Issue for August 10, 2023
PHOTOS: China Community Days enjoys another successful year
Photos from the 2023 China Community Days events…
Town News
Planners deny resident permit to expand year-round home
VASSALBORO – By their Aug. 1 meeting, Vassalboro Planning Board members had much more information on the application they postponed at their July meeting, from town records and from the applicant…
Daycare for RSU #12 employees ready to open
WINDSOR – At the July 18 meeting of the Windsor Select Board, Windsor Elementary School Principal Heather Wilson reported that she is very excited about the daycare that will be opening at the school for RSU #12 employees. The daycare would accommodate ages birth to five years old. The board then voted unanimously to instruct Codes Enforcement Officer Arthur Strout to inspect a site for a holding tank installation at the school’s daycare future site…
Page appointed China LPI
CHINA – At a short special meeting Thursday, Aug. 3, China select board members appointed Ryan Page the town’s licensed plumbing inspector (LPI)…
HealthReach announces completion of Madison Health Center renovations
MADISON – HealthReach is excited to announce that recent renovations to its Madison Area Health Center are complete. The renovations have increased comfort and patient capacity, while also modernizing the space so that busy clinicians and staff are able to achieve the best outcomes for their patients. Among many other upgrades, these renovations included expansions to the waiting room, exam rooms, administrative areas, and medical records areas…
LETTERS: The health of China Lake benefits everyone
from Geoff Hargadon (South China) – On July 31 there was a public hearing at Town Hall so residents could share their thoughts on the future of the South China Town Landing. A wide range of opinions were expressed, but the one that stood out for me came from former select board member Joann Austin, who concluded, “We should leave these decisions up to the engineers.” I wholeheartedly agree…
Sayings and their meaning
by Peg Pellerin | BARK UP THE WRONG TREE means to be totally off the mark, to waste energy following the wrong course of action, or to have one’s attention diverted off the subject at hand. This phrase dates back to the 1800s…
Webber’s Pond
Webber’s Pond is a comic drawn by an anonymous central Maine resident (click thumbnail to enlarge)…
Victoria Butler, of Jefferson, graduates from RIT
JEFFERSON – Victoria Butler, of Jefferson, graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, New York, with a degree in astrophysical sciences and technology (Ph.D.)…
Maggie Pono named to Champlain College dean’s list
SKOWHEGAN – Maggie Pono, of Skowhegan, has been named to the Champlain College dean’s list, in Burlington, Vermont, for the Spring 2023 semester…
Local happenings
EVENTS: Red Cross: Donation shortfall may impact blood supply
CENTRAL ME – The American Red Cross has seen a shortfall of about 25,000 blood donations in the first two months of the summer, which makes it hard to keep hospital shelves stocked with lifesaving blood products. By making an appointment to give blood or platelets in August, donors can keep the national blood supply from falling to shortage levels…
EVENTS: Dawe’s artwork on display at Joe’s Flat Iron Café
SKOWHEGAN – After what feels like a long time waiting, MacKenzie Dawe’s art will be on display at Joe’s Flat Iron Café, at 65 Water Street, in downtown Skowhegan, until October 14. Out of seven nominees this past April, she was chosen as the winner of the 2nd Annual $500 Wesserunset Arts Council Youth Scholarship…
EVENTS: VCS annual school supplies drive
VASSALBORO – Help the students at Vassalboro Community School by donating to the 5th annual school supplies drive by drop off, on Saturday, August 19, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., at the North Vassalboro Fire Station, on Rte. 32…
EVENTS: Madison Legion Aux. to collect school supplies
MADISON – American Legion Auxiliary Unit #39, Madison, is once again collecting school supplies for children in our local schools (Madison MSAD #59 and Carrabec RSU #74)…
EVENTS: Masons to hold annual pig roast August 19
ROCKPORT – The Ancient Free and Accepted Masons invites the public to their second annual Pig Roast. …They invite one and all on Saturday, August 19, from 2 – 6 p.m., to enjoy a wonderful time and meal with them and perhaps some of your friends. The fare is all homemade and delicious. The course includes rotisserie pig, char-smoked turkey, potato, garden and macaroni salads and various drinks, cake…
EVENTS: KLS&WCD to present award
ROCKPORT – The community is invited to Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District’s Conservation Awards Celebration on Wednesday, August 23, from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. The banquet will be held at Beaver Lodge, in Hope…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Writer’s workshop with Michelle Shores
CLINTON — Writer’s workshop with Michelle Shores, author of the award-winning novel, The Gathering Room: A Tale of Nelly Butler on Thurs., August 17, at 4:30 p.m. at Brown Memorial Library in Clinton. Learn all about writing and getting published. This is a great opportunity to start your writing journey with excellent guidance… and many other local events.
2022-’23 Real Estate Tax Due Dates
Real estate tax due dates for the towns of Albion, China, Fairfield, Oakland, Palermo, Sidney, Vassalboro, Waterville, Windsor and Winslow…
Name that film!
Identify the film in which this famous line originated and qualify to win FREE passes to The Maine Film Center, in Waterville: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is August 10, 2023…
Obituaries
BENTON – Keith Harris passed away doing what he enjoyed the most, riding his motorcycle. He was born in Skowhegan, son to Donald and Marion Harris of Norridgewock… and remembering 11 others.
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Music in the Kennebec Valley – Part 3 (new)
KV HISTORY — Another type of music in the central Kennebec Valley from early days of European settlement was band music. It was often, but especially in later years not inevitably, associated with military organizations; and like other forms of music, got limited attention in most local histories… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Music in the Kennebec Valley – Part 2
KV HISTORY — In his Music and Musicians of Maine, George Thornton Edwards’ list of “principal musical centers in Maine” in the late 18th and early 19th centuries included the Augusta-Hallowell-Gardiner complex, China and “some of the towns in the Kennebec Valley,” in addition to Portland and other, mostly coastal or more southern, towns… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Music in the central Kennebec Valley
KV HISTORY — After the frustration of finding only scanty and random information from local historians on how central Kennebec Valley residents cared for their destitute neighbors, your writer decided to continue frustrating herself on a more cheerful topic: music… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: How towns cared for their poor (conclusion)
KV HISTORY — This fourth and final article on the ways central Kennebec Valley towns carried out their responsibility to care for their poorest residents will provide bits of information about half a dozen towns not already discussed… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, August 17, 2023
Identify the people in these three photos, and tell us what they have in common. You could win a $10 gift certificate to Hannaford Supermarket! Email your answer to townline@townline.org or through our Contact page. Include your name and address with your answer. Use “Common Ground” in the subject!
Previous winner: James Vigue, Winslow
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | From time to time, it happens. You see something unusual, don’t know what it is, so you go to your research material to find the answer. You use multiple sources, do your homework, then, when you think you have found the answer, it ends up being wrong…
LAKE LIFE TODAY
by Elaine Philbrook | Infiltration Steps is yet another way to slow the flow of stormwater from entering our waterbodies. Infiltration steps can be used where foot traffic is causing erosion to take place, and are used where there is a moderate slope, usually less than 45 degrees…
SMALL SPACE GARDENING
by Melinda Myers | Extreme heat, drought, torrential rains, and hungry critters may be wreaking havoc on your garden. After weeding, watering, and waiting you may be finding less, diseased, or misshapen tomatoes. Don’t give up…
GROWING YOUR BUSINESS
by Dan Beaulieu | I love Mexican food. I love Mexican restaurants and I have been in many of them from El Paso, Texas, to Tucson, Arizona, to San Jose, California, to Bangor, Maine, to Portland, Maine, to Waterville, Maine, to Augusta, Maine. And get this, my favorite part of being in a Mexican restaurant is not necessarily the food. I like what I like (Carnitas Fajitas) but I am certainly no connoisseur of the food…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | RCA Victor released a one lp anthology during the mid-1950s entitled The President’s Favorite Music; I purchased a copy of it for $2 at a record store in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1966, when Lyndon Johnson was president. Of course, the center of attraction on that record was the 34th former President Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969), not the 36th one…
THE BEST VIEW
by Norma Best Boucher | I sat in my car in the parking lot eating a candy bar enjoying the pounding rain both assailing and cleaning my car.
I had not planned this scenario. My plan was to buy my favorite sandwich, go to the beach, relax and enjoy the sound of the waves…
VETERANS CORNER
by Gary Kennedy | I mentioned in last week’s issue veterans concern with availability of direct contact with their physician’s service desk. You have to go through a call center, which is located in someone’s home and give your information, some of which you prefer not to, in order to get through to your doctor. The response can take days…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
(NAPSI) — There is good news for many in the visually impaired community, and for anyone who has trouble reading standard print labels. Prescription management and medication adherence can be particularly difficult when it’s difficult to see the label…