May 27, 1987

Christopher Peterson, 21?2, was playing with his grandparents’ white dog Missy in the sand pile next to their house on Brackett Road, Gorham, May 17. The next thing anyone knew, he and the dog were gone, and couldn’t be found. The afternoon ended fine, with Chris back home, sore and dirty, but all right. In the hour and a half or two hours he was gone, around 100 searchers had scoured the thick woods of the neighborhood. The one who finally spotted him and led ground searchers to him was neighbor Steve Berry, flying his ultralight airplane. Christopher was spending the weekend at the home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Pride. His father, John Pride Jr., was babysitting him, but was distracted for a moment during which boy and dog disappeared. His grandmother thinks he was headed for his aunt’s house, which is nearby, but through a patch of woods. But he and the dog went astray. Where they finally wound up was at the back corner of a field on the old Longfellow farm. Without leaves on the trees, Berry cold see clearly, and he could see a lot of searchers below. But then Steve spotted something – a white dog in the woods across the brook. He radioed word of the dog,.Then he spotted the boy, in a blue jacket, huddled under some trees at the field’s edge, about 75 feet from the dog. “The kid was all covered with burdocks and muddy in the face,” Berry said, but other than that he was fine.

A roaming black bear was seen several times last week in Gorham, once on a stroll through the wood piles at Phinney Lumber. No one who saw it sounded worried, and the state game warden’s office said black bears are timid creatures and will run from you. There is no cause for alarm, they said.

Teachers, other staff members and visitors can continue to smoke in Westbrook schools, but only in designated smoking areas, under a policy to be voted on by the School Committee. The statement proposed says that the School Committee “is committed to the promotion of health” and “smoking is a major cause of preventable diseases and deaths.”

May 28, 1997

The Westbrook City Council has approved the purchase of a motorcycle for police use. Police Chief Steven Roberts said he will seek sealed bids at Westbrook Together Day, June 6-7, on the police department’s present off-road four-wheeler and use the proceeds toward a motorcycle, more versatile. The bike would be a high-clearance, off-road bike. The department has a motorcycle now, but it’s a road bike not suitable of all-terrain use. Roberts aos wants Westbrook police officers all to be carrying the same weapon, a .40-caliber plastic and steel, new-model Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol. He proposes to trade 55 pistols and revolvers toward 34 new guns. He will ask for bids and expects to need about $1 000 beyond the trade-in value. He said the new pistols are lighter, and in tests police officers get better accuracy scores with them.

Gorham High School’s baseball team, plagued by injuries early on, has quietly moved up. Under .500 going into last week, they got a major late-season lift Wednesday. In a night game played at home, they were able to do something that no other team has managed this year. They beat first-place Greely. The 7-6 victory was by the narrowest of margins, but a win’s a win, and Gorham’s playoff hopes and confidence level stand to get a big boost from that game. Wednesday’s hero was junior Paul Nicely, whose two-run triple in the bottom of the 6th inning reclaimed the lead for Gorham and put the team ahead to stay. Junior Kevin Libby, who was sidelined with a knee injury while Gorham got blown out by Greely 13-5 April 14, did his part from the pitcher’s mound. He silenced Greely’s usually hot bats, allowing only one run in the first four innings.

Among the 10 Maine Sports Hall of Fame high school students who will receive “Scholar-Athlete Awards” and $500 for college scholarships is Stacy L. Francoeur of Westbrook.

James and Nancy Sanderson, Fairview Lane, Gorham, entertained over Memorial Day weekend with their daughter and family, Deborah and Jim Spaide, Michelle, Jennifer, Heather, Rebecca and Christopher, New Canaan, Conn. Deborah grew up in Gorham, graduated from Gorham High School and operated a day care in Westbrook before moving to Connecticut. She has written a popular book, “Teaching Kids to Care” – how to teach children to be interested , not only in their own well-being but to help others, to have the spirit of giving, and to volunteer. Her book has taken her onto the “Opra Winfrey Show,” the “Today” show, and has been written about in USA Today, the New York Times and Parenting Magazine,.

Amanda Wood, daughter of Leonard and Patricia Wood, Casco, graduated cum laude from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, with a bachelor’s degree in political science and justice. Amanda won the Dean Williamson Award, for a senior who has been outstanding in scholarship, athletics, extra-curricular activities and loyalty to the university. She has received a dean’s scholarship each of four years and was captain of women’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams her junior and senior years. Amanda is a graduate of Jordan Small School, Raymond, and Westbrook High School, Class of 1993.