Vassalboro Community School first quarter honor roll (fall 2019)

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Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)

HIGH HONORS

Grade 8: Elizabeth Brown, Gage Dorval, Savannah Estes, Tara Hanley, Nathan Polley and Lara Stinchfield. Grade 7: Noah Bechard, Landen Blodgett, Allison Dorval, Ava Kelso and Greta Limberger. Grade 6: Emily Almeida, Madison, Estabrook, Jacob Lavallee, Ava Lemelin, Brayden McLean, Mylee Petela, Hannah Polley and Leahna Rocque. Grade 5: Nataleigh Brown, Madison Burns, Tallulah Cloutier, Sophie Day, Ryley Desmond, Cody Grondin, Jack Malcolm and Kelty Pooler. Grade 4: Drake Goodie and Reid Willett. Grade 3: Caylie Buotte, Emily Clark, Keegan Clark, Baylee Fuchswanz, Zoe Gaffney, Allyson Gilman, Kaitlyn Lavallee, Cheyenne Lizzotte, Mia McLean, Mackenzy Monroe, Callen Pooler and Ava Woods.

HONORS

Grade 8: Hunter Brandt, Nathalia Carrasco, Madelynn Cimino, Connor Coull, Isabella Day, Lexus Field, Cole Fortin, Meilani Gatlin, Aleigha Gooding, Tyler Hansen, Lucas Haskell, Brody Loiko, Ethan Lyon, Hannah Piecewicz, Logan Rockwell, Tristan Samuelson, Lilian Taylor and Brandon Wood. Grade 7: Brooke Blais, EvanBrochu, Sofia Derosby, Brady Desmond, Ellie Giampetruzzi, Kailynn Houle, Josiah Hussey, Kyran Kinrade, Bodi Laflamme, Alysha Opacki,, Seth, Picard, Ava Picard, Wallace Pooler, Grant Taker and Emma Waterhouse. Grade 6: Addyson Burns, Quinn Coull, Mckenzie Duenne, William Ellsey, Talula Kimball, Paige Littlefield, Taylor Neptune, Alexandria O’Hara and Addison Witham. Grade 5: Kayliana Allen, Tyler Clark, Eilah Dillaway, Peyton Dowe, Madison Field, Scott Fitts, Xavier Foss, Adalyn Glidden, Bailey Goforth, Caspar Hooper, Mason Lagasse, Harley McEachern, Josslyn Ouellette, Mackenzie Oxley, Taiya Rankins, Grady Sounier and Bryson Stratton. Grade 4: Benjamin Allen, Grayson Atwood, Jackson Bailey, Dominick Bickford, Ryleigh French, Jasmine Garey, Gabriella Lathrop, Drew Lindqist, Brandon Neagle, Ryder Neptune-Reny, Paige Perry, Sovie Rau, Kayden Renna and Judson Smith. Grade 3: Samuel Bechard, Mason Brewer, Basil Dillaway, Ariya Doyen, Gabriella Duarte, Lily Giroux, Lillyana Krastev, Jack LaPierre, Elizabeth Longfellow, Hannah McMurtry, Jaelyn Moore, Weston Pappas, Noah Rau and GraceTobey.

HONORABLE MENTION

Grade 8: Tucker Greenwald, Carlos Michaud and Galianna Michaud. Grade 7: Kaylene Glidden, Echo Hawk, Willow Merchant, Ayden Michaud, Kayden Painchaud, Kaelyn Pappas, Ava Prickett, Zachary Stewart and Sterling Williams. Grade 6: Elisha Baker, Moira Bevan, Saunders Chase, Jordan Cressey, Leigh-Ann Gagnon, Seth Hansen, Daniel Ouellette, Emily Piecewicz, Gabriel Shorey and Trevor Tibbetts. Grade 5: Traydyn Austin, Aliya Bourque, Emma Charleston, Wyatt Ellis, Olivia Leonard, Tyson Pooler, Noah Pooler, Landon Tassinari, Payton Thornton and Autumn Willis. Grade 4: Bentley Austin, Trystyn Brown, Zoey DeMerchant, Austin Devoe, Dylan Dodge, Zachary Kinrade, Cooper Lajoie, Caleb Marden, Bentley Pooler, Landon Sullivan, Hannah Tobey and William Trainor. Grade 3: DaVontay Austin, Isadora Duarte, Preston Duenne, Harlen Fortin, Jaziah Garcia, Jeremy Hawk, Elliot McQuarrie, Cheyanne Norton and Landen Theobald.

Mt. View Chamber Singers to be featured in Winslow

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One of Winslow’s most beloved and eagerly-anticipated Christmas concerts is coming soon! Once again the beloved Mt. View Chamber Singers will bring their magnificent, candle-lit Christmas concert-in-the round to Winslow Congregational Church (12 Lithgow Street), on Sunday, December 8, at 4 p.m. The singers also will perform at Vassalboro United Methodist Church on Thursday, December 5, at 7 p.m.

All concerts are FREE, with donations gratefully accepted. CDs will be available for purchase at a “meet and greet” with the students immediately following each performance.

The Mt. View Chamber Singers will perform at numerous locations throughout Maine this Christmas season. For a complete list of upcoming concerts, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/mvchambersingers/

For more information, please call Winslow Congregational Church at 872-2544.

Vassalboro planning board meeting rescheduled to December 10

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by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro Planning Board meeting scheduled for Dec. 3 has been postponed to Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the town office meeting room. The major agenda item for Dec. 3 was continued review of the proposed Sidereal Brewery on Cross Hill Road.

Don Cote recognized for work at wildlife center

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Donald Cote, right, director of the Wildlife Care Center, in Vassalboro, and Beth Comeau, left, of NRCM. (Photo by Jayne Winters)

Photo and text by Jayne Winters

Donald Cote, director of the Wildlife Care Center, in Vassalboro, received a well-deserved recognition as a finalist (one of five, from over 40 nominations) in the 2019 Natural Resources Council of Maine’s People’s Choice Award. Beth Comeau, of NRCM, presented Don with his certificate last week for his many years of dedicated wildlife rehab care. Although the Center is a nonprofit, federally-permitted rescue and care facility, it receives no federal dollars and is supported solely on donations and personal resources. The Cotes’ decades-long commitment has truly been life-saving for hundreds of animals.

Vassalboro residents seek ways to reduce speed on Rte. 32

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by Mary Grow

Half a dozen North Vassalboro residents attended the Nov. 14 Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting to ask what can be done to reduce speeding on Route 32 (Main Street) near the North Vassalboro post office.

The speed limit there is 35 miles an hour, they said, though a short distance north it drops to 25 miles an hour. Motorists pay little attention to either, or to the local children and elderly pedestrians who might be trying to cross the street. There are no marked crosswalks.

Selectmen asked Town Manager Mary Sabins to see what information is available or can be developed about vehicles’ speeds on the street. They plan to ask the state Department of Transportation (MDOT) to consider lowering the limit.

Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus warned the concerned residents that MDOT bases its speed limits on average actual speeds and might propose adjusting the limit up instead of down.

Returning to the topic of a new, or possibly additional, compactor at the transfer station (see The Town Line, Nov. 7), board members discussed ways to approach the expenditure. Sabins has been in touch with two engineering firms about establishing needs and cost estimates.

Titus’s suggestion that they set a ceiling price not to exceed $100,000 and see how far it will go toward all they want done became a motion that was approved unanimously.

Sabins updated board members on an ongoing disagreement over a Riverside Drive junkyard that is not in compliance with town regulations. Former Codes Officer Richard Dolby and present Codes Officer Paul Mitnik have both tried to resolve the problem, she said; they have made progress, but less than hoped.

She reported no one has expressed interest in becoming a member of the Vassalboro Board of Appeals. She and selectmen still hope volunteers will come forward.

The manager distributed a tentative schedule for selectmen’s, budget committee and school board meetings from January 2020 through the Monday, June 1, annual town meeting and the Tuesday, June 9, municipal election. Nomination papers for local elective office will be available Monday, March 2, and due back at the town office Friday morning, April 10.

The next Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, instead of the usual Thursday evening, to avoid the Thanksgiving holiday.

Vassalboro American Legion holds veterans open house

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Veterans gathered for an open house at St. Bridget’s Community Center, in Vassalboro. (photo by Eric W. Austin)

by Eric W. Austin

Nearly 30 people attended the Vassalboro American Legion Post #126’s open house and honor ceremony at St. Bridget’s Center on Veterans Day, November 11. The goal of the open house was to provide veterans and their families with a central place to find information on veterans’ issues.

One of the primary duties of the American Legion is to serve as a source of information for retiring veterans trying to navigate the increasingly complex benefits system. “That’s been one of the biggest issues,” explains Adjutant Jim Kilbride. “[You] try to get into the system and start to find out that you can get lost very easily. And if you’re elderly, it gets even harder.

James Kilbride, Adjutant for Vassalboro American Legion Post #126. (photo by Eric W. Austin)

“We had a lot of people saying, ‘Well, I don’t know who to get in touch with for this, or who to get in touch with for that.’ So, we went out and got in touch with different groups,” he says and waves a hand at various tables set up around the room where pamphlets and information packets are laid out.

With membership declining in many local American Legion posts around the country, Kilbride saw a need for the Vassalboro post to step up and be a center of information for veterans that might need help. “We figure from here on, we’ll be a place that veterans and their families can get in touch, and we’ll have the information for them,” he says.

Veterans throughout central Maine can reach out to Vassalboro’s Post #126 if they can’t find the information they need. To do so, please call 616-3148, or write to Vassalboro American Legion Post #126, c/o St. Bridget Center, PO Box 112, North Vassalboro, ME 04962, or by email at StBridgetCenter@gmail.com. Jim Kilbride and his wife Rachel, who manage the community center, will be happy to respond to any requests, or will help to direct veterans to the best place to find the information they need.

Despite the declining membership in most American Legions, there is some hope. Kilbride reports the Vassalboro post has added three new members in the past year. Still, he sees danger ahead for American veterans if the decline in Legion membership is a trend that continues. “The thing is,” he says, “we need the membership if we’re going to be able to get the changes in Congress and the Senate and so forth that are needed to make sure veterans are taken care of. There’s a big change in what veterans’ benefits are now [compared to] what they were when I left active duty, [but] that’s because we worked at it.”

The St. Bridget Center, once an old Catholic church, has recently been completely restored and is available to rent for weddings, receptions, and other local events. They also host fundraisers for nonprofits at no charge. Call 616-3148 or email StBridgetCenter@gmail.com for more information.

The POW/MIA table (this poem from the American Legion manual):

The tablecloth is white, symbolic of the purity of their intentions to respond to their country’s call to arms.

The single rose in the vase signifies the blood they may have to shed in sacrifice to ensure the freedom of our beloved United States of America. This rose also reminds us of the family and friends of our missing comrades who keep faith, while awaiting their return.

The red ribbon on the vase represents the red ribbons worn on the lapels of the thousands who demand, with unyielding determination, a proper account of our comrades who are not among us.

A slice of lemon on the plate reminds us of their bitter fate.

The salt sprinkled on the plate reminds us of the countless fallen tears of families as they wait.

The glass is inverted; they cannot toast with us at this time.

The chair is empty. They are NOT here.

The candle is reminiscent of the light of hope which lives in our hearts to illuminate their way home, away from their captors, to open arms of a grateful nation.

The American flag reminds us that many of them may never return – and have paid the supreme sacrifice to insure our freedom.

Eagle Scout candidate organizes work day

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The brick pad, the picnic table and sign placard near the outlet stream. Front, from left to right, Kameron Rossignol, Kasen Kelley, Remy Pettengill, Ayden Newell, Caleb Knock. Back, Ben Lagasse, Aiden Pettengill, Hunter Praul, Kaiden Kelley, Michael Boostedt, Leaders Derek Rossignol, Darryl Praul and Ron Emery. Missing from photo Leaders Lee Pettengill and parents Keith Lagasse, Jonathan Knock and Grange member Bernie Welch (contributed photo)

by Bernie Welch
Member of the Vassalboro Grange
Photo by Ron Emery, Troop #479

There is something wonderful about being amongst volunteers. What better way than to be part of an Eagle Scout project that promotes community, conversation and education. The Vassalboro Historical Society and the Vassalboro Grange partnered with the Maine Rivers to create an opportunity for the talented troop #479, of China, and specifically Eagle Scout candidate, Ben LeGasse, with the thought of sharing a bit of Vassalboro Lore from the Historical Society and the Grange, plus providing a place to share the plan for an alewife introduction to China Lake. Ben and his father organized a work day on Saturday, October 19. They pre-planned and created a bench and sign placard for the north side of the Grange and also planned and placed a picnic table and sign placard at the Outlet Stream to provide respite for the fishermen, bird watchers and soon to be alewife tourists that promise to be more plentiful once the Maine rivers project is complete.

Ben and his father organized a work day on Saturday, October 19. They pre-planned and created a bench and sign placard for the north side of the Grange. (Contributed photo)

An eagle Scouts project is one that fills a need. The Eagle Scout Service Project, or simply Eagle Project, is the opportunity for a Boy Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of his community. This is the culmination of the Scout’s leadership training, and it requires a significant effort on his part.The project must benefit an organization other than the BSA, and it cannot be performed for an individual or a business or be commercial in nature. Completing an Eagle Project is a requirement in order for Boy Scouts to attain the Eagle Scout rank. Ben chose to organize his project to support the greater Vassalboro community. On the work day he involved his fellow scouts and their fathers. All Scouts actively participated in clearing the area and placing sign posts , the bench, the brick picnic table pad and the picnic table.

Ben also solicited and received tremendous support from Hannafords in South China, Fieldstone Quick stop, Lowes Home supply and, of course, parents and friends. The fathers of the scouts were also out in force providing guidance, institutional memory and wisdom when using hand tools. A ground wasp nest did not deter but did enliven the effort on the day of the event. Grange members provided food and information about the grange. Ben will share his project with the Vassalboro Historical Society and the Maine Rivers during future meetings. His discussion and question answer session at the last Friday Grange meeting was informational and a bit of fun.

Scouting in our area is a hidden community gem. Young people inspire community members to think about the power of doing something for the benefit of others. Yes, there is something wonderful about being volunteers. And you know what , they can be us!

Ben, 17, is a senior at Erskine Academy, in South China, and the son of Keith and Kristie LaGasse, of Windsor.

Excise tax fees to increase; selectmen postpone decision on compactor replacement

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen dealt with a variety of issues and made several decisions at their Oct. 29 meeting, although they postponed the most expensive topic for further discussion.

By unanimous votes, the three board members:

  • Approved the state-allowed increase in motor vehicle registration fees, from $3 to $5 for a re-registration and $4 to $6 for a new registration. Town Manager Mary Sabins pointed out that the alternative method for renewing registrations is the on-line Rapid Renewal service.
  • Approved closing the north entrance onto Route 32 (Main Street) in East Vassalboro from the yard in front of the Historical Society building (formerly the East Vassalboro schoolhouse), in the interest of safety and to provide more parking.
  • Waived the purchasing policy’s bidding requirement and bought paving stones from Gagne and Son Concrete of Belgrade to create a new sidewalk around the Civil War statue in the park beside the Historical Society building. Selectman John Melrose, who first proposed park improvements, said staff from Fieldstone Gardens in Vassalboro will lay the stones and provide plantings.
  • Appointed Rebecca Lomey a member of the Board of Appeals through June 2020, finishing Gary Coull’s unexpired term. There is still a vacancy on the board, Sabins said; applications are welcome.
  • Approved annual renewals of junkyard and auto hobbyist permits presented by Codes Officer Paul Mitnik.

The item postponed was replacing the compactor at the transfer station. Sabins had quotes from two companies for different size compactors, with prices starting at over $25,000 She said the present compactor keeps getting repaired and continues to work, though she thinks it might be less efficient than in its younger days.

Sabins added that the tall building that protects trash from rain and snow needs repair.

There is a transfer station reserve fund, board Chairman Lauchlin Titus said, but its money keeps getting diverted for other purposes.

Selectmen postponed action to their next meeting to give themselves time to analyze the quotes. Melrose proposed adding possible building repairs to the discussion.

Melrose, a member of Vassalboro’s newly formed solar committee, said he is invited to the School Board’s Nov. 12 meeting to discuss the possibility of a solar project shared by the town and the school.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14. (The Oct. 29 meeting was moved from the usual Thursday evening because at least one board member had a conflicting Halloween obligation.)

JMG Students do planting at dam area

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Pictured is a group of Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG) core and hybrid students at Vassalboro Community School, who spent some time at the Masse Dam, in Vassalboro, on October 25, to plant the wild plants they had germinated last winter. With the students are Matt Streeter, who is in charge of the dam projects, in Vassalboro, and Elaine Philbrick, back to, a retired teacher from China. Students were hand planting throughout the dam area. (photo courtesy of Victor Esposito)

Reynolds observe 50th anniversary

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Everett and Sandy Reynolds

Everett and Sandy Reynolds were recently honored at a surprise party on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary at the Old Mill, in North Vassalboro, given by their son Scott and daughter-in-law Jean, and daughter Shelly. Friends and family attended from North Dakota, Texas, Arizona, New York and neighboring towns.