Yes, Edgecomb may actually be getting highspeed internet! Midcoast Internet Solutions has a grant from the ConnectME Initiative to provide Edgecomb residents with broadband access. It will take time (although probably not 50 years like a certain highway improvement we know and love so well!). Edgecomb gives our great thanks to Barry Hathorne, Janet Blevins, Northrup Fowler III, John Marckowski and Todd Carleton for their total immersion in this topic, to come up with the gold ring in their teeth! Incidently, since the charge for the Broadband Committee was to find a provider, and that has been done, the Committee has been disbanded. However, Midcoast will be coming to the Selectmen to present its detailed plans, and after that we will need a follow-through Committee. Three members of Committee #1 have volunteered already, but there will be room for others. Keep in touch!
High notes for some Lincoln Academy singers from Edgecomb! Tess McKechnie and Erika Harpell are among a number of vocalists going to the Maine Music Educators' District III Honor Festival in January 2008 . Fa la la la la, la la ,la, la to you all!
And Tess has just appeared in the Heartwood/L.A. production of "Into the Woods" as Rapunzel, with a magnificent rope of hair and an edgy, near-pathological relationship with her witch mother.
Early warning: Lee and Claudia will close the Town office from December 24, 2007 to January 3, 2008. Please make a note of it! Nor will the Selectmen meet during the holidays. They will, however, meet on the Mondays, Nov. 19 and 26, at 6:00 p.m.
Morris Farm is offering a class on making Market Baskets on Saturday, Nov. 17, starting at 9:00 a.m. Call the Farm 882-4080 or website www.morrisfarm.org for times and fees. Sounds like a neat container for a collection of Christmas goodies!
As winter approaches, it is a good idea to make note of programs provided by public and private agencies for helping people who may face difficulties in emergencies due to age, health, or disability. One such program in the works is designed to provide the Lincoln County Emergency Management Administration with a database of people with disabilities and special needs, for emergency operations planning, particularly for evacuation or shelter locations. Consultant Lynn Gilley Orne is preparing a database of information specific to the EMA Directors of Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties.
The term "People with Disabilities and Special Needs" includes but is not limited to the disabled, the elderly, people with mental health issues, the visually and hearing impaired, single heads of households, children 15 and under, and those who do not speak English. Specific support is also needed to assist those individuals who need transportation, communication, prescribed special diets, service animals, medications and mobility in the event of an emergency situation. The information you disclose will remain confidential.
To find out if you are qualified for the LIHEAP low cost heating fuel program, call Midcoast Maine Community Action (formerly CED, Coastal Economic Development Corp.) and arrange for an appointment. Their Bath number is 442-7963. Unfortunately, their Newcastle office has been closed. For local residents, the appointment site is the Boothbay Harbor Congregational Church, on Mondays. Call the Church at 633-4757 for the hours.
High school and college students, the Edgecomb Town Hall has just received a bundle of application forms from the Clyde Russell Scholarship Fund. They offer four categories of awards: "Graduating High School Seniors who will attend a Four-Year College," "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." An informational brochure and the forms may be downloaded between November 1 and January 31 at their website, www.clyderussellscholarshipfund.org. Or, of course, you can pick them up at the Town Hall!
Have you had a chance to read the Wiscasset Bypass DEIS? Have you sent your comments to MDOT yet? The deadline is December 21. There are copies available at the Edgecomb and Wiscasset Town Halls and also at the Wiscasset Public Library. Or, go to www.midcoastbypass.com, a special website by the Maine Department of Transportation. Click on Draft EIS, and then down the text to a series of links. You can send your written comments by way of the above website, or by regular mail to Dale Doughty, Assistant Director of Planning, MDOT, 16 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333. If you wish, please send a copy to Selectpeople@edgecomb.org for their information.
On a less earnest note, this column is coming to you in the middle of Children's Book Week! The Wiscasset Public Library is holding open house in their Children's library all this week, during regular library hours. Today, Thursday, and tomorrow, Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday, 9:00 a.m. Come and see, and borrow new award-winning and critically acclaimed books for kids. Call 882-7161 for more information.
Go seasonal at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Saturday, November 17, from 9:00 a.m. to noon, a Harvest Family Program. Workshops will include creating holiday cards and ornaments, Pressed Flower Collage Pendants, and "Nature's Wreaths." These classes are of varying time durations and fees, call CMBG 633-4333 to register. During the morning, children and adults can learn about "Three Sisters Gardening," the American Indian planting technique, beans, corn and squash together, the corn to support the bean vines, the squash to shade everyone's roots. No sign up nor fee required.
A few notes from the Edgecomb Congregational Church: Sammy Hathorne on the River Road was the winner of Fran Mague's gorgeous quilt! Mid Maine Restoration (Joe and Lisa McSwain, also River Roaders) will be repairing the church's steeple. The Thrift Shop's annual turkey pot-luck lunch will be on Tuesday, November 20, their hours 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Turkey compliments of the Thrift Shop, traditional seasonal potluck fare provided by you all! The next Soup Group offering will be Sunday, January 13, 2008
The three Edgecomb Selectmen, spouses and kid, dropped the Town Hall flag to half staff on Veterans Day, and read the names of 34 Maine veterans who have died in Iraq. This day used to be called Armistice Day, the day the armistice was signed ending World War I, "the war to end all wars." Little did they know. Let us pray an armistice will soon end this tragic war.
In solemn mood at 234 River Road, 633-2978, jocam@midcoast.com. This column appears in several local papers, and at www.Edgecomb.org.