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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 150, No. 37
16 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
September 16, 2021
Legal Notices . . . . . . . 2B
www.bridgton.com
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Teen dies on LR senior hike
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer For nearly two decades, Lake Region seniors kicked off their final year with a fun and memorable overnight hiking and camping trip. Like those before them, members of the Class of 2022 were excited about a trip to Cold River Campground in nearby Chatham, N.H. and a hike up Baldface Mountain, which is part of the White Mountain National Forest, on Monday. Tragedy, however, struck when a senior student, Michael Strecker, suffered a medical event and passed away. SAD 61 Superintendent of Schools Al Smith said students were headed back down the mountain when Strecker said he was “not feeling well.” “The staff sat him down and called 9-1-1,” Smith said. “From what I’ve been told by emergency personnel, our staff did everything top notch. This is just a horrific situation.” Smith said an estimated 75 students had made the trip, along with 10 chaperones — three of which were certified in CPR, and two of those three were also First Aid certified. Emergency personnel responding to the call for help included the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, both Maine and New Hampshire Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wardens, fire personnel from Fryeburg, Lovell and Saco Valley Fire Association, and LifeFlight Maine. Once EMTs were on site, staff escorted the five other students in the hiking group down the mountain and taken home. Other students who had already returned to the campsite remained there overnight. “Some knew there had been a situation, but didn’t know to what extent, while others had already gone to bed so there was no sense of waking them,” Smith said. “When we sent both buses back, we had counselors on each bus to talk to the kids. When the buses got back to school, parents met them there.” Smith admitted, “I could have done some things better” during the notification process. “I’ve talked with parents, and I’ll learn from it,” he added. Additional counselors were brought to the high school to support both students and staff. As the local and school community grieves the loss of the teen, a Go Fund Me page has been created to help the family with funeral and medical costs. Smith has had conversations with Michael’s mother regarding a memorial service likely to be held at the high school. Early thoughts are to hold the service outdoors, but at press time Wednesday, no date or time had been determined. At the start of Monday night’s school board, school officials expressed their condolences to the Strecker family (at that point, there was no public identification of the teen’s identity, officials noted the tragic loss of a LRHS senior) for their loss. And at the close of the board meeting (directors present and masked, while others attended via Zoom) at Stevens Brook Elementary School, chairwoman Janice Barter also SAD 61 NOTES, Page 5A
SOMBER SEPT. 11 — The people who participated in the 9-11 ceremony on the Naples Town Dock stand at attention as resident Ron Shaw plays TAPS on the bugle. (De Busk Photo)
20 years later, 9/11 pain remains
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — There is a proverb: Time heals all wounds. But, for most Americans, the events that unfolded on Sept. 11, 2001, still resonate as a painful and unfathomable experience. Twenty years later, recalling what happened on 9-11 still causes a deep ache. “It’s still very tough. You watch some of the things on TV too, it still brings a tear to your eye. You just can’t help it. It is always going to
be that way,” Naples resident Ron Shaw said. On Saturday, more than two dozen people gathered at the Naples Town Dock to take part in a ceremony to remember 9-11, to honor the almost 3,000 people that died that day, and to ease the grief by finding support in one another. As part of the ceremony, people were encouraged to share their thoughts. Joan MacGregor, of North Sebago, was living in New York at the time. “Everything in New York
was shut down,” she said. “There was no air traffic. All the bridges and tunnels were closed. My mother lived independently but I couldn’t get to her. It was such a strange feeling. We are so blessed in this country to be able to move around freely. There is such a strange feeling not be able to say, ‘Okay I can get to you mom if you need me.’ ” “The quiet in New York City was just deafening. You don’t forget it,” MacGregor said. This Saturday was the
first time in 19 years that the group acknowledged each of the four planes. Usually, the siren was sounded and the bugle was played at the exact time that the two planes hit the Twin Towers. This year, people remained through 10:03 a.m., when a fourth plan crashed in Pennsylvania. “These are the true heroes. These guys knew they were going to die. But what they did with their last moments that they had on earth, they tried to protect 9/11, Page 2A
FRYEBURG — It’s on! Fryeburg Fair, established in 1851, will host its 171st annual eight-day Fair from Sunday, Oct. 3 through Sunday, Oct. 10. The Fair’s traditional program was interrupted last year by COVID-19. This year, fairgoers should check the Fair’s Facebook page and website before arriving. It is recommended to have your masks available.
Handwashing stations and sanitizer will be in abundance. The Fair remains vigilant and flexible while keeping the safety of fairgoers, employees, vendors and exhibitors as their first priority. COVID-19 guidance is provided to Fryeburg Fair by the State of Maine, the Department of Agriculture and the CDC and is followed accordingly. Always held against
the beautiful backdrop of fall foliage and the White Mountains, this year’s Fair expects to be a big one. It is best to plan your travel to the Fair by arriving early and staying late. Weekends are busiest. Traffic can be heavy due to rural roads. The full Fair program is available at www.fryeburgfair.org and printed copies can be picked up from the Fair office.
In continuing efforts to limit costs and paper waste, the Fair’s Premium Book is now online only. All entry forms for exhibitors and vendors can be found online. For the first time, Agricultural Exhibition Center entries may be done online. It’s easy and convenient. Other entries will be able to be done in this format in the future. Opening at 7 a.m. on FAIR, Page 2A
All systems go for Fryeburg Fair
It’s clean, but solar raises some questions Project tabled
Revision to shine light on solar option
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — A proposed solar project calls for a 50-foot buffer of already existing trees that would encircle the entire solarenergy farm. Portions of the land were cleared about 15 years ago so the regrowth is substantial. However, the Naples Planning Board would like to be guaranteed that if any arrays ever become visible from Brandy Pond, the company would remedy the problem even if it was another party that cleared the land and caused an array to be seen. On Tuesday, Sept 7, the planning board tabled approval of a site plan for a CONVERSATION WITH ABUTTER — Aimee Dubois Mountain, the senior project proposed solar energy farm manager with GZA Geo Environmental, Inc., talks with abutter Stewart Purinton. (De Busk Photo) TABLED, Page 3A
Views put plan back to square one
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The Naples Planning Board drew the line in the sand. More accurately, the line was drawn on the water. The Solar Energy Ordinance prohibits any solar equipment from being seen from any body of water. Therefore, even a glimpse of a solar-energy apparatus
from anywhere on any body of water will ensure that any solar-energy site plan will be turned down by the planning board. On Tuesday, Sept. 7, after a site walk on the property where the proposed solar farm would be located, the planning board sent the company BWC Brandy Pond, LLC back to the drawing board. The board asked the applicant to create
another plan that avoided having solar equipment on the high spots on the parcel. The private property is accessible off Route 35. The site plan calls for slightly less than 20 acres to be used. At the highest points on the parcel, the solar arrays would be visible from Long Lake. That is according to projections made by the engineering firm, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.
The solar array trackers would be about 12 feet tall. The property is next to Madison Heights Subdivision. Some of those neighbors attended the planning board meeting. They expressed concerns about having a solar farm in their backyards, especially since the site plan put the equipment within 100 feet of some homes, and also in SQUARE ONE, Page 3A
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — There is one key ingredient for solar energy. That is the sun. There are three options for the Town of Casco to make the switch to renewable solar energy. One option is to contract the town’s energy costs with ReVision Energy and use one of the existing solar farms that the company owns. Another option is to build the solar arrays within the boundaries of Casco. ReVision Energy would own it and the town would purchase it under a five-year plan. Option number three is for the town to own the solar array from the get-go, building it somewhere on town-owned land. Casco Town Manager Anthony “Tony” Ward addressed the topic during the Casco Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday. The company ReVision will shed more light on the subject when a representative comes to speak next week. The selectmen will hold a meeting on Sept. 21, starting at 6 p.m. (The board decided to start its meetings a half hour earlier since the sun is setting earlier.) ReVision has pinpointed a couple areas in town that would be suitable for a solar array, Ward said. “There are two spots that they found interesting,” he said. One is right next to the Casco Central Fire Station, but Open Space Commission has other ideas for that land, he said. “The transfer station is the other one. A lot of municipalities are starting to that,” he said. Holly Hancock said she had solar panels on her garage, and she pays $13 a month to Central Maine Power. “If the town owned the solar farm, for the first six years, there would be a $4,000 a year savings,” Ward said. “This is a very complex issue. Some of the savings are statutory. We’d get reimbursed through the state.”
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