This summer marks a triumph for our town. Lincoln Academy’s Climate Action Club has spent the year campaigning to reduce the use of plastic bags in Damariscotta. We developed a plan in which reusable bags would be sold in local stores. Now our vision has come to fruition. The bags are coming.

On May 23, a successful town-wide road clean-up was accomplished in Jefferson. Many, many thanks to all the volunteers who helped with the effort.

Harold Benner will be missed.

On Thurs., June 4, a tragic, yet totally avoidable accident claimed the life of Harold Benner within a short distance of his home. He was driving responsibly, as he always did, and fell victim to someone driving on the wrong side of the Rt. 235, most likely at excessive speed.

The battle has been joined. Already we hear that the health insurance industry is investing massively in a public relations campaign to defeat inclusion of any government sponsored component in upcoming health care legislation. Even the “Swift Boat” team is resurrecting itself to join the fight.

The story goes that legendary Lakota Sioux war chief Crazy Horse would ride into battle encouraging his warriors with the war cry “Hoka hey” which, in the context of battle, translates into the cheerful slogan: “This is a good day to die.”

It used to be you could go on an errand and leave your door unlocked. Or, perhaps, the wheelbarrow could sit in the front yard for days, before you got back to completing the chore.

Not anymore.

On behalf of the Lincoln Home and the Spring Gala Progressive Dinner Committee I am delighted to send a sincere thank you to all those people who made the Spring Gala Dinner such an amazing success.

Kudos to Bobby Ives for being honored “for a lifetime of service” by The Hyde School in Bath. The Carpenter’s Boat Shop is truly “a loving life . . . a very simple life” as evidenced by both of its founders, Rev. Robert Ives and the late Ruth Etta Ives.

This letter has a theme, as does my campaign for Selectman in Edgecomb. That theme may best be summed up in a quote from a poem all of us remember, as follows;

Last night (May 7) the Nobleboro Central School PTO hosted its Second Annual Nobleboro Nonsense Fundraiser. For those who have never attended a similar event, it is a silent raffle where tickets are purchased and placed in containers that correspond to prizes (similar to a silent auction).

A couple of weeks ago, Tim Dinsmore called to ask if I would be interested in joining a group of contemporaries at the old Taniscot Engine House on May 6 at 7 p.m. to share our memories of the great depression of 1929.

It is nice to see Sen. David Trahan hasn’t wasted any time jumping into the legislative fray that is Augusta politics.

The latest Trahan exploit involves LD 1399, An Act Concerning Water Quality in Watersheds. Among other points, the bill proposed the creation of a Clean Shores Fund that would direct state resources toward addressing pollution in shellfish areas.

This may sound “fishy”, but there is no way all the many events at the Alewife festival could be brought to mind without forgetting many – each of which took much time and planning and which paid off in a glorious combination of busy minds to make this yearly event memorable.

As summer approaches, Lincoln County is entering the high-risk drinking season. In addition to graduation parties and holidays like July 4, we will be inundated with summer tourists.