July 19, 1994

A rumor says Roger Knight might accept the Republican nomination for mayor of Westbrook, but Knight said yesterday, “I don’t think that’s likely.” On the Democratic sides, Paul LeConte or Don Richards may challenge Kenneth Lebebvre for the nomination. Republican Lionel Dumond, Ward 1 alderman, and Alfred Porell, independent, are the only ones who have definitely said they’re running. Westbrook Mayor Fred C. Wescott, 61, died of cancer Dec. 29, weeks after he was re-elected.

Aime G. Thibeault of Bridge Street, Westbrook, parked his car at Westbrook Plaza Dec. 30 and went to a phone booth. The car followed him and pinned his legs against the booth. Thibeault told police he must have failed to shift into park.

Martha Day, 28, was elected unanimously as chairman of the Westbrook School Committee Wednesday. She is a first-year student at the University of Maine School of Law. A Republican elected to her second three-year term, she succeeds Arnold Gaudet Jr. and chairman.

Brenda Bufalino, a New York City tap dancer with an international reputation, will teach and perform at the Centre of Movement in Gorham Jan. 29 and 30. As a soloist, she has performed in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the Kennedy Center. The American Tap Dance Orchestra, which she formed in 1986, has performed on PBS and in Central Park in New York, in Bermuda, Poland and Turkey. She will give lessons at four levels and perform with a local company, the Happy Hoofers.

Jan. 21, 2004

Several weeks after Westbrook voters, and voters statewide, said no to a racino by a sizable margin, there’s discussion that a racetrack with slot machines could still be in the city’s future. In a televised debate last week with Casinos No spokesman Dennis Bailey, Ed MacColl, Scarbrough Downs’ lawyer, raised Westbrook as a possibility when pressed on where a racino might go if Scarborough Downs was given another chance to find a track in southern Maine. But Mayor Bruce Chuluda was clear about his position. “I really believe the people have spoken. I have no desire to resurrect this thing on behalf of the people of Westbrook.”

Staying warm in the arctic blast last week, Mainers stoked fires while the cold stirred memories. Some older residents recalled the day the thermometer reading dropped to 39 degrees below zero, on Feb. 16, 1943. The day was unforgettable for James Eddy, 91, of Gorham, then living on South Street. He walked to Edgar Carswell’s drug store from his home, and it was so cold he felt it in his chest while walking. Cars couldn’t move in Gorham because transmissions were “froze up,” he said. “I know what to do when these cold spells come on. I prepare for it,” he said.

One of the largest police unions in the state recognized Westbrook Police Chief Paul McCarthy as the chief of the year Saturday night at the Italian Heritage Center in Portland. The Maine Association of Police, which represents 35 police departments statewide, awarded McCarthy the David Pickering Award, named after a Cape Elizabeth police chief who died shortly after receiving the award. The union said it chose McCarthy, 55, the first Westbrook chief to receive the honor, because of his many years of service to the community and the support of the officers in his department have shown him. He began in Westbrook in 1972 as a foot patrol officer on Main Street.

George Bookataub, Westbrook High School music director, was recognized recently as one of the country’s “50 directors who make a difference” by School Band and Orchestra magazine. Under Bookataub, the Westbrook music program has expanded both in the high school and junior high. He’s taken bands to the Tournament o Roses Parade in California, the Citrus Bowl in Florida and the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona.

This house at Main and Pleasant streets was known as the Ricker House. Mobil Oil purchased it and then demolished it to make way for a service station that Ray LeTarte operated for many years. After the station was sold, Angelone’s Pizza set up shop. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. Inquiries can be emailed to [email protected]. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.