Sept. 27, 1989

John Macarelli, 34, was chosen Friday as Gorham’s new town manager, but he did not decide to accept until Sunday night or Monday morning. “I think it was around 3:45 a.m.,” he said Tuesday morning. He was hired for $51,000 annually, which is $4,500 less than what Gorham paid Don Gerrish, who left to become Brunswick’s town manager. Macarelli, assistant township administrator of Whitehall, Pa., gave the Gorham Town Council a five-page working agreement outlining the conditions of his employment. It was the first one the council had seen, having had only four managers in the last 48 years.

Westbrook Junior High School will offer a six-week support group program for parents of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students Oct. 4-Nov. 8. This is an opportunity for group discussion and support for issues arising in living with adolescents.

The Animal Refuge League, Stroudwater Street in Westbrook, is participating in the ninth annual nationwide “Adopt a Dog” campaign sponsored by two pet food suppliers. Doggie bags full of treats and surprises for both dogs and new owners will be provided to anyone adopting a dog through the shelter.

The Westbrook Woman’s Club will meet at a new location for its first meeting of the season in the Walker Memorial Library’s second floor gathering room on Oct. 3. Hostesses wil be Mrs. William Robie and Mrs. Alan Ames. Program chairwoman Mrs. Arnold C. Eames will introduce Cindy Porter and Ann Carmichael, who will present scarf know-hows. Refreshments will be served by Mrs. Philip Kelly and Mrs. Richard Dunbar.

The First Baptist Church, 733 Main St., Westbrook, will hold a special service of installation for their new director of Christian education, Scott Records, on Oct. 1. Records is a native of Auburn. He and his wife Joanne served 10 years with the Southside Baptist Church in Elmira, N.Y., before moving to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he is now a student working on a master of divinity degree.

The top Westbrook property transfer in July was the sale of the Dolley Farm Retirement Home at 98 East Bridge St., for $765,000, from two trust funds to another trust fund. Norman Reed is trustee of one of the two sellers and also trustee of the buying trust. Another big July sale was that of 3 Karen Drive, off the County Road, by DAF Associates, Bangor, to something called the Paper Corp. of America, Wayne, Pa., for $750,000.

Sept. 29, 1999

After struggling for nearly a year with financial problems and cutbacks in service, the Westbrook Housing Authority has decided to give up altogether on the management of its 150-unit Larrabee Village senior housing complex. The Portland-based Southern Maine Agency on Aging will take over Oct. 2 and the 30 or so people who provide residents with meals, housekeeping and personal services will become employees of the agency. The housing authority will be left with 21 employees, down from more than 80-plus it had less than a year ago. The authority and its real estate division will continue to own the Larrabee Village building, in which its administrative offices are located, and it will continue to collect the rent and deal with maintenance issues. John Gallagher, who took over as the housing authority’s director April 26, said that the decision is pat of an agreement being developed with the state Department of Human Services and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A company proposing a “very attractive convenience store and gas facility” has reached an agreement to lease the land at Main Street, Saco Street and William Clarke Drive from the Elowitch family, John Gendron, of Gendron Commercial Brokers, which is handling the property, said yesterday. Signs pronouncing the property under contract went up on the former Maine Rubber fork truck tire plant Monday. The complex of yellow concrete block buildings on the site now will be torn down, Gendron said. The plan is now a proposal and will need to go through the site plan approval process, he said. “It’s going to be a wonderful addition to the downtown of Westbrook. Everyone involved recognizes this as the gateway to downtown Westbrook, and that extra effort is needed.”

Some neighbors are reacting with strong opposition to Hans Hansen’s plan to build a shopping mall on 21 acres of County Road (Route 222), across from the end of South Street in Gorham. After about a dozen residents crowded into a small room Wednesday at Town Hall to speak on the project, the Gorham Town Council’s subcommittee on economic development voted to table Hansen’s request that the property be rezoned from residential to roadside commercial. Hansen said the shopping center would have one major anchor store and several smaller stores. “This is a neighborhood. Leave it that way. We don’t need more shopping malls,” said Mary McFarland, a County Road resident. Darcy Nicely said her family “built our dreams in a residential area and I think it should stay that way.”

The Greater Portland School of Jukado will hold a grand opening celebration Oct. 2 at its new space in the Dana Warp mill, 90 Bridge St., Westbrook.

Westbrook School Committee chairman Deborah Frank said Monday she is “disappointed” to hear that students might have been drinking and smoking marijuana at Westbrook High School’s homecoming dance Sept. 18. A description of the problem came in an anonymous letter received by the American Journal and officials at the high school last week. A second anonymous letter arrived at the AJ over the weekend suggesting that school staff did not take action against the boys involved because they are athletes. “Obviously, I’m concerned about it, but I don’t put too much stock in anonymous letters,” said high school Principal George Sincerbeaux.

50 Years Ago

The Westbrook American reported on Sept. 23, 1964, that Mrs. Eugene Knight of Gorham entertained the White Rock Improvement League with a chicken barbecue at her summer home in Raymond.

Mrs. Fred Davis and Alice Davis of West Buxton attended the Gorham Garden Club flower show.

In the 1920s, Lewis G. Stanton opened a monument company at 937 Main St.  When he moved from 28 Lamb St. to 210 Rochester St., he also relocated his business to an adjoining lot at 214 Rochester St. This lot was located at the intersection of Rochester and Forest streets. Rochester Street at the time ran from Main to Stroudwater street, separating Woodlawn and Saint Hyacinth cemeteries on the upper end. In the early 1970s, the Westbrook Arterial was constructed and Rochester Street came to a dead end just beyond the Forest Street intersection. L.G. Stanton Monument continued as a family business. Richard “Dick” Dunbar was the last owner, closing the business in the early 1980s. The lot was cleared and he had a new house constructed on the site. This photo shows the monument company just before it closed. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. It is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m.-noon, and the first Wednesday of each month at 1:30 p.m., September-June. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.