Nov. 30, 1988

Westbrook aldermen shelved, at least temporarily, a proposal Monday to use the now-vacant Warren Parsonage as a social agency headquarters and instead favored renting its two apartments at perhaps $550 and $450 a month. The house was for five years the home of ex-City Councilor Malcolm Roma, but both he and his wife have moved out.

The council, meeting as the Committee of the Whole, asked Mayor Philip Spiller to recommend whether to ask the Westbrook Housing Authority to be the rental agent, seek proposals from rental management companies or have a city employee handle the rental. Marti Blair, Spiller’s administrative assistant, said the city got no notice that the house was vacant but she recently found it so, with the door unlocked and the heat off.

Several neighbors whose property abuts the rear of heavy equipment distributor Chadwick BaRoss Inc. on Warren Avenue in Westbrook, complained about noise during last week’s Planning Board review of the company’s plans for a 1,000-square-foot expansion. “They’re the worst neighbors anyone can have,” said Walter Lowell of Deer Hill Circle. Lowell said he was awakened at 7 a.m. once by noise so loud he “thought it was an earthquake.” Lowell requested a buffer zone be created between Chadwick BaRoss and the neighbors to the rear. The company wants to build the addition in the rear to use as a workshop. The board tabled the application until Dec. 13.

A back-to-basics approach to both education and religion is the hallmark of the Lighthouse Christian Academy, which opened this fall at 636 Spring St. in Westbrook. The school is sponsored by the Lighthouse Pentecostal Assembly, which is housed in the same building. The Rev. Barbara Libby doubles as pastor of the church and headmistress of the school.

Gorham police say they are closing in on two local suspects they believe may be responsible for some or all of 11 daytime burglaries occurring in Gorham during the past month. The latest occurred Monday in the Little Falls area. The other 10 were centered in Gorham Village – four in the Fort Hill area, four near Gorham High School and two in South Gorham. What links them is a similar method of entry used in each case, according to Gorham Police Chief David Kurz. He would not release specifics on the entry method, for fear of encouraging copycat burglars that would interfere with the investigation. VCRs have been taken in all the burglaries, yet other valuable items have been left behind.

The Westbrook Junior High School girls soccer team ended its first season this fall with a perfect 9-0 record.

The town of Gorham continues to be without the services of a planner or engineer after the person Town Manger Don Gerrish selected from 50 applicants rejected the offer. Gerrish said he is “considering other options” for choosing a new town planner, but declined to say exactly what he might do. On the separate position of town engineer, he said he has selected one man for a second interview out of 13 applications received.

Dec. 2, 1998

Gorham Savings Bank offered last week to give the town of Gorham nearly 100 acres next to its new operations center. Town officials are enthusiastic about the offer. The last “could be used for a variety of public purposes, all in close proximity to Gorham center,” Charles M. “Mike” Yandell, bank president, wrote to the Town Council Nov. 24. The bank put only tow conditions to the offer. It wants the town to accept Wentworth Drive as a town road and to ban parking on Wentworth Drive next to the bank’s property. “I have no idea what we will use it for, but we will have the option of looking at recreational use there,” said Michael Phinney, council vice chairman. “It will be up to future councils to decide.”

Mayor Don Esty and James Bennett, his administrative assistant, are planning a major overhaul of Westbrook City Hall that could change the job responsibilities of a majority of people who work there. All the city’s labor union contracts expire June 30, Bennett said, and employees will be asked to accept some major changes. Esty proposes asking 10 employees to learn tasks that are currently completed in other departments. He wants to eliminate long lines and the need to go to several departments for residents to do things like register a car or obtain a building permit. He has named Deputy City Clerk Martha Brackett to the position of “interim program manager” to develop what he calls a “pooling plan.” A major reason for the pooling plan is to eliminate the current “seniority pecking order,” said Bennett, in which some employees have no opportunity to advance in position or pay because a longtime staff member is standing in the way. The new system could be structured so that employees would receive financial and promotion incentives for doing more and better work, Bennett said.

Mrs. Eleanor S. Jackson, Deer Hill Circle, Westbrook, enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in the home of her son and family, Roger and Cathy Jackson, Samantha and Maxwell, Fort Hill Road, Gorham. Also present were Cathy’s uncle, John Kearns, South Portland, and Roger’s aunt, Martha Sanborn, Gorham.

The Advisory Committee for the Revitalization of the Little Falls/South Windham area meets this week to discuss a second application for a state planning grant. “I think the area is ripe for development,” said Deborah Fossum, Gorham town planner, who sits on the committee. “There is a tremendous commitment from the people who live there to make improvements.” The committee was turned down for a $146,000 grant in January. The committee will discuss what improvements to propose, such as sidewalks, streetscaping, street furniture, signage, crosswalks and building facades. “I think the idea has great potential and I would like to see it turn around,” Fossum said.

50 YEARS AGO

The Westbrook American reported on Nov. 27, 1963, that Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Fickett of Johnson Road in Gorham would be guests in Natick, Mass., for Thanksgiving.

Mr. and Mrs. George Clark of West Buxton were to have their Thanksgiving dinner at the Salmon Falls Steak House in Bar Mills. Harold Clark of Dover, N.H. was invited as a guest.

Fruitland Variety Store was owned and operated by the McCarthy family at 1 Cumberland St. for many years. In January 1983, a fire that started in an upstairs apartment destroyed the building. A new store on the site, Coyne’s Variety, owned and operated by Frank Coyne, was also swept by fire several years later. Coyne repaired the damage and reopened the store for a short time before going out of business. He retained ownership of the building and the present occupant is the Siam Square Restaurant. 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.

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