Issue for August 4, 2022

Celebrating 34 years of local news

Property tax stabilization program guides provided to Maine municipalities

Property Tax Stabilization for Senior Citizens, also known as the Property Tax Stabilization Program (the “Program”), is a State program that allows certain senior-citizen residents to stabilize, or freeze, the property taxes on their homestead. An applicant must be at least 65 years old, a permanent resident of the State, and must have owned a Maine homestead for at least ten years. As long as the individual files an application and qualifies each year, the tax billed to them for their homestead will continue to be fixed at the amount they were billed in the prior tax year…

Your Local News

Proposed WPA bylaws revisions to go before membership at Aug. 13 annual meeting

VASSALBORO – The Board of Directors of the Webber Pond Association (WPA) is recommending that WPA members approve the Revised WPA Bylaws shown below at the August 13, 2022, Annual Meeting…

China history to be available at China Historical Society

CHINA – The China Historical Society’s collection will be open to the public on Saturday August 6, during China Community Days. These artifacts are located in the old town house found directly opposite the present Town Office on Lakeview Drive, and may be viewed between roughly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m…

EVENTS: China Community Days schedule of events Friday, August 5 – Sunday, August 7

CHINA – Full schedule of China Community Days events planned for the weekend of August 5-7…

EVENTS: Delightful “All Things Blueberry” festival promises loads of family fun

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 13, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., to Winslow Congregational Church, 12 Lithgow Street, Winslow. Admission to the festival grounds is free…

EVENTS: China to hold Window Dressers workshop

CHINA – The China for a Lifetime Committee is planning a Window Dressers workshop this November 7-13, at the China Lake Camp, off the Neck Road, on the west side of the lake. The initiative is a volunteer-led, barn-raising effort to construct low-cost “window inserts” that can significantly reduce residential energy costs…

Red Cross needs more blood donors to avoid shortage

CENTRAL ME – In recent weeks, a decline in donations has caused the American Red Cross blood supply to shrink nearly 20 percent. This drop in donations could lead to a seasonal blood shortage, which can negatively impact patient care at hospitals across the country…

Kennebec Valley Tourism Council announces election of officers

CENTRAL ME – Kennebec Valley Tourism Council (KVTC) has elected the following officers to its board of directors for a one-year term from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023…

MaineGeneral Medical Center issues call for artists

WATERVILLE – MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Art Committee invites Maine artists to submit proposals to display and sell their work at a MaineGeneral facility. Those selected will have an opportunity to hang their art in the Alfond Center for Health in Augusta or the Thayer Center for Health in Waterville for a period of eight weeks…

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s boyhood home launches phase 2 of fundraising campaign

RAYMOND – After a successful completion of Phase 1 of its fundraising campaign—which allowed urgent repairs to the foundation, floors, and interior of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Boyhood Home in Raymond—the Hawthorne Community Association has launched Phase 2 of its fundraising campaign…

PHOTOS: 10-U baseball action

FARMINGTON – Photos from the Farmington Elks 10U tournament game at the “Joe Toots” Memorial field (from Central Maine Photography)…

PHOTOS: Winslow summer track

WINSLOW – Winslow summer track photos (from Central Maine Photography)…

LETTERS: Albion is the best town

from Danielle Foster (Albion) I just wanted to say, how happy I am to live in Albion. I love this beautiful town. I’m so pleased to see the village bustling again. A few years ago Main St. was desolate. Now the village is full of people, new living spaces, and several new businesses are thriving. I’m just so pleased…

Name that film!

Identify the film in which this famous line originated and qualify to win FREE passes to Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville: “Play it Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is August 5, 2022…

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Natural resources – Part 5 (new)

CENTRAL ME HISTORY — Gold is unusual in Maine but not completely lacking. The Maine Geological Survey has on its website a list of streams, all but one in Franklin, Oxford or Somerset county, worth panning for gold. (The outlier is the St. Croix River, separating the United States and Canada; gold has been found in Baileyville, in Washington County)… by Mary Grow [1845 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Natural resources – Part 4

CENTRAL ME HISTORY — “Augusta has been abundantly supplied…with the best of granite, easily quarried, and of convenient access,” Augusta historian James North wrote. He expressed surprise that the resource was not developed earlier; not only did the workers on the 1797 Kennebec bridge and the 1808 jail use boulders instead, but, he wrote, three gentlemen who built houses in the first decade of the 1800s brought granite for the foundations from the Boston area, “at great expense”… by Mary Grow [1858 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Natural resources – Part 3

CENTRAL ME HISTORY — Attentive readers will have noted that the previous discussions of brickyards and brick-making have omitted the two cities in the central Kennebec Valley, Augusta and Waterville. Your writer deliberately saved them for last, because they have so many buildings of brick and granite as to deserve extra space… by Mary Grow [1929 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Natural resources – Part 2

CENTRAL ME HISTORY — Last week’s article talked about some of the towns in which European settlers found naturally-occurring resources, like stones and clay. Stones were described as useful for foundations, wells and similar purposes on land; another use was for the dams that have been mentioned repeatedly… by Mary Grow [1886 words]

CALENDAR OF EVENTS: August Book Walk for outdoor family fun

PALERMO — Beginning Friday, August 5, you can read a book while you hike the Palermo Preserve trails, at 1401 Turner Ridge Rd. in Palermo. The featured story is Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit, by Chris Van Dusen… and many other local events!

Give Us Your Best Shot!

The best recent photos from our readers…

Webber’s Pond

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

Obituaries

VASSALBORO – Evelyn Ashton, 90, passed away on Thursday, July 14, 2022, in her family home of 58 years, in Vassalboro. She was born on May 17, 1932, to Elizabeth (Scott) and Thomas Graham, in East York, Toronto, Canada… and remembering 11 others.

Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!

DEADLINE: Wednesday, August 10, 2022

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: Marylou Ripley, Oakland

Town Line Original Columnists

Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee | While browsing through some old emails recently, I noticed one that I had planned to respond to, but as often happens, I was sidetracked and never got back to it. It was an email with photos of cicadas with an inquiry. I apologize to that person for not getting to this sooner…

SMALL SPACE GARDENING

by Melinda Myers | Poor flowering and misshapen or a lack of fruit on tomatoes, peppers and squash may be due to the weather, not your gardening skills. Temperature extremes can interfere with flowering and fruit set on these and other vegetables in your garden…

I’M JUST CURIOUS

by Debbie Walker | I found a few tidbits of information I thought you might be interested in. You know those little gel packets we find in some prescriptions and other things needing to keep the moisture. Well …. They can be reused to keep moisture out of your papers or photographs. I won’t be throwing them away anymore…

Peter CatesPLATTER PERSPECTIVE

by Peter Cates | Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) has in recent years become my favorite poet. She wrote with a spiritually transcendent perspective born out of her love of the Creator, of her involvement in the Anglican Church, of her fascination with nature and of her acute awareness that life in this world is very brief…

LIFE ON THE PLAINS

by Roland D. Hallee | Growing up on The Plains in the 1950s and ‘60s brought about some revolutionary, and exciting, changes in our way of life. Modern conveniences were beginning to pop up in our humble homes…

VETERANS CORNER

by Gary Kennedy | These past couple of years have been very problematic, depressing and a terrible weight on the shoulders of the American people. I personally have had a difficult time of it, but even more so for our veterans. My phone rings every day and most of the time it’s not for pleasant reason. It’s usually because a veteran is in trouble…

FOR YOUR HEALTH

(NAPSI) | Life today often seems to be in overdrive, leading many Americans to make snack and meal decisions quickly without really thinking about the nutritional makeup of what they’re consuming—but it doesn’t have to be that way…