Last Saturday morning, American Legion Post 148 in
Windham, hosted the National commander of the American Legion for a breakfast
gathering. National commander Dale Barnett from Georgia, visited Maine to give
awards to various posts. Barnett is commander of the 2.2 million-member
American Legion members across the country. 
“This post has a long history of exceeding standards that
the State of Maine has set,” said Barnett. “We’re so glad to have you with us.
We’re a team. 
Barnett gave meritorious service awards to Henry “Chuck”
Whynot, Clarence Cummings and Leone Davies for the work they have done with the
post helping veterans. The post was given awards for “Devotion to Mutual
Helpfulness” for their “support and activities of the American Legion, all the
while, being an asset in their community.” The post was also given an all-time
high recognition for increasing membership for seven consecutive years from
2009 to 2015.
A certificate of meritorious service was award for
“service by enrolling for the year 2016, a membership equaling or surpassing
its previous all-time high.” They were also given the Maine “Most Meritorious
Service Award in recognition of the efforts of its officers and members in
equaling or exceeding the post’s 100 percent membership goal prior to the
annual state convention.”
“Duty, honor and country,” Barnett said. “We have a duty
to community because we want to serve because it’s the right thing to do. Honor
to be in the military. It’s an honor to be your National Commander. And,
country. There are a lot of countries, but there’s no greater country on Earth
than the United States of America. We also know freedom is not free.” 
Fullam
said the show is looking for companies already operating that demonstrate a
potential for growth and sustainability; individuals who are ready to take a
“great widget” they have invented to the marketplace; individuals or companies
who have created services products; and/or the next great idea that has a clear
path to early development.
Last Saturday Southern Maine Gearbots
teams gathered at Saint Joseph’s College of the sixth annual competition. It was a day of excitement and constructive rivalry as teams competed in two divisions. The first was junior division for
grades 1 through 3 and a senior division for grades four through eight.
The other part of the competition is the
vehicle building for the senior division. Each LEGO machine was created to accomplish a task. The seniors
were tested in competition to determine the fastest robot, steeplechase winner,
best walker/bridge builder, strongest robot or table clearing mission, best
slope climber or best ping pong shot put. There were 22 senior teams. 
A group from Massabesic was working to
perfect it’s robot that entered the strongest robot competition. “They
discovered they need to redistribute the weight and add weight to give it
traction so the wheels won’t slip,” said coach Karen Turgeon. 
In the six years the Gearbots have been
holding the competition, it has grown exponentially. With the addition of a
display from New England LEGO users group (NELUG), this year featuring a circuit
that moved small balls around tables set in a square using intricate working
machines. 
“I love doing it,” said Thomas Atkinson,
who showed off his project The Great Ball Contraption. He’d been making models
for 11 years and knows that it teaches students mechanical principles and so
much more. “It is an awesome learning tool.” 
The Portland
Police Department bomb squad officers
also showed off their professional remote control bomb disposal robots to demonstrate the
practical use of robots in police work. Other organization brought in LEGOs for
hands on building, including Sarah Sparks, a 4-H science professional from the
University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Hands-on LEGOs from Habitat for
Humanity of Greater Portland. 
Robot Republic from Windham had been preparing for the Gearbots competition since January, when they started meeting at Manchester School. The team is comprised of two fifth graders (Rafael Roney and Riles Brown)
and two third graders (Chayse Caron
and Zachary Noonan). They were coached by Steve Brown and Allen
Caron. The team placed in the top five
in the speed competition.
“We’re super excited, not only to come
and compete but also checking out other ideas. There’s a sense of community
here,” said the Robot Republic team.Southern Maine Gearbots are looking for
new board members. “We’ve been growing for the last couple of seasons and we’ll
keep growing for a long time to come,” Noonan said. 
The
warmer than usual weather brought out the buckets and plastic tubing hanging
from trees earlier this spring than in recent memory. Syrup producers were
ready for Maine Maple Weekend this year, their sugar houses boiling down sap to
make the sweet treat. 
Owners Sharon and Dewey Lloy have been
participating in Maple Syrup Sunday for 16 years. The maple trees on their 50
acres provide enough sap to have syrup for tourists in the summer and even some
for the holidays. They are always trying new ideas and new products. New last
year was the sweet mustards and BBQ sauces. This year it was maple cream cones,
said Sharon. They also ship syrup year round. 
Dewey was boiling the sap on Saturday,
but usually that is Sharon’s job, he said. Unlike some sugar houses, this one
boils using oil instead of wood giving a consistent even heat. Dewey explained
that knowing Sharon was going to make 70 percent of the syrup, she wanted it
simplified so that she could pick kids up from school or practice. All she had
to do was turn the oil off and the entire operation shut down. Sharon was also
the reason for the sap running into storage containers instead of buckets on
the trees. 
This year Maine Maple Sunday fell on
Easter, prompting some sugar shacks to close on Sunday and only have visitors
on Saturday. 
Different sugar houses have different
treats. “Everyone offers something different,” said Sharon. Balsam Ridge has
horses Ginger and Rex adding a special treat for guest to pet and look at,
while eating their complimentary vanilla ice cream topped with maple syrup. 
The
Gray Secession Committee kicked off their petition drive this week at an
informational meeting held at the Raymond Fire Barn, an early step in an estimated
2-year process aimed at several neighborhoods seceding from the Town of Gray
and joining Raymond. The area includes the west shore of Little Sebago Lake and
Little Sebago Lodges on the north to Northern Oaks on the southern boundary.
Some residents refer satirically to the area as “Graymond.” A map showing the
proposed new boundaries was presented at the meeting and is available on the
committee’s Facebook page.
The
5-member group cites geography as the main reason for a separation. Committee
president Jennifer White says residents living in the secession area have to
travel through Raymond to access Gray town services, such as the town hall,
transfer station and schools, which for most is a 20 to 25 minute drive.
A
possible disadvantage to switching towns would involve snow plowing. Raymond
plows only public roads. The large number of private road neighborhoods in the
proposed secession territory now serviced by the Town of Gray, would have to
form associations, charge dues and hire private contractors, a move that would
reduce the lower property tax advantage. |
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