Nov. 24, 1993

At a special meeting last night, the Gorham Town Council was expected to announce the hiring of David O. Cole of Old Town as the new town manager. Cole, a Mount Desert Island native, is currently the city manager in Old Town. He’s a 1974 graduate of the University of Southern Maine. Both Cole and Thad Moody, council chairman, declined to comment prior to last night’s meeting.

Rejecting the idea of a new, wide-open election, Westbrook Mayor Fred Wescott and aldermen made it official Monday that Brian Cramer, Florence Libby and Don Richards will be the candidates in the election of a Ward 3 alderman Dec. 14. Libby and Richards tied at 420 votes Nov. 2, with Cramer trailing at 219.

John W. Hay, 795 Main St., Westbrook, has achieved a 60-year perfect attendance record in the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club. He joined the Westbrook Rotary Club in June 1932 and has met the attendance requirements of Rotary International since that date. He was honored with an award from Richard E. Clark, district governor, at a meeting last week.

Potential renovation to cost $1.8 million, a new librarian and upcoming children’s programs are the focus of the staff of the Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham. Pamela Turner, the new director, took over Nov. 1, replacing Kathy Marquis. Four years ago, library trustees were given the OK to start formulating renovation plans. Those plans are now complete and on display at the library. The plan calls for a new parking lot, more outdoor lighting, new signage, a new adult reading room and study carrels on the upper levels, and new children’s areas.

Gorham residents Royce and Sal O’Donal have their 13th grandchild, Perry O’Donal, born to Wayne and June O’Donal, Brownfield, on Nov. 13. Cecil and Ellen Bridges, also Gorham residents, have a new great-grandson, their 14th. Ian Randall Hall was born to Frederick and Tracey Turner Hall, Houston, Texas, on Nov. 16. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne I. Worcester of Gorham have a new granddaughter, Jordan-Marie Worcester Antonucci, born Nov. 2. She is the first child for Wendy and George Antonucci, Rowley, Massachusetts.

Memorial American Legion Post, 197 Conant St., Westbrook, is planning a big free Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless, veterans, widows and those living alone with no place to go on the holiday. It will be held at the post home, and to make it easier for guests, the post has lined up a volunteer driver and wheelchair-accessible shuttle to make pickups at Westbrook senior citizen housing and the police station.

Nov. 26, 2003

Fifteen children are running a restaurant on Thanksgiving Day, feeding 36 relatives under a tent in a driveway of a Westbrook home. Dominic DiBiase, 14, and brother Nate, 12, sons of Dominic and Janet DiBiase of Constitution Drive, are members of a group of cousins, mixed with some lifelong neighborhood friends, who are preparing and serving the dinner for the third year. It’s grown so big that this year the kids had to move it from inside the DiBiase home to a tent. Janet DiBiase oversees the event, but the children, ranging in age from 2 to 16, are doing all the work, including shopping for food and supplies. Diners will order from a menu that includes roast beef and chicken pot pie in addition to turkey.

The Westbrook City Council voted 4-1 in favor of sending to voters a referendum that would allow Scarborough Downs to build a racetrack and slot machine complex within city limits. Residents will decide in a vote set for Dec. 30. Mayor-elect Bruce Chuluda was the only dissenting voice on the panel that listened to over six hours of input from racing officials, city officials and residents.

Over 380 years ago, a man named John Alden came to America. He had a large family and was good with his hands. Not much has changed in 11 generations. Alden’s namesake and great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson spends his days creating handmade furniture in his workshop on the family land on State Road in Gorham. “There’s been a John in just about every generation,” said John Alden, 81, taking a break from assembling high-backed Windsor chairs. The original John Alden was one of the 51 settlers who attended what we now call the first Thanksgiving in 1621. He married Priscilla Mullins in 1623.

Leigh-Ann and Sara Esty, seniors at Gorham High School, will captivate audiences in Maine State Ballet’s “Nutcracker” this holiday season. The Esty twins will mirror each other on stage as demi-soloists in the Waltz of the Flowers segment. In other shows, Leigh-Ann will dance as the Marzipan Shepherdess while Sara will perform as the Dew Drop Fairy or the Sugar Plum Fairy. The twins started dancing at Maine State School for the Performing Arts at age 7.

Doors open Saturday, Dec. 6, for the Westbrook Festival of Trees, featuring 34 beautifully decorated trees, daily door prizes, nightly entertainment and events all week. The festival is held at the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church. Profits will go to Westbrook Together Days 25th celebration, Mission Possible, Hospice of Maine, Wayside Soup Kitchen, Good Samaritan Fund, Friendship House and the Salvation Army.

In 1909 Dr. Felix Barrett established a hospital at 537 Main St. to serve Westbrook and the surrounding area. For many years it was known as the Barrett Hospital before becoming the Westbrook Hospital. When the hospital became too small to serve the increasing needs in the growing area, volunteers organized a committee and fundraiser to build a new one. Westbrook Community Hospital on Park Road, above, was built in 1962. The building now houses a Mercy Primary Care Center. 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.