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Board to study RSU exit

2012-02-02T15:24:50Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Kennebunkport Board of Selectmen decided to assemble a committee to research the benefits, consequences and costs of withdrawing from Regional School Unit 21 at the Jan. 26 selectmen meeting.

Kennebunkport took up two selectmen meetings to discuss the cost sharing issues between the towns of RSU 21, which includes Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.

The selectmen’s meeting on Feb. 9 will be reserved for appointing five members to the committee.

Residents interested in sitting on the committee should contact Town Manager Larry Mead at the Kennebunkport town office.

“I think this is a really good course of action. I think it is very important before emotions thrust us down a course that we can’t deviate from without facing some ultimate outcome. It is better to have all the information so people making decisions understand exactly what they’re looking at, what we’re talking about, and what’s involved,” Selectmen Chairman Stuart Barwise said.

Residents of Arundel have already initiated their withdrawal process by gathering more than 300 signatures on a petition in favor of withdrawing from the school district. He said there’s a formal process of withdrawal outlined by the Department of Education and Barwise suggested that be the framework the town work within while investigating withdrawal as an option for Kennebunkport.

“Truthfully we’re going to look into getting out of the system too because it’s not benefitting (Kennebunkport),” Sheila Matthews-Bull,vice chairman of the Board of Selectman, said at the Jan.12 meeting.

Currently, cost sharing consists of each town paying an amount based on property values in their municipality.

Arundel residents decided to withdraw from RSU 21 shortly after the district’s school board members voted in early December to re-open the cost sharing discussions between Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel in light of the building renovations to take place in the near future on Kennebunk High School and Kennebunkport Consolidated School.

Arundel residents complained they should not be expected to pay for renovations to a high school that most of their children do not attend, as Arundel high school students have the option of attending Thornton Academy in Saco.

“We totally understand what’s going on in Arundel, but we also feel that we’ve paid more than our share over the last 35 years. We have continued to pay more than our share never minding that we were, but to then come back and ask for more, and more, and more, and more is what we resent,” Matthews-Bull said at the Jan. 12 meeting.

Matthews-Bull cited Kennebunkport residents paying more taxes to the school district than Arundel or Kennebunk.

She said Kennebunkport residents paid more because of the high value of some of their oceanfront properties.

Mike Moser of Kennebunk suggested that it might be more fair for the towns to function as one municipality instead of three so each town pays an equal portion. He said individual taxpayers pay equal shares into their municipalities and he asked the selectmen why individual towns within a shared school district couldn’t function in a similar fashion.

“One point on the whole notion of treating (the school district) as a municipality, while that works from a financial model it doesn’t work as a representational model because it still doesn’t get Kennebunkport or Arundel the balanced or equal voting on (the RSU 21 school board),” Barwise said. “One of the problems that always nagged at Kennebunkport was paying more for fewer students and less say,” he said.

He said the idea of consolidating the three towns into one municipality for the sake of ending cost sharing debates would not solve the issue of Kennebunkport paying more for less students.

Kennebunkport resident David James spoke in favor of the idea of basing taxes on the number of students each municipality has attending RSU 21 schools.

“I think there are a lot of benefits of having a consolidated town system with regard to the school system because of a difference of demographics, but Kennebunkport is loaded with a lot of oceanfront properties that drive real estate values up,” James said. “In my mind it still comes down to the number of students that you have attending the educational facility and based on that ratio that’s how the towns should be supporting educational costs.”

Matthews-Bull agreed that education taxes paid by each town should be based on the number of students from each town that attend school in the district.

“One of the issues that was brought up and was brought up a number of times is that some look at the three towns or think that three towns should be looked at on an equal basis. Across the board we’re going to go to property values,” she said. “We know the reason why that has come up is that it would force the people of Kennebunkport to pay more.”

Matthews-Bull said that if the towns were consolidated and considered one municipality then Kennebunkport residents would still end up paying more than they should based on the high property values in the town as compared to those in Arundel and Kennebunk.

The Jan. 12 meeting had very low attendance due to inclement weather, so Barwise said the board would continue the public forum on the issue of RSU 21 cost sharing on Jan. 26.

At the Jan. 26 meeting, the selectmen dove right into the discussion of exploring the option of withdrawing from the regional school unit.

Mead, Kennebunport town manager, said he thought it would be a good idea to assemble a committee with the purpose of researching the withdrawal process.

“I think if there was a petition gathered for withdrawal and submitted to the board of selectmen with the adequate number of signatures that really would start the process going,” Mead said.

However, he also said that once signatures were gathered and a vote scheduled there would be no turning back from that point.

He said forming a committee to research the pros and cons of the withdrawal process would be the best first step for the town of Kennebunkport to take.

“I would suggest that we wait until our next meeting before we make formal appointments. I just want people to have the opportunity to come forward,” Barwise said. He said the selectmen’s meeting on Feb. 9 would be reserved for appointing members to the committee.

“I think what’s going to decide whether we stay or go is what our costs would be if we left,” Matthews-Bull said.

Barwise said that money is not the only issue involved with the town’s decision to stay in the district or not. He also said Kennebunkport has not decided anything in regards to withdrawing from RSU 21.

“We’re not leaving; we’re investigating,” he said. Barwise and the board of selectmen agreed to allocate the new committee a period of four weeks to research the withdrawal process.

“We are going to meet on Feb. 9 and we are going to assemble this committee and we’ll charge them with investigating this with a report back date of four weeks out and base our deadline on their conclusions,” Barwise said.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached 282-4337, ext. 233.

Pecha Kucha shows thrive

2012-02-02T15:23:29Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Wine, beer, hors d’oeuvres, and pizza kept visitors of River Tree Arts busy while they waited for the nonprofit community art center’s second ever Pecha Kucha Night to begin.

The official show time for Thursday’s Pecha Kucha (pronounced pecha-kuh-cha) was 7:20 p.m. per the trademarked Pecha Kucha rules, but the doors opened at 6:30 p.m.

Pecha Kucha is a nonprofit event, but River Tree Arts charged $5 at the door to cover the cost of the refreshments provided for audience members.

The presentation format consists of a presenter who shows 20 slides for 20 seconds on any subject of their choosing while narrating each slide.

President of the board of directors at River Tree Arts, Susan Inoue, emceed the event and introduced the “spotlight sponsors” between each presentation. A person walked across the venue stage with a sponsor sign while someone flashed a light on the sign so the audience could read it. Sponsors included Solar Market, the Hive, Hannaford, and Mehkong Thai, among others.

Pecha Kucha means chitchat in Japanese and two architects, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, founded the event in Tokyo in 2003. The two invented the format to provide concise bites of information in a short amount of time for the purpose of networking and sharing ideas.

More than 230 cities around the world hold Pecha Kucha nights. Participating cities in Maine include Portland, Bangor, Brunswick, Lewiston, Auburn, Waterville and Vinalhaven.

The event is an informal gathering and Pecha Kucha rules state that every venue must have drinks available in a bar setting during a social intermission between two sets of five presenters. Presenters can cover any topic they wish, as long as they follow the format of 20 slides at 20 seconds each.

Roberta Bearce of Kennebunk attended the event with her friend Patricia Faye of Massachusetts. Both women said they were artists and found inspiration through watching Pecha Kucha presentations.

“(Bearce) invited me. (Pecha Kucha) is just the perfect way to start the weekend and then go home and express ourselves,” Faye said. “This format works so well. You get to take in so much.”

Linda Ward, vice president of the River Tree Arts board of directors, first attended Pecha Kucha Night in Portland in February 2011 and, with the sponsorship of the Maine Center for Creativity in Portland, she brought Pecha Kucha to Kennebunk in November.

Ward said she had to register River Tree Arts on the Pecha Kucha website and then she received paperwork in the mail from Tokyo that had to be filled out and mailed back before the Kennebunk nonprofit could hold an official Pecha Kucha event.

“There’s something about it. There were 136 people at the last count. We thought it wouldn’t be like this the second time because of January,” Ward said on the night of the event. The audience count climbed to over 140 attendees by the end of the night.

She said the first Pecha Kucha show at River Tree Arts in November attracted 135 audience members. She said if Pecha Kucha gets any bigger the venue might have to move out of River Tree Arts to accommodate a larger crowd. Ward said the only other option would be to limit the number of people who attend the show.

“Half of the presenters are from our community and half are from other places,” Ward said.

Dan Perrinez traveled from Newmarket, N.H., to see his roommate, Karrah Kwasnik, present on her photography.

The title of her presentation was “The Organic Year” and it chronicled her experience using the Van Dyke Brown photographic printing process.

“I saw her present in Portsmouth,” Perrinez said. “I know she brought in some people from quite a distance away.”

Among the Kennebunk and Maine presenters were Bob Lown, Dave Jourdan, Steve Hrehovcik, Mary Zachary-Lang and Wade Zahares.

Thursday’s slideshow narrators included a photographer, a few artists of different mediums, a cartoonist, the president of an oceanography technology business, a cell phone photo blogger, a woman who manipulated iPhone photos with a portrait application and a man who patented his unique version of the traditional clothespin.

Some presenters used their words only and some read off note cards. Others, like Zachary-Lang, incorporated music and poetic verse and quotes into their narrations. Samples of artwork, books and clothespins were available at the intermission and at the end of the show for people to sample and purchase from the presenters.

Ward said River Tree Arts would host the next Pecha Kucha in April.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached 282-4337, ext. 233.

Writing flows from Windy City to Arundel

2012-02-02T15:22:18Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Known as the Windy City Author, Maureen McDermott Gill, who moved from Chicago to Arundel Oct. 1, recently wrote a detective novel called “January Moon.” Gill self-published the complex mystery, which has been making waves among independent writer circles online for its controversial and bold content, according to reviews on Amazon.

Already she is working on a second book in what she calls the Del Carter Calendar Series. Gill writes blogs on two sites: Tides and Currents blog and The Windy City Author … In New England blog. The graduate of Loyola University in Chicago sat down with the Post and answered a few questions about her writing, her work as a historian, and about her move to southern Maine.

What was it about Maine that drew you and your husband to move here from Chicago?

Family; we have a son, Sean, who lives here. He lives in Arundel. He works at the University of New England.

Why do we love Maine? Well, we were coming out and visiting (Sean) and we really loved it—it’s very beautiful here. For many years, we had a summer home in northern Wisconsin on the Wisconsin-Michigan border. We loved it up there. So when we first saw Maine we were struck by the fact that this area geographically is almost identical to northern Wisconsin and upper peninsula Michigan.

I could close my eyes and I don’t know that I’m not in Minocqua or Eagle River. It has the piney forests that we love, the rivers, and the lakes and of course, the ocean, but it has culture. It has universities, it has good medical centers, so it’s just a really beautiful area. We came out here and I thought the people were friendly. I have met so many people from Chicago since we have been here.

I noticed that you are very involved in the community. Can you tell me about how you jumped right in and became so proactive in your new community and at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Kennebunk?

I come from a tradition where people got involved. I’m a social activist. I’m a person who likes to be involved and feel I can make a difference. Particularly when you are new to a community, you need to bring something to the table.

Outside of the Unitarian Universalist Church, do you plan on joining any committees or getting involved in other town activities?

I do; I spoke with the chair of the Maine Democratic Committee. I am very interested in the caucuses and how those work. I know Maine has a caucus coming up and I want to explore ways I can help the Democrats in the 2012 elections. Another thing that’s important to me is animal rights. I have worked in animal rescue in the past. The problem with being an activist is that I’m the kind of person that can end up with too many balls in the air. Right now I think that the elections are my priority.

What do you feel you bring to the table?

I am still working that out.You have to make room for everybody to bring their talents, but I think life is richer for you if you can make those contributions and I just like people. For me the quickest way to get into a community is to show up and say, ‘How can I help you.’ What’s going to happen is you’re going to meet people like you.

When my husband and I first walked into this church, I was driven by the fact that I knew the (Unitarian Universalist Church) has this strong tradition of social justice and so that is, I guess, what motivates me. For me it works, it makes me feel better about myself and it’s proactive. I’m just the kind of person that if I think something’s wrong and needs to be changed I think that it’s better to find a solution than to just complain about it.

How long ago did you write your book “January Moon?” How would you classify this book in terms of the themes the story explores?

I just wrote it in the winter of 2010. It has been published a year now. I had in up on Kindle in December. I found the hardest thing about this book today is how to classify it. It’s very difficult regarding genre. Five Star Book Reviews will put up different books on their website every month and they just chose me to go up for a second month in a row and they have me under mystery and suspense.

I have spoken in front of book clubs and I’ve had people tell me that this is really a love story and other people told they would classify this as a pure drama. “January Moon” is about cops, it’s about love, it’s about racism, it’s about violence of the body and the spirit. I would like to say that the kind of fiction I write is contemporary fiction that addresses a lot of social issues today.

What motivated you to write a mystery novel?

I self-published. There is still some stigma with that. That’s an interesting topic. I had never written fiction before. I had never taken a writing class, but I had written my whole life. I had written in business and in history, but I always thought that I would write a work of fiction. At my 40th reunion one year at my old high school, my friend said, ‘Mickey, every time I’m in a bookstore, I’m looking for your name.’

I said, ‘Really?’ and she said, ‘Yeah, I always thought you would write the great American novel.’ I said, ‘Well that’s damn strange.’

There was this particular window in my life where I was frustrated about a variety of things and where I was going to go next. Ten or 15 years ago I had an idea for this book, I had drafted it a little bit and didn’t like the outcome, I got very busy, and then it just sat. In January of 2010, I just started knocking some stuff out and pretty soon it started to take shape. Well, bam, it just happened. I say all the time it’s like the bus pulled up. All these people started tumbling out of the bus telling me their story and I can’t get it down fast enough. It was the most bizarre experience of my life, almost like a bunch of ghosts are coming in my home and just taking over my office and they just possessed me. I finished the book in ten weeks.

That is really fast.

It was fast and it is 300-some-odd pages. I was pulling it apart and drafting and here I was in April and I had a book.

On my website and on my blog you can read about the dogs Trooper, Shadow, and Wolf. I met this man named Denny Banahan and he was an ex-Chicago cop.

We were connected to each other because I had a dying dog and he had a dying dog and we had a mutual friend who said we had to talk because his dog was dying of what my dog was dying from. Denny said he heard I was a writer and he begged me to send him some of my writing. I didn’t know he was a writer too and had already published a cop story. I sent it to Denny and he calls me up one morning and he said, ‘This is the best book I have ever read.’ He sent it to his cop friends and an FBI agent.

In the meantime, I started looking into the query process and it was appalling. It was a very degrading process. I sent out 48 queries and I had five agents contact me in two weeks. I had one agent tell me I had to dumb the book down. I’m a person that could have gone traditionally, but I deliberately chose the best thing for me and the best thing for this story was for me to control it.

You describe yourself as a social activist, so would you say the themes that you bring out for your readers are a way to create awareness? Was that an important part of telling this story?

I think that’s spot on. My husband says, ‘You’re first and foremost a teacher.’ He says, ‘You like to teach, you like history, you like to talk about history, but you’re a storyteller.’ I think fiction allows me to reach a wider audience. I believe in entertaining (readers) and maybe telling you something too. With fiction, I get a different audience. I think when people might say ‘I don’t want to go there,’ the way you package it, they just might start going there. You can read my fiction and pretty much get how I think politically. I hope that it’s a damn good read, but what I like to hear most and what I do hear very often is, ‘I just really kind of learned something’ or ‘It was more than just pure entertainment.’

How would you describe your reading background? Which authors do you enjoy reading most?

I haven’t read much fiction in the last 20 years. I gravitate toward Grisham and I really like the “The Secret Life of Bees.” I have never read Michael Connelly, which is weird because I have been compared to him. Now I don’t read fiction, I refuse to read fiction because I don’t want to be influenced by anyone else’s fiction. Right now when I’m writing I’ve just decided that I don’t want to read anybody. When this is all done and over with it will be me.

Are you marketing “January Moon”anywhere in Maine since you moved here?

I haven’t yet. I did give it to one small bookstore and I haven’t heard anything. I’m going to take it over to Kennebooks and I’d actually like to donate a couple of copies to the library. But, right now I’ve more or less been pushing the book online.

Do you plan to involve yourself in any independent writer groups in Maine?

I’d like to, sure. I haven’t checked any out yet, but I think that ultimately, sure, I’d like to do that. I haven’t been here that long. I arrived with a broken foot and then I got involved with the (Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast) thing. I hope to be here a long time and there are many options I would like to explore. I really need to finish the next book. This is actually called the Del Carter Series. The next book is called “March Storm.” I already have the cover for it and I just need to finish writing it.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext.233.

Boot camp marches into Kennebunk

2012-02-02T15:21:08Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Kennebunk residents had better get ready because a boot camp is coming to town in February to work out people of all ages and lifestyles. Doug Spurling, founder and owner of Spurling Training Systems in Kennebunk, has teamed up with Director of Kennebunk Recreation Brian Costello to bring a community boot camp exercise program to the town.

Potential boot campers don’t need to be residents of Kennebunk to participate.

Boot camp is a group exercise class that consists of about 20 exercise stations with three people per station. People do a specific exercise for one minute and then jog to the next post for another exercise.

“I’ve only been in business for a few months now. So this is our first community boot camp,” Spurling, 22, said.

Spurling came to Maine from Massachusetts and graduated from the University of New England, where he earned his degree in applied exercise science. He holds certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and he is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, as well as a certified personal trainer.

Spurling worked as a personal trainer while he attended college and did some athletic training in Kennebunk with the help of his mentor and academic advisor Heath Pierce, an assistant clinical professor in the department of exercise and sport performance at UNE.

Boot camp at Spurling Training Systems, located on Colonel Gelardi Drive at the end of Water Street in Kennebunk, costs $45 per person for an eight-week session.

Beginning Feb. 14, boot camp classes will be held 5:45 p.m. every Tuesday and 6 a.m. every Thursday. Spurling said if people don’t want to sign up for the full eight weeks, they could drop in for one class at a time at $8 per class. He said he has tried to make it affordable.

“(Boot camp) is open to the community and you know they can register through the recreation department. It’s open to the whole community. We welcome ages 12 and up,” Spurling said. Costello said he was thrilled when Spurling approached him about offering a group exercise class to the community that was not exclusive to a private gym.

“I have been looking at something like this for months now since I started in Saco,” Costello said. Costello, a Saco resident, began attending a boot camp program at Saco Fitness at the request of his daughter.

“Obviously, I work for recreation, I work for families and our whole motto is to offer programs for people from age 1 to 101. This program is so unique that everyone can work together. You’re at your stations, but you’re doing it as a team if you want,” Costello said. He said he was looking to hold boot camp at local gyms and at schools, but he worried those locations might not be permanent enough to keep a long-term class scheduled.

“I was trying to put this into a gym, but unfortunately gyms are so utilized and we also have to have all of the equipment. Purchasing equipment is such a huge expense and where do you leave it and where do you put it? So (Spurling Systems) is obviously the ideal setting for it,” Costello said.

Spurling said he was directed by Pierce to approach Costello about offering classes to the recreation department through Spurling Systems.

“My advisor Heath Pierce worked with (Costello) a lot back when (Pierce) was a kid in Kennebunk and Heath told me he was a great guy and told me to go and talk to him. So, I set the meeting with (Costello) to see what I could to give back to the town,” Spurling said.

Costello said when he first saw Spurling’s facility he knew it would be perfect for his boot camp vision.

“I’m envisioning a facility that can hold 60 people and can have parents doing it with their children, grandparents doing it with their friends and relatives. I mean, community boot camp that’s what it is,” Costello said.

Spurling’s synthetic turf boot camp area consists of about 1,500-square-feet and is 25-meters long. He said the 20 stations would be set up on the turf and around the perimeter. The exercises Spurling and Costello would incorporate into the class consist of plyometrics, strength conditioning with medicine balls and other similar equipment, cone drills for agility, speed conditioning, and many other exercise moves for both fat burning and muscle building.

“The exercises that we choose to do can be intense whether you’re 12 years old, 40 years old or 60 years old. It is a group setting, but you’re able to push to your own level,” Spurling said. “Usually we’ll do like a minute to each station. Basically, (boot campers) have the ability to stop and rest whenever they wish. They do what they can in that minute and then go to the next station,” he said.

Spurling said the type and order of exercise stations would vary with each class to offer variety and to keep people coming back. Spurling said he could alter any exercise for people with injuries or other physical issues.

“The good thing about a workout like this or a program like this is you’re working out your total body, but you’re getting some muscle-building effect and the fat-burning cardiovascular effect. For a whole hour you’re basically getting that anaerobic training. It’s kind of a good combo for fat burning,” Spurling said.

Anaerobic training consists of short bursts of high intensity training to raise the heart rate and low intensity activity in between every intense interval to bring the heart rate down again.

“You watch (boot camp) go and everybody’s working together and helping out. It’s working at your own pace. Getting through it is at your own pace so it’s something that you can’t really fail at,” Costello said.

Costello helped Spurling get the word out by sending out e-mails to the 1,550 addresses the Kennebunk Recreation Department has on file.

“We just (e-mailed residents) Thursday afternoon. I’ve been telling members here and hanging fliers and of course our Facebook page is probably our most effective advertising,” Spurling said.

Spurling had one individual signed up as of Friday morning and while the Post interviewed the health professional two more people registered for the class online.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.

Obituaries

2012-02-02T15:19:39Z

Robert Irwin Edwards

Robert Irwin Edwards, 94, died Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, at Gosnell Memorial House in Scarborough after a period of failing health.
He was born Dec. 10, 1917, in Worcester, Mass., to Lilly Christiansen and Irwin Broomfield Edwards.
He attended Worcester public schools. As a young man, he had the extraordinary experience of being with scientist Robert Goddard when he launched his first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926.
Edwards received his A.B. and M.A. from Clark University, after which he taught in the Worcester public school system.
He was also a member of the team at Babson Institute that created the world’s largest relief map of the United States. Extending 65 feet by 45 feet and covering a 3,000-square-foot expanse, the map was begun in 1925 and completed in 1941. Its curvature corresponds exactly to the curvature of the earth.
In December 1941, Edwards enlisted in the Army and served as a sergeant, seeing action in New Guinea and the Philippine Island campaigns. He received two Bronze Stars and a Victory Medal and was honorably discharged in 1946.
While teaching French at Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y., he met Elizabeth Alden Dix, and they were married at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in June 1947. While teaching at Russell Sage, he studied for a doctorate at the French School at Middlebury College.
In 1950, he and his family moved to the Berkshires. In the Pittsfield public schools, where he was employed from 1950 to1986, he taught French, Spanish and German, was the first coordinator of foreign languages for the district and served as chairman of the Foreign Languages department.
He also taught French literature at the Shadowbrook campus of Boston College and at Lenox School for Boys.
He was a technical translator for General Electric Corporation, translated several books for New York publishing houses as well as monographs for Huguenot Heritage, a lineage organization in New York City. He was an honorary member of the Instituto Nacional Browniano in Buenos Aires.
For many years he was active in civic affairs and was a communicant and vestryman at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lenox, Mass.
In 2000, he relocated to Kennebunk following the death of his wife. He moved to Atria in January 2011.
He is survived by his two daughters, Carol Elizabeth Ware Edwards and Susan Clendon Storer Edwards, both of Kennebunk.
The funeral will be private and burial will take place in the spring at Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, N.Y.
Donations in his memory may be made to the building restoration fund at St. Nicholas Church, Sturry, England and mailed to:
The Rev. Peter Cornish, The Rectory, 2 The Hamels, Sturry, CANTERBURY CT2 0BL, Kent, England.

Lower Village parking pondered

2012-01-27T14:00:20Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

The majority of Kennebunk residents present for a special selectmen’s meeting spoke in favor of adding Lower Village parking behind Village Marketplace and opposed proposals to add parking spaces behind Washington Hose and near Emery Lane.

A large crowd of residents and business owners gathered Jan. 17 for a special selectmen’s meeting at Kennebunk Town Hall to learn about five options for adding parking to Lower Village.

The proposals for new parking in Lower Village were unveiled at a Dec. 13 selectmen’s meeting where a few residents said they preferred the proposal that would create 67 parking spaces behind Village Marketplace at the cost of $4,200.

“The purpose of this meeting is to discuss Lower Village parking options and to hear comments from residents and local business owners,” Town Manager Barry Tibbetts said at the Jan. 17 meeting.

He said the parking situation in Lower Village has been “a topic for many years.” Tibbetts summarized each of the five proposals, including which properties are private or town-owned, how much each project would cost and what exactly is included in the projected cost for each plan.

Tibbetts presented each option in terms of its location from Cooper’s Corner, which he said is considered the “centroid” of Lower Village.

Emery Lane offers 59 new spaces at a cost of $4,880 per space. It’s one of the more economical options, but Tibbetts said it is about a half mile from Cooper’s Corner, which could mean up to a 10-minute walk for most people.

“There have been a lot of interesting studies on how far someone will walk from the point where they park their car to the destination they want to go,” Tibbetts said.

He said the farther someone parks from their destination the less likely they are to make the walk there. He also said the Emery Lane location is not under control of the town so negotiations would have to be made with current landowners before the town could go forward. Land costs could raise the cost per space.

Washington Hose has potential for 12 new spaces in addition to 26 that already exist at that location. The plan projects each space to cost the town around $3,700.

Tibbetts said Washington Hose is town-owned but there are restrictions on the land. He said the town accepted a federal grant to construct the baseball field on the location “many years ago” and agreed to always keep the baseball field in place along with the playground located there. Tibbetts said the town could move the ball field to make room for new parking spaces, but special permission is required to completely remove it.

“If you want to take ball field away for a parking lot you have to go to Congress or the Senate to see if we could do that,” Tibbetts said.

The third proposed location would add on-street parking spaces along town-owned Port Road. Nineteen time-restricted parking spaces exist on Port Road and 13 additional spaces could be added at a cost of $13,400 each.

The high price of each space stems from the expansion of the width of the paved road to accommodate a bike lane, parallel parking spots, raised sidewalks and new street lighting, Tibbetts said.

Tibbetts said despite this location being less than a 5-minute walk from Cooper’s Corner, it poses problems the other locations do not, such as drainage and moving the curb line.

“We have to deal with things we normally wouldn’t have to deal with,” he said.

Village Marketplace was the favorite location for new parking based on residents’ comments at the meeting.

The plan would add 67 parking spaces at $4,200 each. The area also connects to Western Avenue and Port Road. Tibbetts said this area poses problems for the town because it is not town-owned land and the landowners would have to be consulted and negotiated with, which could extend the amount of time it would take to get started on construction.

Tibbetts cited the same problem with the proposal to add 24 parking spaces to the 60 that already exist along the Lower Village waterfront. The town would have to meet with the five different landowners of the waterfront land before the construction process could begin.

“What makes the most sense for us to do is to take a look at (Washington Hose and Port Road). Those we can deal with right away,” Tibbetts said.

He said because no landowners are involved the town could see new parking in Lower Village sooner if the Washington Hose and Port Road parking proposals were considered priority projects.

“That could be well over 100 spots that we could pick up, I think fairly reasonably,” Tibbetts said.

Some residents, including Susan Rioux, did not agree that Washington Hose was the best place to construct new parking.

“Washing Hose for me is a special place. My son played there and I just don’t want to see it change,” Rioux said. “It isn’t that big of a space and the road to get in there is not that big either. It’s a fabulous place and I hate to see anything change,”

Selectman John Kotsonis said the town might move the ball field in order to accommodate new parking spaces, but would not remove it completely.

Bill Osborne, a Massachusetts resident who said he lives in Kennebunk nine to 10 months out of the year, said he prefers the Village Marketplace location.

“(Village Marketplace) really gives you the biggest bang for the buck. It gives you the most new spaces,” Osborne said. “This village market spot with growth is really the best option. That’s the heart of Lower Village.”

Osborne said the area along Western Avenue that runs behind HB Provisions has potential for economic growth and parking near Village Marketplace would increase business.

“Don’t we want to help down Port Road toward Kennebooks? Isn’t that where we want to drive people to increase business? The heart of Lower Village is beating nicely. Don’t we want to help those other arteries that are nearby?” Osborne asked.

Selectman Kevin Donovan said to add parking behind Village Marketplace would not provide enough spaces to solve the parking problem in Lower Village. He asked Osborne which of the five parking proposals he would prefer along with the Village Marketplace option.

Osborne said he thought Washington Hose and Port Road looked like cost effective options.

John Everett, district fire chief for Washington Hose, cited safety concerns as a downside to installing parking at Washington Hose.

“It is very narrow and there’s no place for the pedestrians to go getting in and out of there,” he said. “For me it’s a public safety concern.”

Resident Patty Perry said she opposes proposed parking on Emery Lane because it would upset the “pristine” salt marsh in that area.

“When I looked at the aerial view it was very obvious that this parking lot is going to be sitting in the middle of one of really the last remaining stretches of forest land that is in the Lower Village,” she said.

Perry likened the idea of “deforesting” the Emery Lane parcel to the Joni Mitchell song lyrics that describe “paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

“That’s exactly what would happen if you even considered the Emery Lane proposal,” Perry said.

She said she supports new parking behind Village Marketplace because it is already a commercial area and would not require the removal of any forestland in Lower Village.

Jim Fitzgerald, president and chief executive officer of the Kennebunk Chamber of Commerce, said Lower Village continues to gain popularity each tourist season and needs parking.

“I can understand everybody’s need to voice their resident opinions. The worst thing we can do is impact some of our residents and the quality land that we have. On the other hand, we are in need of supporting businesses to a huge degree by making sure people can get to these businesses,” Fitzgerald said.

He said the town has the opportunity to make “a lot of money in parking.” He also suggested it seek an investor to buy the land and build parking lots needed in Lower Village.

Tibbetts and Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Albert Searles said once the board decides which proposals are the most suitable options for parking residents will have the opportunity to vote on the matter through referendum.

Tibbetts said new parking facilities in Lower Village could be funded by the regular budget or maybe by a tax increment financing district depending on where the residents and town officials choose to place new lots.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.

Fishing derby honors friend

2012-01-27T13:59:11Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

January marked the start of the ice fishing season, but for Wes Ashe and Heather Cyr it means more than just good old-fashioned winter fun.

Cyr’s husband, Alec, a Kennebunkport resident, died Oct. 23 from colorectal cancer at the age of 35. Ashe was a close friend of Cyr’s husband at Bangor High School.

Ashe, a graduate assistant in the wildlife ecology department at the University of Maine in Orono, organized an ice fishing tournament last year through the university.

“We wanted some kind of competition out on the ice,” Ashe said.

This year he said he wanted to do the tournament again and started planning the competition last fall.

“Then I heard of Alec’s passing,” Ashe said.

While at the funeral he got the idea to hold this year’s tournament in memory of his friend and donate half of proceeds to the Cyr family in the form of an education fund for the Cyrs’ infant son, Chase.

The rules of the tournament are simple. Participants must pay the registration fee of $10, catch as many fish as they can between Jan. 1 and March 31, e-mail Ashe photos and measurements of all fish caught and show up at the lottery to determine who wins the purse.

Participants can fish on any day and at any time and can catch any species of fish. Ashe said the anglers who catch the longest in length of each category of fish receive a token. The tokens are thrown into the lottery and whichever one is drawn wins the purse.

Last year’s lottery was held at the University of Maine in Orono, but Ashe said he has not yet decided where to hold it this year.

Both Ashe and Heather Cyr said fishing was a “passion” for Alec Cyr.

“Alec was a fisherman and his friends are fishermen so why not dedicate a winter to fish for Alec and Chase and Heather?” Ashe said.

Ashe and Alec Cyr were supposed to go striper fishing in July, but Ashe’s grandmother died on the day he had planned to fish on Cyr’s boat. He said he did not get the chance to speak to Cyr again before he died.

Cyr’s wife said Ashe approached her via e-mail about holding the tournament in her husband’s name.

“(Ashe) e-mailed me and said he did this ice fishing tournament last year and he thought that it would be great if we could do it in honor of Alec and have some of the funds go toward Chase,” Heather Cyr said. “I’m just trying to carry on (Alec’s) legacy through what he loved to do, which is fishing and being outside.”

Ashe said there are currently about 25 participants signed up for the tournament, but more entries are still possible. He said most of the tournament publicity has been word of mouth.

“People can register any time they want,” Ashe said.

He said he has received some donations outside of the tournament from people who knew his friend. Even though old high school friends might not be fishing for Cyr, some have reached out to Ashe.

“Right now there aren’t many actual classmates in the tourney, but I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails showing support,” Ashe said.

Heather Cyr said her husband was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2009, shortly after their first wedding anniversary. Alec Cyr met his wife when he lived in Massachusetts after graduating from the University of Connecticut. Heather Cyr said she used to vacation in the Kennebunks as a child with her family, so the couple decided to live in Kennebunkport when they moved to Maine from Massachusetts.

Heather Cyr said along with the ice-fishing tournament, she and her husband’s family and friends formed a team of about 100 people to run in a road race in south Boston called “Get your Rear in Gear.” The 5K race is held to raise money for colon cancer education and prevention.

Heather Cyr also hopes to plan a striper fishing tournament in her husband’s name next summer. She said Ashe will be included in the organization of that tournament.

“I just want to keep his name out there and raise awareness of this disease,” Heather Cyr said.

She said the ice fishing tournament and other efforts to raise awareness help to get her through the days since her husband died.

“It’s been challenging getting through these past few months but having these little events keeps me busy and gets me through,” Heather Cyr said.

She said she has been trying to spread the word about the ice fishing tournament since Ashe contacted her about it.

“If we get word out we can get more people. Who doesn’t want to compete for a little money or fun?” Heather Cyr said.

“What’s cool about this tournament is you can fish on any legal water throughout the state of Maine,” Ashe said.

Both Ashe and Heather Cyr hope the statewide aspect of the tournament and the liberal rules will attract more participants before the end of the ice fishing season.

“For me, personally, I’m not just out there searching for fish; I’m fishing for a cause. It’s for good things, something good for good people,” Ashe said.

He said he remembers his friend as “quite a guy” and that Alec Cyr held his family together throughout his illness.

“(Alec Cyr) was just like a rock and he was so at ease with whatever happened. He wasn’t going to get all worked up,” Ashe said about his friend’s fight against cancer.

Heather Cyr had similar recollections about her husband’s attitude after his diagnosis.

“(Alec) never let the disease get the best of him. He just really took every day and made the best of it. I just admire him so much for that,” Heather Cyr said.

She said her husband was a true outdoorsman and together they hiked Mount Katahdin in August – two months before Alec Cyr died.

She said the fishing tournament is appropriate to be held in her husband’s memory because it was something he loved to do with friends and family.

“(Alec) just really had a passion for his family and for fishing,” Heather Cyr said.

Staff writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.

Churches fight kids’ hunger

2012-01-27T13:57:57Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Imagine being given the task of packaging thousands of meals to feed hungry children and only having two hours to do it. Not only is packaging 8,000 meals in two hours possible, but it is also affordable at 25 cents per meal.

Pastor Rich Horner of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Kennebunk and Associate Pastor Beverly Lowell of United Baptist Church in Saco have joined forces in the fight against hunger by raising money to package Kids Care Meals on Saturday through an Iowa organization called Outreach Inc.

The two churches plan to distribute the nutritionally fortified food packages to the Saco and Kennebunk food pantries and to the Joyful Harvest and Seeds of Hope neighborhood centers in Biddeford. The packets come in three different meal choices: beans and rice, rice and soy, and macaroni and cheese.

“When I came across Kids Care I thought ‘this is something that we could be involved with.’

I was looking for a project; I’m always looking for some sort of a project for youth group,” Lowell said.

As the secretary at Holy Cross Lutheran, Lowell originally came across Kids Care while doing research for Horner, who had heard about Outreach Inc. through other Lutheran pastors. Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton founded the nonprofit organization in 2004 after they returned to Iowa from a trip to Tanzania.

“They were just floored that all these children (in Africa) were dying so they came back to the United States and founded a foundation to address the issues of hunger. Not just the food problems but the problems that stem from hunger as well,” Lowell said.

Martin said Outreach Inc. originally packaged meals to be sent overseas, but the organization became more grassroots as it evolved over the years in the United States. Any group that wants to participate in a good cause can package Kids Care Meals. Packaging groups have the option of sending the meals to local food pantries and hunger charities instead of to Africa.

Lowell and Horner were drawn to the grassroots aspect of the Kids Care Meals program and decided to hold an event of their own.

“It struck a cord with me and the concept sounded really wonderful and that kind of began the process of looking further into how the food packaging events operate and we decided to work together with Beverly Lowell at United Baptist Church,” Horner said.

Lowell said she called Outreach Inc. at its Iowa headquarters and members there put her in touch with Lutheran pastor Matthew Martin in Massachusetts. Martin, who moved to New England from the Midwest, is regional director of Outreach Inc. and Kids Care Meals in New England.

Martin said New England was Outreach Inc.’s “last area to cover” and that Lowell and Horner’s meal packaging event is the first ever in Maine.

Martin has orchestrated and participated in hundreds of packaging events over the years. He used to do it as a volunteer, but last summer he became the regional director for the New England chapter and now feeds the hungry for a living.

“In New England, Maine is the worst off for food insecurity among children,” Martin said. “Twenty-four point six percent of kids go to bed hungry in Maine. There are not many states in New England that are much better off.”

Martin said each meal contains vitamins, minerals and at least 11 grams of protein.

“(Kids Care Meals) have three different kinds of food packets: a rice and soy packet, macaroni and cheese and then beans and rice,” Lowell said.

She said for Maine’s first packaging event, the churches agreed only to package macaroni and cheese as Mainers might be more familiar with that meal over the other two options.

“(The label) tells you how to cook it and tells you they’re nutritionally fortified,” Lowell said.

Outreach Inc. provides all the food, labels, plastic packaging, and scoops.

“What it amounts to is churches raise the money and give it to me and I turn it into product,” Martin said. “The more money we have, the more hands we have, the more meals we have, the more we can package it and give it away.”

Martin said organizing a packaging event is not difficult. Volunteers form assembly lines of a little more than a dozen people. Each person on the line has a job to do such as scooping, weighing, measuring, sealing or boxing.

“Anybody can do it at almost any age,” Martin said.

Holy Cross Lutheran and United Baptist raised $1,500 between the two congregations.

“(The) majority of money came in from donations from church members. We put word out that we knew this event was going to happen and we were looking for people to participate. (Both churches) had quite a number of people who responded generously,” Horner said.

Horner said an organization called Thrivent Financial for Lutherans matched Holy Cross Lutheran’s $500 donation. Thrivent’s matching donation brought the two churches combined total to $2,000. At 25 cents per meal, the money raised by the churches bought 8,000 Kids Care Meals.

“Both churches have been very, very generous in donating to this,” Lowell said.

Martin said he was pleased with Horner and Lowell for exceeding their original fundraising goals.

“Bev wanted to do 2,000 meals and Rich wanted to do 4,000, but they raised enough money to do 8,000. By the end of (Saturday) they’re probably going to have enough money to do 12,000,” he said.

Martin said he will attend Saturday’s event in Saco and bring extra food just in case additional donations make it possible for volunteers to package more meals. Between the two churches, 60 people volunteered to package Kids Care Meals. Lowell said she wants volunteers to enjoy their time packaging meals.

“When you have people who volunteer, you have to honor their time and make it worth their while. I respect people who volunteer. I think they’re going to go home feeling (the Kids Care event) was good,” she said.

Lowell said she was impressed with the number of members from both churches who offered to help.

“We advertised it within the churches and the response was fantastic,” Lowell said. “It is our hope that all those 60 people are going to go back to home and work and let it spread.”

Lowell hopes for her church to host four Kids Care Meals packaging events per year. She would like to see food packets from future events go to Good Shepherd Food Bank so the nonprofit can distribute the food to communities in northern Maine where she said many food pantries and shelters have closed.

Horner plans to host a bigger event at Holy Cross in the future and said the Kennebunk church might purchase packaging equipment, such as the heat sealing device for plastic bags, for use at future events and to share with other groups that would like to organize Kids Care Meals packaging events.

“The goal of (Martin) is to have churches all throughout New England and various communities to have this equipment so it can be loaned or shared between churches. We have not made a decision to purchase that equipment but we are considering purchasing that equipment,” Horner said.

Martin said he is excited for the first Kids Care Meals event in Maine. He said it is one more step in defeating hunger.

“We’re just trying to go where love leads, serve where love calls and assist communities to feed the hungry. It’s pretty exciting how (Kids Care) is unfolding and how we’re getting on the cusp of eliminating hunger in New England,” Martin said.

The Kids Care meal packaging event takes place at the United Baptist Church in Saco from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. The churches will continue to accept donations for additional food until the event.

Volunteers for Saturday are not needed at this time, but Lowell and Horner said they will look for people to volunteer at future packaging events.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.

Heat efficiency program on the move

2012-01-27T13:56:49Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Heat can be hard to come by for Mainers in these economic times and for some people it can be even harder to hang onto once they have it.

Green Sneakers trekked through Kennebunk in October to spread the word about how to make homes more energy efficient.

Katie Poole, York County’s Green Sneakers representative, said the time has come to move forward from canvassing into guiding residents through the home weatherization process.

Maine Partners for Cool Communities founded the Green Sneakers project in 2010 when 125 volunteers canvassed 14 communities in the state, none of which were in York County.

Maine Partners for Cool Communities is an organization that educates Maine’s communities on energy efficiency and other ways to reduce global warming.

“Outreach is my job,” Poole said. “I’m an AmeriCorps member through the Maine Conservation Corps and through them I work with Maine Partners for Cool Communities.”

Poole became the York County Green Sneakers representative in mid-January. She works out of the Sierra Club office in downtown Portland, but Green Sneakers of York County should be moving their offices to Sanford in the future, she said.

“Basically what Green Sneakers does is we’re trying to help Maine meet its carbon reduction goals through energy efficiency. So there are really great programs out there like the PACE (property assessed clean energy) program, but if you don’t know about it you can’t take advantage of it,” Poole said.

She said people who do not know how to weatherize their homes most likely will not initiate the process.

“So basically it’s (Green Sneaker’s) goal to get out there and get people involved in making the changes that need to happen and houses that go through the energy audits and weatherization save about 40 percent of what they were spending on energy,” Poole said.

Weatherization tactics to save energy and money could include installing insulation in the attic, floor and walls as well as installing window treatments that prevent heat loss and drafts. Homeowners can also switch their heating system from oil to natural gas or update an outdated heating system.

When Green Sneakers marched through Kennebunk in October, volunteers collected a list of Kennebunk residents interested in making energy enhancing renovations to their homes.

Poole said she is going through her lists and organizing energy consultations for the houses of interested residents. Green Sneakers also is working on planning energy parties at the homes of Mainers who have weatherized their houses to show interested people the result of the process.

“We have a list of people that are interested in having walk-throughs. We do free walk-throughs and help educate (residents) on small things they can do. We really encourage people to get the energy audit, though, because we are not auditors,” Poole said.

Energy audits can be obtained through Efficiency Maine’s residential program. Efficiency Maine is an environmental entity formed in 2002 with the purpose of reducing energy costs and helping the environment through various efforts such as providing home energy audits and PACE loans to finance weatherization renovations.

Dana Fischer, residential program manager at Efficiency Maine, said 108 towns throughout the state have passed a PACE ordinance. If a municipality passes an ordinance, residents are able to apply for a PACE loan through Efficiency Maine to finance energy saving renovations to their home.

“In 2009 Efficiency Maine applied for a federal grant to start the PACE program. It is a revolving loan with a fixed interest rate,” Poole said.

A revolving loan means that money paid back by borrowers is loaned back out to new borrowers. She said people apply for the loan and an auditor from Efficiency Maine goes to the house, evaluates the home in terms of energy efficiency and informs the homeowners how certain improvements will save them energy and money.

Fischer said PACE loans are not credit based and there are no penalties for paying funds back early, but there are a few eligibility requirements.

“There is no minimum credit score, but there are some criteria to ensure people can afford loans even without the expected savings they receive (from weatherizing their homes),” Fischer said.

He said there are two primary requirements potential borrowers must meet.

“One is they have to have at least as much equity as they hope to borrow. Second, they must have a 45 percent debt to income ratio. We look at household income and no more than 45 percent of it can be spent on debt payments,” Fischer said.

Poole said in order to get the loan applicants also are required to weatherize at least 25 percent of their home.

Fischer said Maine launched the PACE program in April 2011.

“We’ve been at it for about 9 months now in terms of issuing loans and we’ve closed on a little more than 127 loans and we’ve had about 650 applicants,” Fisher said. “It’s exciting and not just because of what its accomplished in the state but because we’re the only operating residential PACE loan program in the country. What we’re doing is really leading the way on residential weatherization financing.”

Fischer said municipalities originally received education on Efficiency Maine by energy auditors, Green Sneakers representatives and Efficiency Maine speakers who attended municipal meetings and public forums.

“Now that the program is more or less established and we’re really focused on providing loans to residents most new towns coming on board and most towns expressing interest at this point are really driven by residents contacting local officials and indicating that they want to get a PACE loan and weatherize their homes,” Fischer said.

Poole and Green Sneakers work to keep people in towns such as Kennebunk informed about PACE, weatherization, energy savings and renewable energy sources. She said the project canvassed Kennebunk and Kennebunkport but she would like to round up some volunteers to canvass in Arundel in the near future.

Until then, Poole has her list and she’s checking it every day to contact someone new about taking the next steps in making their dream of an energy efficient home a reality with the help of Efficiency Maine and Maine Partners for Cool Communities.

If someone is not on the list or happened to be out of town the day Green Sneakers canvassed but has heard about its efforts to guide residents through the energy efficient weatherization process, they can e-mail greensneakersyc@gmail.com, call Poole at 761-5616 or visit the Green Sneakers Facebook and Twitter sites.

“(Green Sneakers) is really an on the ground grass roots initiative. If (residents) are interested that’s what we’re here for,” Poole said.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.

District responds to chicken pox diagnosis

2012-01-27T13:55:38Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Last week Kennebunk High School reported that one student was diagnosed with varicella, the virus also known as chicken pox, and students determined to potentially be at risk were excluded from attending classes last week.

According to a statement released by Kennebunk High School Principal Susan Cressey and school nurse Chris Guerin, the student received one vaccine shot early in childhood and was not administered a booster vaccine at any point afterward. The statement read “some students may still be susceptible to the disease” and the high school was “taking precautions” to be safe.

Precautions included excluding students from school who have only had one shot of the two-shot vaccine, students who have never had the virus or those who have never received the vaccination.

“This is part of the (Maine) Department of Education rules. They consult with the Maine (Center for Disease Control) to determine when they need to apply the rules and to what population,” said Dr. Stephen Sears, epidemiologist at the Maine Center for Disease Control in Augusta.

“Chicken pox is still unfortunately a common disease and this is the time of year we tend to see more of it and if someone gets chicken pox in a school then there is a determination of whether those people who are not immune to chicken pox are excluded (from school) during the incubation period of the disease,” Sears said. “We get called usually by a school nurse. We use what is called provider diagnosis. It has to be diagnosed by a physician.”

Sears said it is not unusual that Kennebunk High School reported a case of chicken pox this time of year because most cases are reported from winter through early spring.

Regional School Unit 21 did keep a handful of potentially at-risk students from attending classes at the high school and middle school last week.

Sears said if unvaccinated students receives the vaccine they can be permitted to attend classes and school activities immediately afterward. He said the chicken pox vaccine is administered as a “two-shot series” and even though only one shot is required to attend school, a child is not considered immune without the second shot.

Sears said the CDC “highly” recommends both shots.

“Chicken pox is a vaccine that is required for school entry but parents can opt not to have their child vaccinated,” Sears said.

Sears said parents who decide not to vaccinate their children must sign a waiver and the school informs them their child may be excluded from school and activities if an outbreak occurs.

“The goal for excluding children who have not had chicken pox or had the vaccine is to prevent secondary cases and also prevent exposure to those people who are at risk,” Sears said.

He cited pregnant women and people with various health conditions as people who could suffer extreme complications from contracting chicken pox.

Sears said the school’s actions were appropriate and followed state protocol concerning chicken pox.

Staff Writer Kristy Wagner can be reached 282-4337, ext. 233.

Senator announces District 137 bid

2012-01-27T13:54:23Z

By David Harry

Staff Writer

The 2012 race for the Maine House District 137 seat has become a Democratic Party fight between two experienced legislators.

Maine Sen. Nancy Sullivan, now serving Senate District 4, has filed to run for the House seat now held by Rep. Alan Casavant, who also is mayor of Biddeford.

Sullivan is prohibited by state term limits laws from seeking a fifth two-year term in the Senate seat that comprises the eastern portion of Biddeford and all of Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.

Casavant, elected mayor of Biddeford in November, said he will file his nomination papers with state officials next month as he seeks a fourth two-year term in the House district comprised of wards 1, 2 and 3 in Biddeford and all of Kennebunkport.

“I am definitely running,” Casavant said.

Sullivan said she decided to enter the race because it appeared Casavant was indecisive about his future in the Legislature and she wanted the district to have an experienced candidate on the ballot.

Before replacing Democrat Lloyd LaFountain as District 4 senator in 2004, Sullivan served three two-year terms in Maine House District 17, comprised of much the same areas as House District 137. House and Senate districts are renum-bered each decade as part of redistricting based on federal census data.

“I’m concerned,” Sullivan said. “I did not do this easily.”

Sullivan said she decided to enter the race after Casavant asked for more time to make a decision about running for any Legislative seat, but he said he indicated all along he was interested in seeking a fourth term for the House seat he initially won in 2006.

“I never usually file until mid-February,” he said. “It will be a tough battle, she is breaking with party protocol.”

Sullivan said filing for the race was a partial break from protocol about running against incumbents who can seek re-election, but noted she did not seek a fourth term for her House seat in order to run for the Senate seat LaFountain held. In 2004, Sullivan defeated former Biddeford Mayor Donna Dion in the Democratic primary.

Casavant said he had been clear he was not interested in seeking the Senate seat Sullivan must give up because duties in the Senate would conflict with municipal duties as mayor and chairman of the Biddeford School Committee.

However, Casavant said serving in the House has presented only one scheduling conflict so far as Gov. Paul LePage made his State of the State address Tuesday at the same time as a school committee meeting.

Both candidates worried a contested primary could boost the fortunes of a Republican candidate in the November general election and said new efforts to place a racino in Biddeford would be the most likely topic that could cause disagreement between them.

Sullivan supported a bill in the Legislature to allow Scarborough Downs to relocate to Biddeford while Casavant voted against it. The bill was eventually voted down in the Legislature under the threat of a LePage veto last June.

A statewide referendum seeking approval for racinos in Biddeford and Washington County was defeated in November.

In the interim between Sullivan’s tenure in House District 17 and Casavant’s election in House District 137, Kennebunkport Republican Seavey H. Stedman served one two-year term in the district. Casavant defeated him in 2006.

Biddeford firefighter David E. Dutremble and former Biddeford Legislator Stephen Beaudette have filed to run as Democrats for the Senate District 4 seat.

Maine Governmental Ethics and Election Practices records do not show any Republican candidates have filed to run in House District 137 or Senate District 4.

Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.

Library moves into the e-reader world

2012-01-19T15:49:03Z

By Kristy Wagner

Staff Writer

Books have evolved from paper to electronic pages in recent years with the development of e-readers.

It seems only logical that libraries would also evolve and start providing electronic books for public use. The Kennebunk Free Library has purchased two Amazon Kindles and two Barnes and Noble Nooks, which are available for the public to check out as they would any regular library book.

“We’ve hit the ground running and haven’t had any snafus,” said Jill LeMay, director of the library.

She said Friends of the Kennebunk Free Library funded the e-reader purchases.

“They’re our support organization and they conduct book sales throughout out the year,” LeMay said.

Ann Whetstone, president of Friends of the Kennebunk Free Library, said the group has raised money for the library since the 1990s.

Whetstone and other friends volunteers hold four to five book sales per year at the library. The books sold are community donations that are made to the library.

“From the donations from the community (library staff) selects things they think will be helpful for the collection: videos, DVDs, books,” Whetstone said. “And the things that they can’t use in that way they give to the friends and we put them in sales.”

Whetstone said each fall library staff request items they need but do not have enough money in the budget to fund. In the past, the Friends of the Kennebunk Library has contributed money toward large print books, audio books, videos and shelving. She said e-readers were requested last fall.

“A lot of people I think simply like to try (e-readers) out to see if it’s a way they’d like to go personally,” Whetstone said.

She said the friends group is happy to fund special purchases and allow the library to experiment without risking money in its budget.

“We really respond to whatever the library needs,” Whetstone said.

LeMay said the library received the e-readers about 60 days ago and it has accessorized each e-reader with its own USB charger and a red carrying case labeled with a Kennebunk Free Library logo. The Kindles have keyboards and the Nooks function via touchscreen.

“Some people are more prone to use touchscreens and others might prefer buttons,” LeMay said. “Whatever is appropriate for their technological skill level.”

Patrons who sign a borrowing agreement can check out an e-reader for two weeks. If an e-reader is lost or stolen, the person who checked it out must pay to replace it. Library staff lock the devices to prohibit patrons from loading their own books onto the library e-readers.

“People who have their own Nooks and Kindles can download free audio books through the library,” LeMay said, adding that electronic titles are available on the library website. “We’re not allowing (downloading books) on (library-owned e-readers) at this time. We may change the way we’re doing things, but right now the books are already downloaded.”

There are currently 10 titles loaded onto each of the library’s e-readers. All of the devices contain the same titles. She said she plans to add more titles to each device in the near future. The cost for new titles varies by publisher.

“We’re going to look at what people are reading and what’s getting those good reviews,” LeMay said.

LeMay said library staff wanted the e-readers to keep up with the needs of their patrons.

“People are saying libraries are going to become obsolete and all people are going to want to have is their e-readers,” she said.

LeMay said e-readers are a format currently in demand by contemporary readers.

“If people want (e-reader) format, then we hope to meet the needs of all those different types of users,” LeMay said.

LeMay said the library also offers classes on how to use Nooks and Kindles.

“Twice a week we have an open house on how to use your own Kindle Monday and Thursday afternoons,” LeMay said.

Library staff also provides a quick tutorial upon the checkout of one of the library devices. LeMay and some library staff members went to hold an e-reader workshop put on by the Maine State Library to learn more about how to use the devices and what to expect when offering the devices as library loaners.

A number of Kennebunk Free Library patrons have been waitlisted to checkout an e-reader.

‘’There’s a waiting list on the Nooks and the Kindles. Some people are looking to explore the device and others are looking for a title available on it,” LeMay said.

LeMay said she hopes the library will be able to acquire a few more e-readers by the end of the year.

“We hope this will fill a need,” she said. “We try very hard. We’ve got a great staff (at the Kennebunk Free Library) – very patron-centered.”

Staff writer Kristy Wagner can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.