May 10, 1995

An impromptu crowd of some 25 people lined the fences of Randall’s Farm Friday to welcome one of Westbrook’s newest residents, Clover the baby cow. Clover was born about 20 feet from Stroudwater Street at 5:59 p.m., prompting 20 cars to line the road for 100 feet on each side. “The first time he stood up, after about five minutes, we all chapped and cheered,” said onlooker Paula McDonald. Hannah Peterson, 5, who happened across the scene with her father Dan, came up with the calf’s name.

Westbrook High School math teacher Walter L. Hayes was honored last night in a ceremony at the school recognizing him for being one of 100 math and science teachers in the country to win a technology award from the Tandy Corp., Fort Worth, Texas. Hayes, 55, will receive $2,500 and a trophy.

The Gorham Town Council has set a special session to decide if it should take the Planning Board to court. The move would be an effort to appeal the board’s recent final approval of Susan Duchaine’s 18-lot development, Irish Farm, off Route 25. At issue is the plan’s 2,400-foot road. The Planning Board has the authority to grant approval to dead end roads only up to 1,500 feet.

Betsy Perry, daughter of Clifton and Judy Perry of Gorham, received the Outstanding Senior Student award of the University of Southern Maine class of 1995 in ceremonies April 29. She had a grade point average of 3.89. She majored in communications.

May 11, 2005

Worried about the impact of consolidation on their jobs and service they provide to local residents, Gorham dispatchers asked the Town Council last week for a public hearing on the issue. The town has offers from both Westbrook and Cumberland County to combine dispatch services. The move would be in response to a state-mandated reduction in Maine’s emergency call center from 48 down to 24 or less. Cumberland County has sent Gorham a proposed contract for $209,852 a year to take over the town’s dispatching. Westbrook has proposed a $270,000 dispatching deal.

When Sharon Orlando and her family moved to Westbrook in 1961, she was enrolled as a sixth grader at Saccarappa School. It seems only fitting that after a career that has spanned 34 years, she ends it at Saccarappa, where she has been principal for 12 years. Orlando is retiring at the end of the school year after 20 years in the Westbrook school system.

The University of Southern Maine will share early plans for a new residence hall on the Gorham campus at a meeting May 24. Plans call for the 324-bed hall to be located behind Bailey Hall, adjacent to the water tower. A building committee has been working with architects Harriman Associates on the plans. There are about 1,400 students in Gorham who live in six residence halls. The halls are at capacity and demand remains strong.

Westbrook’s Frenchtown Neighborhood Association will host a neighborhood cleanup May 14. Frenchtown encompasses the streets bordered by Brown, Bridge and Cumberland streets. Those participating should meet in the neighborhood center at 198 Brown St.

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