Aug. 17, 1994

The S.D. Warren paper mill is masking the odors of its wastewater treatment plant in Westbrook with a flowery scent. The experiment began in early summer and appears to be helping, said Elizabeth Sisson of the mill’s public relations office. “We are well aware that people are unhappy with the odors. We’ve tried other things. We don’t like the odors either. We’d like to prevent them,” she said. The scent being sprayed as an “odor counter-reactor” is manufactured by a local supplier.

Several Gorham residents are upset with a lighted yellow awning recently installed on the historic Lewis McLellan Block at 14-16 School St., but it appears the awning will become part of Gorham Village. The owners of Gorham’s first Chinese restaurant, Jan Mee II, are in the process of converting and renovating the McLellan building into a take-out and eat-in restaurant that is expected to open soon. Everyone in town seems to like the idea of having Jan Mee II, but some think the awning is too gaudy for the village character. In a letter to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, a Mosher Road resident said she was “disturbed with what has been done to this historic building.”

Fred Porell discussed individual property rights with Angus King, an independent candidate for governor, on Thursday. King was in Westbrook Thursday to walk the streets and meet potential supporters. King treated 15 of his campaign workers to breakfast at Guidi’s on Main Street. He spent $40.

Olive Brann, Sebago Lake Road in Gorham, celebrated her 91st birthday Aug. 8 and enjoyed dinner with her niece, Ruth Ann Hamlin, at the Gorham Station Restaurant. Olive was born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, and in 1945 moved with her late husband Lloyd to Westbrook to work in the mill. She moved to Gorham in 1966. She lives alone and has a lot of enjoyment with her pet cat.

Aug. 18, 2004

Leo Guinard, 71, of Westbrook, survived six days stranded in the woods without food, water or his medications. He was found last week on Peaked Mountain in Sebago, where he had fallen and gotten stuck in the mud after his truck had also gotten stuck on the mountainside. His ordeal began Aug. 7 and ended Aug. 12, when he was spotted about 400 yards from his truck by Glen and Kris Lang of Sebago, who saw the blue of his windbreaker and his red suspenders. Guinard, who was conscious and alert when he was found, spent two days under observation in the hospital. Mary Guinard, his wife, had never given up hope her husband would be found. Westbrook police came to her home shortly after he was found with the news. “I almost collapsed right there,” she said.

Thanks to a trust established in 1957 by the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club, students at Westbrook Regional Vocational Center have built some 40 homes that are located in various points throughout the city. This year, the students built a ranch-style house on Stroudwater Street. Planning is already underway for next year’s house, also to be located on Stroudwater Street, near the vocational center. Proceeds from the sale of the houses help perpetuate the program and provide scholarships. Because the emphasis is on quality construction, the houses are sold at current market values. Westbrook High School Principal Marc Gousse purchased a student-built house about a year ago. “It’s a great house. We’ve been very happy,” he said.

A Gorham artist is opening a nonprofit gallery in Portland’s Old Port this week that she hopes will give ordinary people the opportunity to buy art. Allegra McNeally Kirmani is calling the gallery “fafa,” short for “fine art for all.” It will feature work from local artists for as little as $4.99 up to $199. Kirmani participated in a Gorham High School program that allowed students to take classes at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. She attended drawing classes, and then took painting classes at Bowdoin while she studied business and accounting. After college, she started a career in commercial design.

A one-room school will take to the highway in September, as it’s destined for a new location and a new role as a museum in Buxton. The Buxton-Hollis Historical Society plans to restore the Watson School, more popularly known as the Chicopee School. Classes were last held there in the spring of 1940. It will be moved onto a new foundation behind the Buxton Center Baptist Church and will face the Groveville Road near its intersection with Route 22. The building will become an educational tool to show children what schools were like a century ago.

About 100 guests, including family and friends, celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of Westbrook residents Ferdinand and Carmelita (Ledoux) Bougie on May 15, 50 years to the day when they were married at St. Hyacinth Church by the Rev. Charles Lexoux, the bride’s brother. The event was held at the Centurion banquet facility.