Big Brothers, Big Sisters needed for 100 waiting Littles

Little Sister Ryder Perkins meets with her Big Sister Hayley SooHoo once a week to chat while they draw, color, takes walks, and sometimes even learn new dances together. Their friendship was created through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine’s longstanding, one-to-one mentoring program that matches children facing adversity with positive role models. (contributed photo)

by Monica Charette

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine (BBBSMM) kicks off the new year and National Mentoring Month in January with an effort to recruit adult volunteers in the community to serve as mentors to 100 children waiting to be matched.

“Bettering yourself in the new year is a fantastic goal,” Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine Interim Executive Director Mae Slevisky, says. “This year, we encourage people to think about how they can do that by also bettering their community—by becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister.”

According to Slevinsky, there has never been a more critical time for mentoring.

“The events of the past few years have taken their toll on our most vulnerable citizens—our children. The isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has hampered the social and academic progress of many kids, and many more are experiencing mental health challenges,” she said. “Kids need mentors now more than ever, to help them navigate challenges, open up doors of opportunity, and give them additional support they may need to excel in school and in their communities.”

According to Slevinsky, BBBS of Mid-Maine currently has 100 youth in its seven-county service area waiting to be matched with a mentor. Becoming a Big means committing to spending a couple of hours a week with a young person doing things you and your Little like to do, like playing outside, visiting the library, or taking a walk, she said. Matches also explore new activities together, like visiting a museum or skiing for the first time. “It’s about having fun, being a friend, and nurturing a child’s greatest potential.”

Adult mentors are interviewed, screened and trained, and receive ongoing support from BBBS of Mid-Maine professional staff, including regular match support meetings to ensure safety and help strengthen relationships. Successful volunteers are responsible, caring adults, who enjoy working with youth of all ages and backgrounds, have excellent listening and communication skills, are patient, willing to learn, and share in the BBBS mission of igniting the power and promise of local youth.

To learn more about Littles waiting, follow BBBS of Mid-Maine’s weekly “Waiting Wednesday” Facebook posts. For information on how to become a Big or enroll a child, visit bbbsmidmaine.org, email info@bbbsmidmaine.org or call 207-236-BBBS (2227).

Davis named to dean’s list at Olivet Nazarene University

Lozetta Davis, of Waterville, was named to the dean’s list at Olivet Nazarene University, in Bourbonnais, Illinois, during the recently completed fall 2022 semester. To qualify for inclusion on the dean’s list, a student must have been enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student and must have attained a semester grade point average of 3.50 or higher on a 4.00 grading scale.

Olivet Nazarene University is an accredited Christian, liberal arts university offering more than 140 areas of undergraduate and graduate study, including the Doctor of Education in ethical leadership.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS: The Kennebec River on The Plains

by Roland D. Hallee

As everyone knows, The Plains, in Waterville, runs along the west shore of the Kennebec River in the South End of the city.

The river played a large part in the development of the city and contributing to high numbers of industrial jobs. Many of the residents of The Plains, the majority of which were men, worked at these locations – Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, the Wyandotte-Worsted Textile Mill, Maine Central Railroad, Waterville Iron Works – just to name a few. Of course, the female workforce was not totally omitted. Many women worked at the C. F. Hathaway Shirt Factory, and at the other industries mentioned.

But two of the occupations that are not very often mentioned were the two that primarily existed because of the Kennebec River.

There were the log drives that brought pulp wood to the mill in Winslow. They would begin in the north woods where many men worked felling trees – by hand with axes – then sawing them, also by hand. No chainsaws back then. The logs were then brought to the river on skidders usually drawn by horses or mules. Once in the river, the logs would work their way south to the mills waiting their arrival in Winslow and Augusta.

Many a man died working those logs down stream. In Winslow, there was the famous “Queen Mary,” – a platform that extended out into the river – where men, with grappling hooks, would pull the logs ashore that were destined for the Winslow mill, and threw back the ones that were designated for the Augusta mill. It was a strenuous and dangerous job. My oldest brother, and younger brother both worked on the “Queen Mary” during summer vacation while they were in college. The river log drives ended in 1972.

During the winter, the river became a source of refrigeration for area homes. Ice boxes were used in those days, and ice deliveries had to be made year round.

Again, men with hand saws would cut large cakes of ice from the frozen river, and transport them to the ice sheds, located at the Springbrook Ice and Fuel Co., on the corner of Pleasant and North streets, in Waterville. There they were covered with saw dust that kept the ice from melting well into the summer months. I remember getting ice deliveries while growing up, before our dad purchased a “real” refrigerator.

Unfortunately, the river could not be used much for recreational purposes because of the toxic discharges from the mills that polluted the water. There were two famous sayings that evolved from that: One was that the river was so polluted, you could not drown in the river because the skum on the river was so thick. Also, it was said, the river was so polluted you could walk across without getting your feet wet. Fortunately, laws were passed, in the 1980s I think, that cleaned up the river, and it is actually used today for fishing and kayaking recreation.

Actually, we used to go down to the river, and played “pirates” on the island that hugs the west shore just south of the Hathaway Creative Center. There we would spend the day exploring what is basically a swath of land that is elevated enough from the waters to form an island. It is used today as a walking trail, – there also is a tent city of homeless people – that is when the river waters are at their normal level. Access is more difficult in the spring when the waters rise due to the melting snow runoff, or following a heavy rain.

Our parents weren’t crazy about us going there, but we would manage to sneak off once in a while, until someone came home wet.

Local residents named to Simmons Univ. dean’s list

The following local students were named to the 2022 spring semester dean’s list at Simmons University, in Boston, Massachusetts:

Kaili Shorey, of Vassalboro, Abigail Bloom and Amanda Farrington, both of Waterville, and Maddie Beckwith, of Winslow.

SNHU announces summer 2022 dean’s list

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), in Manchester, New Hampshire, congratulates the following students on being named to the summer 2022 dean’s list. The summer terms run from May to August.

Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.500 to 3.699 for the reporting term are named to the Dean’s List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.

Elizabeth Kearney, of Augusta; Lizsandra Lopez, of Winslow; Patric Moore, of Waterville; and Sasha Hanscom, of Skowhegan.

PHOTO: Strange encounter

Charlie Ferris, 12, of Waterville, left, poses with New England Patriots team member Cole Strange on the field, at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on New Year’s Day, after the New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins, 23-21. Strange was drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round (29th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. (photo courtesy of Mark Huard)

EVENTS: 6-week Grief Support Group to start January 30

Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area is offering a six-week support group for people grieving the loss of a loved one. Meetings will be held Mondays from 4:30 – 6:00pm, beginning January 30th, at the Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area Community Center, 304 Main Street in Waterville. The group will be facilitated by trained bereavement volunteers and is free-of-charge. For more information or to join the group, contact Kayla Coffin, Program Manager at 873-3615 x 19 or email kcoffin@hvwa.org.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Christmas pre-20th century

The Christmas holiday grew in popularity after the Civil War. Certainly, the message of peace and goodwill resonated with Americans who yearned for reconciliation and unity. (photo from the book, Christmas in the 19th Century, by Bev Scott)

by Mary Grow

This article is intended to complete the survey of pre-20th-century social activities in the central Kennebec Valley and, given the current date, to report on Christmas observances.

An organization omitted last week, but covered earlier in this series (see The Town Line issues of April 8 through May 13, 2021), was the Patrons of Husbandry, the farmers’ organization commonly called the Grange. All of the dozen towns and cities covered in this series had at least one Grange; according to the Maine State Grange website, Benton, Fairfield, Palermo and Vassalboro are among 98 Maine towns that still do.

The history of Waterville’s Grange is lost. Edwin Whittemore’s 1902 Waterville history said the Waterville Grange once existed, named three members and concluded, “It is long since defunct.”

The April 8, 2021, issue of The Town Line listed 19 local Granges, including three each in China and Vassalboro and two each in Albion, Augusta, Clinton and Palermo, founded between 1874 and about 1974.

While farming remained prominent, the Grange was a center of social activity, especially in smaller towns. Meetings provided education as well as entertainment, and several Granges had stores where they sold essentials, bought in bulk, to members at discount prices.

In addition to organizational activities, residents had other types of entertainment. Windsor historian Linwood Lowden mentioned minstrel shows, put on by different groups beginning in the 1860s.

He also cited a local diary: “On Monday night, March 29, 1886, the Weeks Mills Dramatic Club performed at Windsor Four Corners. The performance was followed by a ‘sociable.'”

On the west side of the Kennebec, historian Alice Hammond found an advertising poster for the Sidney Minstrels’ Grand Concert on Thursday, Aug. 18, 1898. The location is written in; the cursive script has faded to illegibility.

Vern Woodcock, Boston’s Favorite, had the largest headline; he was described as “the Celebrated Guitarist, and Beautiful Tenor Balladist, in his Comic and Sentimental Songs and Character Impersonations.” Also to perform were Happy Charlie Simonds (“the Merry Minstrel, the Prince of Ethiopian Comedians, and the Champion Clog Dancer of the World”) and other comics and musicians.

The Fairfield history added roller skating to 19th-century local recreational activities. Citing a journal written by a local businessman named S. H. Blackwell, the writers said the roller rink was on Lawrence Avenue, where the telephone company building was in 1988. People of all ages and groups from out of town came to skate.

The China Grange, in China Village.

The China bicentennial history includes a list of available spaces for social gatherings in three of the town’s four villages. In China Village in the early 1800s were “Mr. [Japheth C.] Washburn’s hall and General [Alfred] Marshall’s inn.”

Until the major fire in 1872, there was a three-story building in South China that prominent Quaker Rufus Jones described as a meeting place. Barzillai Harrington’s school building in China’s part of Branch Mills and “the meeting room over Coombs’ store” were available “in the last half of the nineteenth century.”

In Clinton, Kingsbury said, John P. Billings built Centennial Hall, on Church Street, in 1876, apparently as a public hall. He sold it to the Grange in 1890; in 1892, the Grangers used the ground floor and the second floor was “used for exhibition purposes.”

Milton Dowe wrote that Palermo’s “first known building for recreation” was on Amon Bradstreet’s farm, described as between Donald Brown’s land (in 1954) and Sheepscot Lake. Dances were held there until the hall and farm buildings burned about 1890.

In Branch Mills Village, Dowe said, the large hotel east of the Sheepscot and north of Main Street (where the Grange Hall now stands) had a dance hall on the second floor of the ell. Behind the hotel was a dance pavilion. Both were destroyed in the 1908 fire that leveled the entire downtown.

In her Vassalboro history, Alma Pierce Robbins mentioned that the big schoolhouse on Main Street, in North Vassalboro, was used for “‘benefit’ gatherings of many kinds” from the time it was built in 1873, though she gave no specifics before the 1960s.

Sometimes the weather – or a person’s mood – forbade socializing. Lowden’s history has a paragraph titled “B.T.V. (Before Television),” in which he talked about books people could read and reread during long evenings, based on inventories he reviewed.

Some families had no books, he wrote. If there was only one, it was a Bible.

A relatively well-off resident named Reuben Libby, who died around 1814, had four books plus a pamphlet (subject not given). The books were a Bible; a dictionary; Young Man’s Best Companion (also called The American Instructor, described on line as first published in 1792 and offering an easy way to teach spelling writing, reading and arithmetic); and a book described as a “selection” – Lowden did not know whether it was poetry or prose.

Benjamin Duren’s 1814 inventory listed a Bible and a dictionary, two geography books, an arithmetic book and two unnamed others.

A former sea captain’s 1831 inventory listed two nautical books, the American Coast Pilot (first published in 1796) and Bowditch’s American Practical Navigator (first published in 1802, though there were earlier versions from 1799), plus The Poets of Great Britain Complete from Chaucer to Churchill (the work is described by Wikipedia as 109 volumes, published by John Bell between 1777 and 1783; Lowden did not say whether the set was complete).

* * * * *

Christmas was not much of a holiday in the 19th century, according to the few local accounts your writer found.

In Lowden’s history of Windsor, he used diary entries from the 1870s and 1880s to support his claim that “Mostly it was a quiet day at home.”

The longest account is from the diary of Roger Reeves, a farmer and carpenter. In 1874, Lowden learned, Dec. 24 was a cloudy day with rain that turned to snow; nonetheless, Reeves traveled to Augusta and spent $1.50 on Christmas presents.

Christmas day Reeves “spent the day making picture frames in his shop, doing his regular chores, and otherwise busying himself about the place.” That evening, he joined people gathered around a Christmas tree at Tyler’s Hall to exchange presents, enjoy an “antiquarian supper,” sing and socialize.

(Albion historian Ruby Crosby Wiggin also came across such a supper, though it was planned at a Feb. 8, 1878, Grange meeting, not associated with Christmas, and was in the meeting report spelled “antignarian” – to Wiggins’ delight.

Wiggin consulted her Webster’s dictionary and found that “gnar” meant [and still means, though the web offers additional meanings] “to snarl.” “Anti” means against; so she concluded approvingly that “antignarian” had to mean “not snarling but friendly or smiling.”)

Orren Choate (June 20, 1868-1948), another Windsor diarist, spent Christmas 1885 “at home with his parents,” identified on line as Abram and Adeline (Moody) Choate. They had company in the afternoon.

Christmas evening, Choate skipped a Christmas dance in South Windsor because he didn’t want to drive that far in the cold. Instead, he and his father spent the evening playing cards at the home of his father’s younger brother, Ira Choate.

In Vassalboro, one of the women’s clubs Alma Pierce Robbins mentioned in her town history was the Christmas Club on Webber Pond Road, “where the women met for sociability and sewing for Christmas.” These meetings were held all year at members’ houses, she said; but she gave no indication of when the club was founded or how long it lasted.

Another source of Christmas information was Revolutionary War veteran and Augusta civic leader Henry Sewall’s diary, as excerpted in Charles Nash’s Augusta history for the years 1830 to 1843.

Sewall was a Congregationalist who attended church regularly. He often participated in religious exercises on other days, like the four-day meeting in May 1831 that began daily with a 5:30 a.m. prayer meeting and ended around 9 p.m. after the evening lecture.

Nash was selective in his choice of entries. Between 1830 and 1843, he included only seven Dec. 25 entries (of 14).

Sewall’s 1830 diary entry for Dec. 25 identified the day as Christmas and reported on the warm rain that broke up the ice in the Kennebec. Dec. 25, 1834, had another weather report; the temperature was eight below that Christmas.

In 1832 Dec. 25 was a Tuesday (according to on-line sources). Sewall called the day Christmas and wrote that he listened to Rev. Mr. Shepherd’s “discourse” proving the divinity of Christ.

Four of the entries strike an odd note, and are not explained in Nash’s book. On Dec. 25, 1838, and again in 1839, Sewall wrote merely, “Christmas (so-called).” He expanded on the theme in 1841, writing, “Christmas, so-called, which was employed here in consecrating St. Mark’s church, for their future worship.”

(St. Mark’s Episcopal congregation organized in 1840; Wikipedia says the first church was a wooden building just north of the present Lithgow Library. James North wrote in his Augusta history that the cornerstone was laid July 4, 1841, and the building was first used for worship that Christmas. Construction cost was $6,248; the church was 46 by 85 feet with a 110-foot tall “tower and spire.”)

On Dec. 25, 1843, Sewall, who had noted that he turned 91 on Nov. 24 (and on Nov. 28 recorded that he had finished “sawing a cord of wood, with my own hands”) wrote: “Christmas, as held by Episcopalians, is a misnomer.”

North, in a biographical sketch, commented that Sewall was “pious and rigidly orthodox in his religious views. Towards the close of his life his religious rigor was much softened.”

Main sources

Dowe, Milton E., History Town of Palermo Incorporated 1884 (1954).
Fairfield Historical Society Fairfield, Maine 1788-1988 (1988).
Grow, Mary M., China Maine Bicentennial History including 1984 revisions (1984.)
Hammond, Alice, History of Sidney Maine 1792-1992 (1992).
Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Lowden, Linwood H., good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993).
Nash, Charles Elventon, The History of Augusta (1904).
North, James W., The History of Augusta (1870).
Robbins, Alma Pierce, History of Vassalborough Maine 1771 1971 n.d. (1971).
Wiggin, Ruby Crosby, Albion on the Narrow Gauge (1964).

Websites, miscellaneous.

Northern Light Inland Hospital named a top birthing hospital

Northern Light Inland Hospital has been named as one of America’s Best Hospitals for Obstetrics by the Women’s Choice Award®. The award signifies that Inland Hospital is in the top 7 percent of 4,729 U.S. hospitals offering obstetrics.

Inland Hospital is one of only four hospitals in Maine to earn the top obstetrics award. Others include Northern Light Mercy Hospital and Maine Medical Center, in Portland, and Cary Medical Center, in Caribou.

“We are so proud of our Birthing Center and Women’s Health teams!” says Tricia Costigan, president of Inland Hospital. “The quality and safety they deliver is simply outstanding, and the personalized birthing experience makes all the difference to new moms and families.”

The Women’s Choice Award focuses its research on hospitals that provide the highest quality patient experience, especially important for potential labor complications. The methodology for the Best Hospitals for Obstetrics combines national accreditations, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health­care Pro­viders and Systems (HCAHPS) survey res­ults and hospital outcome scores with primary research about wo­men’s healthcare preferences.

The America’s Best Hospitals for Obstetrics gives consideration to the following specific criteria (all are not required of each hospital).

• The percentage of patients reporting through the HCAHPS survey that they would definitely recommend the hospital
• Patient safety ranking based on 12 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ measures of infection and complication rates
• Low rates of early elective deliveries (between 0-1 percent)

For more information on the America’s Best Hospitals for Obstetrics visit https://womenschoiceaward.com/best-hospitals-for-obstetrics. For more information about Inland Hospital visit northernlighthealth.org/Inland.

Central Maine Motors Auto Group recognized for rural revitalization, receives 2022 Governor’s Award

From left to right, Jeff Leclerc, general manager at CM Toyota, Shad West, general manager at CM Chevy-Buick, Central Maine Motors Auto Group owner Chris Gaunce, Maine Governor Janet Mills, and Scott Pinnette, general manager at CM Chrysler. (contributed photo))

Dealership presented with award at the Maine State House on Dec. 12

Family-owned Central Maine Motors Auto Group was recognized by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development on Monday for its contributions throughout Waterville and the surrounding municipalities. Central Maine Motors owns and operates three locations: Central Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT®, Central Maine Chevy Buick, and Central Maine Toyota.

“Central Maine Motors prides itself on providing great customer service through its three dealerships in Waterville. Giving back to our community and taking care of people remains a priority for us,” states Central Maine Motors President and Owner Chris Gaunce. “Looking forward, our business will continue to prioritize community betterment and celebrate all of the good that our region and state have to offer.”

Awarded to Maine businesses in four categories (Heritage Industry, Rural Revitalization, Innovation, and Climate Leader), the 2022 Governor’s Award for Business Excellence was recently presented to Central Maine Motors Auto Group by Governor Mills and Maine Department of Economic and Business Development Commissioner Heather Johnson. Central Maine Motors Auto Group was recognized in the Rural Revitalization category, recognizing contributions to the revitalization and growth of Maine’s rural regions, joining fellow awardees Atlantic Sea Farms (Heritage Industry), MedRhythms (Innovation), and Dirigo Solar (Climate Leader). In addition to the Governor’s Award for Business Excellence, Chris Gaunce has been named Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s 2008 Rising Star, was selected as the Chamber’s 2016 Businessperson of the Year, and was honored by Junior Achievement of Maine as a Maine Business Hall of Fame North laureate in 2022.

“The Gaunce’s and Central Maine Motors Auto Group have continued to contribute to Waterville’s rapidly growing business landscape, accompanied with their passion for supporting downtown revitalization, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and philanthropy”, elaborates Central Maine Growth Council Director of Planning, Innovation, and Economic Development Garvan Donegan. “As past board chairman of Central Maine Growth Council, Chris’ leadership and drive for celebrating the region through countless community and economic development initiatives have allowed new businesses to thrive, giving students on-site work experience all while retaining and upskilling a dedicated workforce.”

Since 1991, the Governor’s Award for Business Excellence has recognized Maine businesses with a high level of commitment to their community, employees, and customers. Past recipients have included Acme Monaco, Ware-Butler Building Supply, Luke’s Lobster, and Bigelow Brewing Company. Central Maine Motors’ steadfast leadership and its demonstrated care for employees reflect the company’s 87 years of providing unmatched customer and community service. To learn more about Central Maine Motors Auto Group, please visit https://www.cmautogroup.com/