Our friendly Town Hall kitchen has an urgent need for a functioning refrigerator! If anyone is "up-grading" from an old fridge which is still in good working condition, and willing to donate it to Edgecomb, please call the town offices, 882-7018, and many thanks!

The Route 27 Corridor study committee is conducting a"Community Charette" (aka Workshop), Tuesday, May 14, at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall. Issues of safety, mobility and economic development of the Lincoln County sections of this state highway need citizen input, ideas and suggestions. Please join us!

This elicits a linguistic sqawk from your correspondent. What's with this word "charette?" I can find no dictionary definition other than in my French LaRousse dictionary: a two-wheeled vehicle to be pulled by a draft animal; frequently fitted with one or two seats. "Une charette anglais" is a fancy edition of the same. [For Lincoln County News readers, there is a picture of a Cuban charette on page 1-A of the May 2 edition.] So, are we all going on a hayride along Route 27, noting its virtues and deficiencies?

Uh oh, here comes husband with an on-line definition in his teeth: According to www.masterplanning.com, a charette is an intense effort to solve any architectural problem within a limited time. It operates in a highly collaborative atmosphere, allowing for the participation of everyone involved with the project. The term first appeared in the late 19th century, when Parisian architecture students who needed to rush their drawings to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts loaded them on a cart which was called a charette [Aha!]. The site provides a picture of all the students pushing and pulling it. Later the word broadened its meaning to describe any intense, on-the-spot design project. Remember, you read it here!

Town elections coming up Friday, May 17, followed by the Town Meeting on Saturday. Our Town Clerk gives the following early warning: Thursday, May 23 is the last day to change political parties in order to vote in the Primary Election June 11. Remember, in a primary, you can only vote for the party you're enrolled in. There are currently three parties to choose from: Republican, Democrat, or Green Independent. Come to the town offices, open Mondays 7-9 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays 1-5 p.m. if you need to re-register.

Thursday, May 23rd, from 2-4 p.m., is also the next meeting of the Edgecomb Historical Society, gathering this time at Sophie Quinn's house, first one in on the Cross Point Road, directly across from the Congregational Church.

Just back from a pleasant Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Academy's Open House, admiring the projected new building additions which will provide badly needed classroom space. We enjoyed the band concert, and nibbling at various appropriate foods in the Spanish and French classrooms. French teacher Nathalie Gorey, a River Road neighbor, presided over un buffet deluxe veritable des patisseries et autres comestibles.

We have had chipping sparrows at our feeder. During a brief visit to Duncan Slade and Gail Fraas, we saw white-capped sparrows at theirs. Duncan reports bluebirds nesting in his boxes, but warns that barn swallows may pre-empt the sites. Indeed, I watched a pair of swallows check out the birdhouse near our garden, which I'm sure my mother intended for bluebirds, but it's much too close to human habitation for them.

Planting my peapatch at 234 River Road, bonesukl@midcoast.com, 633-2978!