Issue for April 28, 2022

Celebrating 34 years of local news

PHOTOS: Area food pantries walk to feed ME

The China Community Food Pantry and Vassalboro Food Station’s teams participated in the Feed ME 5K walk…Meanwhile, volunteers back at the China Food Pantry held down the fort and prepared to serve clients…

Volunteer Program cleans up after a storm

The volunteer program of the China For A Lifetime (CFAL) committee helps local eldery and people with physical challenges who may not be able to otherwise afford certain seasonal help. During last week’s storm, an enormous pine tree fell across the driveway of an older couple on Pleasant View Ridge… by Jeanne Marquis

Your Local News

Budget could show a slight decrease in mil rate

VASSALBORO — At their April 19 meeting, Vassalboro Budget Committee were faced with a proposed 2022-23 budget, including municipal and school requests and an estimated Kennebec County tax, which (if approved by voters) would be expected to result in a slight decrease in the town tax rate…

Spirit of America awards presented at select board meeting

CHINA — The three China Select Board members present at the April 25 meeting unanimously approved new transfer station hours. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood hopes to implement the change by the middle of May, when summer people begin arriving…

New president named at Inland Hospital

WATERVILLE Northern Light Health has announced that Tricia Mercer will become the next president of Northern Light Inland Hospital and Northern Light Continuing Care, Lakewood. In this role, Mercer will also serve as a Northern Light senior vice president. She will succeed Terri Vieira, who retired earlier this month…

Chamber names customer service specialist

WATERVILLE Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce located in Waterville, Maine, welcomes Katelyn Hood as its new customer service specialist. Katelyn has been named to the position, replacing Patricia Michaud, who retired following nearly eight years with the Chamber…

LETTERS: Supports Tuminaro

from Bonnie Haiss (China) – Having known Jen Tuminaro for the last 7 years, I have witnessed many exemplary qualities of a true leader. We initially became acquainted when Jen organized and began directing a local campus of Classical Conversations – a classical homeschool program designed to support families home educating their children, through an intentional and community-based approach…

Name that film!

Identify the film in which this line originated and qualify to win FREE passes to Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville: “You’ve got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is May 13, 2022…

Pointers on purchasing a zero-turn mower

HOME IMPROVEMENT – More time spent at home is prompting homeowners across America to improve their property’s curb appeal. With an increased focus on their yards, many individuals are looking to upgrade their old lawn mowers to something newer and equipped with more features…

What to ask when hiring a contractor

HOME IMPROVEMENT – With record-high real estate prices, a growing number of homeowners are remodeling or renovating their existing homes rather than buying new. Increased demand and continued supply chain issues, however, have led to delays in getting quotes, uncertainties in the availability of materials, rising costs and an increase in homeowner frustration…

Be cool and save money

HOME IMPROVEMENT – Many Americans may be surprised to learn that almost half their utility bill goes toward heating and cooling their home. Fortunately, the U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR Program offers resources to help you beat the heat—all while saving a, saving money and protecting the climate. Here’s how…

What’s your backyard personality?

HOME IMPROVEMENT – Backyarding, the trend to move many indoor activities outdoors, is now a permanent way of life. During the pandemic, learning to work, entertain, vacation, work out and more right in one’s own backyard, became a necessity—and people are learning it’s often a better way to live…

What to know about mold and mildew

HOME IMPROVEMENT – If you’re like a lot of homeowners, your domicile is in danger from an insidious, invisible growth—mold—and you don’t even know it. That’s because for many people, mold conjures up images of smelly, green and black growth that can cause serious respiratory issues. It is often found in a home after an intrusive water event, such as a flood or a severe rainstorm. The reality is, just about every home has mold…

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Blacks in Maine – Part 3 (new)

MAINE HISTORY — Records tell of a Kennebec Valley slave-owner, Captain Abiel or Abial Lovejoy (Dec. 15, 1731 – July 4, 1811), who lived in Vassalboro from 1776 and in Sidney after the west side of the Kennebec River became a separate town in 1792. He was a native of Andover, Massachusetts, who came to the lower Kennebec Valley as a Massachusetts soldier (rising to the rank of captain) in the 1750s… by Mary Grow [2050 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Blacks in Maine – Part 2

MAINE HISTORY — The first two Black men recorded in Augusta, according to Anthony Douin, one of the contributors to H. H. Price and Gerald Talbot’s Maine’s Visible Black History, were “York Bunker and Cuff.” They were in the garrison at Fort Western, built in 1754, “listed as servants and paid as privates”… by Mary Grow [2021 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Blacks in Maine – Part 1

MAINE HISTORY — So far, people in this history series have been almost entirely the group that is still Maine’s majority population: white people descended mostly from inhabitants of the British Isles, plus representatives of other northern and western European countries. For example, Millard Howard wrote in his Palermo history that early settlers in that town came mostly from Massachusetts or New Hampshire, sometimes via coastal Maine… by Mary Grow [1944 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Wars – Part 14

MAINE HISTORY — The wars on which this series has provided information so far began with fighting against the European power that once claimed the United States and continued with the 1861-1865 war between two parts of the United States… by Mary Grow [1747 words]

Town Meetings Schedule for 2022

A list of local town meetings for Albion, China, Fairfield, Palermo, Sidney, Solon, Vassalboro and Windsor…

Webber’s Pond

Webber’s Pond is a comic drawn by an anonymous central Maine resident (click thumbnail to enlarge)…

CALENDAR OF EVENTS: China Baptist Church announces Vacation Bible School for 2022

CHINA — The Board of Christian Education of China Baptist Church, in China Village, is already busy planning this year’s vacation Bible school, scheduled from August 1 to August 5. The board is excited about this year’s theme: Rocky Railway “Jesus’ Power Pulls us Through”… and many other local events!

Obituaries

WEEKS MILLS – Lorie J. Sproul, 62, of Weeks Mills, passed away on Monday, April 18, 2022, at the Alfond Center for Health, in Augusta. She was born December 14, 1959, the daughter of Norman and Marguerite (Morang) Grant… and remembering 9 others.

Town Line Original Columnists

Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee | This is the time of year that is the moment of truth. To those of you who own campers, and it has been closed up all winter, either in a field, or in storage, you almost dread the first time you open it up in the spring. The question: Did mice get in over the winter? If so, how much damage did they do?…

CRITTER CHATTER

by Jayne Winters | When visiting at the Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab Center a couple of weeks ago, I asked Don Cote if he had any thoughts about what we should submit for the April column. Without missing a beat, he said spring is the time we need to alert people that not all young animals that appear lost or orphaned actually need to be rescued. So, as in the past, I’m going to use Carleen Cote’s words of wisdom from many years ago…

Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by Peter Cates | Since 1946, the Prague Spring Festival has been a renowned annual gathering of top notch classical artists in the Czech Re­public. The An­dante label re­leased a nicely packaged set of four CDs and a hardcover book consisting of broadcasts from 1947 to 1968 featuring 11 great conductors with the extraordinarily accomplished…

I’M JUST CURIOUS

by Debbie Walker | My mind has been interested in odds and ends again this week. I have only had time for quick reads, but I do enjoy these times. It’s a time I can do a little research on maybe just a word I have never heard before or a website new to me…

FOR YOUR HEALTH

(NAPSI) | After a few weeks without rain, most people don’t throw out their umbrella. Just because someone has driven thousands of accident-free miles, that doesn’t mean seatbelts should be abandoned. Similarly, health officials encourage people to think about such prevention measures as wearing masks in the same way that we think about our umbrellas. People shouldn’t stop taking steps to protect themselves and others from COVID-19, even if there is a lull in cases…