May 15, 1991

A fire that someone may have set burned for nearly seven hours in a pile of 4,000 tires at Westbrook’s Sandy Hill landfill Saturday. The first alarm was called at 7:55 p.m. The smoke was so thick that Deputy Fire Chief Gerald Pellerin turned his headlights on at Vallee Square as he went to the fire at about 8 p.m. Chief James Rulman said the S.D. Warren Co. sent about 60 gallons of high-expansion foam and a special mixer for using it, which made it possible to get the thick smoke under control. Work crews completed the job by pushing dirt onto the fire.

Westbrook’s Rent Board said yes to the owners of The Hamlet Thursday, allowing what’s described as a 25 percent average increase in lot rents that will give the park owners a 6.3 percent increase in “return on investment.” It’s the first rent control case in Maine in recent times.

Only Joe Fluett could have made sure that some Westbrook City Council won’t spend all the hundreds of thousands of dollars he left to Walker Memorial Library, City Solicitor Michael Cooper told aldermen last week. They came close to approving a trust agreement that spells out the right of any council to spend all the money in the fund, but after a lengthy debate, they tabled the agreement.

Fort Hill Cemetery in Gorham, with grave markers dating back to the 1700s, is sporting a spruced-up appearance thanks in part to the interest of a Westbrook teen who will achieve the rank of Eagle Scout as reward for his effort. Mark Bevan, 15, and several other members of Gorham Boy Scout Troop 72, met Saturday morning at the top of Fort Hill. Bevan coordinated six hours of raking, trimming and digging up stumps. The work fulfilled a service project requirement that was Bevan’s final hurdle to becoming an Eagle Scout.

June 20 will mark the revival of North Gorham Day, a celebration of a neighborhood and community that has managed to retain a rural simplicity that evokes memories of days gone by. The day will be marked by a parade, games, livestock showing, petting zoo, fiddlers’ contest and a bean supper. Warren Gilman, a lifelong resident, said North Gorham still retains its identity. “I guess what really started it (North Gorham Day) was the community spirit in North Gorham, which is rather unique these days. There is still a core of old families,” he said, with names like Dyer, Carlton and Webster.

The Policy Committee of the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Study will take formal action May 16 on the agency’s report recommending against one-way traffic in downtown Westbrook.

The Highland Lake Congregational Church Guild, 1303 Bridgton Road, Westbrook, will celebrate its 50th year anniversary on May 19.

May 16, 2001

Westbrook High School will have a new principal July 1 – Marc E. Gousse. The 40-year-old Maine Maritime Academy graduate clasped the hand of his wife Jeannine with anticipation Monday evening as the Westbrook School Committee prepared to vote him in. Gousse (“say it like house”) has been assistant principal at Edward Little High School, Auburn, for four years. He is a member of the Lewiston City Council but said he won’t run for re-election. . His starting salary will be $67,866. He replaces George Sincerbeaux, who resigned.

Spinnaker Coatings Inc., which has owned and operated the No. 76 coater inside the perimeter of the Sappi paper mill in Westbrook since 1998, will close the machine down and lay of 91 workers, with final closure by July 15. All the workers are full-timers and many long-timers, some there since the machine started up in 1976. Spinnaker is based in Troy, Ohio.

Evergreen Credit Union, 35 Cumberland St., Westbrook, with branches in Windham and Naples, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The credit union began as the S.D. Warren Credit Union on June 8, 1951. It became Evergreen in June 1999.

Residents on Brown and Bridge streets and Dana Court, who abut or are near to the proposed Westbrook city parking garage and Tim Flannery’s proposed office building off Dana Court, were invited to a meeting today to discuss the city’s Downtown Development Project planning the parking garage, an extended and widened end to Bridge Street and riverfront improvements. Flannery, meanwhile, will talk about his 125,000-square-foot office building at a breakfast meeting of the Westbrook Chamber of Commerce on May 18.

A barn that has sat on land off Gorham’s Longfellow Road since 1838 is going to Santa Barbara, Calif. The dismantling began last week. It was built by Col. Samuel Stephenson, who had moved to Gorham after suffering losses in Portland. The farm is now owned by Nick and Paula Portlock, who moved to Gorham from England two years ago. But because the barn is so big and the cost of maintenance and repair so high, they decided to sell it. The new owners are moving it to California.

McLellan’s Five & Dime Store, at 851-855 Main St., was a favorite of young and old for many years. McLellan’s was part of a national chain that went out of business in the 1990s. The space was renovated and is occupied by Full Court Press and, most recently, The Dancing Elephant restaurant (now closed), with the address of 855 Main St. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. It is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m.-noon, and the first Wednesday of each month at 1:30 p.m., September-June. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org. Photo and research courtesy of Mike Sanphy

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