Issue for February 24, 2022

Celebrating 33 years of local news

China’s Wynn Pooler captures state title in wrestling

First Erskine freshman to accomplish feat

Wynn Pooler, a freshman at Erskine Academy, in South China, won a state title in wrestling over last weekend. According to head coach Tyler Bradbury, he’s the first freshman in Erskine Academy history to do so. Apparently he’s only the second wrestler in Erskine Academy history to win conference, regional, and state titles all in the same season… by Roland D. Hallee

China resident sets out to hike the Appalachian Trail

First installment

Toni Wall, a resident of China, and a member of the planning board, has embarked on a trek along the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine. The first leg of the journey was the 1,236 mile drive from China, Maine, to Dawsonville, Georgia. Toni Wall and her husband Glen met Rose Silvia and her son, in Concord, New Hampshire, where she said goodbye to Glen and continued the journey to Georgia… submitted by Toni Wall

Your Local News

Church owner pleads for more time to make repairs; board denies request

VASSALBORO — Chad Caron pleaded emotionally with Vassalboro select board members at their Feb. 17 meeting, asking for more time to work at the former church building he owns on Priest Hill Road in North Vassalboro…

Mothers want to nix mask requirement

VASSALBORO — At their Feb. 15 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members again heard from half a dozen mothers who do not want their children to wear masks in school. Board members corrected two pieces of misinformation the parents had heard, and Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said he is “incredibly hopeful” that if Maine’s covid cases continue to decline, requirements will ease…

Select board continues work on spending requests; Focus on Tax Increment Financing

CHINA — At a special meeting Feb. 21, China select board members continued work on spending requests to be presented to voters at the June 14 town business meeting. Their main focus was on recommendations from the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee and from Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood on spending TIF money in the 2022-23 fiscal year…

China Broadband Committee members continue talks to improve service

CHINA — China Broadband Committee (CBC) members continued discussing possible future ways to improve internet service to China residents at an hour-long Feb. 17 meeting…

Maine Catholic schools to lift mask mandate on March 7

CENTRAL ME – The Diocese of Portland has notified school communities that it is planning to eliminate the mask mandate in place at Catholic elementary and high schools starting on Monday, March 7…

Vassalboro Business Association ice fishing derby winners

VASSALBORO – List of winners for the Vassalboro Business Association ice fishing derby…

LETTERS: Thank you for article

from Pastor Ron and Linda Morrell (China) – Thank you for the kind article, we were honored and humbled.. We are blessed and very aware and thankful for so many things….our family, our church family, the community, and….each other. China, Maine is truly a special place…

Name that film!

Identify the film in which this line originated and qualify to win FREE passes to Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is March 4, 2022…

PHOTOS: China Ice Days “huge success”

CHINA At the Feb. 21 China select board meeting, Thomas Rumpf, president of the Four Seasons Club and chairman of the just-finished Ice Days weekend, called the celebration “a complete success,” with thousands of people joining Sunday’s fishing derby…

GFWC off to great start in 2022

CENTRAL ME – The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) Semper Fidelis Club is off to a great start in 2022! Belonging to an international women’s organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service, members are engaged to working with the community…

Mid-Maine Chamber’s premier trade show to be held March 24 in Waterville

CENTRAL ME – Central Maine’s largest tradeshow, Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s Business to Business Showcase, has been scheduled for March 24, 2022, noon to 6 p.m., at Colby’s Harold Alfond Athletic & Recreation Center…

Cyrway to run for Maine House

CENTRAL ME – Scott Cyrway has announced that he will run for the Maine House of Representatives in newly-created House District #63 (Albion, Freedom, Unity and part of Winslow). Cyrway is a longtime State Senator, currently representing Senate District #16…

Vassalboro Community School honors

VASSALBORO – List of honor roll students for Vassalboro Community School…

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Wars – Part 8 (new)

MAINE HISTORY — Two national military leaders in the War of 1812, Brigadier General John Chandler and Brigadier General Eleazer (or Eleazar – sources differ) Wheelock Ripley, were from Maine, according to Louis Hatch’s state history. Both had connections with the central Kennebec Valley: Chandler lived most of his life in Monmouth, and Ripley practiced law in Waterville for a short time… by Mary Grow [1532 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Wars – Part 7

MAINE HISTORY — War of 1812:Hampden and Wiscasset. Two events in September 1814 involved central Kennebec Valley residents directly in the war against the British, fortunately without recorded casualties. The first and less significant began in Hampden, where British forces sailed up the Penobscot River to capture the USS Adamsby Mary Grow [1940 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Wars – Part 6

MAINE HISTORY — War of 1812: The end of the American Revolution did not end enmity between Britain and its former colonies. They fought one more war, the War of 1812 (June 18, 1812 – Feb. 18, 1815). Even after that war, the border between the United States and British Canada remained partly unsettled until the Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846… by Mary Grow [2014 words]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Wars – Part 5

PALERMO/SIDNEY/VASSALBORO HISTORY — Palermo, Sidney and Vassalboro, like the central Kennebec cities and towns in the previous two articles in this series, had Revolutionary War veterans among their early settlers. In Milton Dowe’s Palermo history, he identified Isaac Worthen (March 4, 1762 – March 1, 1841; later the name became Worthing), one of two brothers who moved to Palermo (then Great Pond Settlement) from New Hampshire, as a “hero of the Revolution”… by Mary Grow [1987 words]

Town Meetings Schedule for 2022

A list of local town meetings for Albion, China, Fairfield, Palermo, Sidney, Solon, Vassalboro and Windsor…

Webber’s Pond

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

Give Us Your Best Shot!

The best recent photos from our readers!

Obituaries

WINDSOR – Leah J. Moulton, 81, passed away on Thursday, February 10, 2022, at Oak Grove Rehabilitation Center, in Waterville, following a brief illness. She was born in Gardiner, on May 23, 1940… and remembering 10 others.

Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!

DEADLINE: Friday, March 9, 2022

Identify the people in these three photos, and tell us what they have in common. You could win a $10 gift certificate to Retail Therapy Boutique in Waterville! 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: Frances Wittek, Skowhegan

Town Line Original Columnists

Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee | RATS! No, it’s not something you say when things don’t go your way. Instead, it describes, profoundly, what people think of this rodent that is perceived as a member of the underworld of the animal kingdom. They are scorned, feared and totally misunderstood. They are portrayed as evil and filthy little creatures that spread disease as they scamper through the sewers of major cities…

ERIC’S TECH TALK

by Eric W. Austin | It was sometime in the mid-1980s when my father took me to a technology expo here in Maine. I think it was held in Lewiston, but it might have been some other place. This was at a time when you couldn’t buy a computer down at the local department store. You had to go to a specialty shop (of which there were few) or order the parts you needed through the mail. Or you could go to a local technology expo like we were doing…

CRITTER CHATTER

by Jayne Winters | After reading Roland Hallee’s recent column (The Town Line, Scores and Outdoors, February 3, 2022) about his groundhog buddy, Woodrow Charles, and his prediction of six more weeks of winter, I wondered if the Cotes have had many groundhog visitors over the years. I found an article Carleen wrote in 1997, so I thought I’d share some of it…

SMALL SPACE GARDENING

by Melinda Myers | Boost your success, save money, and reduce plastic waste when starting plants from seeds this year. The options are many, so you are sure to find one that works for you…

Marilyn Rogers-Bull & PercySOLON & BEYOND

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull | This will be the last column I write in my long newspaper career. Father time and modern technology have taken their toll on me. It has been a pleasure writing for The Town Line all these years…

Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by Peter Cates | I have read very little of Maine writer Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) but that little includes a story I very much consider a masterpiece, The White Heron. It depicts a nine-year-old girl, Sylvia, who lives with her grandmother on a farm in a seaside community based on the ones near Jewett’s native South Berwick, such as Wells Beach, Ogunquit and Kittery…

I’M JUST CURIOUS

by Debbie Walker | Here’s wishing everyone felt that way, the warm memories of home. I love my little home but right now I am having a little bit of a hard time keeping anything in place. I know I am like Dolly Parton: trying to put 25 pounds of flour in 10-pound bag. It sure is not working here!…

FOR YOUR HEALTH

(NAPSI)—With each generation’s expected retirement time growing longer and longer, you may need to plan for 20 to 30 years of life after you stop working. And when it comes to ways to save for the future, many Americans think first of the 401(k), the most popular and well-known retirement savings option…