The Senior Center and town voting is over and the results are in.

First, at the Wiscasset Senior Center, Pat Barnes, Carl Hewitt and Dale Wenners were elected to the Board of Trustees. Ralph Ferguson was also elected to fill out the vacant shared term on the board.

The new board takes office officially on Sunday, July 1. The new board will also elect the officers from amongst themselves.

Congratulations to the new trustees and thank you to all who ran for a board position. There are no winners and losers. We all gain when a member decides to devote time and effort to the advancement of the Senior Center.

I am sure that the three people who were not elected will continue to work on projects and support the activities of the Senior Center.

A big thank you goes to the trustees leaving the board at the end of this fiscal year. They are Larry Clark, Newt Blakesley, Sally Sherman and Peggy Simmons. Sally and Peggy shared one trustee position in a winter/summer deal. Larry Roy resigned earlier this year for health reasons and will be replaced by Ralph Ferguson in a shared position with Dick Grondin.

In the Wiscasset town voting, the Senior Center budget passed. This was good news but as Board Chair Ellie Tracy pointed out, the ballot question was approved by approximately 60 percent of all those voting. That means that 40 percent of those voting did not approve this expenditure.

Ellie said that we have to work hard to continue to deserve the support of the 60 percent of voters and to try to understand and address the concerns of the 40 percent. The new board will be challenged during the coming year and will need the support of all members.

I recently saw an interesting quote: "If you write to impress it will always be bad, but if you write to express it will be good," Thornton Wilder, writer (1897-1975).

I've always written this column with the intent to express my opinion that people over 50 can have a great influence on their local communities and the world.

I've heard many comments over the years that we need to get more info into the papers in order to let people know what is happening. I see it as a two-phase action. The first is to write to express an idea and the second is to convince the reader to take action.

The second phase is tough. If the first is done well then the reaction may be "they" ought to do something but we all know that "they" are the invisible people of Maine.

So what do "you" think should be in this column? What do "you" think should be taken up by the new board? Express your dissatisfaction but always follow it up with a suggestion on how to solve the problem.

Be sure to attend the membership meeting breakfast this Saturday, June 23. Take the time to express your ideas to the new board. Find out how you can get involved.

The cribbage tournament winners on June 12 were Arlene Steen, first, Keith Bridgham, second, and Ken Colby, low score. The cribbage tournament winners on June 14 were Luis Serrano, first, Marge Pooler, second, Paul Lehman, third, Robbie Greenleaf, low score, and Marge Pooler and Linden Simmons tied for the high hand.

Meals for next week

(Reservations, please! Call 882-8230 at least two days in advance for meal reservations.)

Monday, June 25 – lunch, soup du jour w/ ham and cheese sandwich.

Wednesday, June 27 – 4:30 p.m. social hour, 5:30 p.m. dinner, lasagna (meat or veggie).

Thursday, June 28 – lunch, hamburgers/hot dogs.