July 1981
Saccarappa Days are this week. Downtown Westbrook’s up-to-date stores are offering old-time bargains.
Speaking of Saccarappa, Nellie Spiller has turned up mention of it in Richard Henry Dana’s “Two Years Before The Mast” (1840). He wrote: “Old horse, old horse, what brought you here? From Sacarap to Portland Pier, I’ve carted stone this many a year…” Dana was reporting sailors’ complaint about the salt beef they were served.
Tim Pride is pictured pitching a baseball during Windham’s Old Home Day. If he hit the bull’s-eye, a volunteer was dumped into the water.
Town & Country Cabinets, Inc., will move from Middle Street, Portland, to Fort Hill Road, Gorham.
Hal Shortsleeve is the new principal of Windham Junior High School succeeding Brian King, who has gone into private business.
Gary Plummer, a member of the Windham Town Council, has been hired to teach in sixth grade in the Manchester School. He said he’ll abstain from voting on the school budget on the council.
Donna Tenney is pictured selling hamburgers at Windham’s Old Home Day, Saturday, July 4.
Scarborough’s main post office will move Monday to the former Drake Smith Furniture store at Oak Hill Plaza.
Scarborough’s Zoning Appeals Board will review a decision by Building Inspector Paul Lempicki to let Len Libby Candy sell ice cream cones at its Spurwink Road shop. A neighbor, Ann Griffin, raised the question.
Mrs. Dorothy, 94, has received the Boston Post cane as Scarborough’s oldest citizen.
Fuel oil is $1.119 at Paul’s Service.
Gertrude Hanscom, Gorham correspondent, is asking high school graduates what comes next. She finds that Shawna Leach will enter Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Andrew Erskine will study plumbing at Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute.
Norman and Corinne Gallant, Windham, who were married June 23, 1956, were honored at a 25th anniversary party in Valle’s Restaurant, Portland.
The second annual Westbrook Art Show will be held on downtown streets Saturday.
Weida Saunders, a Westbrook High School student, won a $50 savings bond in the Fleet Reserve Association’s national contest for her essay on “What Freedom of Speech Means to Me.”
July 1991
Melvina Johnson of Buxton is 95. She rides a tricycle given to her recently by neighbors; stacked five cords of firewood in her basement; and uses a power saw to cut kindling.
Scarborough’s new town-school budget is approximately $22 million up about $2.2 million. The tax rate will go up 7.08 percent.
Robert W. Hall, principal of Westbrook’s Canal School, will be Westbrook’s assistant superintendent. He was nominated by Superintendent Edward Connolly and confirmed by the School Committee. He succeeds David Wallace, Bath’s new superintendent. Hall, 47, has taught in or run schools in Westbrook since he graduated from Farmington State Teachers’ College.
Joan Murphy is pictured at North Gorham Day wearing a newspaper as a sunshade.
Under a new rule, only one of Westbrook’s four police detectives will take a police car home.
Westbrook Police Captain John A. Schmidlin returned to duty last week after 11 weeks at the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, Quantico, Va.
A new state law bans plastic yokes on soft drinks and beer. The yokes have been used widely for “six packs” and are a big share of litter.
Correction: Carol Kontos was not the first, but the fifth woman to be moderator of a Windham town meeting, according to new research by Town Clerk Rita Bernier.
Market Decisions, South Portland, has been hired to help develop Scarborough’s comprehensive plan.
Lyla Cookson, daughter of Evelyn Cookson, Bernadette Street, Westbrook, has been hired by Sanyo Semiconductor Corp. to work in Japan on design of silicon chips. She is a graduate of Westbrook High School and Boston University’s College of Engineering, reports Florence Wing.
Gov. John McKernan has signed a new law that requires municipal and county governments to include a full summary of bonded debt with any money questions sent to voters.
Westbrook Police have begun bicycle patrols, day and night, in the downtown area. People “really love it,” said Patrolman Alan Twombley.
Francis Amoroso, financial manager of Westbrook schools, will become administrative assistant to Superintendent Edward Connolly. Amoroso is a former chairman of both the Town Council and Board of Education in Scarborough.
The Presumpscot River Watch is offering to train volunteer water samplers.
The Maine Historical Society now has an authentic first edition of the Declaration of Independence. It is one of 25 known copies printed in Philadelphia the evening of July 4, 1776. The copy will be on exhibition Saturday at the Maine Historical Society library in Portland.
Sunday will be Open Farm Day in Maine. Also called “Take Pride in Agriculture Day,” it gives the public a chance to see farmers at work.
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