One would think, at my age, I would have learned not to be surprised at the human propensity for parochialism. Yet, I was amazed at last Wednesday night’s spectacle at the urgently reassembled Midcoast Bypass Task Force meeting at the Edgecomb Eddy School.

I recently read a news article that had words to the effect of “Christmas is winning this Christmas.” It grabbed my attention and I wanted to know more.

Thanks to an eagle with a sense of time and place, Maine may now seize the opportunity to re-evaluate what’s needed to improve the flow of traffic through Wiscasset during the summer months. However beneficial a by-pass may appear in theory, a four mile, 250 foot wide, $100 million by-pass simply is not worth the cost in money, environmental destruction and human misery.

Wiscasset High School has come up with a wonderful way to teach our children about intolerance. By insisting on continuing to use the Redskin “mascot” name for their sports teams, they have clearly taught us all some lessons.

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.”