Issue for December 21, 2023
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
The Town Line newspaper office will be closed the week of December 25, 2023, for the staff’s annual vacation. There will be no issue on Thursday, December 28, 2023. The next issue will be published Thursday, January 4, 2024. The office will re-open on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, at 9 a.m.
Vassalboro groups present veterans with Christmas stockings
At St Bridget Center on December 11, 2023, with Christmas music in the background, a dozen volunteers from American Legion Post #126, Cub Scout Troop #410, Sew for a Cause, and the Vassalboro United Methodist Church filled 200 Christmas stockings with personal care products and goodie bags for veterans at Togus. The stockings were made and donated by Sew for a Cause…
Windsor’s Elwin Hussey dies at age 100
WINDSOR – Elwin F. Hussey, 100, died peacefully at home on Saturday, December 9, 2023, following a short illness. The only child of Harland and Mildred (Shuman) Hussey, he was born in 1923, the same year his parents started their new business, Hussey’s General Store…
Town News
Select board meeting draws large audience
VASSALBORO – As expected, the Dec. 14 Vassalboro select board meeting attracted a large audience – 70 or more people filled the Vassalboro Community School cafeteria, 60 or so to listen to or join discussion of the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s sewer rates…
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: “It’s not a tumor!” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is January 4, 2023…
Local happenings
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Community Blue Christmas Ceremony shines a light on winter solstice
OAKLAND – The ShineOnCass Foundation will host its 3rd Annual Blue Christmas Ceremony for grieving families and friends, and those who support them, Thursday, December 21, at 6 p.m., at the Oakland Gazebo, Oakland Waterfront Park, Willey Point Road, on the Winter Solstice – the longest and darkest night of the year… and many other local events!
Obituaries
ALBION – David M. Goodhue, 102, of Albion passed away at Togus Veteran Hospital on Thursday, December 14, 2023. David was born on November 11, 1921 in Sidney, to Martin and Evelyn Goodhue… and remembering 5 others.
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Sebasticook dams & Josiah Hayden
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — An on-line map of Winslow, Maine (which readers might find helpful), shows the Kennebec River, running roughly north-south, as the town’s western boundary. The Sebasticook River joins the Kennebec from the east about halfway between the town’s north and south lines… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Dams and Mills
VASSALBORO HISTORY — The list of old dams on China Lake’s Outlet Stream started last week with dams in Vassalboro, as far downstream as the North Vassalboro dams described below… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Vassalboro dams
VASSALBORO HISTORY — As last week’s article on the Masse family suggested, from the late 1700s through the 1800s central Kennebec Valley entrepreneurs dammed streams and rivers to provide water power for industry… by Mary Grow
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Louis Masse
VASSALBORO HISTORY — When Louis Masse’s name appeared in last week’s article on the Starrett family of China, knowledgeable Vassalboro residents might have been surprised. They thought he was theirs, founder of the family that owned and ran the Masse mill on the Masse dam, in East Vassalboro… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, January 11, 2024
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: Don Eldridge, China
Town Line Original Columnists
LIFE ON THE PLAINS
by Roland D. Hallee | Growing up on The Plains in the ‘50s and ‘60s saw many changes when it came to Christmas. My early memories included going out with the family one evening to a lot and picking out a Christmas tree. My dad took it home, set it up on a homemade stand, and commenced to reconfigure Mother Nature’s creation…
CRITTER CHATTER
by Jayne Winters | Admissions at Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center slow down at this time of year; the only new resident I saw today was a gray squirrel which had been hit by a car several days ago. No external injuries were seen and Don said it was eating and drinking normally, so hopefully it has suffered only bruising…
THE BEST VIEW
by Norma Best Boucher | Christmas time is sometimes the happiest, sometimes the saddest time of the year. People are so wrapped up in the moment that they forget to remember. Often a simple thing like a card, an ornament, or a song will trigger their memories, and for a brief moment the past embellishes the present…
MY POINT OF VIEW
by Gary Kennedy | Here it is December again, already, and 2023 is rapidly coming to an end. This is the month that we celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. The date of birth of Jesus is not actually stated in the gospel nor in any historical record. Biblical scholars believe his date of birth to be between 4 BC (the year King Herod died) and 6 AD (the year of the census of Quirinius)…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | I just finished watching the first season’s ten episodes of Fargo; Billy Bob Thornton’s portrayal of the positively despicable contract killer Lorne Malvo was scarily persuasive while the supporting cast, direction, sets, and cinematography contributed to its effectiveness as a fine collaborative effort…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
(NAPSI) — By age 80, most people either have cataracts or have had cataract surgery. That’s because most cataracts are the result of natural aging. You may not notice that you have a cataract at first. But over time, they can make your vision blurry or hazy, colors fade, you can’t see well at night, or you may see double images. The good news is that cataract surgery can restore your sight…