March 4, 1992

On Tuesday, Gorham will elect Elmer Dodge to the School Committee (he is unopposed). He will become one of the oldest people ever elected to public office in Maine. He is 85 years old and when he finishes his term he will be 88. Gorham voters will decide races for three Town Council seats and four seats on the School Committee. Two referendum questions on the ballot will determine whether the town will spend $205,750 for the Bank Development sewer replacement and whether residents favor a major retail development on the site of the old racetrack off Narragansett Street.

Lewiston-based boxer Joey Gamache, World Boxing Association junior lightweight world champ, will be in Westbrook to meet folks March 7 at former boxer Steve Lampron’s Steve’s Variety, 543 Main St. Steve’s cousin, Tony Lampron, is Gamache’s trainer. Steve has known Gamache since Joey was a kid, fighting as an amateur when Steve himself was boxing professionally. Gamache will take on challenger Tom Hanks on March 27 in the Portland Expo. Lampron said Gamache hopes to sell the Expo out, and if he does he may fight the world championship in the Civic Center this summer.

Virginia Danforth, Longfellow Place, Westbrook, has received a 25-year member certificate at Saccarappa Grange. She has served as Flora and on the Grange’s Executive Committee.

Martha L. Day, Oakland Avenue, was elected president of the Westbrook Republican Women at the annual meeting Feb. 3. Martha, a graduate of Westbrook High School and Bates College, is a member of the Westbrook School Committee and is employed at the University of Maine School of Law. She is the daughter of the late Russell R. Day, former Westbrook alderman and state representative, and Florence S. Day, a former president of the Westbrook Republican Women.

Margaret Lee Maxam, 83, of 153 Conant St., Westbrook, died Feb. 25 at her residence. She and her husband Kenneth, who died in 1989, were the longtime owners of Maxam’s Little Engines Co. of Westbrook, later Gorham. Among many organizations that Mrs. Maxam was associated with were the Women’s Woodfords Club, the Women’s Literary Union and the Order of Eastern Star.

Advertisement: Honest Tom Turns 10! Williams Oil Company invites you to join the celebration! Prizes! 10th Anniversary Party! 28 Mosher Road, Gorham.

March 6, 2002

James Bennett, Westbrook’s administrative assistant to the mayor since October 1996, was appointed city administrator by Lewiston’s City Council last night. He will start his duties there March 26.  The job is a move up from head of Maine’s 11th largest city to head of its second largest, with a population nearly double Westbrook’s. It’s also a move to top man – essentially, city manager. The mayor’s job in Lewiston is largely ceremonial. It’s also a move back home. Bennett grew up in Lisbon and his parents and younger brothers still live there. Bennett, 41, told Mayor Donald Esty of the likelihood of his appointment to the new job first. The City Council was told Feb. 25. Bennett has a three-year contract paying him $88,500 plus other benefits, making the job worth around $100,000. In Westbrook, his base pay this year has been $75,674.

Westbrook’s municipal officers refused to renew the liquor license of Andy’s Tavern Monday, first voting unanimously against granting it and eventually setting a public hearing on whether to grant it or not on April 1.

Mr. and Mrs. Harvey N. Sayward, Sebago Lake Road, Gorham, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Jan. 19 with a party in the White Rock Community Club. She is the former Elizabeth W. Lamb, daughter of Willie W. and Annie H. Small Lamb, Windham. He is the son of Horace and Nina H. Meehan Sayward, Windham. They were married Jan. 18, 1952, in the Gorham home of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Irish by the Rev. Robert C. Whitehead. They have seven children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Westbrook Memorial Post, American Legion, and the Westbrook Little League have collaborated in a new Little League baseball field on land behind the post home on Conant Street. It will be dedicated soon as O’Brien Field, in honor of Herbert O’Brien, who served in the Seabees 21 years and the Fleet Reserve eight years. O’Brien, recently deceased, had been post commander, Legionnaire of he Year, and ran the bingo games 15 years.

Anthony Bessey, narrowly defeated in the race for Westbrook’s Ward 4 City Council seat, said yesterday that he took out nominating papers for the District 29 Maine House seat at Sunday’s Republican city caucus. Depending on whether he got the nod from his employers, Alpha One, in a meeting this morning, he might seek the seat, he said. It is now held by Democrat Robert Duplessie, who is seeking re-election.

On Nov. 2, 1882, at a meeting held in the home of Mads Neilsen on Reservoir Street, the First Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of Westbrook, Maine, was organized under the guidance of the Rev. K.D. Faegre. The congregation first met in the basement of the Warren Congregational Church and later met at the Advent Christian Church. The Ladies Circle, organized in 1891, raised $500 to buy land for the church at Main and School streets. Most of the money for the construction was collected from the Danish people of Westbrook. The church was dedicated on New Years Day 1893. All services were conducted in Danish until 1905 when one English service a month was held. The parsonage was purchased and remodeled in 1908. In 1942, Danish services were abolished and English was used exclusively at services.  The name of the Church was officially changed to Trinity Lutheran Church in 1946. The building has undergone several changes and renovations over the years. 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.