Issue for February 27, 2025
Town of Fairfield leads climate resiliency informational sessions
The Town of Fairfield’s Economic and Community Development Committee (FECDC) is partnering with the State of Maine’s Community Resilience Partnership to host a series of four public informational sessions on climate resiliency…
Community Volunteers build raised beds for China Community Garden
On Saturday, February 8, a group of dedicated volunteers came together to build 36 raised garden beds for the China Community Garden. Hosted at the home of Marie and Tom Michaud, the workday was filled with teamwork and camaraderie as Emme Brown, Nate Dudley, Bill Powell, and Jeff Wood joined James and Jude Hsiang to construct the beds – under the watchful eye of one-year-old Edie Dudley, who provided moral support…
Town News
Select board, department heads hash over budget
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro select board members and leaders of town departments and groups discussed the proposed 2025-26 budget for more than 90 minutes Feb. 20 before moving on to the rest of the select board agenda…
Webber Pond dam main topic at select board meeting
VASSALBORO – A main business item on the Feb. 20 Vassalboro select board agenda, a discussion of planned enlargement of the fishway at the Webber Pond dam, turned into a discussion of movement for people, not fish…
Select board, budget committee, town employees hold long meeting
CHINA – China select board members, joined by some budget committee members and several town employees, held a long four-part meeting Monday evening, Feb. 24…
VCS school board sees contrasting presentations on special programs
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro school board members began their Feb. 11 meeting with contrasting presentations on special programs offered for Vassalboro Community School (VCS) students…
COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: Open meeting vs. secret ballot
CHINA — There’s a lot of talk around town about having a traditional town meeting with a moderator, with a required quorum in attendance to conduct business, or a day-long secret ballot meeting… by Sheldon Goodine
LETTERS: Sadly, estranged from my daughter
from Frank Slason (Augusta)— Regarding my daughter’s rebuttal letter to The Town Line, it should be noted that the only references to dollars was what I paid a man to share my driving back to Maine. I would remind her I allowed her to write her own checks from our joint account, in her own words, “I do really appreciate your helping me out!”…
LETTERS: Funding for climate change research is needed
from Alexis Garretson (Hampden) — As a scientist, I am deeply alarmed by the news that NOAA was asked to supply a list of active climate-related grant funding. This request raises alarms about potential cuts to critical climate research and mitigation efforts. There is no meaningful scientific debate about the reality of climate change, and over 70 percent of adults believe climate change will harm future generations…
LETTERS: Ending EV mandate shortsighted
from Rashmi Mohan (Bar Harbor) — In response to President Trump’s inauguration speech on January 20, 2025, I found it profoundly concerning that the new president seems intent on reversing our country’s progress toward lasting energy solutions amid an energy crisis…
No child should be priced out of playing sports
CENTRAL ME — Participating in youth sports has long been a cornerstone of the American experience — or at least it used to be. Fewer American kids are playing sports, and shifting trends are leaving countless kids on the sidelines… by Hanna Skandera
Bar Harbor Bank accepting applications from seniors for 2025 career & technical education scholarship
CENTRAL ME — Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is currently accepting applications for the Bank’s 2025 Career & Technical Education Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded to income-eligible high school seniors who attend a technical career program as part of their high school curriculum and are planning to attend a college or technical school in the academic year immediately following graduation…
Vassalboro Community School 2nd quarter honors
VASSALBORO — List of honor roll students for the 2nd quarter at Vassalboro Community School…
Maia Macek named to Hamilton College Fall 2024 dean’s list
MADISON — Maia Macek, of Madison, has been named to the dean’s list at Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York, for the fall 2024 semester. Macek, a senior majoring in art and Hispanic studies, is a graduate of The American School, in Japan.
Area students named to Fall 2024 dean’s list at Cedarville University
BENTON/CHINA — Students at Cedarville University, in Cedarville, Ohio, have been named to the dean’s list for the Fall 2024 semester. They include Zachary Craig, of Benton, and Josette Gilman, of China.
Area students named to dean’s list at University of Maryland Global Campus
FAIRFIELD — The following students were named to the dean’s list at Maryland Global, in Adelphia, Maryland: Seth Pratt, of Cornville, and Tyler Sheets, of Fairfield.
Andrei Llanto named to fall deans’ list at University of Nebraska
WATERVILLE — Andrei Llanto, of Waterville, has been named to the deans’ list at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in Lincoln, Nebraska, for the fall semester of the 2024-25 academic year. Llanto, a junior majoring in business and law, was named to the dean’s list for the College of Business.
Dean’s list honors at Tufts University
OAKLAND/WATERVILLE/AUGUSTA — Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts, recently announced the dean’s list for the fall 2024 semester. Bella Wallingford, Class of 2026, of Oakland; Cole Bazakas, Class of 2027, of Waterville; Samuel Goldey, Class of 2028, of Augusta.
Local student earns dean’s list recognition at Norwich University
AUGUSTA — Riley Geyer, of Augusta, has been recognized on the dean’s list at Norwich University, in Northfield, Vermont, for the Fall 2024 semester.
Local student earns place on Furman University’s dean’s list
AUGUSTA — Bryan Ouellette, of Augusta, earned a place on Furman University’s dean’s list for the 2024 fall semester, in Greenville, South Carolina.
Keira Goldsmith achieves president’s list honors
OAKLAND — Keira Goldsmith, of Oakland, has achieved president’s list honors for the fall 2024 semester at Nichols College, in Dudley, Massachusetts.
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: “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is March 6, 2025.
Webber’s Pond Comic
Webber’s Pond is a comic drawn by a local central Maine resident…
Local happenings
EVENTS: 16 Counties for Courage: Neighbors for Common Ground
SKOWHEGAN – People in Maine’s 16 counties are rallying to find common ground and push back on the actions of the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE, Saturday, March 1, 2:30 – 4 p.m., starting with a march from the Margaret Chase Smith Memorial Bridge, in Skowhegan, and ending at the Miller’s table parking lot…
EVENTS: Palermo planning board reschedules meeting, again
PALERMO – The Palermo Planning Board, once again, has rescheduled its meeting to Thursday, March 27, 2025, at the Palermo Town Office, at 6 p.m. The purpose is to conduct official review of plans for the proposed Pine Hill subdivision on Hostile Valley Road, Tax Map R11, Lot 27C…
EVENTS: Spaghetti supper to benefit Winslow Community Cupboard Food Pantry
WINSLOW – Winslow Community Cupboard food pantry – which serves food-insecure children, seniors, and other adults from Winslow, Waterville, and 22 surrounding towns – will hold a Spaghetti Supper Fundraiser at Winslow Congregational Church, on Saturday, March 1, from 4:30 to 7 p.m…
EVENTS: Lincoln County Historical Association offers heritage craft workshops
WISCASSET – During the month of March, Lincoln County Historical Association’s education outreach program will offer a series of heritage craft workshops. The workshops will be held on March 2, 16, and 30 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. They will feature stenciling on canvas, basketry, hand brooms, and foil art. The program is generously supported by a grant from the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust…
Obituaries
MADISON – Anna Louise Richardson, 86, peacefully passed away on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. She was the wife for 62 years to Ernest Richardson. She was born in Bingham, on August 18, 1938. …
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Apple Tree Pruning Workshop
VASSALBORO – There will be an apple pruning workshop on Saturday, March 8, from 9:30 a.m. – noon, at 167 Tabor Hill Road, in Vassalboro. Cost is $10 and registration deadline is March 3… and many other local events!
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Palermo residents – Part 2 (new)
PALERMO HISTORY — In case readers have not had enough genealogical confusion, this article continues with information about Palermo’s first three school committee members, elected in January 1805, and their families. Christopher Erskine, Stephen Marden and Samuel (or Samual) Longfellow were leaders among Palermo’s early settlers…. by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Palermo early settlers
PALERMO HISTORY — As a break from trying to figure out which schoolhouse was in which end of town, your writer decided to profile some of the people mentioned in last week’s article about Palermo schools, starting with a sampling of the town’s first residents. The result is the following tantalizing tangle of contradictions and unanswered questions…. by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Palermo elementary schools
PALERMO HISTORY — The Town of Palermo’s first settlers arrived around 1776 or 1777. By 1778 the area was called Great Pond Settlement, because, Milton Dowe explained in his 1954 history, it was “near the Sheepscot Great Pond,” now 1,193-acre Sheepscot Lake (the third largest in Waldo County, according to state data last reviewed in 1992)…. by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Albion schools
ALBION HISTORY — The Town of Albion, north of China and east of Winslow, had half a dozen European families by 1790, according to Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history. The area, including until 1818 the north end of present-day China, was organized as Freetown Plantation in 1802… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, March 13, 2025
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: Valoree Martin, So. China
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | You must remember the cartoon character of a bird with an innate chutzpah and brash demeanor that would fly into our living rooms during cartoon Saturdays in the 1950s and 1960s…
CRITTER CHATTER
by Jayne Winters | I continue to share more of Carleen Cote’s past articles because Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center isn’t accepting any wildlife or phone inquiries right now. I found several about the generous efforts of local students to help support the rehab center…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | The Cathedrals is a gospel men’s quartet in the tradition of the two most well known ones from the Deep South – the Blackwood Brothers; and the Statesmen. This cassette is a generously filled anthology of 15 previously released selections..
FOR YOUR HEALTH
HEALTH | Technology is making it easier for people to manage their health – in ways that may surprise you. Wearables in conjunction with health apps are transforming how people manage their health. These tools enable users to monitor vital signs, track healthcare activities, and manage chronic conditions with ease…