Nov. 15, 1989

If planners at the Maine Department of Transportation have their hearts set on building a new east-west highway though the city of Westbrook, they may drive into a roadblock in the person of newly elected Mayor Fred Wescott, a Democrat. He has been outspoken in his opposition to building a new highway through the city and had urged state planners to look at rail service as an alternative. Wescott, who beat incumbent Mayor Phil Spiller by a vote of 2,576 to 1,893, thinks the disagreement they had on the road issue may be the main reason the election turned out the way it did. “I talked to a lot of people about the road issue when I was out campaigning,” Wescott said Monday. “A lot of people agreed that the road would be a poor use of our remaining farmland.”

Lyle Cramer, who wound up 73 votes behind last week in his bid for a fourth term as alderman at large, is not interested in asking for a new look at the Westbrook ballots and isn’t ready to consider whether he night run for another City Council term in 1991. “But I’m not ruling myself out,” he said.

Marie Hoover of Gorham has had a tough year. Her 48 Main St. home, a six-unit apartment building, was engulfed by flames in the bone-numbing cold of Jan. 6. In September, after almost a year of rebuilding, she went to California for a vacation, and found herself in the midst of another disaster – a San Francisco earthquake. She was in a department store when the quake struck. “The floor felt like Jello,” she said. She started to try to find her daughter and grandchild who had separated from her in the store. But, she said, “I wasn’t frightened because of my patience and frustration with the fire.”

Craig Sawyer at Sawyer’s Variety in Little Falls report the first eight days of hunting netted 57 deer tagged, as opposed to 55 in 1988. The annual Rod and Gun Club Turkey Shoot will be held at the Rod and Gun Club Hall, Little Falls, on Nov. 20.

Pianist Laura Kargul, the newest member of the University of Southern Maine Music Department, will present her solo debut recital Nov. 17 at Corthell Concert Hall on the Gorham campus.

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Nov. 17, 1999

Restrictions on dispensing medicine to students during school hours have stirred up controversy in Gorham. The sticking point is over-the-counter medication such as aspirin. Some parents don’t think schools should require an order from a physician for their children to take over-the-counter medications. They think a note from a parent should be enough. But the school policy, which has been in effect on an administrative level for five years and is currently before the School Committee for its sanction, requires written permission from both a parent and a physician for OTC, as well as prescription, medication. It applies from K-12. On Wednesday, the School Committee voted to refer the issue once again to its policy subcommittee. “This is a case of government going way, way, way overboard,” said School Committee Member David Kent.

Recounts Monday night confirmed Nov. 2 election results in two close City Council races. William Loring’s margin over Bruce Fifield in the Ward 5 race was reduced to four votes: Loring 713, Fifield 709. The election night count was 713-708. Martha Day’s margin over Keith Gorman in the at-large race increased to 49 votes: Day, 2,278, Gorman, 2,229. Loring and Day are re-elected. Loring and Gorman are Democrats. Fifield and Day are Republicans.

With praise for its academic course offerings, school spirit, cleanliness and “safe and comfortable atmosphere,” Westbrook High School has won full accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. A team of 13 administrators and teachers from Maine and New Hampshire visited the school March 7-10.

Expansion of Westbrook’s Canal Elementary School came in slightly under bid, enabling the School Committee to add some $85,000 worth of “extras” to the $2.7 million project. The budget is still below the $2.8 million voters approved in April. The committee voted Wednesday to award the contract to Davis and Hanscom, Steep Falls, for $1.8 million. The contract for site work was awarded to Dearborn Brothers Construction, Buxton, for $320,000. The extras include a wooden gymnasium floor, wooden bleachers, partition and stage curtain and library shelves. Construction will begin Dec. 1, with completion scheduled by August.

Forty Pilgrims and Native Americans will re-enact the first Thanksgiving in Westbook’s Saccarappa School Nov. 19. They are 5 and 6 years old, the kindergarten students of Guyla Woodbrey and Kathryn Young. Their parents will be guests. The children will be in costumes made by Woodbrey, and will perform in two separate groups.

The eight-member band Shufflin’ Tremble will perform Nov. 20 in the Gorham High School auditorium to benefit the high school band’s trip to Washington, D.C. Shufflin’ Tremble was formed by three Gorham students in 1993, and is about to release its first CD, “Ephlavirusfunkthang.”

Rex Gellerson was the manager and William White was the assistant manager of Sampson’s Super Market at 120 Main St., when this photo was taken in 1970. Sampson’s went out of business and the next tenants were the Dexter Shoe Factory Outlet and the Parts Place, each occupying one half of the building.  Both of those eventually moved and different businesses have occupied the building over the years. Several years ago the building was extensively remodeled and is presently occupied by Amato’s and Car Quest Auto Parts. 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.