Spanning a life

There can be no more fitting tribute to the late Bridgton activist, teacher and craftsman Bob Dunning than building a bridge in his honor over Stevens Brook.

Dunning, who died suddenly last November, was a rare man of education, civility, compassion and cheer who spent his life enriching the lives of others.

He spent his life reaching out to students and neighbors and never wearied of sharing his expansive knowledge or expressing his firm opinions.

The proposed footbridge, an intricate wooden covered structure leading to Pondicherry Park, the 59-acre preserve of wooded trails in downtown Bridgton encompasses Dunning’s love for traditional woodworking technique and preservation. He lived the traditions and taught them eagerly to others.

The destination evokes the gentle nature of Dunning, a man of conviction who led the fight to keep nuclear waste from being stored in the Lakes Region two decades ago and expressed solid convictions without ever antagonizing anyone who did not share his views.

There are few places and people Dunning did not touch with his grace, humor and warmth. He helped restore the barn and blacksmith shop at the Narrimissic Farm, owned and operated by the Bridgton Historical Society. He taught students at Lake Region Middle School, passing on his extensive woodworking knowledge to students.

His was a standard all should emulate and few will reach.

Those who would like to help raise the money for the bridge and another to be built near Willett Brook can contribute to Lakes Environmental Association, 230 Main St., Bridgton ME 04009 or Loon Echo Land Trust, 1 Chase St., Bridgton, ME 04009. Donations can also be made online at www.pondicherrypark.org.

Is it the right switch?

FairPoint Communications had some malfunctions processing calls to the Windham call center handling 911 calls. This week the company was assessed a $25,000 fine by the state because of the service disruptions.

The fines, actually deductions from fees the company charges the state, are adequate. It is not clear, however, the company is able to handle the demands of state and private business needs, especially regarding 911 service.

In April and May, there were more than five system failures resulting in calls getting diverted to the state dispatch center in Gray. Three times it took more than 30 minutes to get the calls diverted from Windham to Gray.

Only after the disruptions was a switch installed to automatically divert calls in case of a malfunction.

This is not a case of businesses or individuals being inconvenienced by losing Internet service. This is at least 90 minutes when lives could have been jeopardized. This week, a system identical to the one in Windham failed in Penobscot County, which a FairPoint spokesman attributed to power failures.

Multi-billion dollar sales of telecommunication companies do not happen everyday, and the request by FairPoint to buy lines operated by Verizon was initially rejected by public utilities commissions in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont because of worries about company debt and the ability to maintain operations.

The new software and switches company spokesman Jeff Nevins alluded to as solutions to 911 problems do not alleviate the worries that FairPoint is not up to the task of providing communications in Maine.

David Harry, editor