December 1981

The historic Warren parsonage in Westbrook is under threat of demolition. The Rev. John MacDuffie, who lived in it 11 years, has had to give up his plans for moving it. MacDuffie notified the city that he can’t go through with his intention of buying the house. His bid of $1 was accepted in July.

Tony Wedge (Anthony F. Wedge Sr.,) one of Westbrook’s best-known citizens, died in the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine. The likable Wedge had friends all over the city and made a new generation of them as a crossing guard after his long-time employer, the A& P Warehouse, closed in 1969.

In an effort to get uninvolved Gorham High School students interested in school and to encourage them to feel better about it, a pyschology class has formed a new club. Although the organization does not have a name yet, its objectives are clearly defined. It seeks students who are not already involved in activities such as sports or drama, which often require special talents. A student does not need a special talent to join the new club. Through various activities, the organization aims at breaking down student clilques and student-teacher barriers.

The Gorham Planning Board recently recommended that the Zoning Appeals Board approve the operation of a nursery school on Burnham Road by Katherine H. Stewart. Stewart told the board that she is state licensed for a maximum of 20 preschool children. Her facility includes an outdoor play area and a large room in the basement for creative work.

The 1980-81 boys’ basketball team at Westbrook High School surprised many area fans by winning 11 of 16 regular-season contests before losing in the finals of the Western Maine Class A tournament. With only two lettermen back from that highly successful squad, the Blazes will be fighting the early season effects of inexperience and a tough road stretch late in the season in an effort to regain the tourney fold this season. Seniors Tom Jackson and Doug Currier are the lone returnees.

Riding the crest of a 70-game winning streak, the Westbrook High School girls basketball team opens the 1981-82 season by hosting tough rival Bonny Eagle. The four-time defending state champions list six letter winners among 12 varsity performers, a factor that will cushion somewhat the blow of losing four-year ace and All-Stater Fritz Blais, along with superb frontcourt star Nancy Anthony.

December 1991

With little discussion, the Westbrook City Council balked at the county budget-cutting ideas of the County Budget Advisory Committee. On motion of Terry Quilnlan, seconded by Don Richards, aldermen voted 6-1 to reject the committee’s suggestion that the county begin to stop sending money to 61 human service agencies and take other steps to curb spending. The only vote supporting the committee was cast by Paul LeConte.

Westbrook High School has a lot to be proud of in its girls cross-country team, which raced its way to a state championship this season. Equally as impressive, three of the team’s runners, all freshmen, have qualified for the national championship in Sandy, Ore.

The house at 26 Brown St., Westbrook, has become the last to be sold off in a neighborhood of homes the S.D. Warren Co. built more than 100 years ago for its paper mill workers. In 1957, the company turned the houses over to a charitable foundation, and several years after that the foundation began selling them as they became vacant. “The tenants were told they could stay as long as they wanted,” said real estate agent Henry Gagnon. “Cecil Carver, it turned out, was the last. He is 94 and has gone into a retirement home.”

The Gorham School Department is planning to replace the high school gym floor at a cost of $75,000, much of which will be covered by the settlement of a lawsuit with a Gorham engineering firm. The school department sued Harvey Sawyer, Gorham, president of Allied Architects and Engineers, Sawyer’s company and the contractor that worked on the roof in 1982 and 1984. The suit was initiated by the town in 1988 after years of persistent leaks.

Gregory Drew, Buxton selectman, pharmacist and woodworker, has been named as one of three Outstanding Young Mainers by the Maine Jaycees for his business and community involvement.

Mr. and Mrs. Kendall W. Woods, 59 Libby Ave., Gorham, and her brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Harrington, Portland, were honored at a combined 50th wedding anniversary party at the Harrington home. Lillian Waning and Kendall Woods were married Nov. 20, 1941, and Blanche Waning and Allen Harrington were married Oct. 11, 1941, both in the Warren Congregational Church, Westbrook.

If members of the Gorham Fire Department are forced to battle both a fire and the elements this winter, their job will be made a bit easier, thanks to a new mobile canteen truck available through the efforts of its Ladies Auxiliary.