May 23, 1990

There will be no wreath Memorial Day on the new grave beside the fence in St. Hyacinth Cemetery, Westbrook. Not this Monday’s Memorial Day nor any in the future, unless someone comes forward to say who’s buried there. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Robert Lavoie, pastor of the church, and Westbrook funeral director Robert Blais, said this week that there is no way to know who it is that was found buried in the cemetery lot of William and Margaret Afthim. The unknown person’s vault was dug up last August and reburied in a single grave lot, where it will stay until claimed.

Aldermen talked about Westbrook’s city budget with School Committee members Wednesday and left them with a rather veiled warning that cuts may be necessary. As the city and school budgets stand now, taxes will go up 11.35 percent. The rate would rise $3.95, from $34.80 to $37.75. School spending accounts for $2.09 of the increase; city spending $1.59; and county spending 27 cents.

It may seem a great distance between the discipline of engineering design and the artistry of carving birds of wood, but Don Mannett, Westbrook’s head of engineering, makes the transition seem as effortless as a hawk in flight. Mannett, who spends his days laying out sewers and other public works projects, spends his evenings carving the intricate features of a finch, or perhaps he can be found trying to get just the right hue on the top of a bluejay’s wing. He took up carving birds two years ago, and now his work, which he occasionally sells, earned a recent display at Walker Memorial Library. Self-taught, he mostly uses basswood. He first studies the subject of his carving at the Maine Audubon Society sanctuary in Falmouth, as well as in books and with mounted specimens.

Saying that it’s “something I had been thinking about,” Gorham Town Manager John Marcarelli resigned last Tuesday from the position he has held only since Nov. 1. Though in his contract he was not entitled to severance pay if he voluntarily resigned, the Town Council voted to pay Marcarelli 60 days’ salary and any accrued vacation or sick pay. According to council Chairman Dean Evans, the resignation “had a lot to do with the separation from his family. His little boy had an operation while John was up here. Maybe culture shock had something to do with it.”

An infectious excitement has begun to build in Gorham as various neighborhoods plan floats for the Celebrate Gorham parade July 14. Finding appropriate equipment and material to carry and choosing motifs have become priorities, as the friendly rivalry builds. Neighborhoods who wish to join in are calling Kevin Cox, director of Gorham Community Services.

Mark Winship, son of Arthur and Katerine Winship, Declaration Drive in Westbrook, is attending St. Thomas University in Miami, Fla. While pursuing his master’s degree in sports administration, Winship, a former standout athlete at Westbrook High School, has been hired by the Miami Dolphins organization to work in their marketing and public relations division.

May 24, 2000

Westbrook school lunch prices, the lowest in the area, should go up 10 cents, the School Committee has been told. It will vote tonight at its meeting in the high school. Westbrook charges $1.10 in the elementary schools and $1.25 in the high school and junior high. Westbrook breakfast prices won’t go up. They are 60 cents for students and 75 cents for adults.

Softball enthusiasts. Everyone welcome – seniors encouraged – for pickup games every Wednesday, 6-8 p.m., at the Walker Street Field, next to St. Hyacinth Church, Westbrook.

School starts too early, and 9 a.m. would be better, students have told a Westbrook committee studying dropout problems. The committee looked into why more than 50 will have dropped out of Westbrook High School by the end of the school year. Along with a later start, students appeared to expect a later finish, but some also wanted a flexible schedule, time to go home for lunch, the chance to hold a job as well as go to school. They also wanted a chance to work with younger children in elementary schools.

Gorham will hold its traditional two Memorial Day parades and exercises Monday, May 29. In addition to a parade, each observance will include a speech, reading a laying of the wreath and “Taps.” One starts at the intersection of South and Main streets, and the other will follow in South Windham-Little Falls.s

Kaitlyn Sanborn, 5, daughter of Dana and Janice Sanborn, Arlington Avenue, Gorham, enjoyed a trip to Funtown with her mother on Mother’s Day afternoon. They rode the roller coaster, merry-go-round, kiddie canoes, bumper boats and other rides. Kaitlyn’s favorite was the log flume, even though she got drenched.

Advertisement: Storey’s Garden Center & Nursery, 610 Bridgton Road, Westbrook, Memorial Day Sale. Variety of Memorial Baskets, Vegetable Flats ready to plant. Geraniums! Pansies & Violas in every color! Flowering Shrubs! Roses! 40,000 Annuals.