Nov. 25, 1987

Your trip to the hospital in Westbrook’s Rescue Unit could cost $95, or $155 or more under a proposal from Rescue Director Ronald Jones to the Westbrook City Council. Rescue Unit service in Westbrook has always been free. Some alderman were warm to the fee proposal because the switch to mostly paid personnel has improved the unit and that insurance would pay most of what the city would collect. Others were lukewarm or cool, and the committee tabled action, waiting to talk about it again before voting.

A six-month moratorium aimed at Maine Rubber International’s plans to burn hospital wastes in downtown Westbrook passed the City Council this week, 6-0. It halts new disposal of “special” wastes until a hazardous waste ordinance can be passed. Terry Grover, lawyer for Maine Rubber, called the moratorium premature. He said Maine Rubber is looking at burning other wastes, as well as hospital wastes.

Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius A. Small Jr. (Elizabeth Bickford), Susan and Sally, 411 Small-Hardy Road, Westbrook, will have as guests on Thanksgiving Day their parents, Mrs. Percy H. Bickford (Dorothy), Portland, and Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius A. Small Sr. (Yvonne), Small-Hardy Road. In Gorham, Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop Robinson, Longfellow Road, will spend Thanksgiving with their son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Eliot W. Robinson, Black Point Road, Scarborough. Other guests will be Mr. and Mrs. Arden Stanley, Jonathan and Matthew, West Haven, Conn.

All 28 of the three-bedroom units at King’s Pine Condominiums, Longfellow Street, Westbrook, have been sold, the project’s managing agent, Property Management Services of Portland, has announced. King’s Pine was built in 1986 and the final phase is just being completed.

Westbrook School Committee voted this week to go against the advice of Superintendent Edward Connolly and move high school commencement ceremonies from the Warren Gymnasium in Westbrook to the Cumberland County Civic Center. Connolly said he felt the Warren gym is large enough. However, committee member John Estes Jr. said that, due to overcrowding, he had, in recent years, seen a number of people “outside, not enjoying the ceremony.” Heat and overcrowding at the Warren gym made the civic center an attractive alternative for graduation. The next issue is to reschedule graduation, originally set for June 12. Windham High had previously booked the civic center for its ceremony at 1 p.m. that day.

The Charles Robie Memorial Gymnasium on South Street in Gorham, a landmark in town since it was built in 1932, is getting some much-need renovation in an $87,000 project being undertaken by the Gorham Lions Club. The building needs a new electrical system, and a new set of interior and exterior doors. The club was granted $75,000 from the town in September for the restoration project. Members hope to raise $12,000 more through fundraising.

A lawsuit has been filed against the town of Gorham and its Planning Board by 14 Gorham residents, seeking to overturn the board’s Oct. 19 decision granting preliminary approval to a 66-unit student housing complex planned for the western edge of the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham campus. The complaint alleges that the university “lacked standing” to be heard before the board because it did not own or have a valid option on the property. The suit also singles out Planning Board member Burleigh H. Loveitt, alleging he didn’t properly reveal his role in the project and was not properly recused. Loveitt is in partnership with John Alden, the owner of the land, to develop the 396-student complete, to be known as Woodside.

Nov. 26, 1997

A tax-increment-financing style set-aside of property taxes is wrapped into the $1 million loan fund being launched by Mayor Kenneth Lefebvre and the outgoing Westbrook City Council. Lefebvre’s proposal would divert to the safeguard fund half the taxes on property developed with city loans. A 1990 city loan of $85,000 was credited by Lefebvre as the key to the purchase of PrecisMetals by employees, described as a $2.5 million deal. The city’s current taxable assessed value at EMS, successor to PrecisMetal, is $1.4 million. The safeguard fund arrangement was suggested by James Bennett, the mayor’s administrative assistant. The proposal will be up for final action Dec. 1.

Stephen J. and Vesta I. Cassidy, Bridge Street, Westbrook, enter into the Thanksgiving Day thankful that their son, Jason Cassidy, a Westbrook High School and University of Southern Maine graduate, recently was hired as a music teacher in Biddeford Middle School; and that their daughter, Megan Cassidy, a 1996 graduate of Westbrook High School and a second-year student at Syracuse University, will be home from Nov. 26-30.

Volunteers in the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church served corned beef, potato, turnip, carrots, cabbage, onions, bread, pie and beverages to 174 senior citizens on Nov. 13. Robert Burton was the chief cook. Anne Fletcher made 24 delicious pumpkins pies.

Downtown Westbrook’s newest retailer is Joan Giles, Scarborough, whose store at 825 Main St., called Bright New Day, is a bookstore carrying recovery literature, gifts and supplies. Whatever the addiction, she has materials to help. A similar store in Portland closed when the owner moved away, and Giles saw a need. With help from friends, she has remodeled the one-time beauty parlor and more recently, an insurance office. There are now comfortable furniture, lamps and bookshelves with reading rooms.

Gorham is ready for the holidays. Santa is coming Nov. 30, from 1-4 p.m. to Personally Yours, 36 Main St. There will be fun, surprises, balloons, and the opportunity to take your child’s picture with Santa. Ed Ahlquist’s Farm Stand, Route 22, opens the Friday after Thanksgiving selling Christmas trees and wreaths. McNeally Farms, Dunlap Road, is selling choose-and-cut Christmas trees. Holiday baking supplies are being featured at The Natural Grocer, corner of routes 114 and 25. Gorham Emporium, 3 Railroad Ave., is featuring crafts, seasonal items, gifts and more from some 50 Maine crafters.

Matty’s Dine & Dance, 527 Main St., owned and operated by the DiRenzo family was a popular Westbrook night spot with Gary & the Counts the featured band. The Direnzo family also owned and operated the D & J Variety Store, at 533 Main St. Apartments occupied the upper floors of both buildings. Matty’s Dine & Dance and the D & J Variety Store eventually closed and the space occupied by both businesses became the Cumberland Mills Used Furniture Co. Several years later a fire swept through the Furniture Company and both building were closed and sold. The building was remodeled with Fruiti’s Deli and a hair salon occupying the first floor and apartments on the upper levels. The first floor is presently occupied Medeo European Food & Deli and an animal clinic. 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.