From Texas to Maine New pastor answers long distance calling to lead Bridgton church Page 2A
Work in the Garden
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www.bridgton.com Vol. 142, No. 37
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. 32 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
September 15, 2011
SIXTY CENTS
Camping fees to be raised by 6%
‘I want to be the man I was before’
By Karen Feld Special to the News When I spoke to my long-time friend, Michael Touhey, he shared with me his trepidation about the upcoming 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11. “I want to be the man I was before 9/11,” he told me, “The man open to wonder and spontaneity.” Until recently that jovial, sandy-haired man was only a memory of his former self to the post 9/11 Touhey. Now, he is a retired US Air ticket agent, whose unfortunate destiny led him to check in two of the terrorists — Mohammed Atta, the mastermind of the attacks, and Abdulaziz Al-Omari — in Portland, 10 years ago on the morning of 9/11. “I’m doing well,” Touhey told me. “I landed on my feet.” But it hasn’t been an easy journey for Touhey, now 65. He remembers well that morning in 2001. For several years, Touhey blamed himself for not only the incidents, but also the suicide of Ana Zanni, the American Airlines agent in Boston, who checked in Atta on his connecting flight, AA #11. Touhey never met her, but chided himself for not giving Atta his connecting boarding pass in Portland. Fear consumed his life. He was unable to work and retired from the airline. He had intrusive symptoms including flashbacks, nightmares and hallucinations. He hesitated leaving his home and was always on high alert. Touhey described himself as a normal guy who grew up in a large Irish-Italian, Catholic family in the mostly black projects of Roxbury, Mass. “I was not brought up to be politically correct,” he said. “We used slang words for ethnic groups.” He was drafted into the Army, which he calls “a great equalizer” and credits the military with preparing him for dealing with the public. “It had a mellowing effect in terms of looking at the world,” he said. At age 21, he found his niche working at Allegheny Airlines and then its successor, US Air, for 37 years, first in Boston and then Portland. His engaging personality and ability to deal with the public was one of Touhey’s assets. In fact, he viewed his role as providing service to the passengers. When the two terrorists checked in, only 17 minutes prior to departure time, they gave Touhey a difficult time because he wouldn’t issue a one-step boarding pass for a connecting flight on another air-
(USPS 065-020)
MICHAEL TOUHEY was the US Air gate agent who checked in the 9/11 terrorists in Portland. He recently spent time with his longtime friend, Karen Feld of Bridgton, and eplained how 9/11 had changed his life. line. Touhey described himself as “a dinosaur in the business” since he didn’t believe in giving a connecting boarding pass for another airline in another city. When he heard that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center, Touhey said, “I felt a feeling in my stomach like when someone you love deeply, leaves you.” “I was afraid to leave my house after that day. I would make up excuses if I had to go out. I’d get dressed and then not leave. I’d think, ‘Are all the windows closed? Is the dishwasher turned off?’ I’d take an hour to check all these things. I made excuses not to go out. It was scary. I would go on-line to look up the shortest route even though I knew how to get to my destination,” he said. But that wasn’t all. He recalled how he “would drift off and lose track of time, sometimes sitting in my parked car for 45 minutes after turning off the engine before going in BEFORE 9/11, Page A
By Lisa Williams Ackley Staff Writer Four of the five members of the Bridgton Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night to increase fees at the town-owned Salmon Point Campground on Long Lake by six percent. Selectman Paul Hoyt, who has a seasonal campsite at Salmon Point, abstained from voting on the matter. The new six percent increase means that a lakefront campsite at Salmon Point Campground currently renting for $2,407 will increase to $2,551; a campsite on the lagoon renting for $1,980 would now cost $2,099 per season; and a back lot campsite now renting for $1,685 would be rented in the amount of $1,786 in 2012. Board members concurred that the philosophical discussion as to how the campground will be operated in the future will take place over upcoming months rather than be decided now. Members of the Community Development Committee, in particular member Chuck Renneker, have been challenging the selectmen to run the campground as a business and earn as much revenue from it as they can, on behalf of taxpayers, they said. Salmon Point Campground is a self-sustaining enterprise fund, similar to the town’s Sewer District, which gets its
revenues from ratepayers — or the people who use it — rather than the taxpayers. However, Selectman Woody Woodward said matters of policy could be discussed during upcoming months, but that seasonal campers at Salmon Point deserved to know what they would be paying next summer, before they leave the campground at the end of this season. “This time of year, we usually establish the rate amounts,” said Selectman Woodward. “Instead, we’ve brought up a lot of issues that might be important for us to look at. We’ve heard from both sides…I think we should make a decision on the rates and lock in the fees, and then over six months’ time, we can have a public discussion and get input from people. I don’t think we should put it all together today. It’s too big (an issue).” Woodward next made a motion to “across the board increase fees by six percent and keep everything else the same.” Selectman Doug Taft seconded Woodward’s motion. “There’s a lot of things that I don’t like going on,” Woodward said, “but that’s for further discussion. We can talk about this in the future, and people can have their say.” He then announced that public discussion would “go through next year.” FEES, Page A
CDC members include: “Repair the bridge, installing safe, more effective side railings, especially on the downstream to ensure safety — especially of youngsters. Groom the grassy slope to serve as lawn seating; reconfigure existing walkway width, layout and materials — recommend looking into a permeable paver for the pathway, (or) failing that, a stamped concrete would hold up well and could be stamped with something interesting: a Shorey Park graphic of some sort.” “By rearranging the path a bit, the park will be more accessible and used more,” said Miller, Tuesday night. Miller said the CDC members “had been in touch with Mary
Shorey” and said she has been kept abreast of the recommendations being made “all the way.” Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz read aloud a letter he received from Mary Elizabeth Shorey to him and the selectmen asking them “to consider carefully any changes recommended for Shorey Park.” Berkowitz read Shorey’s letter aloud, as she was unable to attend the board’s meeting. “Since the July 21st Bridgton Planning Board meeting discussion on the park was made public,” wrote Shorey, “I have been contacted by a number of individuals who are very concerned about any change that might occur. They see the park as I do PARK, Page A
Plan to ‘enhance’ Shorey Park, improve travel flow
By Lisa Williams Ackley Staff Writer Bridgton’s Shorey Park and proposed changes to it was a topic of discussion at Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Community Development Committee member Dee Miller updated the selectmen Sept. 13 on changes she said the CDC is proposing and requested that
funds be placed in next year’s budget to bring some of those proposed changes to fruition. Miller said the matter has been “thoroughly vetted” and that she and others had met with a representative from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday to discuss permits that would be necessary for any restoration work. “We’re trying to maintain a
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES – When Frank Gerrish and his cousin Lloyd Cole were building a paddleboat replica on the Naples Causeway, residents would stop and joke with him often referring to the structure as “Noah’s Ark” and nicknaming him “Noah.” “They called me Noah and all that stuff. They said, ‘You must be out of your minds,’ ” Gerrish said. During the winter of 197071, the first Songo River Queen was constructed where Evergreen Credit Union’s building now stands, he said. There were many mornings of removing inches of fresh snow from the boat before construction could resume, he recalled. The Queen carried 100 people during its virgin voyage in April 1971, as soon as the ice left the lakes. Meanwhile, spectators stood on the shore wondering whether the vessel would sink or float. “The first trip was a freebee,” Gerrish said. “There was all kinds of champagne, and all that stuff.” “There were a lot of observers” standing along the Causeway watching and taking photographs in the windbreaker weather that April afternoon, he said. Afterwards, some community
members still ribbed him, while others praised him for building the boat that would become Naples’ moving landmark. Actually, there were two Songo River Queens because the first paddleboat burned in a blaze started by a cigarette smoked during the last tour in October 1981; and a new one was built that winter and christened in May 1982 — just in time for that season’s tours on the Songo River, Gerrish said. Like the river they’ve maneuvered, both Queens have taken a winding and changing journey through the decades of marine transportation in Maine. Until 30 years ago, the Queen navigated the Songo River from Brandy Pond to Sebago Lake. That was in an era when the river was dredged, and large steamboats traveled the Songo’s corridors. This Saturday, the Queen enters another era as it takes a final trip through the Naples Swing Bridge. Then, the swing bridge will be locked to boat traffic and dismantled next spring, when a soonto-be-built fixed bridge takes its place. The arch of the fixed bridge will be too low for the Queen to travel between Long Lake and Brandy Pond. QUITE A HISTORY — Frank Gerrish (right) remembers a Three factors — the Maine day when he was nicknamed “Noah” as he and his cousin built Department of Transportation’s a paddleboat replica — the Songo River Queen. He is pictured
Charting a new course for Queen
HISTORY, Page A
public space and make it more effective, so people can gather — not a huge gathering — and feel a community thing,” Miller said. “To that end, we really want to enhance Shorey Park and promote flow between the business district, the park and the beach.” “What we want to do — there are four goals,” said Miller. “One is to define the shoreline
of the millpond; Two, we want to improve the water quality (storm runoff from Creamery Street and create a more effective buffer; Three, to update safety for the public — that is a disaster waiting to happen (referring to the footbridge); and Four, to increase public flow and attractiveness.” Some of the other written recommendations made by the
here with present boat owner, Kent Uicker. (De Busk Photo)
Rec director resigns
LOVELL — Rec Director Michael Mendonca is moving on to a higher calling. The local rec director recently resigned after starting a seminary online program with Liberty University to pursue his master’s degree in Christian Leadership. “I am a full-time student and my course load is demanding,” said Mendonca. The Town of Lovell has posted the opening (see advertisement on Page 4D). Applications will be accepted until Sept. 29. Mendonca added that his decision to leave his recreation director’s job was also family-related. “We have eight grandchildren, none of them in the state. Every time my wife and I tried to visit, it could only be for short periods due to my director duties,” he said. “We would like to visit them for a month or more when we can.” Mendonca plans to stay in the area and will remain active. “We love the area and have many wonderful relationships. I will still be involved with coaching sports like cross-country skiing, running and fitness on a limited basis,” he said. “You will see me still competing in the races. It was a tough decision. I have prayed on it and feel very led to do this.”
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