Before you ask, yes, I’m from away. I’ve been on Biscay Pond for over 30 years. The first 15 were in Bristol, near the outlet, then we moved to Damariscotta, on the west side, about 1/2-mile from the town beach. We spent every summer here and most weekends from mid-May to mid-October. Now that I’m retired, I spend a lot more time here. The winters are as beautiful as the summers, in their own way, and autumn, glorious autumn! Mud season, not so much …

I would like to take this opportunity to thank many people in our community. On April 27, while shopping in Hannaford, Damariscotta, with my granddaughter, I suffered a major cardiac arrest.

I am writing to urge Waldoboro voters to say no to the Ordinance Prohibiting Retail Marijuana Social Clubs and Retail Marijuana Establishments in the Town of Waldoboro.

Parts of the new CLC YMCA are opening for us day by day. I want to express my gratitude to management and staff for the planning they did for life during construction. They enabled many of us to keep at our routines – whether tennis, weights, treadmills, bikes, or Nautilus – surrounded by construction tarps and almost invisible working crews. This was an extraordinary feat and we, children and adults, have benefited from that planning.

This past weekend I had the privilege to chaperone the Lincoln Academy band trip to New York City. Our community should be so very proud of these kids. Not only did they perform beautifully at the Heritage Festival, where they competed against schools from across the country. They were respectful to each other and everyone, from the bus driver, hotel staff, fellow symphony and Broadway show goers and more.

The Maine Department of Transportation has disregarded the ordinances and historic zoning laws of the town of Wiscasset. The DOT has even gone so far as to turn down federal funds in order to openly challenge the town and its business community.

The end of the 2017-2018 school year will be a sad one for anyone associated with Nobleboro Central School. The departure of Ann Hassett as principal will leave a huge hole in the school and, more importantly, in the lives of the children. It will be a great coup for AOS 93 to have her begin what I know will be a successful tenure as their curriculum coordinator.

Over the next two weeks (April 14-30), patients and visitors to the Miles Campus will notice some temporary changes to our parking spaces due to the construction of the new Watson Healthcare Center.

“MDOT, we need to talk” is something we’ve been seeing since December of last year. In fact, the Maine Department of Transportation has done a lot of talking, and listening, since Option 2 was unveiled and voted on overwhelmingly by Wiscasset voters.

Frequent Bristol Road users may notice a recently planted series of little red “no more delays” signs on lawns on both sides of the road. They are meant to be gentle reminders to the public and the “powers that be” that the often delayed sidewalk project and the obviously needed repairs for Bristol Road deserve to become a high priority on the Maine Department of Transportation’s 2018 to-do list.

I was dismayed to read that Damariscotta’s new downtown restrooms will be “gendered” instead of unisex, as originally planned. Creating all-gender bathroom facilities puts a more positive, family-friendly image on our community. National retailers such as Target, T.J. Maxx, Walgreens, and Starbucks now provide unisex facilities for their customers. Some local businesses offer them as well, I’m sure.

The vote on April 17 in Wiscasset is about setting a precedent for Maine. If the no vote goes through, the Maine Department of Transportation and the state will be able come in and disregard local laws in any town in the state and put through whatever they want. It is not just about Wiscasset. There is a bigger picture here.

My wife and I fell in love with Wiscasset and the people who call it home – enough to purchase a property on Main Street. Even though we live far away in the mountains of Colorado, we have become fervent supporters and promoters of the community and only want the best for the town into the future.