May 18, 1988
Some 58 Gorham High School students walked out of school Friday in sympathy with junior Darin Small, who was suspended earlier in the week for using the phrase “this school sucks” during a campaign speech for class president that was monitored by Assistant Principal Robert Atwood. Although he allowed the speech to continue, Atwood went to confer with Principal Philip Blood, and they decided to suspend Small for three days. On Friday, after the election, which Small did not win, the students walked out at 6th period. Blood said Small was not suspended “because of the content of his speech. It’s the use of the phrase in that context, doing it in a public forum, that we felt was inappropriate.” The students found to be missing at 6th period were given a detention.
A new plant that would process as much as 1,000 tons a day of oil- and chemical-contaminated soils is proposed for Terminal Way, Westbrook, near the Saunders Bros. dowel mill. Most of the material would come to the plant by rail from outside Maine, Mayor Philip Spiller said. Heat treatment would be used to drive the contaminants out of the soils. Reusable fuel oil would be a by-product. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is accepting comments on the plan until July 11. The business is Aggregate Recycling Corp. Spiller said it is connected with the D & S Corp., a Yarmouth asphalt pant.
A balloon release led to a festive air at the dedication Saturday of a new children’s playground at the Narragansett School in Gorham. The playground was dedicated to the memory of the late Helena Gerrish, wife of Town Manager Donald Gerrish.
Westbrook City Council President Donald Esty is proposing a city-sponsored, parent-paid summer recreation program for children ages 6-10 or 11 to meet what he says is a critical need of parents who both work. “Nothing is available in the private sector,” Esty said. “The city has the facilities and can provide the management and it need not cost the taxpayers a cent.” Westbrook’s Recreation Department runs a six-week summer dam camp program for 60 children who pay $20 a week. The need is for a summer-long program that would accept more children, Esty said.
Mayor Philip Spiller is recommending an increase of $2,000 for City Assessor James Jessen, who asked for $3,000. His pay now is $27,000. The budget calls for $16,558 for an assessor’s assistant, a job the City Council will create if it votes for it on a second reading next week.
Michelle Fournier is valedictorian of Westbrook High School’s class of 1988. She is the daughter of Norman and June Fournier. She plans to attend Smith College. Salutatorian is Brendan Rielly, son of Edward and Jeanne Rielly. He plans to attend Bowdoin College. Honor essayist is Matthew Noyes, son of Warren and Joanne Noyes. He plans to attend Colby College.
Dedication ceremonies were held May 1 for a modern, three-story addition to Gorham’s oldest church, the First Parish Congregational Church on School Street. The $650,000 addition, complete with classrooms, kitchen and dining hall, library, nursery, two large pastors’ studies, choir music room, and children’s room and an elevator, replaces the historic parish building adjacent to the church. A much-needed parking lot was constructed behind the addition. Church officials are now debating what to do with the old parish house, constructed in 1897. Groundbreaking for the addition took place on May 31, 1987.
Alderman Alexander Juniewicz was “a little offended” to hear last week that the state is drafting new rules on hospital wastes but hasn’t notified Westbrook, where a burner is proposed that would be able to handle all of Maine’s hospital wastes. Aldermen got news of the state’s interest from Terry Grover, lawyer on the staff of Maine Rubber International, which proposes to burn hospital wastes in its long-idle tire burner on Wayside Drive near Mechanic Street.
Gorham school volunteers will be honored this week at an ice cream sundae party at the Narragansett School. Two hundred volunteers gave more than 4,000 hours of service this year as classroom aides, tutors, and in some new areas, such as storytelling to grades K-4. At the secondary level, the new Odyssey of the Mind program has been headed by parent volunteers, as was the high school’s annual Career Day.
May 20, 1998
Westbrook’s Mission Possible Teen Center, the brand-new facility in the old Dana Warp Mill run for and by teens, is drawing crowds of teenagers in its opening week. Ping-pong tables, cafe? tables, couches, exercise equipment, a drawing area and one of the conference rooms were all getting full use by dozens of students Monday, the first day of regular operating hours. Planning for the nonprofit center began almost 21?2 years ago.
Westbrook will after all consider other dealers for its proposed 10-year purchase of oil. The City Council on Monday tabled a 10-year contract for oil, diesel and gasoline with Dead River Oil Co., Portland, and Finova Capital Corp., Plymouth, Minn. It will allow other companies to make competitive offers. James Bennett, administrative assistant to the mayor, said the city received several calls from oil companies after the story first appeared in the American Journal. The council now wants to hear what they have to say. Finova was to pay Dead River an upfront sum for 10 years’ worth of oil products and services. The city would then pay Finova about $9,500 a month. Last year, oil and service costs to the city averaged $10,598 a month.
A purple beech tree in Riverbank Park that honors the memory of the late Wes McKague is a goal of the Westbrook Downtown Revitalization Task Force. The group is seeking donations toward a cost of $500 to buy and plant the tree. McKague, who died in March, was hired by the city to coordinate its efforts to deal with hundreds of elm trees killed y the Dutch elm disease. He turned then to the equally large task of replacing the trees, and moved on to broaden and improve the variety of trees in the city.
With the potential loss of millions in tax revenue from the pending Sappi Westbrook revaluation, construction of a $1.7 million recreation center on Stroudwater Street is not likely to begin this year, according to Randy Peters, recreation director. The plan was for a building with two regulation-size basketball courts with bleachers, an aerobics room and a multi-purpose room. The present rec center on Foster Street is in a 1936 wing of the high school that was built in 1896. It has a gym, weight room and one locker shower room. “Sooner or later, whether I’m here or not, this will come to be,” said Peters.
When the annual Mother-Daughter Banquet was held at the School Street United Methodist Church in Gorham on May 2, a total of 111 mothers and daughters were not only served a delicious lasagna dinner by the men of the church (who also cleaned up), they also were treated to a performance of the Junior Handbell Choir and a “Spoof on Fashions Show” arranged by the Serenity Circle, with children participating.
Beth Clark, daughter of Richard and Diana Clark, White Rock Drive, Gorham, performed her junior year piano recital in the recital hall at the University of Maine. Beth, a music education major, performed works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Hundziak and Durst. Based on her record in Gorham High School, class of 1995, she received a full tuition waiver from UMO. She is a Blaine House Scholar and most recently was chosen to receive the first-ever Franklin Talbot Music Scholarship.
The original Saint Hyacinth Church was built in 1878-79 on Brown Street diagonally across from the present day Saint Hyacinth Church. The first Masses were celebrated on Aug. 22, 1879, and the church served the parish until the congregation outgrew the building. In 1941, construction was started on a much larger church building across the street. The last Mass in the old church was celebrated on Oct. 18, 1942, and the first Masses in the new church were celebrated on Oct. 25, 1942. The old church was demolished several years later and the site remains a vacant lot. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org. Photo and research courtesy of Mike Sanphy
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