Issue for September 23, 2021
Golf Fore Kids’ Sake raises over $48,000 for BBBS
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine’s 2021 Kennebec Valley Golf Fore Kids’ Sake, presented by Kennebec Savings Bank, raised $48,300 to benefit school and community-based mentoring services for children in Kennebec and Somerset counties. Twenty teams competed in the annual golf tournament, held September 3, at Belgrade Lakes Golf Club…
Your Local News
Selectmen approve three tax abatements
WINDSOR — Windsor selectmen approved three tax abatements at their August 31 meeting. Abatements were awarded to Heather Vannah in the amount of $141.70, which was assessed to the deleted account; James A. Donnell and Melissa L. Blodgett, in the amount of $1,404, which as assessed to the wrong owner; and Augusta Rockland Rd., LLC, in the amount of $52, which was assessed to the deleted account…
Selectmen approve purchase of two compactors
VASSALBORO — At their Sept. 16 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen unanimously approved purchase of two new compactors for the town transfer station, concluding a years-long discussion of updating the facility…
Planners to hear application to convert Knowles building to marijuana business
CHINA — China Planning Board members have scheduled a Sept. 28 public hearing on Miguel Rivera’s application to convert the Knowles Mechanical Building at 1097 Route 3 to a medical marijuana business…
CBC drafts printed publicity material
CHINA — At their Sept. 16 meeting, China Broadband Committee (CBC) members continued planning publicity for the bond issue they are sponsoring on China’s Nov. 2 local ballot. They focused on drafting printed materials, and briefly discussed the next scheduled public presentation…
People’s Park group dealt major disappointment
CHINA — Lindsey Harwath, President of the The People’s Park group hoping to create a public park off Lakeview Drive on land that town officials just sold, has reported a major disappointment…
Please take our Reader Survey!
Please take a few minutes to complete this survey, and help us produce a better product. Everyone who fills it out will be entered in a raffle to win a Hannaford’s gift card!
Lawrence High School girls soccer
FAIRFIELD — Photos of the 2021 Lawrence High School girls soccer team by Central Maine Photography…
Children’s Author of Marine Conservation Series makes sure books are available free to children everywhere
Look out at the ocean as far as you can see. There’s a magical world right below the waves! Twisted Orca, a family friendly conservation site, wants every child to stare into the ocean in awe of the amazing world before them!…
LOCAL EVENTS
Appleton Rug Hookers exhibit at Gibbs Library
WASHINGTON — At the Gibbs Library now through the end of October is a delightful show: the art and handwork of the Appleton Rug Hookers. The rugs are a colorful reflection of rural life, blending traditional and updated subjects and techniques…
Recover Out Loud in Maine’s Capital September 30
AUGUSTA — Join the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project as we Recover Out Loud in Maine’s Capital! and celebrate International Recovery Day and National Recovery Month on September 30th, 2021 from 5 to 10 pm in Mill Park…
Mid-Maine Chamber, Alfond Youth & Community Center to continue festival of trees
WATERVILLE — Alfond Youth & Community Center and Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce combine efforts to present Festival of Trees this holiday season, continuing a proud tradition begun by the Sukeforth family in 2015…
Chamber hosts re-vamped Super Raffle dinner
WATERVILLE — Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s Super Raffle Dinner, is back, with a new venue, and re-energized format. The annual dinner will be hosted on Thursday, September 30, at The Elm, College Avenue, Waterville…
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: More high schools (new)
CHINA HISTORY — The Massachusetts legislature chartered China Academy in June 1818. Charter language quoted in the China bicentennial history is almost identical to the language used 50 or so years later for Hallowell Classical and Scientific Academy: purposes are to promote “piety, and virtue,” and to provide instruction “in such languages and in such of the liberal arts and sciences” as the trustees prescribe… by Mary Grow [1976 words]
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Hallowell academies
HALLOWELL HISTORY — Remaining to be described are numerous other 19th-century public and private schools in central Kennebec Valley towns. A few are well documented; for most, local histories offer only tantalizing glimpses… by Mary Grow [1608 words]
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Central Maine high schools
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — According to Millard Howard’s history of Palermo, an 1817 Massachusetts law that apparently carried over into Maine in 1820 required each town with 50 families to provide a primary school and each town with 200 families to have a grammar school whose teacher was able to teach Latin and Greek… by Mary Grow [1796 words]
Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Cony Flat Iron Building
AUGUSTA HISTORY — One more former school in the central Kennebec Valley is on the National Register of Historic Places: the original Cony High School, in Augusta, often referred to as Old Cony High School, to avoid confusion with present-day Cony High School, or as Cony Flatiron, for its unusual shape… by Mary Grow [1860 words]
Webber’s Pond
Webber’s Pond is a comic drawn by an anonymous central Maine resident (click thumbnail to enlarge)…
Become a member: An open letter to our readers
Dear Reader: For the past 33 years, The Town Line has pledged a mission statement to “create a vibrant rural community connecting our towns, organizations and individuals through communication, education and public dialogue.” It’s all part of The Town Line’s mission to be a positive force in our community…
2021-’22 Real Estate Tax Due Dates
2021-2022 Real Estate tax due dates for the following towns: CHINA, FAIRFIELD, PALERMO, SIDNEY, VASSALBORO, WATERVILLE, WINDSOR and WINSLOW…
Obituaries
BAREFOOT BAY, Florida, and Whitefield – Tabitha Lisa Blair, 41, died Thursday, August 19, 2021, at Holmes Regional Medical Center, in Melbourne, Florida, after succumbing to COVID pneumonia, following periods of diabetic ketoacidosis. Tabitha was born in Augusta, on September 9, 1979, the third child of Terry L. and Sally A. (Bowden) Blair… and remembering 12 others.
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Friday, October 8, 2021
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: Dave Carew, Waterville.
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | We haven’t had one of these in a long time, so it was kind of timely because it happened on one of our last fishing outings of the season. With summer officially ending on September 21, my wife and I are preparing to close camp, so the boat will be coming out of the water soon. What is it you ask? A fishing story….
FINANCIAL FOCUS
by Sasha Fitzpatrick | It’s been called the “Great Resignation” – the large number of Americans voluntarily leaving their jobs. If you plan to be part of it (ideally with another source of employment lined up), you’ll need to make the financial moves necessary to keep making progress toward your long-term goals…
I’M JUST CURIOUS
by Debbie Walker | There is so much nastiness and cruelty in the world today that whenever I see something promoting a more pleasant life, I want to use it. The writing I saw this week didn’t have a title or an author, just hints to a better life…
SOLON & BEYOND
by Marilyn Rogers-Bull | This week I am starting out with a few words from an old July 14, 1997, The Carney Brook Chronicle. It begins: I promised you there would be a sequel to my last column’s wild woodchuck story, but it’s just like one of those movies where you have to guess at the ending…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | Novelist Larry McMurtry (1936-2021) was perhaps most well known for Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, and The Last Picture Show. His 2008 books: A Memoir is an account of his adventures as a voracious reader, book collector (he would eventually amass a personal library of 28,000 books) and dealer in rare and-not-so-rare books…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
(NAPSI) | Parents can help their children practically eliminate their chance of getting cavities, often at no cost—yet they don’t. Here’s a closer look at this conundrum…