Oct. 23, 1991

Clear directions for the next few years’ future of the S.D. Warren paper mill in Westbrook are expected to be made public in a meeting of mill employees Oct. 24 in the Portland Expo building. Production of pulp will be reduced or eliminated, production of coasted papers will be cut back sharply and the emphasis will shift to specialty grades, it is reported. “But nobody intends to shut the mill down,” said William Carver, president of the mill’s biggest union.

Around 1,000 Westbrook elementary students and staff from grades K-5 will take part in a 45-minute parade Oct. 24 in celebration of Red Ribbon Week, a national substance abuse campaign to demonstrate support for a drug-free America. The parade, a first for the city, along with a comprehensive weeklong program of classroom activities for all grades, makes Red Ribbon Week in Westbrook the most ambitious program of any in the state, according to organizer Capt. Paul McCarthy, a Westbrook police detective.

The Gorham School Committee has voted not to allow low-fat chocolate milk to take its place in the lunch line next to whole, low-fat and skim milk at four Gorham schools. It is offered in the fourth grade and up on an a la carte basis, but K-3 students are stuck with plain milk unless mom sends them to school with the makings of chocolate milk.

Caroline Angela Grace Fong and Brian David Weimer were married Aug. 10 in Chicago, but the couple faced some significant problems beforehand. Three weeks before the wedding, the restaurant had canceled, the caterer quit, the cake baker was fired and the formal wear shop lost everyone’s tuxedo measurements. The photographer called the day before the wedding and said he couldn’t take pictures after 3 p.m. and the priest called to say the church could not be decorated early in the day because of a funeral. After all that, the wedding and reception went beautifully. The groom is the son of Rita Weimer, Morrill Avenue, Gorham, and Goerge Weimer Sr., Narragansett Street, Gorham. The bride is the daughter of Elizabeth Fong of Chicago and Kwock Fong of San Francisco.

Three gymnastic coaching professionals will provide Maine’s only Eastern European development training system when they open their new business, the Maine Academy of Gymnastics, Nov. 9 at 20 Terminal St. in Westbrook. Owners and coaches Lisa Walker and Paul Amundson, along with Paul’s brother Jeff, have the ambitious goal of bringing to the state the finest training facility in New England, while also bringing fun and fitness together for children of all ages and abilities.

Oct. 24, 2001

Sappi North America laid of 17 management employees Thursday. By reports, the count was six in its Technology Center, the former S.D. Warren research lab, and eight in the paper mill in Westbrook. Workers at a Sappi office in the Southborough Business Park were also affected. All were reportedly released with some buyout or special benefits package. Some had worked at the mill for more than 25 years.

Whoever stole a delivery truck from Hillside Lumber off the County Road in Westbrook in the early morning hours Monday failed to notice that its load of lumber wasn’t secured. Instead of getting $4,000-$5,000 worth of building supplies, the thief got far less. Most of the load fell off as the truck took the sharp right turn onto the ramp to the Maine Turnpike’s new exit 7A. The driver probably took the corner fast on a green light and wasn’t eager to stick around so kept on going. The remainder of the lumber is still missing, as is the big 1993 International 14-wheel truck, with a boom, worth around $80,000.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Robert C. Knight, a Westbrook native, has been elected for a three-year term on the board of directors of the USA Legion of Valor, whose members are the Army and Navy recipients of the Distinguished Services Cross, the nation’s second highest award for heroism. Knight, retired following 30 years of military service, lives in Melbourne, Fla., with his wife, Drucilla. He is the son of Annie McClure of Dunn Street, Westbrook, and the late Forrest L. Knight.

Westbrook High School seniors Donato Borelli and Stephen Perez have been named Commended Students in the 2002 National Merit Scholarship Program, Principal Marc Gousse announced Friday.

Gorham may be close to receiving a long-awaited Maine Department of Environmental Protection approval for a $2 million addition to the Baxter Memorial Library. The DEP’s Linda Kokemeuller said that she is “recommending approval.” Deed restrictions on property given to the town in 1915 by former Gov. Percival Baxter apparently caused the DEP to have some concerns about the title.

This is the lower end of Church Street, between Main Street and Wayside Drive (later renamed William Clarke Drive). The church steeple visible in the photo was the old Westbrook Congregational Church on Main Street at Brackett Street. The buildings in the photo, including the church, were demolished by urban renewal. same area today is a parking lot. 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 [email protected]. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org. Photo and research courtesy of Mike Sanphy