Issue for August 3, 2023
PHOTOS: Golden Agers enjoy cruise of Moosehead Lake
On Friday, July 21, 2023, 17 members of the China area “Golden Agers” traveled to Greenville for a cruise on Moosehead Lake. It was a most enjoyable day with good food, good camaraderie, good fun and educational. They were given some history about the lake and the early settlers of the area. It just left them wanting to learn more. The next adventure will be to Cabbage Island for a clambake later in August. More fun ahead, come join them!…
Ken Smith inducted into Cal Ripken Coaches Hall of Fame
On July 6, 2023 Ken Smith, of Fairfield, was inducted into the Cal Ripken Coaches Hall of Fame. The presentation took place in Fairfield prior to an 11U state tournament game. Cal Ripken League representatives, family, community members along with past and present coaches and players from Ken’s teams were present for the ceremony…
Town News
China Lake Assn. members hear about water quality
CHINA – Nearly 80 community members gathered in the China Primary School gymnasium on July 29 for the annual China Lakes Association meeting. After a welcome and networking breakfast catered by Sunrise Bagels, CLA president, Stephen Greene, introduced three guest speakers from the Department of Environmental Protection, Ecological Instincts, and the Kennebec Water District to speak to the current health of China Lake… by Jonathan Strieff
Harbor master keynote speaker at Sheepscot Lake annual meeting
PALERMO – The Sheepscot Lake Association held their annual meeting on Thursday, July 20, at the Fish and Game Club, on Rte. 3, in Palermo. The meeting was very successful and well attended, with Shawn Herbert, Harbor Master and Chief of Marine Safety for Maine, as keynote speaker… Submitted by Carol Viens
CHS seeks to improve use of old town house
CHINA – At the July 31 China select board meeting, the China Historical Society (CHS) took another step toward reestablishing itself after a period of inactivity, getting support, though not full formal approval, for continued and improved use of the old town house…
Residents criticize current South China boat landing
CHINA – A long, well-attended, amicable and informative July 31 discussion of the boat landing in South China Village revealed a lot of overlapping issues and a variety of opinions…
Hager Ent. chosen to pave two town roads
PALERMO – Palermo town council members, Bob Kurek, Ilene McKenny, and Pam Swift met July 27 to vote on bids for three 2023 paving projects, gather comments from community members concerned about the proposed LS Power transmission line, and offer updates on several ongoing municipal projects… by Jonathan Strieff
Sabrina Johnson named director of mortgage production at KFS
WATERVILLE – KFS Mortgage Company LLC, the Waterville-based lending corporation that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kennebec Savings Bank, welcomes Sabrina Johnson. Prior to joining KFS Mortgage Company, LLC, Johnson held progressively responsible positions at national banks and mortgage companies…
PHOTO: Central Maine Senior Football Camp
FAIRFIELD – 2023 Central Maine Youth Senior Football Camp directed by Lawrence High School Coach John Hersom with assistance of his Lawrence Bulldogs players. The senior camp ran from July 24-26 for grades 5-8, with players from Central Maine… (Photo by Central Maine Photography)
Local happenings
EVENTS: Washington Challenge slated for Aug. 6
WASHINGTON – Washington Recreation’s Annual Washington Challenge, will be Sunday, August 6. Registration will take place from 7 – 7:50 a.m., and the Fun Run starts at 8 a.m., and the 5K starts right after…
EVENTS: 52nd Annual Blueberry Festival coming to Winslow
WINSLOW – One of Maine’s all-time most popular, beloved, and downright yummy summer events – Winslow’s annual Blueberry Festival – is coming this year on Saturday, August 12, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., to the Winslow Congregational Church, 12 Lithgow Street, Winslow. Admission to the festival grounds is FREE…
EVENTS: Free benefit concert in Windsor
WINDSOR – The Downeast Brass will be presenting a free concert on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, at the Windsor Town Hall, to benefit the Windsor Veterans’ Memorial Fund. The show features the life and music of Frank Sinatra through slides, narration, live music, comedy, and dance…
EVENTS: Benefit spaghetti supper in Palermo
PALERMO – A fundraising event is being held by community organizations, on Saturday, August 5, at 5 p.m., for the family of Michael and Sheila McCarty to help with the final expenses incurred by the sudden passing of their daughter, Alia. It will be held at the American Legion, 33 Veterans Way, in Palermo. The cost will be $10 per plate, $5 for children under 10…
EVENTS: Second annual Somerset Scrub Club connects Maine students with careers in healthcare
CENTRAL ME – JMG, in partnership with Redington Fairview Hospital, Somerset Career & Technical Center, and Western Maine Area Health Education Center, is thrilled to announce the second annual Somerset Scrub Club, a transformative 4-day camp from Monday, August 7, to Thursday, August 11, aimed at introducing students to careers in healthcare. This career exploration opportunity is open to students entering grades 8 to 12…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Benefit spaghetti supper to be held in Palermo
PALERMO — There will be a spaghetti benefit supper held on Saturday, August 5, 2023, at 5 p.m., at the American Legion, 33 Veterans Way, in Palermo. The supper will help the Michael and Sheila McCarty family with final expenses incurred by the sudden passing of their daughter, Alia… 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
VASSALBORO – Theresa N. “T.T.” Scholz, 81, died Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at Maine Medical Center, in Portland. She was born in Sidney, on January 16, 1942, a daughter of the late Raymond and Alice (Brackett) Pooler… and remembering 10 others.
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Music in the Kennebec Valley – Part 2 (new)
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
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: How towns cared for the poor – Part 3
KV HISTORY — This article is the third of four that will talk about how central Kennebec Valley towns took care of their destitute residents, when welfare was a local responsibility. Last week’s piece summarized actions in China from the 1820s into the 1870s, when the poor farm on the east shore of China Lake housed many of the town’s paupers (some were still bid out or assisted as they lived with family members)… 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 | Let’s stray off the beaten path this week and talk about the weather. Everybody does. Especially forecasts in particular, and those people who tell us what to expect, and are very often wrong. Or are they?…
LIFE ON THE PLAINS
by Roland D. Hallee | If you’re watching television you will see that the entire world is uneasy. That being said, you can imagine how our veterans must feel. You know, if you aren’t a veteran then perhaps you don’t really know how our veterans are feeling. The old expression, “the natives are restless”, is very true for them. For many vets right now, the smell of gun powder permeates the air…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | A 1919 Columbia ten inch acoustic 78 rpm shellac has a very lovely duet of sopranos Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) and Barbara Maurel (1889-?) performing the very well-known funeral hymn Abide With Me, which was often sung as a special number on non-funeral church Sundays by my father and three of his brothers during the GOLDEN DAYS of my little boy years growing up on China Lake’s non-swimming East Vassalboro side…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
(NAPSI) — What simple action serves as a one-stop shop for protecting your oral health while helping prevent gum disease and tooth decay? Flossing, and at least once a day at that. While brushing is a great place to start, there are many small crevices your toothbrush can’t reach on its own…