Last week I challenged you to come up with the name of the "Edgecomb Wood Carver." Lee Smith knew at once: He was "Bill Clisby who owned the house now owned by Carolyn and Wesley Mills on the Clifford Road and the wood carver building is right across the road from that house. Bill Clisby sold the business to Jim Wadlow..." According to conversation at the Edgecomb Historical Society meeting, it has gone through other owners since then. Lee owns several of Clisby's carvings, but no duck decoys by him.
Three teachers from the Center for Teaching and Learning on Cross Point Road are offering a teachers' workshop at the Spectacular Events Center in Bangor on Friday, Nov. 4. Nancie Atwell, Jill Tobin Cotta and Ted DeMille will be presenting their proven practical techniques for encouraging children to enjoy the writing process. This team has given writing seminars for teachers in many parts of the U.S.
The Grand Opening of the Edgecomb Congregational Church's new Thrift Shop will be Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 10:00 a.m., with refreshments and gift certificates for early comers! Regular hours will be Tuesday and Friday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., to be adjusted as needed. The Shop also plans to be open one Saturday a month, same hours, its first Saturday, November 12. Donations are being accepted for clothing, with a particular need for children's clothing. Any season is fineclothes suitable for spring or summer can be stored. If you have questions, give Louise Hardina a call, 563-5236.
Louise and Bob are just back from a tour of Scotland, tracking Louise's Clan MacLeod heritage. This included a stay with Camerons on the Isle of Skye! Sez Louise, "Saw a few museums, some castles and a lovely large estate (a palace), lots of sheep and cattle... We rented a car and I nearly died of fright. They [the Scots] go sailing along at 80 mph on a road at least 30% narrower than anything we are used to, and where you wouldn't dare exceed 40 mph. The round- abouts were always sending us off in a new direction. We got so lost!" At least they were spared driving on the left! "The people were wonderful, the food was glorious." Good to be home, but she misses the "Big Scottish Breakfasts." Now she's looking for a source of supply of pin head oatmeal. Any ideas?
This coming Monday, Nov. 7, come meet an American Alligator up from the Okeefenokee Swamp to attend the "Scales and Tales" program about reptiles, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Chewonki Foundation. Kids free, adults, $5.00. Call Anna Hunt, Outreach Program Director, at 882-7323 for details.
Are you ready for Maine Recycles Week? November 8 to 15. Your rinsed out bottles and cans will be welcomed by the Edgecomb Fire Department and the Congregational Church! Collect your scrap paper (including envelopes and colored papers but not plastic- or wax-coated or gummed) and your corrugated cardboard boxes and take them to your refuse transit stations. Local libraries will accept the magazines you've read, to make available for someone else's interest. The state's recycling goal this year is 50%. This seems very low, considering all the materials that enter our homes, businesses and schools! Try to avoid "over-packaged" items.
Apropos nothing at all, have you ever seen a local bird "ant"? A recent Herb Wilson article on birding says blue jays, starlings and orioles engage in this behavior, picking up one ant or more to stroke its feathers. Apparently the ant's formic acid kills off mites and other pests on the bird. Wilson says a crow will sit down on an ant hill and let the ants invade him, until they've cleaned him sufficiently and then, I suppose, he shakes them off and flies on his merry way. This I've got to see! Failing a convenient ant hill, Wilson says some birds, including crows, like mothballs and will stroke one along their feathers.
Which reminds me, gotta get the woollies out of mothballs at 234 River Road, 633-2978, bonesukl@midcoast.com. This column appears in several local papers, and at www.Edgecomb.org.