until their final hour. Amen.”
Later, Jim Kilbride, Adjutant for Vassalboro American Legion Post 126, explained the impetus for holding this celebration honoring local World War II veterans. “We were having meetings,” he said, “and realized that for a lot of our older veterans, it was getting harder for them to come to the meetings. We decided we needed to do something before they were all gone. When we originally started researching it, we thought we had seven [veterans of World War II], only to find out that two had passed away recently.”
Although the Legion eventually identified five Vassalboro World War II veterans still living, three of those men, James W. Gray (US Army), Roland Lapointe (US Army), and Robert Roux (US Navy), could not make it to the ceremony for health reasons. Earl Brown (US Army) and Willard Sleamaker (US Navy) were in attendance, however.
Willard Sleamaker (left), US Navy, accepts his certificate of recognition from Commander Tom Richards. (photo by Eric Austin)
Willard Sleamaker was only 17 when he joined the Navy, and was stationed on an island repair station in the Philippines during the war. “We maintained a little island that became the ship repair center for the Pacific,” he explained. “My job as a kid was to operate equipment, grease it and keep it maintained.”
Earl Brown was drafted into the Army right out of high school, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and served as a field medic in the 79th division. He remembers participating in the liberation of Paris in August 1944, and visiting Notre-Dame Cathedral after the fighting ended. “That’s why I’ve been watching all day,” referring to the fire still burning in the Gothic church.
(Earl can usually be found at Bee’s Snack Bar, in Winslow, around 10 a.m. each morning, so be sure to drop by to say hello and thank him for his service.)
Richard Bradstreet, Vassalboro resident and state representative for District 80, also spoke briefly at the ceremony. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be here,” he said. “We honor our people who served their country.” Then, referring to Tom Brokaw’s 2004 book, The Greatest Generation, which he had recently finished reading, he said, “It was really eye-opening to me what the Greatest Generation went through in service to our country. I appreciate all the work that you’ve done, and appreciate our World War II veterans especially. They are part of the Greatest Generation, and I’m gratified to be here. Thank you.”
Richard Bradstreet, State Representative for District 80, speaks at the commemoration ceremony. (photo by Eric Austin)
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the evening came when Post 126 Adjutant Jim Kilbride read a certificate originally sent by the State of Maine to the families of soldiers killed in World War I. “In 1920, the State of Maine sent this certificate to the families of those that passed away during World War I,” he told the audience. “I have never seen a statement that better covers what it means to serve your country.” He then read from the century-old document: “’War means sacrifice. Every man or woman who enters the service lays at the feet of his country his hopes, his ambition, and his life. This is fully understood and yet it lessens not but little the sense of loss when that supreme sacrifice is made.’” After a pause, he looked up at the audience again, his eyes tight with emotion. “That is what it means to serve your country — to put your life, your hopes, your ambitions, your dreams on the line for your country,” he said, and then asked for a moment of silence, “for the men and women who have passed away in war, combat or in active service, and to remember those who are serving now.”
Legion Adjutant Jim Kilbride speaks at the gathering to honor WWII veterans. (photo by Eric Austin)
After the ceremony, Adjutant Jim Kilbride and Commander Tom Richards spoke about the current state of the American Legion. “We don’t have that many members,” Richards admitted sadly. Younger veterans aren’t joining the Legion as they have in the past, and he is worried the Legion won’t be around for the next generation.
Kilbride thinks the Legion is a victim of its own success. Because of the important work of the American Legion, the VFW and other organizations, veterans’ benefits, as well as the public perception of returning soldiers, has improved tremendously – a marked contrast to the days after the Vietnam War. But, he warns, those gains were only accomplished through strength of numbers. “What we try to get younger veterans to understand is, without their membership, we have a very hard time working with Congress and the Senate on veterans’ issues,” Kilbride said.
Waterville American Legion Post 5 chaplain, Pearley Lachance, who was recently named 2019 Legionnaire of the Year, is also doing his part to keep the memories of local veterans alive. For years he has collected the names of area veterans, particularly from the first two world wars. “What happened with this project,” he said, “it just got out of hand. I now have over 8,000 names of people from central Maine.” Lachance began compiling the list by poring through more than a thousand newspaper articles saved in an old scrapbook by a local teacher from the 1940s, which is now archived at the Waterville American Legion. Then, two or three years ago, he realized, “Those [names] are just words on a page.” He then began tracking down photos to go with every name. He’s gathered 400 pictures so far, 15 of which are from Vassalboro.
If you have a grandfather or grandmother who served in either world war, and a photo you’d be willing to share (he’ll scan it and get it back to you), you are encouraged to contact him at 873-0358 or through the American Legion Post 5, in Waterville.
Each veteran honored at the ceremony was presented with two certificates, one from the State of Maine, thanking them for their service during World War II, and the other from the American Legion, thanking them for their years of service with the American Legion.
The American Legion Post 129 meets every other month at St. Bridget’s Community Center, in Vassalboro.
Photo courtesy of Rachel Kilbride.
Ladies from Rachel Kilbride’s Sew for a Cause group, in North Vassalboro, that meets at St. Bridget’s Community Center recently presented 30 quilts to Project Linus, a nonprofit that donates blankets to disadvantaged children. Marlene Sanborn, from Project Linus, spoke to the group about the program when she picked up the quilts.
by Mary GrowVassalboro Budget Committee members went through most of the proposed 2019-2020 municipal budget at their April 11 meeting, agreeing with the selectmen’s suggested expenditures. There was no dissent on any recommendation.
Before any votes were taken, Lauchlin Titus, chairman of the board of selectmen, explained some of the issues selectmen had discussed as they reached their recommended figures, issues like what to do about the elderly town grader, whether the police officer needed a vehicle and to what extent the town should assist the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s costly connection to Winslow and Waterville.
The last issue remains up in the air, Titus said. Selectmen intend to provide Tax Increment Finance (TIF) money to the Sanitary District, as they have done in the past; residents might also add by petition a request for tax dollars, or a rejection of using TIF money for the Sanitary District, or both.
After the voting, Titus introduced additional topics. Budget committee members unanimously endorsed matching funds in case grant applications were successful and establishment of an accrued compensation fund. The latter would cover costs if an employee retired with the town owing him or her compensation for unused vacation pay or other benefits.
With the committee’s usual two-hour deadline exceeded and Titus prepared to add five or six more items, further discussion was postponed to an April 16 meeting.
Vassalboro selectmen are scheduled to review the draft warrant at their April 18 meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the town office. Voters will make the final decisions on 2019-2020 expenditures at the June 3 town meeting.