Feb. 17, 1988

In the 1960s they called it a battle of the bands. Kids in faded bellbottoms cranked out Jimi Hendrix leads while bass and drums thundered off the back walls of a high school gym. Winners were decided by hoots and hollers. Today, it’s a rock-off, and winners, still high school students, are judged by a panel of three on originality, marketability and live stage show. Three of the top five winning bands in the rock-off competition, started five years ago by Louis Phillippe and the Maine Musicians Association, are from Westbrook High School: Faculty X, Trooper and Atlantis.

The Westbrook City Council will be asked this month to approve a long-term study of the city’s police needs. Chief Ronald Allanach said the proposal has won the support of the council’s Public Safety Committee after his negotiations will reduce the price. A police expert in Maine will work with a technical group in Washington on the study, which will stretch over six to eight months with a year and a half of follow-up work after that, he said. The police study was a factor when the council voted 7-0 last week to authorize two more Westbrook police sergeants, bringing the total to five. Mayor Philip Spiller told the City Council, “We want a sergeant to be in charge of each shift.” Without that, he said, “we might have three, four or six different supervisors in the span of one shift,” as men of differing seniority go on and off duty.

Mrs. Susan Hills, Forest Circle, Gorham, has been on a recent trip to Tampa, Fla., where she attended the wedding of a former fellow student, Joyce Robillard Mills. She also visited Sea World. While there, she touched a dolphin, which, she said, has skin softer than velvet.

The Gorham School Committee voted Feb. 10 to take the initial steps to seek state funding for part of an estimated $4 million to $5 million renovation and expansion project to solve some of the longstanding maintenance problems at Gorham High School. School Superintendent Constance Goldman described some of the nagging problems such as chronic leaks in window walls and a lack of program space. The leaking in the window walls, particularly in the industrial arts area, is one of the most difficult problems. “It leaks every time it rains,” she said. She also noted that activities such as music and art did not have sufficient program space, that the cafeteria is overcrowded and that the administration area resembles “a rabbit warren.” Goldman said she understood the project may be a difficult one for voters to be enthusiastic about, since the town will be paying the lion’s share of the cost.

Burton H. Babbidge Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Burton H. Babbidge Sr., 24 Green St., Westbrook, has been installed as the master of Westbrook’s Temple Masonic Lodge.

Feb. 18, 1998

Westbrook High School senior guard Morgan McEwen made a strong lay-up drive, scoring two for her 1,000th career basketball point early in the first period of an away game against South Portland on Saturday, “I’m just glad it’s over,” McEwen said. “I really want to focus on our games going into the tournament. Having this out of the way will help restore my focus.” McEwen has scored 287 points this year and with Saturday’s win, her total increased to 1,013. “I’m really proud of her,” said Westbrook coach Ben Palubinskas. “She’s worked hard and it’s quite an achievement.”

Westbrook’s Canal School has been nationally recognized as a Title 1 distinguished school, one of only 100 selected from throughout the country and, according to Principal Rob Welch, the only school recognized from Maine. Title 1 is a national sponsored educational program aimed at children with reading difficulties, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas. Canal was chosen for the distinction by Title 1 directors in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education based on high achievement scores the last three years.

Regents of Delta Chi Fraternity, a national fraternity with a chapter at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, has voted to remove alcohol from all of its houses in the United States and Canada, more than 100 chapters, by July 1, 2000. Paul Adams, USM Gorham’s chapter president, said the move may not fit with what most people picture when they think of a fraternity, but it is “definitely a step in the right direction. To get rid of alcohol is a smart liability decision. I love this house, and if I have to decide between drinking a beer in the living room and losing my house in an alcohol-related lawsuit, I’ll drink a Coke.”

Superior Court Justice Roland Cole plans to watch a Westbrook City Council videotape before he makes a ruling in the suit of former Westbrook City Administrator Jeffrey Grossman against the city and former alderman Don Richards. Cole was asked to dismiss the suit last week in Cumberland County Superior Court. Richards’ attorney, Martha Gaythwaite, told Cole in Thursday’s hearing that the statements made by Richards in the council meeting in August 1996 had been blown out of proportion by Grossman and that they do not rise to the level of defamation as Grossman claims.

The Salvation Army is opening an 11,000-square-foot retail store at the Gorham Village Shopping Center in the space vacated by Ben Franklin. While no date has been set, the store is expected to open in March. The store, which will have 10 employees, will offer new and used clothing, furniture and household items, along with antiques, collectibles and electronics. Profits will help support the Salvation Army’s 55-bed adult rehabilitation center in Portland.

The Gorham FEMA disaster recovery center is among six in Maine that will close Saturday. The centers were set up to provide information to Mainers who suffered damages or loss due to the ice storm.

The Gorham Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing for March 2 at the Gorham High School Auditorium on an application for a proposed firewood sawmill operation on Mitchell Hill Road submitted by James Dyer of Southern Maine Firewood.

This building was located on Main Street opposite Church Street and for many years it was known as the Green Block, as it was owned by the Green Brothers Realty Trust Co. in Boston Mass. The first floor of the building was commercial or retail space with rooms and apartments on the two upper floors.  The building was the first of three locations for the Westbrook Hardware Co. The upper floors of this building were eventually condemned and declared unfit for occupancy. In 1963, the city tried unsuccessfully to purchase this building and demolish it to use part of the Main Street frontage for an entrance to a proposed off-street parking lot. On June 1, 1964, the Westbrook City Council took action to declare the building a public nuisance. The building was sold to Portland Savings Bank and was demolished to make way for a new bank building. Portland Savings Bank became Peoples Heritage Bank and it is now TD Bank. 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.