Issue for August 31, 2023
Abel Jones house returns to his descendants
Old houses/buildings can appear to be of no interest other than to be torn down and replaced with modern structures. When you take a moment and think of old buildings in need of more than a coat of paint the building can look quite different. These old buildings, such as the Jones house on the Jones Road, in China, Maine, are part of the journey that led to today’s communities, states, and our country… by Roberta Barnes
Town News
Select board sets tax rate at 12.26 mils, up from 12.05 mils
CHINA – At their Aug. 28 meeting, China select board members, in their capacity as assessors, set the town’s 2023-24 tax rate: 12.26 mils, or $12.26 for each $1,000 of valuation…
Nomination papers available for November election
CHINA – China’s municipal elections for members of the select board, planning board and budget committee will be held Tuesday, Nov. 7. Nomination papers are now available at the town office; Friday, Sept. 8, is the deadline for returning signed papers to be on the local ballot…
PHOTOS: School supplies drive has another successful event
VASSALBORO – The school supplies gathering by a Vassalboro group for students at Vassalboro Community School, had another successful drive on August 19…
Historical Association’s best bakers prepare for auction of desserts at annual “Preservation Party”
THOMASTON – One of the highlights of “Preservation Party,” Lincoln County Historical Association’s (LCHA) annual fundraiser dinner, is the auction of cakes by the delightful veteran auctioneer, Kaja Veilleux, of Thomaston Place Auction Galleries…
Central Maine Eagles seeks players
CENTRAL ME – The Central Maine Eagles football team that plays out of China at the rec fields, is seeking players. The JV team which host kids from sixth to eighth grades needs more players. Numbers usually increase during the start of school, but the team has its first game coming up in two weeks and they are a few players short…
LETTERS: It’s all in the salsa!
from Susan Thiem (Corpus Christi, TX) – I read with interest the column ‘More Salsa Please’ by Dan Beaulieu. I just arrived for my 52nd summer stay on China Lake, but my permanent residence is in Corpus Christi,Texas,100 miles north of the Mexican border. We take pride in the many authentic “Tex/Mex “restaurants north of Mexico…
LETTERS: A warm thank you
from The family of Alia Coombs Singh – The family of Alia Coombs Singh would like to thank our friends and neighbors for their kindness and generosity after Alia’s unexpected passing…
Webber’s Pond
Webber’s Pond is a comic drawn by an anonymous central Maine resident (click thumbnail to enlarge)…
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: “They call me Mister Tibbs!” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is September 7, 2023…
Local happenings
EVENTS: Event schedule for VASSALBORO DAYS 2023
VASSALBORO – A schedule of events for upcoming Vassalboro Days, September 8-10…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Community yard sale
CHINA — The Greater Neck Road Neighborhood Association is having their fifth annual community yard sale on Saturday, September 9, 2023, from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., at the China Baptist Church parking lot, China, Maine. The proceeds from the fundraiser will help area people in need this winter… and many other local events!
Obituaries
VASSALBORO – Lawrence Bartlett, 95, passed peacefully on Friday, August 11, 2023. He was the son of Kenneth and Beatrice Overlock of Maine… and remembering 11 others.
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Music in the Kennebec Valley – Part 5 (new)
KV HISTORY — In the course of reading about the history of music in the central Kennebec Valley, specifically George Thornton Edwards’ 1928 Music and Musicians of Maine, your writer came across two intertwined musical families who lived in Hallowell, before and after Augusta became a separate town in 1897… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Music in the Kennebec Valley – Part 4
KV HISTORY — Kennebec County historian Henry Kingsbury provided a minor exception to the general lack of interest in music in local histories when he included a section headed “MUSIC” in his history of Waterville and wrote two whole paragraphs… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Slave trade in Vassalboro
VASSALBORO HISTORY — Maine, including to some extent small inland towns like Vassalboro, was more heavily involved in the international slave trade than many residents realize, both before and after slave-trading was made illegal in the United States in 1808… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Music in the Kennebec Valley – Part 3
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
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 14, 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: Eleanor Bilodeau, Unity
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | I think it was Dr. Demento who used to say, “They’re everywhere, they’re everywhere!” Well, they are. You could be sitting on the deck or porch at camp, and there’s one on your leg, or walking across your shoulders. Go do some garden work, and you’ll see them there…
CRITTER CHATTER
by Jayne Winters | When I stopped by to chat with Don at the Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center today, I expected to see the usual pet carriers and cages with rescued critters in the living room. I was surprised to find no one in the incubators or cages!…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | The 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was a most vivid, vibrantly alive presence on the family Philco TV set from when I first saw him debate Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) during October 1960, it being a very cold Friday night, to the assassination in Dallas; I remember Kennedy’s highly strong Irish Boston accent and debonair appearance versus Nixon’s coarse bass speaking voice and the derailing 5 o’clock shadow…
THE BEST VIEW
by Norma Best Boucher | At first, I was embarrassed when I couldn’t remember this teacher’s name, but then I realized that teachers’ names are not written on their students’ foreheads, but what they do for their students is indelibly written on their minds…
MY POINT OF VIEW
by Gary Kennedy | On September 4, we celebrate Labor Day in the United States. It’s a public holiday which is celebrated on the first Monday in September. Basically it honors the American labor movement and the contributions the working class has made to strengthen prosperity, laws and the well being of our great country…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
(NAPSI) — You may be at risk for liver disease and not even know it. Consider this: Fatty liver disease affects an estimated 80 to 100 million Americans and many are completely unaware they have it. Fortunately, you don’t have to be among them…