Week of August 6, 2020

Celebrating 32 years of local news

Family outing: loon count on Sheepscot Lake

Throughout the night they called from the lake. Their wild, haunting voices are unmistakable and considered by many to be the definitive sound of summer here in Maine. I gladly accept the sleep disturbance to hear them any time, but this night was particularly exciting as I anticipated participation in my first official Audubon Loon Count… by Pamela McKenney

Your Local News

Only one resident attends Longroad Energy hearing

VASSALBORO — Representatives of Longroad Energy Management held open their July 28 public hearing on their proposed solar development at 2579 Riverside Drive for half an hour, but they still attracted only one resident. He expressed no concerns…

Selectmen deal with multiple matters

CHINA — China selectmen dealt with miscellaneous matters at their Aug. 3 meeting, including hearing beginning-of-the-month reports from town departments, accepting recommendations from the assessor that will lead to setting the 2020-21 tax rate later in the month and approving agreements with the China Lake Association and the China Region Lakes Alliance…

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LakeSmart program presents award to Kennebec Water District

CENTRAL ME — For many years, the Kennebec Water District has supported the China LakeSmart effort and the work of the YCC with their generous financial contributions…

Folksinger at Albert Church Brown Library in China

CHINA — On Sunday, Aug. 16 (rain date Sunday, Aug. 23), at 2 p.m., the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, on Main Street, in China Village, will present folks­inger Bill Berling­hoff in an outdoor concert…

Second Saturday pick-up group to resume work

CHINA — The Second Saturday litter pick-up group, established in 2019 by summer resident Richard Dillenbeck, will be resuming their work. The group is dedicated to cleaning up the road sides in China, especially Route 202…

Blueberry festival set for Aug. 15

WINSLOW — One of Maine’s all-time most beloved, popular, and downright yummy summer events—Winslow’s annual Blueberry Festival—is coming this year on Saturday, August 15, from 8 a.m. to noon, at Winslow Congregational Church…

Winslow football gets youth outside and active

WINSLOW — Winslow Youth Football has been running special clinics for youngsters of all ages during the month of July. It was nice to see the young football players back on the field after being away from their friends during the pandemic…

Northern Light Inland Hospital welcomes Dr. Laviolette

WATERVILLE — Northern Light Inland Hospital is pleased to welcome Jessica Lavio­lette, DO. She joins our Northern Light Osteo­pathic Care practice at 180 Kennedy Memorial Drive in Water­ville…

FISHY PHOTOS: Brother & Sister Act

BELGRADE — Hunter Hallee, left, 14, of Rome, displays the nice brown trout he caught while fishing with his maternal grandfather, Terry Greenleaf, of Oakland, and his sister, Megan Hallee, 11, displays her own brown trout…

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Notable citizens – Part 2B of 3 (New)

CHINA HISTORY — After the early life summarized in the July 30 issue of The Town Line, prominent South China Quaker Rufus Jones entered Haverford College, in Pennsylvania, in 1882 as a sophomore, receiving a full scholarship (which he later repaid). His 20th birthday would be Jan. 25, 1883…  [1402 words] by Mary Grow

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Notable citizens – Part 2A of 3

CHINA HISTORY — Rufus Matthew Jones was born Jan. 25, 1863, in South China, into a Quaker family. The Encyclopedia Britannica’s online version calls him “one of the most respected U.S. Quakers of his time.” Wikipedia more comprehensively lists him as an “American religious leader, writer, magazine editor, philosopher, and college professor”…  [1313 words] by Mary Grow

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Three notable citizens – Part 1 of 3

MAINE HISTORY — George John Mitchell is usually referred to as Senator Mitchell, but that’s only one title earned by this Waterville native. His 2015 memoir is The Negotiator, another appropriate title; and one could add lieutenant (in the Army), chairman (of a variety of committees and boards), judge (federal district court in Maine), chancellor (of the Queen’s University of Belfast in Northern Ireland) and (honorary) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire…  [1655 words] by Mary Grow

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Governors with Kennebec ties, Part 2

MAINE HISTORY — Here follows the third and probably final piece on Maine’s governors and the second that lists those with a connection to the central Kennebec River valley, with some random notes that might be of interest…  [1152 words] by Mary Grow

Webber’s Pond

Webber’s Pond is a comic drawn by an anonymous central Maine resident…

Obituaries

WEEKS MILLS – Lorraine M. (Day) Casey, 87, died Thursday, July 30, 2020, at home, following a courageous battle with Alzheimer’s. She was born March 15, 1933, in Palermo, the daughter of Earl L. and Abbie E. (Bagley) Day… and remembering 12 others.

Common Ground – Round 19: Win a $10 gift certificate!

DEADLINE: Friday, August 7, 2020

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: Pat Clark, Palermo

Town Line Original Columnists

Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee | They swarm down from the heavens in flocks and take over the ground. They stay for a while, and then all leave together, like someone giving an order to evacuate the location. They are also a nuisance if you have a garden…

THE MONEY MINUTE

by Jac M. Arbour | Summers in Maine are special, and I am blessed to call this state my home. I wake each morning and travel across Lake Cobbosseecontee in a 14-foot, 1956 Richline aluminum boat with my grandfather’s 1973 6 horsepower Evinrude…

Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by Peter Cates | English novelist/poet Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was quite obsessed by the indifference of the universe to man’s predicament in this life. One feels this thread in such novels as Far From the Madding Crowd, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure and a sense of hopelessness pervades his poem, The Man He Killed, which first appeared in a 1902 issue of Harper’s Weekly

I’M JUST CURIOUS

by Debbie Walker | Tonight I was thinking about all the little things in my life and how much they mean to me. Just little things. Some of the most enjoyable moments as a child were spent sitting on the floor by Grammie’s rocking chair with her running her crippled fingers softly through my hair and her talking about the “old days”…

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

by Dan Beaulieu | No matter what business you’re in, the lifeblood of that business is your customer base. It’s pretty obvious that without customers you have no business. The reason you got in business in the first place was to serve your customers…

PAGES IN TIME

by Elizabeth Byrd Wood | Our dock on China Lake is a place for morning coffee and an afternoon beer, rambling conversations and quiet meditation, paperbacks and loon watching, and in the summer months, we spend much of our time there…

Marilyn Rogers-Bull & PercySOLON & BEYOND

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull | Before I get into this week’s third column of the Burial of Flagstaff, I’m going to print the only recent news I have received: The August 10, 2020, Embden Historcal Society meeting has been canceled…

FOR YOUR HEALTH

(NAPSI) — You may be feeling stressed during these challenging times, but stress can affect your physical and emotional health. Learn how to manage your stress so that you can stay healthy and cope with life’s challenges…