July 10, 1991

Gorham Town Clerk D. Brenda Caldwell has been named to a national panel that advises the Federal Election Comission on local, regional and state election policies. Caldwell was contacted by John McGarry, chairman of the FEC, last month and asked if she would serve on the 20-member Clearinghouse Advisory Panel. She agreed, thus becoming the first Mainer to serve on the panel. “I’m very excited and little nervous,” Caldwell said of her appointment. Her attendance at the annual meeting of the Institute of Municipal Clerks in 1990 was a key factor in her selection.

The Gorham Town Council has been asked to consider leasing the small beach and picnic area owned by Central Maine Power at North Gorham Pond. If the town decides not to assume additional responsibility for the area, the pond property may be declared off limits to the public. CMP has asked the town if it is interested in a yearly lease, at a cost of $1 a year.

The Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club and Westbrook Regional Vocational Center have a house to sell. It’s brand new, modern, on its own lot at the end of a dead-end street and only a 5-minute walk from Westbrook High School and Canal School. It’s the first student-built house in several years that’s not a modular home built at the high school. This one, which took two years, was built on the lot at 12 Village Lane, part of a new development off Dale Avenue. It will sell at around $100,000.

Andrew L. Adams, now a Navy petty officer 3rd class on the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, arrived Wednesday for his first visit home since his ship sailed Jan. 17 for the Persian Gulf, where it was on duty through the Gulf War. The ship returned to Virginia Beach, Va., June 27. He is the son of Stella Adams, Westbrook Gardens, and William Adams Jr., Portland. He and his twin, Todd, are 1989 graduates of Westbrook High School.

Photo caption: Santa to Santa – Charles A. Kilbride, right, has been Santa Claus for 30 years for Local 1069 United Papermakers & Paperworkers, AFL-CIO, Westbrook. Wednesday, the union was Santa Claus for Kilbride. William Carver, union president, gives Kilbride a check for $1,122, money given by his coworkers in the S.D. Warren paper mill, to help him recover from the uninsured loss of bedding, clothing, carpeting, personal belongings and a refrigerator when fire swept the apartment above his at 280 Stevens Ave., Portland. Kilbride has worked at the mill 30 years. The union bought him a new Santa costume this year and it survived the fire unharmed. He’ll wear it publicly for the first time in the Yarmouth Clam Festival parade, July 19.

July 11, 2001

Lightning did $30,000 of damage when it hit Gorham’s Narragansett School, 300 Main St., Sunday, July 3. It knocked out the phone system, the burglar alarm, fire alarm and clocks, said Paul Kelly, school business manager. “It fried everything,” he said. He’s hoping it’s all covered by insurance. Kelly said that the school is in the middle of a field and that’s not the best place to be in a lightning storm.

Westbrook voters can say Tuesday, July 17, which of two uses they’d rather see for the old high school. Choice A is the city’s seventh set of senior citizen apartments, to be developed by Westbrook Housing Authority. Choice B is some city use, maybe City Hall.

George Sincerbeaux, whose contract as principal at Westbrook High School was not renewed and no explanation was offered by the school department, has a new job. He’s been named principal of Rowe Elementary School in Norway.

There was a big flap last month in an undisclosed location in the Gorham-Windham area. Members of the Windham and Gorham Rod and Gun Club released 2,500 ring-neck pheasant chicks from cases into a large screened outdoor pen, where they will grow and get acclimated before their release into the wild this fall. The pheasants, now 6 to 8 weeks old, arrived early in the morning, traveling by truck from a farm in Connecticut. Wardens will oversee the release this fall.

After 33 years in the Westbrook school system, Stephen Weaver closed his classroom door for the last time in June. His whole teaching career was in Westbrook and in the fifth and sixth grades, beginning in 1968. After 15 years at Saccarappa School, he moved to Canal School for the next 18 years. Well-loved by parents, students and his peers, he has a reputation for being an energetic and creative teacher. He was honored at a retirement party May 23 by the Westbrook Education Association, and the Canal School staff also held a party for him.

The Gorham High School class of 1946 is having its 55-year reunion at noon July 21, in the Italian Heritage Center, Portland. Eighteen classmates, 10 spouses and two teachers are expected to attend. The next day, the class will take a trip around Casco Bay, eating at Cook’s Restaurant on Bailey’s Island.

In September 1937, the Rev. Kenneth Clark Hawkes, who was acting pastor of the Prides Corner Union Church on Elmwood Avenue, realized the need for some type of club in the community to promote good fellowship and sociability, and also create greater interest in the church. A group was organized as the Prides Corner Community Club. On Sept. 7, 1938, Frank Foster donated land on Elmwood Avenue for a building and money was raised by public suppers, socials and miscellaneous entertainment. The building was constructed and a formal dedication was held on June 5 and 6, 1939. Over the years the building served as a place for social gatherings, weddings, meetings and other events. In later years the building was home to AMVETs Post 15. The building then became vacant and was subsequently purchased and renovated into apartments. 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