Dec. 9. 1987

A Portland man was arrested Friday in Westbrook after an ill-starred early morning unauthorized drive in Maine Secretary of State Rodney Quinn’s car. Paul Beaton, 30, of Danforth Street, was arrested by rookie Patrolman Michael Brown after he was seen driving Quinn’s 1977 Chevy Celebrity the wrong way up one-way Warren Avenue in front of the Westbrook Police Station. Quinn first noticed his car missing from his Tate Street, Portland, home at 7:30 a.m. while on a walk with Shafu, “my wife’s three-legged poodle.” Quinn’s car, a state-owned vehicle, was unlocked, and he figures the thief must have found the key he kept hidden inside. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that you don’t mess around with the car driven by the man in charge of the state’s motor vehicles division.

Westbrook’s $1.5 million Walker Memorial Library expansion, which has sailed through unanimous CIty Council votes, has hit a snag. Alderman on Monday balked at agreeing to pay $16,000 for state highway land considered a key to getting more parking. They sent the request to the Finance Committee for more study. An incredulous Carolyn Watkins, library director, asked, “The fate of the library depends on this little strip of land?” Fred C. Wescott, chairman of the Finance Committee, said he’s scheduled the question for a meeting next week. Mayor Philip Spiller said he and James Born, of the library’s building committee, found the Department of Transportation officials adamant on the price of $2 a square foot for the state land. The land was taken by the state for construction purposes when Wayside Drive was built in the late 1960s.

Mr. and Mrs. Stuart D. Johnson (Maurine Morrill), Scott and Merry Elizabeth, Walker Street, Westbrook, traveled to Orrington the night before Thanksgiving and arrived a half hour before the snowstorm started that left 15 inches on the ground. Maurine’s mother, Mrs. Ethelyn Morrill, was hostess for dinner on Thanksgiving. Also traveling for the holiday were Gorham resident Sadie Limoges, Libby Avenue, who was the guest on Thanksgiving of her son, Robert Limoges, Greene; and Mrs. Hazel McCurmb, School Street, who spent Thanksgiving with her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. James Pendleton, Bar Mills.

Mr. and Mrs. Burleigh Loveitt, Flaggy Meadow Road, Gorham, entertained on Thanksiving their sons and families: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Loveitt, Kate and Andrew; and Dr. and Mrs. Burleigh Loveitt, Kimberley, Jonathan and Justin.

The annual Christmas senior citizen dinner given by the St. Hyacinth parish will be held in the church hall, Brown Street, Westbrook, Sunday, Dec. 13, at 1 p.m. It is for all senior citizens of Westbrook. There will be entertainment, door prizes and a visit from Santa. Last year, they served 385, and expect 400 or so this year.

Dec. 10, 1997

Westbrook is one of only four Maine cities whose population went up between 1990 and 1996, the census bureau estimates. Westbrook gained 338 people, 2.1 percent, growing from 16,121 to 16,458, Gorham’s population made quite a jump – 8.9 percent. It went from 11,856 to 12,906. The biggest growth in the area came in Standish, up 9.4 percent – 7,678 to 8,397.

In an exchange of letters with citizen Lucien Lebel, Westbrook’s Mayor-elect Don Esty has said he sees no likelihood that Westbrook will go back to the idea of a municipal electric utility, an idea rejected by voters in 1994. Esty pledged his support for the S.D. Warren Co. and said he has been meeting with the mill management to offer the city’s help as it markets the electricity of its biomass boiler generating station. He said he would not support city financing for the gas-fired electric generating station being proposed by International Power Partners for a Five-Star Industrial Park location. The city has pledged other support to IPP. Lebel wrote to Esty Nov. 10 expressing concerns about IPP’s proposal, and about the marketing plan for its electricity being developed with city help by Boundless Energy, a company whose officers helped developed Westbrook’s 1994 municipal electric district proposal.

Full page ad: “All of us at Goff’s Garage would like to express our appreciation for The Best Customers in the World by wishing all a Safe & Happy Holiday Season! Bill, Carol, Debbie, Steve, Howie & Don, 650 Bridgton Road, Westbrook, 797-0069.”

Westbrook police are ready to serve criminal mischief charges on a juvenile boy for his graffiti at several locations, Chief Steven Roberts said. Using spray paint cans, the boy has done several thousand dollars in damages, when one adds up what it costs to remove the paint, Roberts said. He referred to the paint work as “tagging.” “We’ve caught the tagger,” he said.

Albert Jr. and Lorraine Mosher, 424 Mosher Road, Gorham, entertained family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner at their farm home, an all-day affair for everyone. They had the turnkey dinner at noon, and Lorraine served for supper her usual corn chowder, plus turkey and other foods.

Bill and Ardith Keef, 10 Preble St., Gorham, opened their home on Thanksgiving Day and served a turkey dinner to Robert and Barbara Bongliovanni, Portland; Dean Street, Ardith’s son and family, Dean and Vita Street, Stacey and Danya, Gorham, who have moved from the Ukraine; Drs. Joseph and Kathi Blinick and Dough and Loreen Drummey, Portland; and Sherry and Don Dobson, Scarborough.

Children are invited to the S.D. Warren Credit Union, which is hosting a visit from Santa, Dec. 19 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Westbrook office, 35 Cumberland St.

The old Westbrook Police Station was decked out for the holidays in 1995. The station was demolished in 2005 to make way for the new medical building in Cumberland Mills. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. Inquiries can be emailed to  westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.        The American Journal reported on Dec. 5, 1962, that the Gorham High School cast and crew of “An Orphan Girl” presented teacher Barbara Waters, who directed the production, with a bouquet of roses at the final curtain call.Bertha Garland was named chairwoman of the annual Christmas fair sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary at Tory Hill Congregational Church in Bar Mills.50 years ago
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