Caitlin Andrews, Lisa McSwain's eldest daughter, is gearing up for the Boston Marathon, come Patriots' Day. A senior at Wellesley, Caitlin will be running for Brookline Mental Health. She has pledged to raise $3000 to be an official runner. If interested in helping her meet this fee, you might want to call Lisa, 633.4965.
Last week, while I was off on errands, Bruce discovered a raccoon slumped down in the forsythia bush, acting very ill, indeed. Al Cooper came over and dispatched the poor creature. The state animal control office suggests it might have had feral parvo virus, although our first suspicion is rabies. Be wary of animals – wild or domestic – who behave sluggishly, not naturally.
During the downpours over the weekend, the culvert at the bottom of the first valley of McKay Road from the River Road end burst, and for a while we had Lake Edgecomb, making passage of McKay impossible. My spies report, as of Monday morning, that the area has been cleared and filled, so passage is now possible, although the culvert itself has not yet been replaced. These recent heavy rains have washed out several of our rural roads. I hope homeowners along them will be patient with Edgecomb road workers!
In the week prior, due to the high snow build-up and the slow melt followed by such copious rain, at least one of the Town Hall window wells leaked into the downstairs area, on the carpet just inside the door from the stairs. Water also seeped into the closet in the Selectmen's office. Claudia and Lee want to thank John Harworth for helping to remove heavy boxes of paper and supplies to the table, and Fire Chief Barry Johnston for his assistance and gift of super-absorbent blotting material. I want to thank Bob Norton for helping to carry boxes of waste material up to my car, for me to take to BRRDD. Claudia Coffin is happy to report no such leakage occurred during the weekend drenching.
However, this brings up an important question which has been brewing all winter. We need some sort of standing maintenance committee for the Town Hall, for the types of emergency repairs which are more demanding than the regular custodians' and the occasional selectman's resources! Someone to check the soundness of the drains and foundation, for instance. Someone willing to shovel snow away from at least the front door ahead of office hours, so that frailer souls can enter. There used to be a Capital Improvements Committee, back in the 1980s, but that sounds too bankerish for what I am asking about. Any ideas? It may become a subject for discussion at the Town Meeting, which, don't forget, will be Saturday, May 21!
While availing ourselves of this un-asked-for opportunity to do spring cleaning, we found an artifact: A small banner featuring a broad red border, white center adorned by eight stars, six blue and two gold. My suspicion is that it dates from World War II, commemorating Edgecomb's military participants who were wounded and/or killed in action. Can anyone throw light on this? Meanwhile, I am transferring it to the Edgecomb Historical Society for safe-keeping.
Edgecomb Eddy K-3 teachers have been involved in a State Dept. Education/Maine Public Broadcasting Network video project, a part of the Maine Reading First grant initiative obtained by the Boothbay Elementary School. The series of 17 two-hour sessions, intended to provide professional development for Maine educators, will feature lessons about oral language development, reading development, phonics, vocabulary and much else besides.
Young Thespians Alert! The Lincoln County Community Theater offers the Alphonse Kenison Scholarship to Lincoln County post-secondary students studying the performing and visual arts. I know Edgecomb has several young people involved in local theatrical productions, but note the opportunity for painters, sculptors, art craftsmen, as well! Among the Lincoln County high schools whose students are eligible are Lincoln Academy, Boothbay Region HS, Wiscasset HS and the Coastal Christian School. Deadline for applications is April 28. For forms and more information, call LCCT scholarship committee chair Susan Morse at 563-8828 or taffetagal@yahoo.com.
Bailing out the driveway at 234 River Road, 633-2978, bonesukl@midcoast.com. This column appears in several local papers, and at www.Edgecomb.org.