The Alna Volunteer Fire Department would like to encourage all Alna residents to attend the Public Hearing scheduled for Wednesday, June 24, at the Alna Meeting House at 7 p.m.

It’s about time someone stood up and told the state where the bear went through the buckwheat.

Prompt any local official; any selectmen, or school board member, any firefighter or Code Enforcement Officer, and they will likely wax poetic about the burden of un-funded mandates rolling down from above.

I would like to thank those who voted for me in the June 9 election. I am aware of the responsibilities I am facing and the trust you have shown in me. I am looking forward to working with you all for the next three years.

It was Winston Churchill who said, “The best argument against Democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

It wasn’t the first dollar I ever earned but it was close to it. For 35 years I hoarded it away in a scrapbook with never a thought of it being spent, at least until this week.

This summer marks a triumph for our town. Lincoln Academy’s Climate Action Club has spent the year campaigning to reduce the use of plastic bags in Damariscotta. We developed a plan in which reusable bags would be sold in local stores. Now our vision has come to fruition. The bags are coming.

On May 23, a successful town-wide road clean-up was accomplished in Jefferson. Many, many thanks to all the volunteers who helped with the effort.

Harold Benner will be missed.

On Thurs., June 4, a tragic, yet totally avoidable accident claimed the life of Harold Benner within a short distance of his home. He was driving responsibly, as he always did, and fell victim to someone driving on the wrong side of the Rt. 235, most likely at excessive speed.

The battle has been joined. Already we hear that the health insurance industry is investing massively in a public relations campaign to defeat inclusion of any government sponsored component in upcoming health care legislation. Even the “Swift Boat” team is resurrecting itself to join the fight.

The story goes that legendary Lakota Sioux war chief Crazy Horse would ride into battle encouraging his warriors with the war cry “Hoka hey” which, in the context of battle, translates into the cheerful slogan: “This is a good day to die.”

Maine has a $1.4 billion budget deficit outlined in the 2009-2011 budget. The state’s bridges and roads are falling down around us. Health insurance, the lack of it, the need for it, and the prohibitive cost of it, is still a critical issue.

On behalf of the Lincoln Home and the Spring Gala Progressive Dinner Committee I am delighted to send a sincere thank you to all those people who made the Spring Gala Dinner such an amazing success.

Kudos to Bobby Ives for being honored “for a lifetime of service” by The Hyde School in Bath. The Carpenter’s Boat Shop is truly “a loving life . . . a very simple life” as evidenced by both of its founders, Rev. Robert Ives and the late Ruth Etta Ives.

This letter has a theme, as does my campaign for Selectman in Edgecomb. That theme may best be summed up in a quote from a poem all of us remember, as follows;