June 14, 1989

Nineteen momuments, including some of the nicest, were damaged by vandals Thursday night in St. Hyacinth Cemetery, Stroudwater Street, Westbrook. Police have no clues who did it. The damage was in the highest part of the cemetery, hidden from view of traffic. It’s the third time recently in which vandals have smashed through the cemetery. The cemetery is maintained by the parish, but for the past two years graves have been dug by the city crew, which will now take charge of repairing the damage.

Gorham department heads and town employees were rounded up Friday to be part of a group portrait with their departing town manager, Don Gerrish, who was chosen Wednesday as Brunswick city manager. His last day will be June 30, after which he’ll take a week’s vacation before starting in Brunswick on July 10. “I feel very good about the teamwork I’ve been able to establish” in Gorham, Gerrish said.

After three hours of haggling over traffic issues and the lack of a planned unit development ordinance, the Gorham Planning Board voted 6-0 Monday to recommend a zone change to the Town Council that would allow Hannaford Brothers to build a Shop ‘n Save at the old Gorham Race Track. The recommendation to change the zone surrounding the racetrack from suburban residential to urban commercial went to the council packed with admonitions. The board included its concerns about the absence of a planned unit development ordinance, unresolved traffic issues and the aesthetics of the buildings as envisioned on the site plan.

Five-year-old burn victim Shawn Bridges of Westbrook, who has undergone grafts over 75 percent of his body in the 21?2 months since he was admitted to Shriners Hospital in Boston, was expected to be transferred this week to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Doctors felt the boy would be better off near his family. He was injured as a result of a March 25 fire that swept through his Webb Street apartment. His father, Rodney Bridges, suffered burns over 50 percent of his body as he stayed behind to rescue Shawn. His mother Terri and brother Ryan escaped unharmed.

Westbrook’s Lisa Bailey, Miss Maine Teen USA, will compete for the title of Miss Teen USA in a live telecast at 9 p.m. July 25 on CBS. The pageant will originate from San Bernardino, Calif. Bailey, a junior at Westbrook High School, plans to wear a teal blue gown with sequins. She will also complete in the swimsuit and personality segments of the program.

The year 1989 may be the year of the first September Westbrook Together Day. An inch and a half of rain fell Friday night and Saturday, killing the party on its traditional June weekend – the first-ever rainout. Planners are looking at rescheduling for September.

June 16, 1999

Mercy Hospital and Westbrook Community Hospital have agreed to merge and Mercy will be taking over the facility. If regulators approve a plan that would involve forgiving as much as $1.6 million the smaller, 30-bed hospital owes the state, Westbrook Hospital would become a division of the 200-bed Mercy. The Westbrook facility would continue to be a hospital, the emergency room and inpatient beds would stay and other programs may be expanded. The deal would include Mercy paying off other debts and finishing an emergency room expansion project started five years ago.

Parents and drivers have won at least a temporary victory in their fight against plans to turn Gorham’s school buses over to a private corporation. After hearing sharp criticism of the plan from a crown of about 200 people, School Committee member David Kent said that nothing will change for the school year that starts in September. And Chairman Jane Golding said that a decision for future years won’t be made until the fall.

The 100 acres that Gorham Savings Bank donated to the town of Gorham in December is being eyed as the potential site for a new middle school. The property is behind the bank’s operations center off Route 202, just outside Gorham Village. The town-owned former Chick property behind Gorham Town Hall and adjacent to the Narragansett Elementary School is the other “obvious location,” school Business Manager Dan O’Shea said Monday. He said it is likely the school department will apply for state funding for a new sixth- to eighth-grade middle school this summer.

Lorraine Stickney, Gorham High School librarian, is retiring after 38 years on the job. When asked what has changed since she began her job, she said, “Nothing has stayed the same.” She said kids previously “followed accepted practices a lot more,” and today, students are more willing “to go their own way and to take chances. In some ways this is good, but they need to be more willing to accept responsibility for things.” Technology at the library has come a long way, as well. “Computers made all the difference as far as getting kids interested in learning, and word processing is wonderful,” she said.

College graduates from Westbrook include Theresa A. Buckley, daughter of Ellen and Thomas Buckley, who received a bachelor’s degree in social work from Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.; and Alicia A. Walsh, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David A. Walsh, who received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from St. Anselim College, Manchester, N.H.

A book sale to benefit the fundraising campaign to expand Gorham’s Baxter Memorial Library will be held June 18 and 19 at Robie Gym. The fundraising committee will also raffle off a set of Teeny Beanie Babies donated by Gorham resident Betsy Nygren.

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50 Years Ago

The Westbrook American reported on June 10, 1964, that Edna Peavey and her son, Merton Flood of Lower Maple St. in Gorham, were visiting relatives and attending the World’s Fair in New York.

The Rev. David Smith of Massachusetts, a former pastor of the Tory Hill Church and the church in Groveville, was a guest of friends in Bar Mills and West Buxton.

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This photo was taken from Longfellow Street where it connected to Main Street, and shows the old railroad tracks going west into Gorham. N.T. Fox Lumber Co. occupied the buildings adjacent the tracks and were actually on Conant Street, which connected onto Main Street and was part of Route 25 West. In the early 1970s the old railroad bed was taken up and a bypass road was built to relieve the heavy congestion on Main Street during peak traffic hours. The new road was originally named Wayside Drive but was changed several years ago to William Clarke Drive in honor of longtime Westbrook City Clerk William “Bill” Clarke. N.T. Fox closed the Westbrook store shortly after construction was started on the bypass. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.