Feb. 22, 1995

A Little Falls landmark that was an item of contention between the Gorham PTA and Town Council appears headed for the wrecking ball. Town Manager David Cole is gathering estimates at the request of the council for the possible demolition of the abandoned Frederick Robie School, 666 Gray Road. The council has been told an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 is required to bring the building up to minimum building and wiring codes.

A Florida firefighter who appeared on national TV Wednesday got his start in Westbrook. Stephen McInerny, 34, was 13 when he joined the Westbrook Fire Department’s Explorer Post. The ABC “Prime Time Live” program showed McInerny and his colleagues in action fighting a fire and using the fire to teach some lessons in preventing home fires.

Robert “Pat” Grady of Gorham, who retired in 1985 as director of water quality for the Portland Water District, has received the George Warren Fuller Award of the New England Water Works Association for his “outstanding leadership and significant contribution to the advancement of the water works profession.”

Cpl. Duane S. Wright, USMC, the son of Susan Whitney of Westbrook, was recently promoted while serving with the 9th Communications Battalion, 1st Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Intelligence Group, Camp Pendleton, California. He graduated from Westbrook High School in 1991 and joined the Marine Corps that December.

Feb. 23, 2005

A group of residents living near the Shaw School in Gorham believe renovating the school without making improvements to Morrill Avenue would be a dangerous combination. Gorham voters will decide in a referendum March 8 whether to spend $7.8 million to renovate the vacant school for municipal and school administrative offices. Town Councilor Matt Robinson said he would fight for sidewalk funding in the upcoming town budget for Morrill Avenue.

A building committee at the University of Southern Maine has eliminated a site on its Gorham campus last week for a $1.5 million childcare center after the plan met neighborhood opposition. The site under consideration is where two outside tennis courts on College Avenue are now located, which is in a national historic district. The school was also considering a site off Husky Drive, but now that may be scrapped, too.

Westbrook School Superintendent Stan Sawyer and Congin School Principal Peter Lancia have received a Patriotic Employer Award, part of a program called Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve to recognize employers who have supported soldiers and their families while they are away in service. They were nominated by Sgt. Dean Wellman, a Congin fourth grade teacher who is serving in Iraq since March. His wife, Becki, is a literacy specialist at Canal School. Speaking after the presentation, she thanked the school department and employees. “Everyone has been supportive, caring and amazing,” she said.

Pete Blanchette of Westbrook called from his winter home in LaBelle, Florida, where it was 80 degrees with the sun shining on Monday. He wished everyone in Westbrook well. “Don’t shovel too much snow,” he said.