I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people and businesses that made it possible to supply 235 Lincoln County families with Thanksgiving dinners. In order to make this happen, it takes not only a lot of planning, but also a lot of help.

Lincoln County, as we all know, is a wonderful place to live. While it is unfortunately true that professional opportunities are scarce for people in the prime of their careers, it is the perfect setting for growing up and for growing old.

Apparently a number of elver fishermen in Maine are making thousands of dollars, reporting far less money earned and applying for and receiving welfare. Since being elected, Governor Paul LePage has attempted to do something about welfare fraud in the state of Maine.

Sheena Bellows, Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate describes herself as a “libertarian progressive.”

It seems no matter where you are in the political spectrum you might be forgiven for thinking the country is going to hell in a hand basket.

The Waldoboro Board of Selectmen has called a third referendum style special town meeting for Tuesday, Nov. 5, to hopefully finalize the FY2014 Waldoboro municipal budget.

This Thanksgiving our family is especially grateful. We want to thank the Alna Fire Department and Wiscasset Ambulance Service, particularly first responders Mike Trask, Marcie Lovejoy, and Herman Lovejoy. These volunteers made a great impact in our lives on Aug. 24 by responding to a life threatening situation with calm professionalism.

While driving to Rangeley last Friday night we received a phone call saying that our friend, Rene Goulette’s Shop to Shore had burned to the ground. It was hard to believe.

Thanksgiving Day, despite its name, does not always evoke thoughts of giving thanks – at least initially. Depending on the person, the first thought of Thanksgiving can call forth images of football, a frosty morning in a tree stand, or a Rockwell-esque feast with silver dishes and all the trimmings.

Fifty years ago, on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, I was six years old, sitting at my desk in the first grade at Saint Charles Elementary School in Boardman, Ohio. After all of these years I can clearly remember the exact moment when our school principal, Sister Dorthea, announced on the P.A. system that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been killed in Dallas, Texas.

We understand and respect the necessity of a businessperson doing all they can to stay in business. We understand that when your competitors offer an enticing sale to get customers in their door, one of your best options is to offer an equally pleasing enticement to attract customers to your door.

Opposers of Maine bear hunting reform think snare trapping, dog chasing and baiting bears is okay. The reason why they think it’s okay? “Because the Maine Inland Fish & Game biologists say so.”

A recent letter to the editor by Maxine Snow included a number of so-called facts regarding the efforts by animal rights organizations to eliminate baiting, hounding and trapping from Maine’s bear hunting regulations. (Bear hunting factual info,” LCN, 10/31/2013, Page 4) Many of these “facts” need further explanation and others cry out for correction.

Last week, Don Loprieno wrote another in a long list of columns promoting the recently announced efforts to ban bear baiting, hounding and trapping. He continued to repeat the emotionally charged talking points likely extracted from polling conducted by the Humane Society of the United States. In the column he chastised the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, SAM.