Spotlight Wiscasset

• Salt ’n Spar

  And back to Edgecomb we go

  Mon, 04/15/2024 - 8:45am

  

  Let’s return again to the quiet community of Edgecomb where our neighbors across the Sheepscot River are celebrating their Semiquincentennial, that is to say the town’s 250th birthday. We’re going to have to get used to saying Semiquincentennial, or “Semiquin” for short because July 4, 2026 our nation will celebrate its own 250 anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In February I shared with you a number of historical facts and points of interest in Edgecomb. Since then...

• Wiscasset’s comp plan survey opens

  Thu, 04/11/2024 - 1:45pm

  

  The future of our town is in your hands! Wiscasset is embarking on a journey to shape its future through comprehensive planning, and we need your valuable input to make it happen. The Wiscasset Comprehensive Plan Committee is excited to announce the launch of our community survey. This survey is a vital tool for gathering insights, ideas and priorities from residents, business owners and stakeholders across our community. Your participation will directly influence the decisions and strategies...

• Dig into Wormfest June 8 in Wiscasset

  Sat, 03/30/2024 - 8:45am

  

  March 29 in a Wiscasset home, a grassroots committee was talking dirt pie-eating, a worm-themed relay race, carnival fare and games, an exhibit on Wiscasset worm digging history, a possible beer garden, and area band Something Stupid booked for the downtown block party Wormfest, June 8. “Worms?” Committee member Lucy Oyster said that is the reaction from people hearing about the event it they are unfamiliar with Wiscasset’s worm-digging heritage. She said the shock and confusion about the theme...

• From bottles and cans, American Legion Post 54 gives to Wiscasset causes

  Tue, 03/26/2024 - 7:30pm

  

  Willow Orr’s mother Michele Colson tells the Wiscasset 10-year-old about every donation that comes in. “I feel that it’s good for her to know how much she’s loved and supported, because she’s going through a lot, so I figure any positive information I can feed her is a good thing,” Colson told Wiscasset Newspaper Monday. An autoimmune disorder surfaced last fall and, after chemotherapy, is in remission, but the illness damaged Orr’s kidneys irreparably, Colson and fellow Wiscasset Elementary...
• Salt ’n Spar

  Wiscasset’s 1981 marathon town meeting

  Tue, 03/19/2024 - 8:45am

  

  Friday, the 13th in March 1981 was a lucky day for some of the candidates running for Wiscasset town office and a not so lucky day for the others who lost. Take it from me it was actually one of the more interesting contests as far as town elections go. There were 25 Wiscasseters on the ballot and several more campaigning as write-in candidates. Eight candidates, all men by the way, were running for one of three seats on the selectboard. Back then voters chose a First, Second and Third...

• ‘Beeping and drilling and noise’: Alna, Clean Energy Connect reps talk roads, more

  Mon, 03/04/2024 - 8:45am

  

  Plans call for New England Clean Energy Connect to get Alna officials a contract proposal soon, as the hydropower transmission line project nears town. Town officials, residents and project representatives talked in a specially called selectboard meeting Thursday night, Feb. 29. Road Commissioner Jeff Verney asked about repairs. If the NECEC project’s heavy equipment breaks up Rabbit Path Road and the damage is just patched over, “that’s not going to last,” he said. It will be fixed “to what it...

• Wiscasset Schoonerfest readies for a relaunch

  Sun, 02/25/2024 - 8:45am

  

  A group of community-minded volunteers are in the early stages of planning the return of Wiscasset’s Schoonerfest, celebration of the town’s seafaring past and present-day working waterfront. Schoonerfest is being shortened to a one-day event. “Schoonerfest Day 2024 is about ‘going local,’” Selectwoman Terry Heller told Wiscasset Newspaper Friday morning, Feb. 23. “We want everyone who calls ‘Maine’s Prettiest Village’ home – and those who may be visiting – to come down to the waterfront and...
• Salt ’n Spar

  A possible future for Mason Station

  Wed, 02/21/2024 - 8:45am

  

  In January, I received an email from Ryan Gahagan, president of Mason Station Redevelopment Company LLC, based in Portland. His comments were in response to publication of a column I’d written about the former power station that faces Wiscasset harbor. I’ve never met Mr. Gahagan, although I’d interviewed him for the Boothbay Register-Wiscasset Newspaper this past June. He told me then he, along with a partner, were in the early stages of formulating a potential plan to develop the huge brick...
• Salt ’n Spar

  Edgecomb, more than meets the eye

  Tue, 02/06/2024 - 8:00am

  

  Let’s turn our attention to the town of Edgecomb where our neighbors across the Sheepscot River are celebrating their town’s 250th birthday. Mark your calendar: A town-wide birthday party is planned for Sunday afternoon, March 17 (updated from original posting) at Edgecomb Town Hall. Wow, that’s going to be a lot of candles to get on a cake. I first laid eyes on Edgecomb when I arrived from Fort Collins, Colorado in the early part of January 1979. I shared a home with relatives who were living...
• Salt ’n Spar

  Once upon a time, the WFD Ice Fishing Derby

  Thu, 01/18/2024 - 8:45am

  

  Not so long ago, Maine winters were a lot colder. Around this time of year the mercury would plunge far below freezing and stay that way for days, sometimes weeks even here on the coast. Around the end of December anglers would haul out their wooden “Jack traps” and tackle in anticipation of the upcoming ice fishing season which started Jan. 1 and continued to the end of March. The second Sunday in January was always special in Wiscasset because that’s when the fire department held its annual...
• Salt ’n Spar

  Lights, camera, action at Wiscasset Theater

  Fri, 12/08/2023 - 8:00am

  

  Once upon a time there was the Wiscasset Theater, a movie house downtown offering more than just Hollywood films. Its front entrance didn’t have a glitzy marque of flashing lights, but inside there was a stage where high school plays and other live performances were sometimes held. The building’s still there, although it has been much altered over the years and is now home to condominiums. Located on the corner of Washington and Summer streets, Wiscasset Theater held its grand opening on July 7...
• Wiscasset selectmen

  A March end eyed for Wawenock project’s ‘blight on the community’

  Thu, 11/23/2023 - 8:45am

  

  Wawenock LLC expects masonry work to be finished next March on its Main Street, Wiscasset building that shed hundreds of bricks in April 2021. Wawenock’s latest update to the town follows Town Manager Dennis Simmons’ admonishing letter the selectboard requested Nov. 7 and praised him for Nov. 21. Simmons’ Nov. 8 letter to Wawenock lawyer Sandra Gauy calls for a finish date “more in line with the end of 2023.” Simmons thanked Guay for all the updates, but told her the board has “deep concerns”...

• More local students seeking trade school education

  Wed, 11/22/2023 - 8:45am

  

  Silas Lehouillier of Edgecomb is a high school junior who knows his way around a kitchen. He has cooked with his family members since he was a child. His favorite dish to prepare is curry. He knows all about chopping vegetables, selecting the right spices and mixing them all with his protein of choice, most likely chicken, into a bowl then adding cream or coconut milk, and letting it settle into a delicious dish. “I like food and I like to make food,” Lehouillier said. He is now looking to...
• Press release

  Wiscasset’s new economic development director shares his excitement, ideas

  Thu, 11/16/2023 - 8:45am

  

  Wiscasset is pleased to announce the establishment of a pivotal role within our town management – the job of economic development director. This reflects the commitment of the town manager and selectboard to foster sustainable growth and prosperity in our community. They believe it is necessary to improve the business climate at the town office and build upon the momentum gained with the new senior housing project, the largest sweet shop in New England, the pharmacy, the possible redevelopment...