Dec. 25, 1991

Clashing points of view over what Gorham Village has been as opposed to what some want it to be has led to two factions arguing over a sign proposed for a location adjacent to Robie Gym, a historic landmark on South Street. One group, represented by the town’s Community Services Department and the Gorham Athletic Boosters, received permission in August from the Planning Board to erect a sign to the side of the gym that would give notice of community events. Those who oppose the sign include members of the Gorham Historical Society, who contend that it would have an adverse effect on the historical aspects of the town.

A vicious pothole in Cumberland Street, Westbrook, under the railroad overpass damaged five cars in about an hour on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 15, police reported. Pamela Matthews was first to complain, at 4:51 p.m. She said it gave her two flat tires. The next day she added that it also broke her steering wheel. At 5:06 p.m., a driver said he got a flat tire. At 5:19 p.m., a driver reported a flat tire and damage to the undercarriage of his car. At 5:22 p.m., a driver reported a flat tire and damage to the tire rim. At 6 p.m., a driver reported front-end damage.

Fleet Bank is closing the former Maine National Bank office in Westbrook Jan. 4. Customers of the Westbrook office, in Westbrook Plaza near the recently closed Cinema City theaters, are told to use the Fleet Bank at Pine Tree Shopping Center, Portland.

The Gorham Town Council approved a new two-year contract with its police and fire dispatchers that means a 3 percent wage increase for the current year. After this year the contract calls for no increase in 1992-93, but does contain a wage re-opener clause. The dispatchers also gained the day after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday.

Boy Scout Troop 73 began meeting a few weeks ago at the First Parish Church in Gorham. Troop 73 replaces the Boy Scout troop that disbanded two years ago after 41 years. The new scoutmaster is Jon Labrecque, Waterhouse Road, who earned the Eagle Scout award in 1976.

The Prides Corner Garden Club held its annual Christmas covered-dish luncheon and party Dec. 18 in the Marilyn Avenue home of Elizabeth Rosenblad and Blanche Kelley. It was a great day following a snowstorm that left 9 inches of fluffy snow. Santa Claus distributed gifts from the decorated tree. They enjoyed carols and stories.

Dec.26, 2001

The Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain was among the bidders in October when Stop & Shop Corp. auctioned off the lease that the former Bradlees department store chain held for half the building it shared with Hannaford at 25 Main St., near Exit 8. The bid was won by Leatherbee & Co., Chestnut Hill, Mass. Westbrook Planner Mat Eddy said he had heard Hannaford spokeswoman Caren Epstein confirmed that Leatherbee won the bid. Leatherbee is the owner of the building and longtime landlord to both Bradlees and Hannaford. Was Hannaford disappointed? “Obviously,” Epstein said Thursday. Hannaford won Westbrook City Council approval earlier this year for a zone change that would allow it to build a new supermarket at the former Southern Container box plant off William Clarke Drive.

Bindley Western Industries, which bought out the old J.E. Goold pharmaceutical wholesale firm and moved it from Portland to a new building at 5 Bradley Drive in Westbrook in 1998, was a big fish – a Fortune 500 company. But it got swallowed by a bigger fish, Ohio-based Cardinal Health, in February. On Dec. 6, the company told its 111 workers in Westbrook that the facility will be closing and their jobs will end by March. Cardinal has offered jobs in Syracuse or Boston to all those let go in Westbrook and has had 30 percent of the workforce take them up on the offer. “We need those employees,” said Lisa Kern, vice president of corporate communications.

It’s billed as the first annual Festival of Trees, and it was such a visual treat it’s sure to be followed by many more. Inside the lobby, side room and public dining room at the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church in Westbrook, 18 beautiful decorated trees stood on public display since Dec. 15, sponsored and decorated by local businesses and civic groups. The whole entertainment was the idea of Pat Wilson, who attended a similar display in a visit to her daughter in Fairfield, where the nearby Hinckley School started the idea 10 years ago. Pat brought the idea to life down here.

Gorham Police Notes: A motorist knew that a deer, lying in the middle of Longfellow Road, was not dead when it looked at the car at 11:24 p.m. He called police, who spotted three deer, alive and well, but didn’t see one sleeping in the road. A woman on Queen Street said cows were in her back yard. Someone reported seeing two cars parked side by side with the smell of marijuana on Tow Path Road.

This photograph of the St. Mary’s Rectory and Convent was taken in 1970. The old Rectory was demolished to make way for a new church that was built in 1973. Several years ago, the Catholic diocese closed this parish and sold the property. The convent is now a private residence and the church was demolished. 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 [email protected]. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.