For many, many years we all have seen the lady walking along the side of the road, with her plastic bag in hand, picking up bottles and cans. Perhaps a few of you know her, but I have always been more than a little bit curious to know her story. My curiosity finally got the better of me and I stopped on the Lower Round Pond Road this past weekend to speak to her.
She was very gracious in answering my questions. At first she balked about being in my column but then she supposed that it would be okay. Her name is Lois Gahm, she is originally from Bethel but has resided in Bremen for many years. In the early ‘90s her doctor advised her to start walking. Well, that was all Lois needed to hear, and off she went on her quest for better health, walking as many as 6 to 7 miles per day. Along her way she saw bottles and cans and decided to pick them up.
This was in 1995 and she is still going strong. She may not go quite so many miles these days, usually 3 or 4, but she still has that plastic bag in hand and ventures out 12 months of the year. She actually has a schedule that encompasses Waldoboro, Bremen, Damariscotta, and of course, most of Round Pond. When I quizzed her on approximately how many bottles she thinks she must have gathered in her almost 30-year quest, she guessed thousands and thousands. She said that many people have stopped to say thank you.
When Lois cashes in her bottles, she likes to share the money in many different ways, sometimes simply by buying candy at Granite Hall Store for her family. I am more than glad that I finally stopped and met this rather incredible and kind woman. Keep up the good work, Lois, we all appreciate it.
About two weeks ago a gentleman, his last name was Summers, called me about the basketball backboard at the tennis courts being cracked. The Round Pond Village Improvement Society owns the facility and he felt it could be a hazard. I assured him that it would be taken care of. We are having trouble finding an appropriate backboard and would love his expertise. Of course, I cannot find his number and I am hoping that he will read this column and contact me at the above number or email address. I do not want him to think that we are overlooking this issue.
Back on April 17, 1958, according to The Lincoln County News, you could buy Dunlop first quality tires for $10.95 each on sale from 13.39. At the Damariscotta Maytag Store you could purchase a 30-inch Imperial range with French doors for only $2.50 per month on their easy payment plan. Renys rolled back prices, going back 100 years in their Jesse James Days Sale, in honor of this infamous train robber. Western dungarees went for $1.66, children’s shorts were three pair for a dollar, and a gallon of paint was $2.87. (I recently had to pay $70 for a gallon).
Quote of the week: “So, let me get this straight, I go to the grocery store and buy a pound of sliced ham in a plastic bag, a loaf of bread in a plastic bag, a gallon of milk in a plastic jug, a store-made salad in a plastic tub, a plastic bottle of mustard and ketchup, but they won’t give me a plastic bag to carry it home in because plastic is bad for the environment?”
