January 1982
Westbrook Mayor William B., O’Gara set six goals for his ninth and 10th years in office in his inaugural address as follows: more retail stores; a new answer to public transportation; limits on criticism of city employees in council meetings; putting the old senior-junior high school to more use; closer work with the Council of Governments; and a professional poll of what people want. “We must develop an intelligent approach to returning Westbrook to its original reputation as a good place to shop, and to do that we must make an all-out effort to attract new shops, stores, business, etc., into the city, and I don’t mean just in the downtown area, but also Cumberland Mills, the Exit 8 area, and along Route 302,” he said.
A Westbrook woman told police her Social Security check went to her old address and her brother wouldn’t give it to her.
Mrs. Strong’s cat got into the wall of her apartment at 90 Stroudwater St. The landlord had to cut away a section of the wall to get it out.
Cub Scouts of Pack 810 launched on program of helping Westbrook people to understand and deal with the gypsy moth, starting with a public meeting at the K of C Hall, 89 Saco St., with speakers and slides.
William W. Gowen, 59 Hardy St., Westbrook, was elected president of the Westbrook Roary Club for 1982-83. Gowen, a certified public account, is a partner in the Gowen Professional Association, with offices in Downtown Westbrook.
Harry Bell of Gorham is retiring at the end of this month after 37 years as a Cumberland County Extension agent. Bell graduated from the University of Maine in 1949 with a degree in animal husbandry. In July of that year he began his career as the assistant county agent of Aroostook County, where he studied the economics of the potato and dairy industry. He was named extension agent for Cumberland County in 1976
January 1992
Ann Moody, who defeated Jane Golding, 537-531, last March for a three-year term on the Gorham School Committee, will resign at the committee’s next meeting Jan. 8. She said she has found that you can’t make changes from within; you can only hope to do it from the outside. “The people in education are a close-knit community,” she said. “I do not believe that the changes necessary for quality education will ever emerge from within our educational system.”
Westbrook police were told that a man apparently abducted a woman on East Bridge Street at 4:30 p.m. The patrolman reported back: Boyfriend-girlfriend dispute.
Called to Abby Lane at 12:20 a.m., for the fourth time that night for unreasonable noise, police arrested four people, taking three of them to the county jail and the fourth to the police station.
Jane M. Spiller and her piccolo will be among the players in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa, Fla., aired on NBC. The daughter of former Mayor and Mrs. Phillip Spiller, 76 Sawyer Road, Westbrook, she is a junior in Syracuse University, whose team meets Ohio State University on the field. The Syracuse band also performed at Disney World, where Spiller first played with the Westbrook High band in 1989.
Freshman goalkeeper Karen Rogers had a fine soccer season at St. Joseph’s College, Standish. Rogers, a former three-sport star at Westbook High School, was the starting goalkeeper for the 13-4-1 Lady Monks, who finished runner-up in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 5. St. Joseph’s lost, 1-0, to Green Mountain College, Poultney, Vt., in the District Championship game.
Not all Gorhamites simply attended Magic of Christmas performances in Portland City Hall before Christmas. At least seven talented singers actively participated. Larry Kellet, 19 Newell St., marked his eighth year of singing with the 150-member chorus. “It’s really a nice way to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to a great many people at the same time,” he said. Other chorus members from town include Ruth Doyle, 36 Narragansett St., John McVey, New Portland Road; Rachel Brown, 52 Narragansett; Rose Phinney, 149 State Street; and Althea Irish, Libby Avenue.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
