May 27, 1992

The house of Susan O’Carroll, 55 Morrill Ave., Gorham, sits so close to Gorham High School and its playing fields that its occupants must have felt like honorary members of the student body over the years. On Thursday, the Town Council agreed to pay $5,000 for an option to buy the house for $125,000, if a plan to expand the high school gets all needed approvals. If the deal goes through, the town will get, besides the well-kept ranch house, a landscaped yard with blue spruce trees, two mature apples trees and lilacs.

The top six of the top 12 seniors academically at Westbrook High School this year are girls who plan on careers ranging from science to pre-veterinary. They are, in order of standing, valedictorian Holly Mason, salutatorian Brigid Rielly, honor essayist Pamela Ezzy, Kelly Mirone, Kristin Pizzo and Gail Concannon. Rounding out the top 12 are Christopher Libby, Megan Healy, Matthew Binette, Jason Bowie, Brent Cunningham and Bryan Pepin.

Someone has pulled up or broken down at least 10 of Al Hawkes’ campaign signs. Hawkes is the Westbrook candidate for the Republican nomination in Senate District 28. Hawkes laments that he’s got to keep riding around and checking that signs stay where he’s put them, besides the cost of replacing any missing ones. He volunteers to give a sign to anyone who wants one, after the election.

The Gorham Land Trust has added its voice to the town governments of Gorham and Westbrook in seeking a full Department of Environmental Protection review of the proposed de-inking plant off the Gambo Road in Windham. The trust also seeks review by “other appropriate agencies,” such as Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. “Any activity along the Presumpscot River which will have an impact o the river and its corridor must have careful review of a regional nature,” the trust wrote.

From the Gorham Police Log: A skunk hit by a car on Crockett Road was brought to the public works yard by Animal Control Officer Jim Hawkes. Horses owned by a Mighty Street resident were running loose down near Fort Hill Road until police rounded them up.

U.S. Sen. William Cohen recalled his own Russian grandparents as he welcomed 58 new U.S. citizens in naturalization ceremonies Saturday at Westbrook High School. Immigrants of Asian origin were prominent in the group that also included Caucasians, black and Hispanic men, women and children. People from all over Maine were among the new citizens.

May 29, 2002

Three choirs will join for a “fun concert” June 2 in the Trinity Lutheran Church, 617 Main St., Westbrook – the choirs of Trinity, the Westbrook Methodist Church and the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church. “We do something like this about once a year,” said Evelyn Meserve. About 50 men and women will be singing.

Interviews with candidates for the post of the mayor’s administrative assistant will begin this week, said Mayor Donald Esty. “We have had great response” from people who are interested in the job, he said. Application deadline was May 3. James Bennett, who previously held the job, took a city administrator position in Lewiston.

Westbrook High School’s graduation ceremonies this year will be held on June 9 at Merrill Auditorium in Portland. That hall has served as the site of Westbrook High graduations for several recent years. Principal Marc Gousse said that there was a written student vote in the fall for a site preference, and Merrill Auditorium was chosen overwhelmingly over the high school itself.

The 15 cemeteries in Gorham now are off limits to dogs, except service dogs for the disabled, by order of the Town Council.

Tony Jendrek, 161 Conant St., Westbrook, returned Sunday after completing the Boston Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk The walk covers 60 miles, beginning in Fitchburg Friday morning and ending on the Boston Common Sunday afternoon. There were 3,946 walkers this year and they raised $6 million for breast cancer research and services. Tony had a particularly challenging day Saturday, walking 13 miles through rain, sleet and snow. His wife Leslie completed the walk in 2000 in 2001. Between them they have raised more than $12,000 for the breast cancer cause.

A group of Wescott Junior High School students working under direction of teachers Pender Kimball, Mike St. John and Bob Bolduc, have produced documentary videos of five local U.S. veterans. The tapes are part of the national “Veterans History Project” and will be preserved in the Library of Congress. The stories preserved are those of Norm Brydon, Army, World War II; Margot O’Neill, Air Force flight nurse, Desert Storm; Edward Lawler, Navy, World War II and Army, Korea and Vietnam; Mark Gartley, Navy, Vietnam POW; and Ray Reitze, Army, World War II POW. The students did the interviews then edited and produced the tapes and exhibits.

Former Westbrook Mayor Richard Foye Libby died May 21. He was 84. He served four terms as mayor in five years, 1951-1955. He was Westbrook’s last one-year mayor and its first two-year mayor. His father, Roscoe D. Libby, was Westbrook mayor from 1937-1941. Father and son both were Democrats.

This photo shows a Memorial Day Parade on Main Street in the 1970s, pre-urban renewal. The buildings in the background, Hood’s Drug Store, Day’s Jewelry Store, the Scates Building and The Men’s Shop, are all gone. The Men’s Shop building was destroyed by a suspicious fire on Jan. 8, 1978, one day before it was slated for demolition. The Scates Building was the last building to be demolished under the Urban Renewal Project. 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.