Community Notebook

10 years ago

Ricker Rumblings
By Lois Downing

    Because of the Fourth of July holiday and the fact that writings have to be in early, I hope this makes the deadline. If not, I wish everybody a wonderful holiday, full of love and joy, one to remember with family and friends.

Gail Toby was involved in an automobile accident a few days ago. She was hit from the rear and suffered an injury to her neck. Get better, Gail. Patrick Friel is in the hospital. I have no more news on his condition at this time. Patrick, I hope you get better and fast.
Aroostook Retired and Senior Volunteer program had their newsletter in the mail recently. I always enjoy their news to us. Brian Henderson, husband of Charlene, our liaison, was driven to Portland recently after suffering a burned hand at his work. The word is now to have a graft (spelling) on his hand. A burn to the skin is very painful, so I hope you get relief, Brian.
Our sympathy goes out to the family of Phyllis Benn, who died recently. Phyllis was 92 and a lovely lady. The fundraiser for Jeanie Hall went well. Jeannie is either at rehab or in the hospital at this writing, preparing for surgery.
Here’s my angel statement: “Divine intervention in the form of angelic encounters can turn even the hardest of hearts into believers. Perhaps nothing warms up a cold heart like being wrapped in a pair of loving wings.” Let me repeat my thoughts, have a Fourth of July celebration, safe and without injury. See you soon!

Island Falls News

    On May 24 Dennis and Rebecca Drew flew to New Mexico to visit their son Adam and his family in Espanola, NM for ten days. On their return they were accompanied by their grandchildren, Dennis and Dalia. On June 24th son Adam and wife, Yanira arrived in Island Falls for an extended stay. They  are all now living at the head of the lake at the Dunphy cottage there and the children are having a great time  fishing and enjoying boating.
Mary Lou Pomeroy and daughter, Jane Foster, arrived from Caribou to spend some time with Riva. The weather wasn’t too great that day but when they returned to Caribou the rain had let up some so the traveling wasn’t too bad.
On Wednesday, June 25, the Happy Losers met at the Congregational Church for a short meeting. Following this the group then left to drive to the restaurant, Brookside, for their annual outing. Attending were Shirley Sides, Joanie Sides, Linda Banks, Dottie Rand, Cecelia Brown, Winnie Desmond, Riva Hawkes, Jackie Pratt and Loretta Bouchard and all had a great lunch followed by dessert, which is usually a no-no, but allowed on this occasion.
I am happy to report that I now have a few more birds attending my feeders — and among them I have a pair of gold finch, a pair of purple finch and two or three faithful chickadees. I also saw a small woodpecker the other day and she had a baby nearby and was busy eating the sunflower seeds and feeding her baby. Never happened to see that before. I still have three large crows that arrive every afternoon about 5 p.m. and wait patiently in my big birch tree out back for me to toss out the crumbs that I do every day. They have a favorite branch they perch on that gives them a good view of the breadcrumb area and I watch them dive down and grab the food, which goes almost as soon as I toss it out.
I had a young deer on my front lawn fairly early one morning and saw her again the next morning way down back by the woods. I haven’t caught sight of her again, but am sure she is somewhere near by and I keep looking each morning.

News from Ludlow
by Diane Hines

    The new signs from DaVinci Signs welcoming visitors to Ludlow are almost all installed. Thanks again to the high school students who placed the signposts. The annual Town Meeting is on Wednesday, July 9. Voting for new selectmen begins at 2 through 6 p.m., with the full meeting resuming at 7 p.m. The annual town reports for 2013-14 were completed on June 26 and they are ready and available at the Town Office. Please be advised that the office will close early on Wednesday, July 9, for the election and the side meeting room will be the entrance for voting and for the meeting at 7 p.m. A sample ballot and the warrant are posted at the office.

Happy Losers gather
By Shirley Sides

    On June 25, The Happy Losers held the weekly meeting at the Congregational Church vestry in Island Falls. Jackie Pratt, the leader opened the meeting with the usual pledge and roll call. Nine weighed-in and attended the meeting. Loretta Bouchard and Shirley Sides were the losers of the week, and Linda Banks was runner-up. Great job ladies!
No program for the week but just weigh-ins and reports. The summer outing was held at the Brookside restuarant with members Jackie, Shirley, Linda, Dotty, Joan, Winnie, Cecilia, Loretta, and Riva. The lunch was wonderful with a great waitress.
Linda Banks was the person who lost the most weight for the months of May and June. Welcome to the group every Wednesday from 8 to 8:45 a.m. weigh-ins and meeting starts at 9a.m. Call 365-4884 for more info. See you all there!

TOPS group meets
By Lois Downing

    TOPS Chapter 0233 met Friday, June 27 at the Aldergate building with Diane Folsom presiding. Nineteen members were present including three KOPS (Keep off Pounds Sensibly).
Brenda Lacosta spoke on the vegetable contest. Joanne Scott was the winner with four weeks full dues. A new telephone and address was given by Charlotte Marley. Loser of the week was Diane with the “challenger” as runner-up. The skinny dish was won by Betty Wiperman and the 50/50 by the challenger.
Reports were given by Cheryl Driscoll and Joanne Scott. Janice Cote, area captain, was making her annual visit. She outlined a walking program. No meeting will be held July 4. If you need more information, call Charlotte Marley at 757-8483.