With the retirement of our oldest employee last year, there isn’t a single person currently working for Lincoln County Publishing who was alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked Dec. 7, 1941.

On Nov. 26, Lincoln County and the State of Maine lost Donald M. Bisset, retired State Fire Marshal. Don had a lengthy career in public service, which included serving his country actively in World War II, many years in the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office, serving as the first State Fire Marshal from 1975 to 1991, and as a Jefferson selectman after his retirement from the state.

This week we report two separate stories on two separate boards of selectmen sending two separate, strongly worded letters to the Dept. of Transportation regarding the potential cancellation of plans for the Wiscasset bypass.

The Waldoboro Food Pantry and the Waldoboro Lions Club want to thank those individuals and organizations who made generous money and food donations to the food bank in the recent months.

First a thank you for your editorial concerning Dec. 7, 1941.

With the above in mind, may I relate an experience circa 1950-1953. On June 5, 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea and America, via the U.N., entered into a so called “police action” to push North Korea back over the 38th parallel. It worked well until China entered the fray. That tilted the odds in North Korea’s favor. By 1953 all hostilities were over and an armistice was signed. (Note: not a surrender, that’s passé.)

About this time two years ago we had an extremely brief editorial meeting during which we decided we were going to continue LCN’s longstanding tradition of calling Christmas things Christmas names.

So what’s the big deal about parents hosting parties with alcohol for their kids? You know where they are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing. So it’s safe, right? There have been many discussions on the ethics of parents hosting these types of parties.

Another writer writes on the difference between science and belief systems, averring that, “Each maintains a different standard for truth,” and here I thought truth was its own standard; either something is true or it’s not.

Congratulations to Renys. In the true American spirit, the locally based retailer has made a business decision to open a department store in downtown Portland, occupying the former L.L. Bean center-city premises on Congress Street.

You don’t hear it all that often, generally because the people of an age to use it are too polite to do so in public, but on occasion you may come across someone who will say to an antagonist something to the effect of “can’t wait to see the back of you.”

I went fishing with David Rice for a few years, so I know how hard it is lugging traps around. I just can’t believe that he has been fighting to store traps on his new dock for four years. This dock is in Clark’s Cove, on the Damariscotta River, where there are already several lobster boats and an aquaculture site. (South Bristol lobsterman fights state, neighbors to store traps,” LCN, Page 1, 12/23/10)

The premise of “The Polar Express” is to believe in the magic of the season – I believe! I believe!

It is Christmas Day as I write this letter. My family is scattered far and wide and I live alone (by choice) in Jefferson. Last night, by the light of the near full moon and the fresh white snow on the field behind my house, I swear I could see Santa’s sleigh zoom across the sky headed South with a tremendous load of gifts.

If you want a cause to chuckle, and who doesn’t need one these days, try giving some small children a simple cardboard box and watch what they do with it. In short order, they could turn it into a fort, or a plane, a boat or a place to hide.