WASHBURN NEWS
by Christie Cochran
Rotary District 7810, encompassing Northeast Maine and the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, adopted the “BioSand” water filters as their world community service project for 2010-11. In addition to financial support from the district clubs, the call went out for Rotarians to participate with hands-on involvement.
Twelve Rotarians — six from Maine, and another six from New Brunswick — as well as Wendell Christoff, a corporate sponsor from Michigan for the filters who accompanied them, traveled to the city of LaRomana in the Dominican Republic.
The main purposes of the trip included directly helping in the filter installation at the villages of poor Haitian sugar cane cutter families as well as participating in Rotary activities with host clubs. The group also got a chance to attend the District 4060 project fair in Santiago with other North American Rotarians. They also had some time for a taste of Caribbean leisure.
Four days were spent at four different villages installing filters in 53 homes. The filters resemble a tall kitchen waste basket with a spout on the side. It contains 10 pounds of under-grain gravel, 10 pounds of separation gravel and 50 pounds of filtration sand, along with a diffuser plate. The filtering capacity is 47 liters per hour, and life expectance with low maintenance is estimated at 10 years.
The technicians from the Good Samaritan hospital in LaRomana directed the installations and the Rotarians did the work.
But it wasn’t all work. The workers were followed from house to house, curious as to what might be happening. The Rotarians shared small rubber balls and some candy. The locals taught them a bit of their language, and the Rotarians shared some words with them as well. For instance, in the urban cities, a neighborhood’s area is called a Bario, while in the rural area, villages are called the Batey. The American and Canadian teams noticed how clean the homes were, with some even sweeping the dirt front yards. Each village had a school and a church. The groups had an excellent time, enjoying the people, especially the children, and as they were from the northern areas of the district, they truly enjoyed the warm weather.
The Rotarians took along some school supplies that were given to the teachers for distributions. They also passed out shoes, bicycles and baseball helmets.
Birthdays
Those celebrating birthdays this week include: Morgan Berube, David Olcott Jr., Andrew Pinette, Brian Wark, David Wilson, Debbie Sharp, John Griswald, Tamria Maynard, Aaron Bragg, Ardis Libby, Michael Howlett, Nathan Sperrey, Roger Dickinson, Sam Canders, Sarah Phrall, Brian Boyce, Nicholas Bragg, Lucy Griffin, April Corey, Shannon Ouellette, Matt Crouse, Melody Boyce, Olivia Doody, Starla Enman, Rodney Chavez Jr., Missy Ham, Athil Clayton Jr. and Lee Farley.
Town-wide notes
There will be an August Festival meeting held on Wednesday, March 9, at 7 p.m. at the Washburn Civic Center. All are welcome to join in the planning and share your ideas for the 150th year celebration for the town of Washburn.
The Washburn Trail Runners Clubhouse is open for breakfast and lunch on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sundays from 7 a.m. to noon. You can check out their schedules and events on the web at www.washburntrailrunners.org., or contact them at 455-8439.
Please note that there will be indoor soccer held during March and April for grades K-8. Times and dates will be announced in the near future.
The Washburn municipal election will be held on Monday, March 21, with the polls at the Washburn Civic Center open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The annual Town Meeting will follow on Tuesday, March 22, at the high school starting at 7 p.m.
Special Perham meeting
There will be a meeting of the “Moving Perham Forward” group on Tuesday, March 15, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Woods Edge Gallery on the High Meadow Road. Please bring your own chairs and light refreshments will be provided.
Please bring your ideas on what visions you have for Perham in the future. For further information phone Deb Viola at 498-3433.
Rec Center schedule
There will be cross country skiing on Wednesday, March 9, from 2:45 to 4:30 p.m.
On Thursday, March 10, there will be a 5:30 p.m. game for grades 4-6 at Ashland. Also on Thursday, there will be indoor soccer for grades 7-8 held at the elementary school from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
On Friday, March 11, there will be practice for grades 4-6 Girls’ basketball from 2:45 to 4 p.m. at the elementary school.
On Monday, March 14, there will be cross country skiing from 2:45 to 4 p.m. The grades 4-6 basketball team will play at Fort Fairfield as well on that day. Also on Monday, Zumba will be held at the elementary school gym from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by men’s basketball from 7 to 9 p.m.
On Tuesday, March 15, there will be indoor soccer for grades K-1 at the elementary school from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m.
Scout Sunday
Scouts and leaders of Troop 177 recently celebrated Scout Sunday at the Lidstone United Methodist Church. The service for Sunday, Feb. 6, had to be postponed until Sunday, Feb. 27, due to a storm.
The Scouts participated as ushers and readers during the morning service, and after, the congregation was able to view a display of photos, a patch blanket and the Troop Eagle plaque.
Scouts and leaders attending included: Larry Harrison, Tyler Jardine, Bryce Roix, Tim Roix, Daniel Roy, Stacey Skinner, Taylor Skinner and Caleb Thompson.
Each of the Scouts and leaders were awarded a 2011 BSA Scout Sunday patch for participating.
Municipal elections
The town of Washburn will hold their municipal elections on Monday, March 21, with the polls open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. There are two seats for three-year terms open on the Town Council; candidates include: incumbent Fred Thomas, Daren Churchill and Joseph Lemieux. There are three seats for three-year terms open on the SAD 45 School Board, with one candidate, incumbent Barb Caron, listed on the ballot.
Washburn’s annual Town Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 22, at the high school starting at 7 p.m.
The Perham municipal elections will be held on Monday, March 14, with the polls open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. There is one position for town selectman open, as well as one SAD 45 School Board seat
The Perham annual Town Meeting will be he ld on Tuesday, March 15, downstairs at the Perham Town office starting 7 p.m.
Remembering Washburn’s history
The following is additional information on Crouseville, continued from last week, courtesy of Amy O’Donnell who wrote the material as part of a school report, with credit as well given to Evelyn Flewelling, Leo Flewelling, Ardis Libby and excerpts from Ray Carter’s history book.
The name “Crouseville” came from the families who mostly made up the village. The Churchill family is also included, with their name being given to the highest hill in the area, now known as Churchill Hill.
In the village of Crouseville, there was a trolley running to and from nearby towns and villages. There were two trains — freight and passenger cars. The freight train often carried potatoes, stopping along the route at various potato houses. When the potato trains made the three-day trip headed to Boston, there were men known as “Line Firemen” who rode on the trains in order to tend the fires that protected the potatoes.
Crouseville also had two slaughter houses: one which was in a huge barn but burnt down, then another one was built at the top of the hill just off what is now Flewelling Drive.
There were two school houses: one where the Oxbarn is and one where the Milford Libby Memorial Park is. Both these schools taught grades 1 through 8 before they were closed, sending students to the schools in Washburn.
There was a ferry boat that ran across the Aroostook River, and the Ferry Road was on the land between the properties the Evelyn Flewelling and the Tim O’Donnell houses now occupy.
There were stores where the Hardison house is, and one on Flewelling Drive. There was also another store about a hundred feet away from the post office now is that burnt in the 1940s. Where the present-day Crouseville Post Office is, a store was located and run lastly by Milford and Ardis Libby.
This building was built in 1910 by Wallace Woodman. He hired Fred Flewelling to assist in the store operations and, about 1916, Fred purchased the post office and store, owning it for about five to six years. One of the store clerks, Miss Bernsley, assisted with filling customer orders. You would bring your grocery list to the large 16-foot-long main counter, and she would fill your order. Some of the non-grocery items available at the store included pitchforks, horse collars and blankets, shovels, men’s shoes, moccasins, galoshes, long-legged underwear, overalls, jackets, candles, glass bolts and nails. They also sold whiskey out of barrels prior to Washburn becoming a “dry” town, and people brought in eggs, butter, handmade wool mittens, socks and hats to sell. The flour also came in barrels and they had thin staves which were often used to make short skis for youngsters.
Other owners of the store included Bill Laflin, Clarence and Minnie Hall and both families ran it as a typical “Mom and Pop” outfit where you could buy penny candy and five-cent chocolate bars. It even had a porch with benches where folks would sit and talk. The store was a part of the Independent Grocers Association for a time. Owners throughout the years included Gordon Everett who eventually sold it to the Libby family. Those working for the Libbys included clerks Ruby Richardson and Mayvella Nickerson. Deno Libby, Miff and Ardis’s daughter, also worked at the store. The children from town often helped mark the prices and stock the shelves with incoming orders.
The post office was in one corner, with “Aunt” Mary Buck the postmistress for many years. Both the store supplies and mail was brought by trolley, and when mail needed to be delivered outside of the post office, Fred Flewelling was the one to do it.
Prior to 1935, regular gas sold for 10 cents a gallon while hi-test gasoline was sold for 12 cents a gallon, and the company supplying the gas was Mobile/Standard Oil and their logo was the noted red flying horse. Kerosene was also available at a cost of five gallons for $1.
At the Presque Isle side of Crouseville, an historic home and bed and breakfast building now stand, known as “Rum Rapids.” The name came from a story about two boys who lost control of their canoe and in order to salvage any of the items, something had to go. There was rum and pork in the canoe, so they threw the pork overboard and kept the rum. Nothing like remembering the “good old days.”
Project Graduation
Project Graduation is holding a spaghetti supper/bingo on Tuesday, March 15, at the Washburn Trailrunners clubhouse. Supper starts at 5:30 p.m., with Bingo to follow the meal.
The meal will include spaghetti/lasagna or chop suey, rolls/garlic bread, drinks/coffee and dessertCome and enjoy homemade cooking and support the Class of 2011’s Project Graduation. Cost will be $6 for an adult and $3 for kids 12 and under.
Christie Cochran is the correspondent for Washburn, Wade and Perham. She can be reached at 455-8034 or gramchristie@yahoo.com.
