A small crowd of people came on Veterans' Day to the dedication of the new Edgecomb Town Hall flagpole. Selectman Stuart Smith, ably assisted by 8-year-old Alex, moved Old Glory up the gleaming aluminum shaft, and neatly stowed the lines away within the flagpole! Our thanks to Jack French and Marcia Welsh for making this pole possible, and thanks to the Di Francesco family, to Doug and Betty Kennedy, and others who attended this simple but deeply emotional event.
Let us lower our personal flags to mark the passing of Virginia Swett, whose parents Harold and Cora Page long lived on the River Road. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be sent in Mrs. Swett's memory to St. Andrews Home Health Hospice, 3 St. Andrews Lane, Boothbay Harbor 04538.
And again, let us mourn the loss of Howie Ryder, one of the finest Head Masters Lincoln Academy has ever had, and a good friend to Bruce and me.
The Public came quite enthusiastically to the Planning Board's first of a series of three talks by County Planner Bob Faunce on how to control in-coming commercial and industrial enterprises in Edgecomb. His pictures dealt mainly with big box or mid-box stores in urban and suburban settings. The next such meeting, December 4, at 6:30 p.m., will get into what our Town does not want in the way of commercial development. The third meeting, probably scheduled for January 8, will be about our requirements for performance standards. Again, plan to attend to voice your concerns and learn about a critical part of Edgecomb's growth.
Hey there, Chat'n'Checkers! The next Chat and Check meeting will be Monday, Nov. 20, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Call Gail Boudin, 882-7972 for details. Now, there's an idea, Gail! Spread a few checkerboards around, or other board games. Or a big complex jigsaw puzzle?
The Southern Mid-Coast Maine Chamber of Commerce is offering a host of opportunities for photographers, professional and amateur! The SMCMCC represents 16 towns along the coast, including Edgecomb. They are looking for pictures for all four seasons, the great outdoors, interiors and exteriors of buildings famous and forgotten, farm stands, lobster bakes, museums, concerts, beaches, forts (! Fort Edgecomb fans, are you listening?), llamas and emus, eagles and Edgecomb Eddy Eagles, etc. Photos to highlight our businesses and business opportunities. Pictures to suggest why people may want to relocate to this area. All photos must be in electronic format and sent to "Photo Contest" at chamber@midcoastmaine.com. I expect that e-mail address will also provide the detailed rules. To qualify for consideration as cover art for the Chamber's 2007 Visitors' Guide, the deadline is December 11 by 4:00 p.m. The winner, to be announced after December 20, will receive a weekend in Bath, including dinner for two at the Kennebec Tavern and breakfast at the Bounty Tavern.
However, before November 20, you should ask them about other opportunities, like the Chamber's website, www.midcoastmaine.com, currently under development, and even the Mid-Coast Region's section on the State's Tourism website! Click, click, everyone!
Suzie Stephenson hosted Dawn Geary's second-graders last week. I could hear them tearing around the hill. They visited the rustic hillside cabin, fed the chickens and harvested the occasional egg, and devoured a hearty meal cooked colonial-style at Suzie's huge fireplace. This event is one of a number of such for Edgecomb Eddy's total immersion in social studies, how our ancestors lived.
College-goers and parents of college-goers, listen up: The Edgecomb Town Hall has brochures about the Clyde Russell Scholarship Fund. There are 4 award categories: Graduating High School Seniors, Graduating High School Seniors who will attend a Maine Community College, Full or Part-Time College or Graduate Students, and [College] Junior, Senior, or Graduate Students in a Teacher Preparation Program. The awards are quite generous, but the Fund does not take phone calls or e-mails. You will have to write the Fund at POB 2457, Augusta ME 04338, for any more detailed information. But do it!
Beware the Larch/Tamarack/Hackmatack Sawfly! We have lost or are in the process of losing three larch trees, the two down in the field by the big rock, and another one back of the house. Larch used to be used for ship-building, particularly deck planking; also house framing, railroad ties, dock pilings, telephone poles, turpentine production, and the manufacture of baking powder. (I quote the Columbia Encyclopedia article on the internet.) For information on the larch sawfly, go to the link http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF12/1295.html. for a horror story from Alaska which describes the caterpillars and what they do to a larch branch!
Bruce and I have just concluded a Coastal Senior College course on Energy Options, given by Paul Kando, a some-time neighbor just below us, off the River Road. Very, very interesting and useful, from practical ways to go green to the international politics behind the search for alternative energy sources. The Green Coalition in Damariscotta is planning an Energy Fair for some time in the spring. When I know more about it, I will let you all know, because I am aware that many Edgecomb residents have a deep interest in this subject. Mr. Kando hopes to be giving this course for CSC again, so I recommend all who qualify (over 55) to tell CSC you want it! Go on-line to www.coastalseniorcollege.org, or phone 1-800-286-1594.
Typing this on a murky Monday morning in November, singing one of the songs in my mother's repertory, a gem from the days of Sir Harry Lauder: "But when the dew is doin' and it's murky overhead, oh, it's nice to get up in the morning, but it's nicer to stay in bed!" Yawns from 234 River Road, 633-2978, bonesukl@midcoast.com. This column appears in several local papers, and at www.Edgecomb.org.