SOLON & BEYOND: Cat is out of the bag…happy birthday to me

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends, Don’t worry, be happy!

Just received an e-mail about a change in the topic of the program for the next Embden Historical Society meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 13, at the Embden Town House with a change in the program. The business meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. The program at 7 p.m., Sarah Donovan will be presenting, Women on Arnold’s March in Revolutionary War and What They Wore. The original topic scheduled for May 13, History of South Solon Meeting House, has been postponed to a later date.

More news from Solon Elementary School: Students named as Most Improved Students: This spring Solon Elementary School participated once again in the Most Improved Student Contest sponsored by the Portland Sea Dogs. Each teacher got to choose a student who had shown the most improvement over the course of the year, and they could consider grades, academic skills, behavior, social skills, and/or work habits.

Each winner received a certificate and a free ticket to a Sea Dogs game. Most Improved Students were Karen Baker, Chase Hongo, Dylan Priest, Amelia Cooper, Hunter Ingersoll, Ethan Plourd and Cali Bassett.

Preparing for the MEA’S: Grades 3-5 students took the Maine Educational Assessment in reading, language arts, and math from March 18 – April 12. Grade five students will take the science assessment from April 22 – May 3.

To prepare for the test, students practiced with sample questions and a review of skills with their teachers.

The theme this year was video games and reaching the next level on the test like one does in video games. There was a poster contest to design a poster around this theme to inspire others to work hard on the MEAs. Winners of the poster contest were Fisher Tewksbury, William Rogers,and Kaitlin Dellarma.

……Finally the cat is out of the bag!!! I was given a wonderful (supposed to be a surprise) 90th birthday party, at the North Anson Congregational Church. I had not told too many people about how old I was going to be on that birthday, but of course, my daughter Mary Walz knew, and planned this wonderful occasion. Mary, and her great helpers (including Lief) must have spent a lot of time asking so many people to the party, but I was so happy to see all of them!

I’m not even going to try to tell you all of the people who were there. My three sons and their wives; some of them came back from their winter home in Florida early so they could be present. My three brothers and their wives attended; one of my grandsons and his wife and three little great-grandchildren from Texas came for the event. I was so busy trying to keep up with everything that I didn’t count how many were there. Another one of my grandsons and his wife and two of my great-grandchildren ….My grand daughter, Amanda and my great-granddaughter Mary helped entertain the smaller ones present.

One of Lief’s sisters, Judy, came up from China, but most of his other relatives live up in the County.

Was really pleased that Claire Breton and her husband, Denis, came. Claire is a long-time friend from The Town Line staff. My editor who has been so good to me, Roland Hallee, started out to attend, but an emergency came up and he had to turn around.

Would like to thank my wonderful friends from the church who cooked and served the very tasty refreshments. And special thanks to everyone for the many birthday cards, gifts, flowers…..And for the love that filled the room! My heart overflows! Have already thanked Mary for doing such a great job of planning the whole wonderful party….and everyone did seem to be having a great time.

I have just one request! PLEASE, don’t treat me like ‘ a little old lady’ now that you know how old I am!

And now for Percy’s memoir: Always remember to forget the troubles that passed away, But never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.