Samuel Waters came to Newcastle from England. He probably came first to Massachusetts, as he married Mary Kennedy of Bridgewater, Mass. He purchased 200 acres of land in Newcastle at the head of Dyer’s Neck, where it stretched in an uneven pattern from river to river, according to the Rev. David Quimby Cushman in his “History of Ancient Sheepscot and Newcastle.” No date is given for his birth or when he came to Maine but his oldest children were born in the 1760s, when he was, undoubtedly, a young man so he probably was born around 1740.

Just before Thanksgiving I asked several co-workers at The Lincoln County News what their favorite holiday recipes were. I got a plethora of responses and some great ideas, both sweet and savory, for your holiday meals or parties.

We are now beginning the first full week of December and Marjorie and I have just installed our small Christmas tree with all its decorations. The angel on the top of the tree is near 90 years old and some of the decorations which belonged to Marjorie’s mother, Kathleen, as well are over 100 years old. We hung both our stockings in hope that Santa will treat us well for being so good.

The holidays are upon us, and as trying as they can be at times, the thing I love most about the season is the awesome, mostly unhealthy food that’s everywhere you look.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but lately I’m not a big fan of the holiday season. After Thanksgiving I think, “OK, one down, one to go.”