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Facelift underway

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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 144, No. 17

24 PAGES - 2 Sections

Bridgton, Maine

April 25, 2013

(USPS 065-020)

Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 9B

www.bridgton.com

SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

Bombs to sheltering

‘Feels like a lifetime since last Monday’

By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer For two Raymond sisters and their parents, what was to have been a joyous reunion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon became an hour filled with shock and fear. For a Bridgton mother and her daughter, what was to have ended a week of visiting prospective colleges in Boston became a surreal day spent in lockdown while a massive police manhunt went on just five miles away. Life turned on a dime when the two bombs exploded at Boston’s Copley Square April 15. For those who lived through the bombing and its aftermath, like third-time marathoner Katie Eastman, “everything changed.” Eastman, 23, a multimedia reporter at the Boston Herald who grew up in

Raymond, had reached mile 24 in the race, feeling exhilarated at nearing the completion of “one of the happiest and most inspirational days of my life.” It was the first time she’d run with an official number, and she was also running to raise money for the Boston Medical Center. To make the moment even sweeter, her sister Jenna, who attends college in Boston, and their parents from Raymond, were all planning to meet up with her at the finish line. Eastman said she began noticing as she ran that the police officers’ faces had turned serious, that they “weren’t high-fiving anymore.” And their walkietalkies volume was on high. “I asked a few of them what was going on. They said they didn’t know, and told me to keep running,” she said. She caught up with

another runner who had a phone, whose son was meeting her at the finish line. “Bombs went off. People are dead,” the woman told Eastman, who immediately started crying, thinking of her sister and parents. They raced for the finish line but were stopped at mile 25. Spectators offered her their cell phones to call her family, but, “Cell service was terrible. It took an hour for me to reach them. A long, terrible hour,” she wrote in a column that appeared in the next day’s Herald. Meanwhile, Eastman’s sister Jenna and her roommates had just gotten off the Prudential Center T stop just minutes from the finish line, three minutes after the bombs went off. One of the roommates, Emily Dodge, also a Raymond resident and a third-year student at the Massachusetts

College of Pharmacy, said they saw people sobbing as they walked toward the finish line. “There was just so much panic. We had no idea, and I started asking people. There was rumor that two car bombs had gone off” in front of Lord & Taylor, where Jenna was supposed to meet her parents, Dodge said. Many tense moments ensued until Jenna was able to get through to her parents, who told them they had just got into Boston and were safe. It was really scary. It was so surreal. It was incredible AT THE MARATHON — Raymond native Katie to think that this could be Eastman, a reporter for the Boston Herald, reached mile happening, and that the next 24 of the Boston Marathon when the bombs went off bomb could be where we near the finish line. Her first thought was for her sister and parents who were to meet her there. She never got were,” said Dodge. Jenna and Emily were to finish the race. also able to determine that Association provided to and knew it was very unlikeKatie was safe, thanks to allow family and friends to ly I ran the last two miles at top speed,” Katie said. But the tracker on her runner’s track runners’ progress. “They knew my pace — bib that the Boston Athletic BOSTON, Page 12A

No delay, play ball!

Town protests pension costs

By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton Selectmen are sending a protest letter to the state over being part of the only school district in the state that pays 100% of the cost of teachers’ pensions. The SAD 61 School Budget for next year includes $357,550 for teacher retirement funding, which the district has no control over, Superintendent Kathleen Beecher told the board Tuesday. “We pay the highest amount in the state, and we have no help,” she said, as she reviewed the $27.9 million school budget that district voters will decide on Tuesday, May 7, at a 6:30 p.m. meeting at Lake Region High School. A school budget validation referendum is scheduled for Bridgton voters on Tuesday, May 21. The school budget reflects a 5.7% increase, of which only 2.4% is within district control, Beecher said. She said the district created a “needs-based budget,” in which all spending was reviewed very carefully. “Those things that are left are things that we really, really, truly need,” she said. Bridgton’s portion to be raised in support of school spending this year is BUDGET, Page A

FOR 33 YEARS OF LOYAL SERVICE — Recognizing Nancy Mayhan upon her retirement as administration superintendant of the Bridgton Water District are, from left, Water Supervisor David Brill, newly-hired Office Manager Kelly Johnson, Mayhan with Patch, and Trustees Wes Gorman and Barry Gilman. Trustee Todd Perreault was out of town and unavailable for the photo. (Geraghty Photo)

33 years: Lots of water over dam

By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer They’ll miss her knowledge and her dedication, and the meticulous manner in which she conducted her job, said the trustees and the staff of the Bridgton Water District. But what her customers will probably miss most, said Nancy Mayhan, who retired

April 11 after 33 years, will be her constant office companion, Patch. The little half-Pomeranian, half-Shih-tsu dog greeted every customer who came in the door of the Portland Road office of the quasi-municipal organization. Some excited Patch more than others, because the little pooch knew they brought

treats. “He was a part of the fixture here,” she said. So was Mayhan. “She’s going to be missed,” said Trustee Wes Gorman. With around 800 customers to attend to within the district’s service area in Bridgton, “She has that meticulous oldschool style of record-keeping” that kept all the bookkeeping straight.

Trustees recently hired Kelly Johnson as Mayhan’s replacement. Johnson has the title of office manager, while Mayhan’s title was Administration Superintendent. “I have learned so much from Nancy this past month,” said Johnson. “I admire her attention to detail, professionalRETIRES, Page A

Dielectric to cease broadcast technology By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer RAYMOND — A local company, that has its roots in fabricating postwar communication technology, will close its doors on an era by the end of June. SPX Corporation, which manufactures Dielectric brand products, is poised to phase out of business by June 29. The business, also known as Dielectric Communications, is located off Route 121 on Tower Road in Raymond. The impending closure of the broadcast unit was made public in the late afternoon on Friday. After making the announcement, the manage-

rial staff decided to refrain until today (April 26) from answering any questions regarding the restructuring. However, Mark Fichter, the general manager of Dielectric Communications, Broadcast and Wireless Antenna Operations, wrote a letter to the company’s customers. “After careful consideration, SPX has decided to discontinue the broadcast television and radio and wireless antenna operations of its Dielectric Communications business unit worldwide,” Fichter said in the letter. He cited “extremely difficult global economic conditions in the broadcast market-

place” as the primary reason for the decision. Also, Fichter stated that the company would continue to take orders as long as the customer paid upfront and in full, and the product was delivered before May 31. Raymond Board of Selectman Sam Gifford said the company employed between 55 and 57 people, and about 10 of those employees were Raymond residents. “We are very unhappy about it. Anytime the Lake Region loses that many jobs, we are unhappy about it,” Gifford said on Wednesday. “The good news is another company that is attached to Dielectric is going to stay

there,” he said. But, like many people stunned by the news, Gifford did not know the prospects of continued employment at the Raymond-based SPX Corp. In Fichter’s letter, there are plans to focus on flow technology, while discontinuing the radio and television broadcast equipment. On Dielectric’s webpage, the job types were listed as: “electrical and mechanical engineers, radio frequency (RF) technicians, assemblers, and customer service representatives.” The company, which started out as Dielectric Product Corporation, was founded in 1942 by Dr. Charles “Doc”

Brown. In 1954, the company was relocated to Raymond, which was Brown’s place of residency. In 2001, the Maine-based Dielectric Communications merged with SPX. According to the company’s webpage, SPX is a Fortune 500 company that is based in Charlotte, N.C. CLOSING, Page A

By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer On Tuesday, Bridgton Selectmen agreed to reconsider its earlier decision banning the recreation department from scheduling games on the ballfields at the Kendal and Anna Ham Recreation Complex. On April 9, selectmen voted not to have the town’s teams use the fields, because they were concerned that the grass hadn’t taken sufficient hold and the fields could be damaged. If damage occurred, the board reasoned, the town would be left footing the bill for repairs once the town takes over ownership of the complex. But on Tuesday, Selectman Doug Taft, who supported the ban on play, paved the way for reversal of the vote by making a motion to reconsider the earlier vote, “just to get it on the table for discussion,” he said. Taft ended up voting once again against having recreation teams use the fields, along with Selectman Bernie King, but they were outvoted by Selectmen Woody Woodward, Paul Hoyt and Bob McHatton. Tuesday’s reconsideration followed an appeal made by BRAG President Bill Macdonald, who met with Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz and Taft after the April 9 vote. The turnaround came after Macdonald pledged to be responsible for any damage occurring to the fields from this summer season of play. “It was a big disappointment to us,” MacDonald said FIELDS, Page 12A

The Bridgton News Established 1870

P.O. Box 244, 118 Main St. Bridgton, ME 04009 207-647-2851 Fax: 207-647-5001 bnews@roadrunner.com


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