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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 145, No. 52
24 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
December 25, 2014
(USPS 065-020)
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
It’s high time for new signs
ICE SKATES like this pair made popular Christmas presents in the early to mid-20th Century. One Casco resident remembers his parents giving him and his brother their Christmas gifts early; they got their ice skates in November because the lakes were already frozen. (De Busk Photo)
Memories: Few gifts, family focus
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Ethelyn’s first date with Donald Vaughn was musical and, perhaps, a little magical. They went caroling with parishioners from the Casco Village Church. A group of people rode in vehicles from one rural home to another, spreading Christmas cheer through song. “We drove because it was such a distance between homes. We had a whole car full of people. We went over to Raymond Hill, and got stuck. That was so much fun,” Ethelyn said. It was December 1954, and Don had just returned home to Casco after serving in the Korean War. Ethelyn said “he looked so handsome in his uniform.” At the time, she was going to cosmetology school in Lewiston and living at the YWCA located in that nearby town. For the couple’s second date in December, Don invited her to the movies. They were married on Feb. 12, 1955, and will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in 2015. Both say that music has had an enduring harmony in FOCUS, Page A
ELAINE WALSTON and former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Dale “Woody” Woodman stand next to their military-themed Christmas tree. (De Busk Photo)
Military roots inspire tree theme By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer RAYMOND — For Dale “Woody” Woodman, the month of December triggers many memories of military duty. After all, Woodman has dedicated 33 years of his life to the United States Army. Therefore, many Decembers were spent in service of his country. “Out of 33 years, there were 20 years that I wasn’t home with my family during the holidays,” he said. So, he relied on his military family to take part in the traditions of the season. “We’d sing Christmas carols. We’d have Christmas music going. We decorated everything up. Then, we’d exchange Christmas gifts, and just try to have a good time. You make the best out of a bad situation, he said. Four years ago, on Dec. 7, his resignation papers were approved. He pointed out the date was Pearl Harbor Day. The most difficult December was when Woodman was sent to the site where a chartered DC-10 had iced up and crashed during takeoff in Newfoundland. The aviation accident happened Dec. 12, 1985. Most of the passengers were members of the 101st Airborne Division. As he read the names on the dog tags the victims were wearing, he discovered many of those military personnel hailed from Maine. TREE THEME, Page A
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer It’s been 34 years since town signs were last updated in Bridgton. The need for a new look has been talked about for nearly a decade. Now, after months of work by the Community Development Committee and town staff, a firm plan for updating town signs is finally in place — even if a few details still need to be worked out on funding the $26,000 project. If all goes well, the signs could be made over the winter and be ready to put up next spring. Chuck Renneker, chairman of the Community Development Committee, presented the plan to Bridgton Selectmen at the Dec. 16 meeting. The plan calls for a total of 32 signs with a common theme, font and color pattern, to be erected at various locations in the downtown and at town attractions, such as the beaches, parks, boat launches, Bridgton Community Center and the
Salmon Point Campground. Working with local sign expert and CDC member Nelle Ely, the committee and staff agreed to use colors of blue and white with selective gold lettering to create three different types of signs. Oval shapes would be used for significant places such as the Bridgton Municipal Complex, while rectangular signs would be used for place names, ground signs and mounted directional signs. Signs would be placed on Main Street, directing visitors to the town office and parking, and at Main and Depot Streets, directing visitors to Pondicherry Park, the Community Center, Stevens Brook Trail. More signs would be placed on Depot Street itself, and directional signs would also be placed at Pondicherry Square for the Salmon Point Campground, Plummers Landing, Downtown District and Harmon Field. The CDC is also recommending that business
A FRESH LOOK — Community Development Committee Chairman Chuck Renneker holds up one of 20 directional signs, designed with blue lettering and white background, to be erected next spring as part of a unified town-wide signage project. (Geraghty Photo) name signs be placed on Main Street at the Main Hill Business District and Depot Business District, providing that the businesses pay for them. Directional signs would be placed on Kansas Road to
point out the campground and boat landing; at the Moose Pond Causeway to point out the boat launch; at Highland Beach and at Woods Pond. Selectmen agreed that the project must be put out to bid. SIGNS, Page A
Home for holiday
One lost Lab saves another in Bridgton
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer A Christmas miracle, one Facebook user called it, when the news first broke the morning of Dec. 19. Two and a half months of painstaking dedication by two animal lovers on Gage Street, Bridgton, trying to help a heartbroken woman whose dog had gone missing, had apparently, finally, paid off. A Christmas miracle, yes — but so bittersweet. Ellen Skinner and Christine Ragsdale were extremely hopeful that morning that they had finally managed to corral the yellow lab belonging to Bobbi Cressey of Sebago. After all, Cressey had watched the video they’d shot of the dog on a night vision camera, coming up to eat the food they’d set out in bowls on Ragsdale’s porch steps. Cressey had identified the dog as her Meg, who disappeared from her home on Peabody Pond Road on Sept. 27. She was so sure of it, even though the gray-green hue of the camera made it hard to identify the dog’s coat markings. She looked a little smaller, but the shape was the same. Tennis balls and rubber Kongs filled with peanut butter had been set outside with
CHRISTMAS MIRACLE — Christine Ragsdale comforts Maggie, the “Meg Wannabee” who was rescued after months spent in a painstaking effort to earn her trust, in the mistaken belief that she was another woman’s missing dog. the food to entice the dog to trust. “She would throw the tennis ball up in the air with her mouth, just like Meg,” said Cressey. But every time the dog spotted a human, it would bolt. Even Cressey couldn’t get her to come when she called. No amount of sweet “Good doggie” encouragement spoken to it, as it hid during
the day in Pondicherry Park and came out at night, would convince the dog to trust, and no one could get near enough to capture it. Then, as Skinner was taking her own dog, P.J., for a walk the morning of Dec. 19, she spotted the lab. “Hi, pretty girl,” said Skinner soothingly. “How you doing, pretty girl?” This time, instead of run-
ning back into the bamboo thicket she favored, the lab ran into the cellar hole. Skinner quickly ran down and blocked off the hole with rocks and branches, and called Animal Control Officer Jackie Frye. Confined, shaking, with nowhere left to run, the lab finally surrendered, and Frye scooped her up and collared her. SAVES, Page A
Naples to apply facility use policy By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — It was already a policy for using the meeting room or the gymnasium at the Naples Town Office. But, that policy has not been entirely enforced. Starting Jan. 1, 2015, the town will charge for-profit and private groups a fee of $25 an hour for using the carpeted meeting room, and a fee of $50 an hour for utilizing the gym or the upstairs section of the Singer Center. Changes to the facilityuse policy were adopted in 2010. Those amendments were added to a long-standing policy regarding the use of the rooms and the gym. However, according to Town Manager Ephrem
Paraschak, the facility-use fee has not been enforced for some groups that use the rooms on a regular basis, while people planning a birthday party in the gym have been asked to pay the fee. He said that this change will impact three individuals who charge for fitness classes but have not been charged for the room in the past. “We gave a heads up to these organizations that it was going to start” in January, he said. Paraschak brought up the issue to the Naples Board of Selectmen on Monday. His particular concern was that an aerobics instructor claimed that an agreement was made between her and the town that the fee would
be waived. “We have no record of this,” he said, asking the board if it would like to make an exemption. There were no takers. Board members thought it was fair to charge for using the room — as outlined by the 2010 amendments. “If they are charging a fee for their classes, they can afford to pay for the room,”
Selectman Robert Caron II said. “We aren’t talking a lot of money,” he said. Selectman Rick Paraschak agreed on the basis of following the rules and also to offset the costs of electricity and heat. “If we have this policy, we have to enforce it,” he said. Selectman Kevin Rogers FACILITY, Page A
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P.O. Box 244, 118 Main St. Bridgton, ME 04009 207-647-2851 Fax: 207-647-5001 bnews@roadrunner.com