Jan. 24, 1990

The long road still has more turns for Ralph Leo as he continues to seek assurance that he can continue his long-established service station and used-car business at Main and Lamb streets, Westbrook. The City Council split 3-3 in committee Monday on whether to rezone the land to Business Highway from Business General. Leo can continue to run a gas station indefinitely since that use goes back long before zoning was adopted, but he wants an opportunity to close down the pumps and continue to sell used cars until he determines whether the cost of replacing his tanks, which the state is requiring, is justified. Without a zone change, if the pumps are down more than a year, a gas station would be taboo.

The Westbrook Girls Basketball Boosters Shootathon, held Jan. 13 at Westbrook Junior High School, was a huge success. They earned a total of $4,300 from pledges and thank the parents and people who participated and pledged.

Advertisement: Beginning Ballroom Dance, sponsored by the Department of Community Programs, University of Southern Maine. Learn the basics in fox trot, waltz, swing, jitterbug, polka, line dances, Texas two-step and cotton-eyed joe, starting Feb. 6, Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church, 810 Main St., Westbrook.

The Walker Memorial Library in Westbrook now has two electronic typewriters for public use in its new typing room. They have full line correction capability and automatic carriage return. The charge is $1 for 30 minutes. Users will be responsible for providing typing paper and envelopes. The manual typewriter will continue to be free of charge.

An open house at the home of Mrs. Ethel Stover, Huston Road, Gorham, was given Jan. 14 by her cousin, Becky Harmon, North Gorham, in honor of Mrs. Stover’s 80th birthday. Ethel vividly recollects many changes that were part of her 80 years. She was born in Portland, graduated from Deering High School in 1928 and married Earle Stover in 1931. They settled in Falmouth and raised one son, Leon. She and her husband came to Gorham following a three-year stay in Florida, where they moved after they sold their longtime business, the Fred. L. Tower Printing and Publishing Co.

Gorham and Scarborough firefighters battled a fire at the Donald Sanborn house on the County Road in Gorham on Wednesday. A barn next to the house was destroyed, and Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre estimated the loss at $30,000. He said the fire started in an electrical panel in the barn and jumped 10 feet to the ell of the house. A tractor, boat and trailer and hay were lost, he said. No animals were in the barn.

Jan. 26, 2000

Westbrook High School has room for up to 150 out-of-town students next year, and Superintendent Stan Sawyer has invited Durham and Pownal to enter into an agreement with the school department similar to the one that Poland had before its new high school opened this year. Sawyer is also hoping more Raymond students will attend WHS in the fall – 39 are at the school this year. Westbrook would be eager to receive the extra tuition that out-of-town students bring ($5,433 each). Sawyer said that Durham and Pownal are in a bind because Freeport High School and Greely High School in Cumberland are limiting the number of out-of-town students they accept. Durham has about 200 high school students, and Pownal has about 100.

Patricia Harris, the woman killed crossing William Clarke Drive in Westbrook Jan. 9, moved back to Maine to raise her young son five years ago, succeeding in leaving behind a difficult past in Connecticut. She was a good, caring and devoted mother, her friend Terry Stuart recalled during a visit to the American Journal. “Her life revolved around that little guy,” Stuart said. Harris’ parents, originally from Standish, moved around when she was growing up, from Hartford to Westbrook and back. Harris attended Westbrook High School briefly in the 1970s before moving back to Connecticut. The boy has gone to Connecticut to live with his uncle and family, Stuart said.

Grace Smith’s request that the Gorham Zoning Board of Appeals reconsider her appeal of Susan Duchaine’s 19-lot subdivision, Sewell Farms, off Queen Street, was denied by the board Jan. 13. Smith thinks the lot frontages are too narrow and that the error was compounded when Code Enforcement Officer Clint Cushman gave them his stamp of approval in an Oct. 8 letter to the Planning Board.

The Westbrook School Committee is asking a 15-year-old boy to pay some $2,000 in costs associated with a bomb threat he wrote on a bathroom wall at the high school Dec. 8, Superintendent Stan Sawyer said last week. The boy, a freshman, was expelled Dec. 21. Students and staff were evacuated from the school at 10:30 a.m. on the day of the threat and school did not reopen that day. Most of the $2,000 is to cover the cost of lunchroom food that was spoiled because of the evacuation and had to be thrown out, Sawyer said. The boy is also being charged for overtime the school department paid to hourly employees who worked late Dec. 8 so that students could back into the school after hours to retrieve their belongings.

Jane C. Wellehan has been promoted to the position of vice president of operations at Sebago Inc., Gorham. She has been with the company for 10 years, most recently service as vice president of merchandising.

On Sept. 12, Jake Dyer, Burnham Road, Gorham, had a near fatal motorcycle accident while riding in the Toy Run sponsored by the United Bikers of Maine. He suffered multiple fractures to his face, broke his foot and almost lost an eye. But he has pulled through. He is back at work at Southern Maine Firewood and trying to get his strength back. He says he wants to get on with his life, and that he’s looking to getting his bike back together and plans to ride again.

This photo was taken in 1951 and shows the old house located at 959 Main St. The house was demolished shortly after and a gas station was built on the site. Wilfred Swenson operated Bill’s Flying A Station there for many years before closing in the mid-1960’s. The building then remained vacant for several years. Russ Lemieux opened the muffler shop at this location in the early 1970s. Cavallaro’s Auto Repair presently occupies the building, which has been remodeled and expanded. 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. Photo and research courtesy of Mike Sanphy