SOLON & BEYOND: Marijuana ordinance committee holds first meeting

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

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

It isn’t often that I have more local news to share than I have room for! I didn’t receive the following email until after the fact.

The Marijuana Ordinance Committee held its first meeting on June 3. They worked on drafting the town ordinance to regulate marijuana businesses in Solon.

The annual town meeting voted in a 180-day moratorium on allowing marijuana businesses in town. They have until September 3 to hold the special town meeting on a proposed marijuana ordinance. They hope to have the ordinance completed by the end of July so we can hold a public hearing the beginning of August with the special town meeting to be held at the end of August. Committee members are Jeff Pomelow, Peter Pfeiffer, Heather Forsten, Joe Albuit and Lisa Caldwell, with Wayne Gushee being an information officer.

The town office is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a limit of one customer or family unit at a time in the lobby area. Also, the governor has decreed that masks are required to be worn in businesses open to the public and in public buildings where social distancing is not possible.

Was very surprised and please to receive another Solon School News in the mail this week with lots of recent news to share. It starts with Best Wishes to Fifth Graders. We want to extend our best wishes and good luck to the fifth grade class, who will enter sixth grade at Carrabec Community School, in the fall.

All of us will miss our wonderful and talented fifth graders. We wish we had been able to have them with us at school all year long. They are wished the best luck in the next step on their educational journey.

Please check out our slide show farewell message to them, which will be posted on the Solon Elementary School Facebook page on Friday, June 3.

Goodbye and good luck to Izaiah Busler, Kaylynn Clark, Katelyn DeLeonardis, Kaitlin Dellarma, David Dixon, Emmy Golden, Veronica Hoffman, Alex Jerkins, Elijah Katz, Joseph McLaughlin, Craig Nile, Riley Pelkey, Jillian Robinson and Haylee Towers.

Solon staff members stay busy during school closure. Our school has been closed since March 13, but the staff members have been busy. Teachers have been preparing learning packets for their students every week as well as contacting families to check in. Some of the staff have worked at the food hub or helped to deliver packets to students’ homes. Mrs. Hines worked at CCS to prepare meals for the food hub. We hope our efforts have helped students and families during this difficult time.

Third quarter honor roll includes: All A’s and B’s, Isabella Atwood, Kaylynn Clark, Amelia Cooper, Lydia Dixon, Emmy Golden, Veronica Hoffman, Allyssa Hutchins, Alex Jerkins, Jayden McKenney, Joseph McLaughlin, Riley Pelkey, Aiden Powell, Ben Powwell, Spencer Rogers, Haylee Towers and Michael Towers.

All A’s, Maxx Caplin, Katelyn DeLeonardis, Kaitlin Dellarma, David Dixon, Lane Frost, Charlotte Hamilton and Jillian Robinson.

A letter: Dear Solon parents and guardians, The Solon staff would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to all our parents, grandparents and guardians who took on the role of “teacher” for our students when our school closed on March 13 for the remainder of the school year due to the coronavirus pandemic. You helped your child complete the activities in his or her learning packet for ten weeks, and you taught him or her lots of other things about the world we live in through family activities. We know this has been a difficult time for you as well as for us.

You have been strong and you have supported the school through these hard times. For that we are immensely grateful.

We have missed our students so much this spring. School is not the same without them. We hope that with some safety protocols in place, our school will be able to reopen in the fall. We will keep you posted over the summer.

We hope that you and your families will stay healthy and safe until we meet again. If there’s anything we can do to support you, please email or call the school or your child’s teacher at any time.

Stay the strong and wonderful people that you are and have a nice summer.

And now, for Percy’s memoir: Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts. (and I think there is a lot of stress these days…try it, you might like it!