We hope this Christmas season finds you warm and safe; accompanied by loved ones and fully sated with food and drink.

A Merry Christmas to you and all your readers and also a Happy New Year.

My heartfelt and sincere thank you goes out to all the kind and generous folks who gave their love and support to me after my recent accident. The benefit you arranged for me at Schooner Landing on Sat., Nov. 30 was a real extravaganza!

On Dec. 26, I was caught in the 4-8 inches of snow that “surprised” Lincoln County. I left my work in Freeport at 10 p.m. to make the usual trip up I-295 and Route 1. Nothing about the trip that night was usual. The Interstate was clogged with snow and Route 1 was barely recognizable.

Looking ahead, we are mindful 2014 is an election year. Being that the issues and feelings that set the table for the last election have not abated a whit, we fully expect a rancorous year ahead as the divisions between us are highlighted and underscored all year long, as if Americans’ fundamental right to disagree is the issue, more so than the things we actually disagree about.

Every Christmas season our culture is consumed with buying gifts. What is Christmas really all about? Is it just limited to receiving gifts or is there more?

It may have been uttered as a casual observation, but budget committee chairman Bob Blagden sounds a sour note in Charlotte Boynton’s story about outgoing Wiscasset Town Manager Laurie Smith. “It’s too bad we can’t find a town manager that wants to be part of the community and move here,” he said. “I believe we have had seven town managers in the past 10 years.”

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.

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.”