"Oh, every boy and every gal who's born into this world alive,
Is either a little Liber-al or else a little Conserva-tive!"
The above a chorus from Gilbert and Sullivan for us all to sing lustily as we march to the polls!
Disappointing turn-out for the first TIF informational meeting last Saturday. Tonight, please everyone, come from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. to the Town Hall for the second of these meetings to explain Edgecomb's plans with our lawyer, Paul Gibbons of Gibbons and Calderwood in Camden, and our engineer, Jim Fitch from Woodward and Curran. The Public Hearing to approve the Davis Island Environmental Protection and Development TIF District will be Monday, Nov.1, again from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The Special Town Meeting to vote on both the TIF District and the water and sewer ordinance is next Thursday, November 4, also at the Town Hall, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. In connection with which, the Sheepscot River Inn with its associated LLC holdings I and II has been sold, and will now be known as Edgecomb Development LLC.
Earlier, 2:00 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 28, the Edgecomb Historical Society will meet in the Edgecomb Eddy School's conference room. EHS President Suzanne Carlson has invited architectural historian Rosemarie Ballard Boak from Bristol to advise us, as she has advised the Bristol Historical Society, about inventorying our historic buildings and other sites. Come one, come all, and learn about periods and styles and how to run title searches!
Margot Stiassni, Cross Point Road music maven, and Nancy Jean, Director of Round Top Center for the Arts' Childrens' Programs, have organized a new multilingual program for toddlers, 2 to 5 years old. "Hands On at Roundtop" will combine art, music, and stories in English, French and Spanish. It meets weekly, Monday mornings, 9:30 to 11:00. The first four-week session starts Monday, November 1, also 8, 15 and 29. The meeting place is the Jody McCorkle Children's Art Center (which used to be the little ice cream dispensary). For information on fees, materials, etc., call Roundtop at 563-1507 or Margot at 882-7593.
Just in from gathering the five essential ingredients of what appears to be the standard Liberty Tea mix, thanks to a website spotted by Claudia Coffin, www.easternchristian.com, in California, which offers for sale a blend under this name consisting of raspberry leaves, rose hips, lemon balm (or lemon verbena), peppermint (I have monk's mint, a variety) and spearmint. The first four ingredients were easy, close to the house. My woolly spearmint is lush, down by the former fire pond, now cow pond. I truly mucked myself up shoving through to pick some. Too late, I realized it would have been easier to get at from the road. Now to dry them all, and then, the hard part, figuring out the best proportions for a cuppa.
Meanwhile Gertrude Cunningham on Station Road, just over the Newcastle border, has sent me the latest issue of the Knox-Lincoln Extension Association newsletter she edits, packed with possibilities. Try this, from an 1819 Family Receipt Book: "Leaves of 3 generous sprigs of fresh balm or lemon balm alone or with one sprig of sage, with a few (3) flowers of lavender;.... most agreeable when freshly cut. Pour boiling water over the herbs, let them steep for 5-10 minutes. Add honey to taste. Drink hot or cold."
And in the above connection, the Friends of Fort Edgecomb's monthly meeting will be Wednesday, November 3, in the lobby of the Sheepscot River Inn at 7:00 p.m.
Here's to Liberty! Guaranteed by our Votes! Yours, at 234 River Road, 633-2978, bonesukl@midcoast.com. This column appears in several local papers, and at www.Edgecomb.org.