September 1981

Rocheleau’s Clothes Shop, 861 Main St., downtown Westbrook’s oldest retailer, is going out of business. Selling mens’ and boys’ clothing, it was founded 80 years ago by the grandfather of present owner, William Rocheleau.

Joseph D. Casale, a member of the Portland City Council, has bought Jack’s Spa, Main Street, Westbrook, from the estate of his late uncle, Michael Casale.

Some Gorham citizens (Munson White is named) want a charter amendment allowing recall of elected officers. Town Clerk Brenda Caldwell sent it to town lawyer Kenneth Cole III, who advised that it would be such a change that it would need to be part of a general charter review.

A cigarette machine in Westbrook collected 27 slugs in two days.

Firemen were called to Riverview Terrace, Westbrook, when smoke from burned toast set off the fire alarm.

The Westbrook Planning Board voted against rezoning for business an idle substation of Central Maine Power at Quimby Avenue and West Pleasant Street, in a residential zone.

Westbrook can expect to pay 13.5 percent interest on the $2.9 million on a 15- or 20-year bond the city council voted last month for sewers and streets. That’s the warning of Susan Fitzpatrick, the city’s finance director. So borrowing the $2.9 million will cost another $5.3 million.

The Postal Service is negotiating to buy from Paul Albert the unique postal boxes in the now-closed Cumberland Mills post office. He owns them, with the building. The Postal Service is considering them for inclusion in a museum in Washington, D.C.

William B. Reinhard, Sr., 82, of Wescott Road, Gorham, is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School who prefers farming. Too many lawyers rob the poor and favor the rich, he says. He and his wife bought 110 acres in Gorham in 1948 and he went to farming, with winters in Florida.

Timothy Loring, Windham’s school transportation director, is pictured with the new two-bay, school-bus garage addition to the town garage.

Windham has abated taxes on the Parson Smith house and its 123 acres, owned since 1953 by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.

A new police pay contract in Scarborough raises patrolmen’s pay to at least $280 a week. Town Manager Carl Betterly signed for the town and Sgt. William Zachular, for the policemen.

Bonnie Gardner, Raymond, enjoys her job as a cheerleader for the New England Patriots. She is the daughter of Lee and Nancy Gardner, who own Kokatosi campground.

Roger D. and Sally (Percival) Knight, Smiling Hill Farm, County Road, Westbrook, marked their 25th wedding anniversary Aug. 22

A huge bull moose visited Steep Falls, strolling through the park and along the railroad tracks, leaving footprints as large as a plate, reports correspondent Lillian Robbins.

If you know where osprey are nesting, the University of Maine wants to know. It’s doing a survey.

September 1991

Westbrook’s mayor, Fred C. Wescott, will run for re-election in November.

Rich Tool & Die will move from South Windham to the Gorham Industrial Park.

The Portland Water District’s charge for a fire hydrant in outlying towns is three times what it charges in Portland, and in Westbrook and South Portland it is double its charge in Portland.

Pre-cast concrete and steel arches are being laid as underpinning for a new bridge over the Little River on Fort Hill Road, Gorham.

Art Dyer resigned last week as Westbrook High School basketball coach to become assistant coach at Fairfield University in Connecticut. In 11 years in Westbrook, Dyer teams won 154 games and lost 76, and won a state Class A championship. Earlier, when he was at Medomak Valley High School, his teams won 184 games and lost 44. He won two Class B state titles there. For two years, he has had no home gym while Westbrook High was being rebuilt. The new gym is ready now.

Under the wheel of the Engine 2 fire truck, a 2-1/2 foot-deep hole opened on Main Street at Church Street, Westbrook. The tipped truck’s siren went off, briefly.

The Scarborough Town Council voted to send to referendum a proposal for a new town hall to house town offices, school offices, community services and economic development.

Alzheimer’s Association volunteers are holding a “Memory Walk” in Scarborough to raise funds – eight miles, with check-ins every two miles. The money will be used for research and to help victims.

Twenty Boy Scouts and adults from Scarborough’s Troop 39 had 12 days at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, including a nine-day hike through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Windham High School’s Chamber Singers will sing the opening anthem Monday at the Red Sox-Orioles game at Fenway Park, Boston.

Three accidents in three days have Westbrook Alderman Don Richards calling for traffic improvement at Wayside Drive and Mechanic Street.