Columns

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Sat, 05/28/2022 - 10:00am

  The next public supper will be Wednesday, June 15, with v egetable soup, salad, rolls, turkey loaf, gravy, mashed potato, green beans and chocolate graham cracker cake. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Reserve a meal at 882-8230 . Cribbage results for Tuesday, May 24, with 20 players, were first place, Nancy Whitney, 840; second, Marge Pooler, 838; third, Diane Robinson, 826, high hand (22) Marge Pooler; and low score, Pam Frenier, 722. Thursday, May 26, 20 players, first place,...
• Salt ’n Spar

  Wiscasset, Waterville metal sculptures share maker

  Fri, 05/27/2022 - 8:45am

  

  On a recent Saturday, Mrs. Di Vece and I made a trip to Waterville, specifically so she could buy yarn and knitting patterns at the Yardgoods Center which is downtown on the concourse. If you watch MeTV then you’ve probably seen their television commercials introduced by the store’s owner who can usually be found in the store behind the register. While Mrs. Di Vece was shopping, I walked downtown along Main Street and soon found myself on the waterfront at the River Walk, a large park which...

• AARP scam alert: When the caregiver is a crook

  Wed, 05/25/2022 - 12:45pm

  

  There’s nothing more important than knowing that your loved one is being properly cared for. Unfortunately, some of those tasked with providing this care take advantage of the opportunity to line their own pockets. Here are three things you can do to safeguard your loved one from financial exploitation. Regularly check in with both the caregiver and the care recipient to ensure the quality of care. Use technology to be present even when you physically can’t be. Keep an inventory of valuables...
• Joe’s Journal

  Southport broadband

  Wed, 05/25/2022 - 8:00am

  

  A faded wooden sign tacked on the Southport Island town hall says you have to pay 3 cents to ride your horse over the Townsend Gut bridge. It was long ago, no one is sure of the date, but it notes the rates for carriages, sleighs, sheep, and swine. The bridge was free if you were going to church on the Sabbath. I suppose long ago, Southport islanders gathered in this same hall to chew over the proposals to lower or (perish the thought) raise bridge tolls. Last Wednesday, about 50 Southport...
• ’Round Town

  Old friend

  Wed, 05/25/2022 - 7:45am

  

  Some weeks things fall out of my head more easily. This past week has been complicated by some losses of old friends. It’s difficult enough for me to come up with weekly adventures, but this time around I just had to throw in the towel and punt. So, as a fall back, I have dredged up a favorite image from the past. I hope it will be OK. It’s an image from a long time ago. When we first moved to Southport in 2001, one of the first things I did was run to the town office to see if it would be...

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Sun, 05/22/2022 - 8:00am

  The next public supper will be Wednesday, June 1 . The menu will be tomato rice soup, salad, Anadama bread, baked ham, baked potato wedges, carrots, and rhubarb crisp with ice cream. Cost is $10 for members, $12.00 for non-members. Call 882-8230 for reservations. Cribbage results for Tuesday, May 17, with 20 players, were first place, John Downs, 847; second, Pam Frenier, 821; third, Sally Grover 817; high hand (24) Marge Pooler; and low score, Marlene Rines, 695. Thursday, May 19, 24 players,...
• From the assistant editor

  Layers of a season, layers of news

  Wed, 05/18/2022 - 8:45am

  

  The Midcoast takes wearing so many layers in winter, when it and its ghost, the cold winds that underly and undermine spring, are finally gone for about five months, we can’t wait for short sleeves, or at least a single layer of long sleeves; or I can’t, at least. So when we finally went short-sleeved when it hit the mid-80s last week, it felt great, and right. It always does, like we have survived another winter and can get back to just functioning outside instead of withstanding it. But...

• Protecting Mainers’ reproductive rights

  Tue, 05/17/2022 - 1:30pm

  

  Like many in our community, the leaked Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade filled me with sadness and fear. Though the news didn’t come as a total surprise, it did drive home for many of us just how close we are to losing a fundamental right that has been recognized in this country for 50 years: The rights of people to be in charge of their own reproductive health, and to decide if and when to start a family. As terrifying as that prospect is, it’s important everyone know that for now...

• Avian Flu in Maine

  Tue, 05/17/2022 - 10:45am

  

  While we humans have been dealing with the difficult and sad implications of COVID, birds have been dealing with a different and very deadly virus called Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). Avian influenza of various forms has been known to occur in birds for more than a century. It is particularly a problem in commercial poultry operations in which vast numbers of birds are housed in close proximity to each other such that the virus spreads rapidly. The HPAI form is not only highly...

• American Legion Post 36

  Mon, 05/16/2022 - 6:00pm

  

  As you have read in the Register last week, we have elected our new slate of officers for the 2022-2023 term. I am excited that Robin Ford will be our new Commander. Robin has demonstrated amazing leadership as our Vice Commander and is dedicated to the principals and the mission of the Legion. I am also excited to have our relatively new members Kathy Moroney and Erik Hobson agree to be our Finance Officer and Adjutant respectively. Bob Raudenbush, our current Finance Officer and Adjutant, has...

• Elbridge

  Mon, 05/16/2022 - 4:30pm

  

  Elbridge Giles and I bonded over dynamite. Not your average coffee table conversation, but an interesting journey, nonetheless. We had different but similar experiences to share. Elbridge, his father and grandfather all had something to do with the creation of local waterlines, cellar holes, gravel pits and general blasting for construction, building and area terrain revision. I, on the other hand, with my father and, to a lesser extent, grandfather, altered massive expanses of the Earth, much...

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Mon, 05/16/2022 - 7:30am

  The next public supper will be Wednesday, June 1. The menu will be tomato rice soup, salad, Anadama bread, smothered beef, mashed potato, carrots, Indian pudding with ice cream. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Call 882-8230 to reserve a meal by 11 a.m. Tuesday , May 31. Thursday, June 2, is g ame day, with a luncheon around noon. There will be v egetable soup, BLT wraps and Congo bars. Cost for the luncheon is $7 for members, $8 for non-members. Cribbage results for Tuesday, May...

• AARP scam alert: We’re all targets

  Sat, 05/14/2022 - 8:00am

  

  If there is one thing everyone should understand, it’s that “scammers” are career criminals skilled at the art of manipulation and no one is immune. These crooks target people of any age; in fact, 41% of those who reported a fraud loss to the Federal Trade Commission last year were under the age of 30. So, what can a person do if they find out they’ve been victimized? One resource is the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline. Every weekday, trained AARP volunteer fraud fighters are helping victims...
• A Bird’s Tale

  Yellowlegs Making Heroic Journeys

  Wed, 05/11/2022 - 10:30am

  

  A few days ago, our favorite “pop-up pond” played host to a flock of six lesser yellowlegs. These long-legged birds of the sandpiper family move through Maine in April and early May on their way north to the Boreal Forest of Canada and Alaska. Lesser yellowlegs, like their close relatives, greater yellowlegs and solitary sandpiper, in the breeding season occur nowhere else but the region that extends from Alaska across Canada to Newfoundland and Labrador. They nest only within the carbon-rich...
• Joe's Journal

  Town meeting

  Wed, 05/11/2022 - 7:45am

  

  The New England town meeting is a time-honored practice, said Boothbay Harbor’s town manager as she began her annual presentation last Saturday. Of course, Julia Latter is right. It goes back to the days of the Pilgrims, and this year, about 75 of the town’s stalwart residents showed up at the elementary school to hear town officials explain why they were raising taxes (up 5.28 %) and how they would spend the $5 million proposed budget. Given the raucous recent history of out-of-state civic...
• ’Round Town

  Jenny

  Wed, 05/11/2022 - 7:30am

  

  Let me take this opportunity to introduce our local versions of Google and what used to be the telephone book. If these two ladies don’t know where you can be found, you can’t be. Unless, of course, you have moved into the region within the last 24 hours. In that case Jenny, pictured on the left, or Ashley will have been alerted to your arrival before the last piece of furniture has left the moving van. In other words, these two are the eyes and ears of the peninsula. And both are leaving the...

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Mon, 05/09/2022 - 8:15am

  The next public supper at Wiscasset Senior Center will be Wednesday, May 18, the menu as follows: Beef chili, salad, biscuits and corn bread, pasta salad and cookies with ice cream. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Reserve a meal by calling 882-8230 by May 16 evening . Cribbage results for Tuesday, May 3 at 9:30 a.m., with 17 players, were: First place, Larry Rines, 818; second, Ken Colby, 817; third, Nancy Perry, 815; high hand (24) tie! Ann Pinkham and Ken...

• AARP scam alert: Bad news – but some good news – on ID fraud trends

  Sat, 05/07/2022 - 8:30am

  

  Last year, 42 million consumers suffered a staggering $52 billion in losses from identity fraud. Just when you think there can’t possibly be a silver lining – we found one. Much of this activity is happening via “traditional ID fraud” – the kind that happens in a way the consumer may never know, like a data breach. The other form of identity fraud happens as part of a scam (when a criminal directly deceives someone into giving sensitive information. Victims and losses dropped significantly from...
• ’Round Town

  Ship to shore

  Wed, 05/04/2022 - 7:15am

  

  Looking out across the open bay this time of year emphasizes some of the luxuries of our coastal community. Lots of unoccupied space, which for me, appeals to my appreciation for calm. In a world full with all sorts of distractions the simplicity of this view helps me be grateful for the gifts we have been given by the coast of Maine. Sort of whittles down to basics without much fluff. A boat, a church and lots of water. The same as it’s always been, at least during our brief stay. This is a...
• Joe’s Journal

  A special place

  Wed, 05/04/2022 - 7:00am

  

  We live in a special place. No, it is not because we can look out the window at glorious hills, majestic woods, and the rocky coast. Here, people seem to care about their friends and neighbors despite being bombarded by the venom that drivels from the TV talking heads and those snarky posts that appear in the magical online universe. Just for the record, it has been a tough week for the old scribbler who lives in the little grey house on the hill. After 54 years of being banned from the kitchen...
• A Bird’s Tale

  The Duck That Would Rule the World?

  Tue, 05/03/2022 - 11:45am

  

  When we first started birding, we saw in some field guides, illustrations of odd, long-necked, long-legged tropical ducks that were called “tree-ducks.” Later, the name was changed to “whistling-ducks,” an equally fascinating name. These were birds that we only dreamed of seeing, most likely if we someday visited some place in Latin America, or perhaps, in the case of ferruginous whistling-ducks, in Florida, Texas, or Louisiana, where the species also was shown to occur. The field guide showed...
• Salt ’n Spar

  WMHS’s prom will be down on the farm

  Tue, 05/03/2022 - 8:45am

  

  After a two-year absence, plans are underway at Wiscasset Middle High School for a prom on the evening of Saturday, May 21. The theme, “A Night at the Casino,” will feature an evening of music, dancing, light snacks, and games. The Morris Farm, located just down the road from WMHS, is hosting the event, which by the way is open to all of the high school’s students, not just juniors and seniors. The junior class continues to take on responsibility for planning the event with the help of advisors...

• AARP scam alert: The problem with gift cards

  Tue, 05/03/2022 - 8:00am

  

  It’s not always risk-free with America’s favorite gift. There are two types of gift card scams. In the first, a criminal convinces a consumer to pay a fake financial obligation buy purchasing gift cards and sharing the numbers off the back of the cards. In the second, scammers have already accessed the cards while on the store racks, leading a consumer to purchase or receive a card with zero funds. Shockingly, the research finds that 73 million Americans have experienced one of these forms of...

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Mon, 05/02/2022 - 7:45am

  The next Senior Center luncheon will be Game Day, Thursday May 5, around noon. Menu will be corn chowder, French bread pizza and apple sauce bars. Cost is $7 for members, $8 for non-members. Cribbage results for Tuesday, April 26 at 9 a.m. with 20-21 players were first place, Pam Frenier, 832; second, Marge Pooler, 818; third, Ann Pinkham, 815; high hand (24), Arlene Steen; and low score, Nancy Schilke, 700. Results for Thursday, April 28 at 6 p.m. with 19 players were first place, Roger Downs...
• Where It’s At

  Beltane, dancing ’round maypoles and fire

  Wed, 04/27/2022 - 12:30pm

  Ah, spring is here … trees are budding, daffodils, tulips, crocus and hyacinth, Mother Nature’s spirit-lifting spot color on her canvas of greening earth. This weekend, April 30-May 1, is a time known to many all over the world as Beltane. Even if you’re not familiar with Beltane, you are familiar with facets of its celebration, in particular, the Maypole. Usually made of birch, it is topped with a wreath of spring flowers from which ribbons of red (passion, vitality), green (growth, fertility...
• A Bird’s Tale

  Our Intimate Relationship with Trees

  Wed, 04/27/2022 - 10:30am

  

  It may not be often that any of us think about sharing a close personal and intimate contact with a tree. Yet every minute of every day all oxygen-breathing creatures on planet Earth, including us humans, breathe deep into our lungs the oxygen that trees (and other plants) have released into the air. We, in turn, expel carbon dioxide that trees and other plants take in. They incorporate the carbon in that carbon dioxide into their very tissues (which is, by the way, why trees and other plants...
• ’Round Town

  Ocean

  Wed, 04/27/2022 - 8:00am

  

  Whenever you see a Boothbay town crew pickup with plow attached, heading around Ocean Point in April, when it is 50F and sunny, you can be pretty certain that it’s not for accumulating snow. However, it is entirely probable that there has been a seaweed invasion somewhere along Shore Road, most notably in the vicinity of Ocean Point Inn where portable t raffic barriers have been assembled to help deflect ocean waters laden with all varieties of w aterborne adventures. A generous helping of...
• Joe’s Journal

  Good news/Bad news: Spring edition

  Wed, 04/27/2022 - 7:30am

  

  The other day as I drove over to East Boothbay to pick up the mail, I noticed that Alan Lewis had cut his grass. Every year, he carefully tends his hillside lot that includes the small strip of grass resting between his neat home and a stone wall he built himself. I also noticed the peepers are out in force. And so are the red-winged blackbirds and ospreys who have arrived from their winter quarters. No matter what the TV weatherpersons proclaim with their complex charts and diagrams projected...

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Tue, 04/26/2022 - 7:45am

  The next public supper will be Wednesday, May 4, menu as follows: Black bean soup, salad, bread, lemon chicken, rice pilaf, green beans, and blueberry cottage pudding with lemon sauce. Doors open at 4:30 , cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Please reserve your meal, call 882-8230 by Monday, May 2 before 5 p.m. There will be a non-perishable food collection for the area food pantry. Cribbage results for Tuesday, April 19 at 9:30 a.m. with 12 players, were: First place, Joan Grondin,...

• AARP scam alert: Crypto = Quick currency for criminals

  Sat, 04/23/2022 - 8:45am

  

  Sometimes you can spot a scam based on how you are prompted to pay for something – say, lottery winnings or a past due utility bill. What once was the domain of wire transfers and gift cards is fast becoming flooded with cryptocurrency as a form of payment in scams. (No form of payment ever really goes out of style, but criminals jump on new ways of stealing money at every opportunity.) Most of us don’t understand cryptocurrency, and may not care to, and that might make us feel protected...
• Joe’s Journal

  Easter in Ukraine

  Wed, 04/20/2022 - 7:30am

  

  This year, the three major faiths marked their holiest days celebrating Easter, Passover and Ramadan. For the observant, it is a time to reflect on their lives, families, friends and neighbors. Here in this region of the world my sainted mother-in-law calls “God’s Pocket,” we watched the forsythia start to turn from a scraggly, snarly mess into a glorious spray of golden sunshine. Daffodils and tulips peeked their plucky green noses through the garden mulch, giving us a preview of a cascade of...
• ’Round Town

  Milling

  Wed, 04/20/2022 - 7:00am

  

  Funny how people end up doing what they do. Growing up in a small Pennsylvania coal town, I never imagined being a teacher or a photographer. The thought never crossed my mind. Too focused on the day to day I guess. “Down the road” and “in the future” never occurred to me. Going to college wasn’t really something I felt sure of. Well, I sort of feel the same is partially true for Joe and Lisa McSwain. Their paths individually were not well scripted. They explored and succeeded in lots of areas...
• From the Maine Senate

  Expanding child care to benefit kids, families, and all Mainers

  Mon, 04/18/2022 - 5:15pm

  

  As I speak with families across Lincoln County about the challenges they’re facing, one thing I’m hearing time and again is the difficulty of securing child care. A lack of child care in Maine has been a challenge for some time, but since the beginning of the pandemic, Maine has lost 141 licensed child care providers . Many providers who remain have had to limit the number of children they can care for because of staffing shortages. And, like with many things, this shortage is even worse in...

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Mon, 04/18/2022 - 8:30am

  The next public supper will be Wednesday, May 4. Th e menu will be black bean soup, salad, bread, lemon chicken, rice pilaf, green beans, and blueberry cottage pudding with lemon sauce. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Reserve a meal by calling 882-8230 before 5 p.m. on Monday, May 2. Nonperishable items will be collected for the area food pantry. Thursday, April 21, there will be game day. This will give an opportunity to use equipment like the pool table,...

• AARP scam alert: Debt relief scams

  Sat, 04/16/2022 - 8:45am

  

  Debt is something that can creep up on anyone, and before long, you are looking for a way out of it. But use caution — sometimes, tempting offers of debt relief will only make your own problems worse, while lining the pockets of criminal scammers. Debt relief scams promise "guarantees" to get you out of debt quickly and cleanly. They often ask for advance payment (which is illegal) for the “services” they provide. Sometimes they will even advise you to stop paying your creditors. If you are...
• Salt ’n Spar

  Remembering Larry Gordon

  Thu, 04/14/2022 - 6:30pm

  

  Wiscasset lost one of its leading citizens this past week in Lawrence R. Gordon of Federal Street who passed away. Better known as “Larry,” (I don’t recall anyone ever calling him Lawrence) will be remembered most for serving on the select board in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, 21 years as its chairman. Gordon began his town service as a member of the budget committee in the late 1960s. He retired from town politics around the time Maine Yankee Nuclear Plant was decommissioned in 1998. Voters...
• From the assistant editor

  One more step

  Wed, 04/13/2022 - 8:45am

  

  I was excited to see St. Philip’s Strawberry Festival is back, one of the last local annual events to return, at last, as the pandemic wears on and hopefully keeps wearing itself out. As announced in this week’s print edition and at wiscassetnewspaper.com, this year’s festival will be on the modest side and, weather permitting, much will be outside to aid social distancing. You remember social distancing? The thing we had never heard of pre-pandemic and, these days, some appear to consider a...
• Joe’s Journal

  Journalism 101: Ukraine and war crimes

  Wed, 04/13/2022 - 7:30am

  

  Once upon a time, an old editor sat down with a cub reporter and looked over a story the youngster had worked so hard to land. Interesting, he said. This is a real good story. To those of you who don’t know that old editor, for a story to merit the compliment “a real good story” is a blockbuster. In his mind, the only story to merit a comment stronger than a really good story would be the story of a lifetime, like the end of the world or the second coming of the Savior. He then smiled at the...
• ’Round Town

  Old pics

  Wed, 04/13/2022 - 7:00am

  

  Sometimes things can be a blessing in disguise in addition to being a pain in the wazoo! One of the biggest challenges for me, over the years, is managing the huge volume of images I have produced since the late ’60s. I am not a highly organized unit, so when a call comes in for a photo made long ago I can feel my central nervous system beginning to set sail. It’s one of my biggest nightmares. But, sometimes, being forced to circumnavigate my storage bins provides an opportunity to revisit good...
• A Bird’s Tale

  Birds in Celebration of Spring

  Tue, 04/12/2022 - 10:30am

  

  In celebration of spring, we decided to share a few of our photos of some of our favorite birds that are returning from their winter homes to our south. Some are blessing us with a short stay in our backyards as they migrate while others will be the familiar birds of our neighborhoods and gardens throughout the summer. We hope you see some of these birds yourselves and enjoy whatever ones are your favorite birds of spring.

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Mon, 04/11/2022 - 8:45am

  The next public supper is Wednesday, April 20. D oors open at 4:30 p.m. The me nu is fish chowder, salad, biscuits, macaroni and cheese, peas, and lemon pound cake. Cost is $10 for members, $12 non-members. Please reserve the meal by calling 882-8230 before 5 p.m. Monday, April 18. Cribbage results for Tuesday, April 5 at 9:30 a.m., with 20 players, were first place, Sally Grover, 830; second, John Downs, 823; third, Marge Pooler, 813; high hand, 21, Ruth Gilbert; and low score, Nancy Whitney,...

• AARP scam alert: Avoiding IRS impostors

  Sat, 04/09/2022 - 8:30am

  

  Tax time is here again and so are the IRS impostors. Scammers posing as IRS agents or Treasury Department officials are calling to convince taxpayers that they owe back taxes and face immediate arrest if they don’t pay immediately. Know that anytime a taxpayer faces a tax problem, the real IRS will reach out via mail, and will not call unless they don’t hear back after multiple letters. If you receive an unexpected phone call, email or text indicating it’s the IRS, do not engage. If you are...
• Joe’s Journal

  A gathering of Viet vets

  Wed, 04/06/2022 - 7:45am

  

  Last week, Phil Chapman hosted a 50th anniversary party marking the end of the Vietnam war. It was a quiet afternoon of pizza, conversation and smiles for 30 to 40 grey-bearded Vietnam vets and friends who mingled, chatted and shared tales of their shared experiences. Phil, a combat Marine who lost a leg to a Vietnamese land mine, asked local restaurants to provide pizza and other goodies for a group of old-timers who rarely talk about their time in Nam. Thanks to them all. Listening to their...
• ’Round Town

  Lance

  Wed, 04/06/2022 - 7:00am

  

  Frequently during my years in the vicinity of boatyards, alumni of Lance Lee’s Apprenticeshop have emerged from the sawdust. On my present Ernestina-Morrissey p hotography project at Boothbay Harbor’s Bristol Marine there have been a handful of Apprenticeshop grads. It doesn’t take long after the mention of the Apprenticeshop to r ecognize the craft and talent of those who learned boatbuilding with Lance. They are a very skilled bunch. Recently a fellow from the West Coast contacted me...
• A Bird’s Tale

  Rejoice in the Return of Spring Migrant Birds

  Tue, 04/05/2022 - 7:30am

  

  It may still be rather chilly and windy most days so that it may not feel so much like spring, but birds are returning. We were rather surprised to see the distinctive wing shape of an osprey already a week ago floating in the wind over the south end of Cobbosseecontee Lake. This weekend we saw two more including one sitting atop the nest next to the Middle School in Bath while a girls high school lacrosse game was going on a few hundred yards away. It will not be long before those familiar...

• AARP scam alert: Scams soar in 2021

  Sat, 04/02/2022 - 8:30am

  

  The numbers are in. The Federal Trade Commission released its annual compendium of fraud reports from last year, and the news is shocking. Over the past three years, reported losses to consumer fraud has tripled, coming in at a reported $5.9 billion in 2021. Nearly six million US consumers reported a scam last year and the median loss was $500. But the FTC can only tell us about fraud that was reported – we know the losses and number of victims is far higher. Many factors contribute to under-...

• Wiscasset Senior Center

  Fri, 04/01/2022 - 12:30pm

  The next public supper will be Wednesday, April 20. D oors open at 4:30 p.m. The menu will be fish chowder, salad, biscuits, macaroni & cheese, peas, and lemon pound cake. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Reserve your meal by calling 882-8230 before 5 p.m. Monday, April 18. The “Bring A Can” collection will be done at each supper, to help the area food pantry. Please bring something if you are able. Cribbage results for Tuesday, March 29 at 9:30 a.m., with 23 players, were:...
• A Bird’s Tale

  A Blackbird or a Starling?

  Wed, 03/30/2022 - 9:45am

  

  Brother Andrew texted us the other day with a question about identifying an odd-looking blackbird. Could it be a starling or a red-winged blackbird, he asked? He went on to ponder as to whether a young red-winged blackbird would look more like a starling. We gave him a standard answer about looking for the yellow bill of the starling as compared to the dark one of the red-winged blackbird. You might wonder why we didn’t mention the fact that a red-winged blackbird has a red and yellow patch on...
• Joe’s Journal

  Foreign Policy - again

  Wed, 03/30/2022 - 7:30am

  

  Last week, a reader sent me a note suggesting I should stick to (writing) features about sailmakers. “Foreign policy is not your schtick,” the reader said. I could not agree more. I would love to tell you about sailmakers, the emergence of spring buds, how local businesses are looking forward to the tourist season, and how civic projects benefit us all. Then, the other day, I drove through Wiscasset where banners bearing the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag fluttered from light...
• ’Round Town

  Laurie

  Wed, 03/30/2022 - 7:15am

  

  First and foremost let me point out that Laurie Spofford Simmons adhered to First Federal Savings masking policy to the letter. When I stopped by the bank to make this photograph, Laurie reluctantly agreed but made sure that I understood the bank’s policy regarding mask wearing by bank tellers. I remained well over six feet away and Laurie remained behind the glass partition that separates tellers from customers. When I finally got Laurie to stop hyperventilating I asked her to remove her mask...

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