Issue for September 4, 2025
Cruise-in for Vassalboro Days
Not every mechanic shop will deliver your serviced motor vehicle back to your dooryard. Growing up, this is how I heard about Freddie’s Garage. Billy or Roxanne would drop the car off in our driveway after it’d been fixed. Only once becoming an adult and having to get my own cars fixed at various garages did I realize how special, not to mention helpful, this is… by Gillian Lalime
History comes alive at Killdeer Point walk
On Thursday evening, August 21, in China, more than a dozen history enthusiasts gathered at Killdeer Point for a walk through local history led by longtime resident Richard Dillenbeck. The event, sponsored by the China Historical Society, offered attendees a chance to hear the stories behind this historic corner of China Lake, which has been tied to Dillenbeck’s family since the 1920s… by Eric W. Austin
Town News
Select board agrees to three ballot questions
VASSALBORO – Vassalboro select board members agreed at their Aug. 28 meeting on three questions to present to voters on Nov. 4. The local ballot will ask voters to approve or reject…
Planners approve only application on agenda
CHINA – At their Aug. 26 meeting, China Planning board members approved the only application on their agenda and postponed discussion of two pieces of town ordinances…
UPDATE: Cyanobacteria identified in Webber Pond
VASSALBORO – Cyanobacteria toxins at levels harmful to adults, children and pets were identified, on September 2, in water samples taken on the south shore of Webber Pond. These are the first persistent scums that have been reported this year…
Redington-Fairview General Hospital named a 2025 Best Place to Work in Maine
SKOWHEGAN — The Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management, Best Companies Group, and BridgeTower Media have named Redington-Fairview General Hospital (RFGH) as one of the 2025 Best Places to Work in Maine in the large employer category…
Northern Light Health seeks mediation with Anthem
CENTRAL ME — Northern Light Health has notified Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s (Anthem) leadership that it would agree to engage in mediation as a last ditch effort to resolve the impasse between the two parties…
Flores receives Phi Kappa Phi Pioneer Award
CENTRAL ME — Chantelle Flores, of Oakland, was recently awarded a Pioneer Award worth $1,000 from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi – the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The Pioneer Awards are designed to encourage and reward undergraduate members for developing the research, engagement and leadership skills necessary to become a successful scholar. Flores was initiated into Phi Kappa Phi in 2024 at the University of Maine.
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Dean’s, president’s lists students named at Univ. of Alabama
CENTRAL ME — A total of 14,289 students enrolled during spring semester 2025 at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Local students include: Elizabeth Hardy, of South China, and Alexis Alcott, of Windsor, both named to the President’s List.
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Local happenings
EVENTS: Concert benefits Mills Foundation
SIDNEY — On Sunday, August 10, 2025, Gary Sinise and his Lt Dan Band landed at Bowl In The Pines, part of the Snow Pond Center for the Arts. Their mission, rock out and raise money for the Travis Mills Foundation…
EVENTS: Carol Bailey String Band at No. Windsor Baptist Church
SIDNEY — The Carol Bailey String Band will be performing on Wednesday, September 17, at the North Windsor Baptist Church (955 Ridge Rd., Windsor), at 11 a.m. All are welcome to the free event…
EVENTS: Mitchell to speak at historical society
VASSALBORO — Vassalboro resident Elizabeth (Libby) Mitchell will speak at the Vassalboro Historical Society about her long career in politics representing the town, on Sunday, September 21. She was the first woman to have been elected as both Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Maine Senate. She served as a legislator from 1990-1998 and as a senator from 2004-2010…
EVENTS: Messalonskee girls soccer plans annual mentoring day
OAKLAND — Messalonskee High School Girls Soccer and the ShineOnCass Foundation will host its 10th annual girls’ youth mentoring day “ShineOn Saturday” September 13, from noon to 2 p.m., on the Messalonskee High School Grass Soccer Field, in Oakland. The event is held to honor former Messalonskee soccer player and youth mentor Cassidy Charette, who died in a hayride accident October 11, 2014…
EVENTS: Great Carrying Place
CENTRAL ME — This year commemorates the 250th anniversary of Benedict Arnold’s march through the Maine wilderness in an attempt to capture Québec. To honor this daring journey, the Arnold Expedition Historical Society (AEHS) is offering three guided hikes along a section of the Arnold Trail to Québec, known as the “Great Carrying Place Portage Trail,” retracing the steps of Arnold’s 1,000-man army, on Saturday, August 16; Saturday, September 27; and Saturday, October 18, 2025…
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: “I’ll be back.” Email us at townline@townline.org with subject “Name that film!” Deadline for submission is September 4, 2025.
An open letter to our readers
At The Town Line, we aren’t just reporting news—we’re telling the stories that shape our community. Written by locals, for locals, our paper reflects the heart and soul of central Maine. We exist because of you, our readers and local businesses, and we believe that when our community thrives, so does The Town Line. But times are tough for local newspapers. In fact, since 2005, one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have shut down, and experts predict that a third will be gone by 2025. Local papers like The Town Line—dedicated to covering the unique issues in our rural towns—are feeling this strain the hardest…
CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Freddie’s 10th annual Cruise-In
VASSALBORO – Saturday, September 6, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Rain date, Sunday, September 7, Vassalboro Town Office, 682 Main St., Vassalboro. Special Surprises for the 10th anniversary. Giveaways every hour. Must be present to win. Contact Bill for more information 207-877-3895… and many other local events!
Obituaries
CLINTON – Mary Ellen Cushman Welsh, 87, of Clinton, passed away on Sunday, August 17, 2025. She was born on May 27, 1938, in Hartland, to James Allerton Cushman and Leola Butler Cushman…
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Revolution effects Vassalboro & Winslow (new)
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — A 1770s map of Kennebec River towns upriver from Augusta would look quite different from a 2025 map, or even an 1870s map. Currently, Augusta is the only area town with territory on both banks of the river (linked by two bridges). Upriver on the west bank, one goes from Augusta north into Sidney, then Waterville and then Fairfield. On the east bank, the next town north of Augusta is Vassalboro, then Winslow, then Benton… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Revolution effects: Augusta from 1778
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — James North, in his history of Augusta, mentioned only one Hallowell town meeting during the year 1777. There were at least two in 1778, mostly dealing with local finances. The town’s population was about 100 families in those years… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Revolution effects
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — The American colonies’ war for independence from Great Britain had only limited effects in the central Kennebec Valley. With one important exception (to be described in September), no Revolutionary “event” occurred in this part of Maine. No battles between armies were fought here, although there were some between neighbors and, most likely, among family members… by Mary Grow
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Amy Morris Bradley
CENTRAL ME HISTORY — In her Vassalboro history, Alma Pierce Robbins introduced her readers to one of the town’s nationally-known residents, Amy Morris Bradley. Robbins’ focus was on Bradley’s role in nursing during the Civil War; other sources add information about her career in public education… by Mary Grow
Common Ground: Win a $10 gift certificate!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 11, 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: Mary Alice Boxall, Augusta
Town Line Original Columnists
SCORES & OUTDOORS
by Roland D. Hallee | When we first moved out to camp for the summer in mid-May, we heard something mysterious on our fourth day out there. It was after dark, and from a distance, we heard a wailing, lamenting siren-like shriek. Everyone around was wondering what was making that noise. At first we thought it was a small, yipping dog. But it continued almost uninterrupted…
MAINE-LY GARDENING
by Jude Hsiang | When Joseph Houlton arrived in Aroostook County in 1807, he brought along a variety of potato called Early Blue. Only a few decades later the potato had become an important crop with Maine producing 10 million bushels a year by the 1940s…
GROWING YOUR BUSINESS
by Dan Beaulieu | When Joseph Houlton arrived in Aroostook County in 1807, he brought along a variety of potato called Early Blue. Only a few decades later the potato had become an important crop with Maine producing 10 million bushels a year by the 1940s…
THE BEST VIEW
by Norma Best Boucher | “Don’t you bring home one of those things, Raymond.” I didn’t know what my mother meant by “things,” but I did know by the smile on my father’s face and the wink of his eye that we were going to do just that: bring home “one of those things.” This was the 1950s…
VETERANS CORNER
by Gary Kennedy | Last week we talked about Labor Day as it is part related to VA. It caused me to think and wonder why we veterans are now being asked to take outside of the system referrals; some of which are more than a hundred miles away, I was speaking with a dentist in Concord, New Hampshire, and he told me that he had patients from the County, attending his clinic. We talked a little about the expense of such a relationship and he expressed his desire to help veterans and how he and a nearby surgical facility were working hand in hand…
REVIEW POTPOURRI
by Peter Cates | Los Chavales was a performing group of 11 very gifted men from Barcelona, Spain, each of whom sang and played four or five instruments. Originally formed in 1940, they spent their first five years performing in Spain and Portugal until the end of World War II. Later successful bookings in pre-Castro Cuba , Mexico, Peru and Venezuela would lead to extended engagements in 1952 at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria, Washington D.C., Chicago, St. Louis and Dallas, and appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show…
QUINN MINUTE
by Rix Quinn | As I get older, I try to learn something every day. That’s not always possible, because some days I just watch reruns. I’m not alone in this mission. My friend Lucas spent months trying to read deeper meanings into old nursery rhymes…
FOR YOUR HEALTH
HEALTH | Many older adults find health care hard to access and difficult to understand. In fact, a Harris Poll survey on older Americans’ experiences with the health care system found that 56 percent of respondents find it difficult and stressful to navigate. The good news is you don’t have to be among them…