May 17, 1989

Joseph Sabatino Jr. has closed Classic Escort and Massage, but said Monday he did so because it didn’t meet Westbrook zoning requirements, not because of allegations that it sent women out on prostitution dates. Those allegations, contained in an FBI affidavit supporting the issue of a search warrant, are basically on the word of people who were under investigation for crimes and wanted to shift the blame off themselves, Sabatino said. If they engaged in prostitution when they went out on assignments he gave them, he didn’t know it, he said.

Westbrook dump pickers Eric Pendexter and Darrell Parker say they each make at least $300 a week collecting scrap metal and other resaleable items at the Rocky Hill Landfill in Westbrook. During the city’s Clean-Up Week last week, each say they made $600 when homeowners lined the sidewalks with bulky waste – washing machines, refrigerators, televisions and more – to be picked up by the city.

Westbrook voters will decide May 23 whether to borrow $1.85 million to fund an expansion to Saccarappa School. The city would fund 41 percent of the total costs, with the state picking up the balance, $1,086,400. The addition includes six new classrooms, special education rooms and speech and language rooms, a library, office area, guidance area, conference space and off-street parking.

For the first time in six years, the Gorham Town Council has rejected the proposed school budget and sent it back to the School Committee to trim an unspecified amount. The committee meets tonight to consider cuts to the $9.47 million budget, an 18.6 percent increase. It will meet with the council again tomorrow to try to resolve the dispute, which comes after years of rosy relations.

Prides Corner School children did their first climbing on the new playground structure behind the school Monday. That night, the Westbrook City Council gave first reading approval for another such structure in Riverbank Park. The city is to pay $35,175, including $8,222 for construction. The Prides Corner structure cost about $21,000 and 30 volunteers put it up on Saturday.

An 18-lot single-family subdivision for the Laffin farm on Stroudwater Street received preliminary approval from the Westbrook Planning Board despite objections from Mayor Philip Spiller that the dead-end road planned by the developers should be linked up with Stroudwater Place.

John Dudley is valedictorian and Wendy Clark is salutatorian of the Gorham High School class of 1989. The other eight highest-ranking students are, in order, Jeffrey Charleton, Raymond Morin, Kelly Frazier, Sarah Maxwill, Handi Dolloff, Tracey Adams, Carmen Nobel and Jack Barnett.

May 19, 1999

An electrical cord shorted out and started the fire that destroyed the main building at the Gorham Gardens greenhouse, 363 Mosher Road (Route 237), Gorham, Saturday night. Proprietor Trudy Sable had been living in the building temporarily. She was not there when it started, but her dog, a German shepherd mix, was killed in the fire. The building was reduced to ashes, along with many of Sable’s personal belongings. Sable had liability insurance, but no fire insurance. The owner of the property is Kerry Richardson.

The Westbrook School Committee voted 6-0 Wednesday to name Stanley J. Sawyer as the new school superintendent. His salary was set at $85,500, making him the highest paid city employee. James Bennett, administrative assistant to Mayor Don Esty, makes $68,062. Retiring Superintendent Robert Hall makes $72,000. Sawyer’s salary is high in part, said School Committee Chairman Deborah Frank, because he asked for more cash in lieu of health insurance benefits.

An alumnus is returning to Westbrook High School to lend a hand – or a fist, as the case may be – to the marching band’s bid to travel to the Citrus Bowl next year. The World Wrestling Federation’s Scott “Too Hot” Taylor will fight the 300-pound “Prince Albert” May 21 in an event that will fill the high school gym with an eyeful of brightly colored spandex, body slams and wrestling theatrics. Taylor, 25, graduated in 1993, and has been working with WWF since he was 15 years old. He says he relishes the opportunity to perform in front of crowds of 13,000 people. His parents, Ronald and Janet Taylor, still live in Westbrook.

With a $13,000 donation from Custom Built Homes Inc., and the release of $25,000 raised from weekly bingo games, the Gorham Parents Teacher Association moved closer Sunday to completion of its $350,000 renovation of the Frederick Robie School, Little Falls. The PTA has already put $40,000 worth of donations and $75,000 worth of donated labor into a new roof, siding and 50 new windows. It plans to convert the former schoolhouse and veterans hall into a community youth center. An open house Sunday marked the kickoff a Phase 2 of the project, work on interior details.

One of the students who will be walking down the aisle to receive her Westbrook High School diploma next month has overcome far more this year than the academic and social pressures of a typical high school senior. Denae Babb, 17, a standout in gymnastics, has recovered from a back injury that threatened to end her athletic career. She broke her back in October during a routine on the uneven bars. Remarkably, these days she’s back in the gym and preparing to major in nutrition and sports medicine at Springfield College this fall.

50 YEARS AGO

The Westbrook American reported on May 13, 1964, that Mrs. Lloyd Wambold was re-elected as president of the North Gorham Cemetery Association.

Agnes Emery of Bar Mills entertained the neighborhood card club at her home.

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Fun facts about Westbrook

On June 9, Westbrook will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the year it separated from Falmouth and became its own town. Each week leading up to the celebration, the American Journal will publish some Westbrook trivia.

• The Presumpscot River flows through the towns of Gorham, Windham and Falmouth, as well as Westbrook. The name of the river means “many rough places river.”

• Towns and cities bordering Westbrook are Portland, South Portland, Gorham, Windham, Falmouth and Scarborough.

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Julian Denbow owned and operated the Cumberland Mill’s Esso Station at 307 Main St. when the photo was taken. In 1966 Thomas Flaherty of Portland purchased the building to expand his cleaning business and establish a car wash. The present building has been expanded and remodeled several times. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.