January —   Emily Ecker and Monica Mann, proposed a green burial site at the Nute-Stephens Cemetery on Twitchell Road to the Woodstock Cemetery Committee. Their proposal requested the committee follow three guidelines for the space: no vaults or caskets; containers or shrouds made of organic materials; and nontoxic preparation of bodies.

Bethel ice rink expanded in January with many volunteers coming out to erect a new 60 feet x 100-feet rink.  The rink behind the Ethel Bisbee School on Philbrick Street is 20 feet wider and 20 feet longer with walls and nets on the ends. “So many kids learned how to skate last year, and at the end of the season watching all those kids do laps around the smaller rink, the rec board was determined to make it a little bigger and give it a little more elbow room,” said Recreation Board Director Mary Scanlon.

Crescent Park Teacher and author Heidi Bullen of Bethel and her friend Lisa Wentzell of North Yarmouth co-wrote “A Dog & His Boy,” a book based on Wentzell’s son, Scotty, and his life-size stuffed dog named Spillway. The story is told from the viewpoint of Spillway, who goes everywhere with Scotty. The subtitle is “The Adventures of Spillway & Scotty.” It’s about inclusion and acceptance.

Maine’s senator, Susan Collins, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she secured $725,000 for the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum (MMGM) and $273,000 for the Bethel Area Food pantry and (future) District Exchange. The MMGM monies will be used to purchase equipment to study lithium and other minerals as well as to develop educational programs for K-12 students. “This investment will help provide the Food Pantry with a new  modern facility to continue to serve Mainers with healthy food while also reopening the clothing exchange,” read the press release.

Jeff Warden will step down from his job as Waste Water Treatment director, a title held for the past five years.  He is headed to the Maine Rural Water Association in Richmond to be a project manager.

The Bethel select board approved a motion to move all of the town’s ARPA funds to the Wastewater Treatment Plant to spend what is needed for a new design of an aging and failing pump station on Mill Hill Road.

The Bethel select board chose a new Wastewater Treatment Plant logo. Mountain Valley High technology students had designed the logos.

Four juniors and two seniors in Dee Johannesen ‘s US History 1 class at Telstar High School toured Bethel Historical Society’s Mason House (a period home) and The Robinson House (the historical society museum) on Wednesday, January 11. They were there to learn about daily life in 19th century in Bethel.

Two new restaurants opened in Bethel. Mountain Social and The Elizabeth are across the street from each other on Main Street. The owners are friends and both owners have restaurants in Bar Harbor, too. Mountain Social replaced Brian’s and The Elizabeth was formerly The Victoria.

February

A firearm rumor locked down Bethel’s schools on Jan. 31.

Telstar skiers hit the slopes all winter at Mt. Abram for free.

Andover Select Board Member Joe Luce presented the Boston Post Cane to oldest citizen, Freeman Farrington, age 92.

Bethel’s “Olympia,” retained her crown as the tallest snow person in the world after an Austrian challenge. She celebrated her 15th birthday in February. Many good memories of the event were recalled by Jim Sysko, Robin Zinchuk and others who made it happen.

The Bethel select board discussed raising wages for town employees following resignations.

The Bethel Ordinance Review Committee received opposition at a public forum to discuss requiring registration and safety checks for short term rentals.

Principal Mark Kenney explained bullying policies at an MSAD-44 meeting.

Parents learned that Bethel Early Learning Center on Cross Street would be closing on Feb. 24, leaving the Bethel area with no other public day care options.

The town of Andover elected Justin Thacker to an open select board seat. He received 115 out of 154 votes and joined Joe Luce and Brian Mills on the board.

 

March

Charles Bean was robbed of $56,000 in gems from his business, Sunday River Gems, Newry. Rumors were circulating around Bethel about who stole the gems. “I heard the next day that a woman was wearing [the gems],” said Bean. “They [the criminals] knew what they were doing.” Bean said he has a lot of support in the community.  He grew up in the house where his business is located, before his family moved to a bigger house on Lover’s Lane when he was 13.

Gould Academy student, Jackie Yang, right, has been learning about maple sugaring from Fred Burk, of Newry. Burk sold Gould his evaporator and lines. Rose LincolnGould Academy student, Jackie Yang built the school’s new sugar house with the help of Gould staffers, Jeremy Nellis and Jerry Bernier. Yang said he learned aspects of the business from Newry Sugarer Fred Burk, who he described as ‘quite a talker’ and a good teacher. Growing up in Shenzhen, China, Jackie Yang had never tasted maple syrup before he came to Bethel.

Telstar has continued to combat chronic absenteeism. At 60.42% the school’s rate of absenteeism was one of the highest in Maine. Principal Mark Kenney explained the many avenues to learning that Telstar is offering. Telstar’s high rates are a microcosm of what is happening nationwide.

Nick Chapman and his family of five, wife Tasha, and children: Keaton, 17, Emma, 14,  and Vince, 13, were not at home when a fire broke out at 5:30 p.m. at their home on Chapman Hill off the North Road. the family’s four dogs, Gunner, Mollie Mae, Danica, Yager and two cats, Hermes and Mario all perished in the blaze that destroyed their home. “It went so fast,” said Nick Chapman.

Newry added a $250 site plan fee for builders.

The Oxford Board of County Commissioners held a meeting to discuss moving Albany Township’s voting place (Town Hall)  to another location. The meeting was held on a weekday in Paris. At the meeting, Commissioner David Duguay suggested Albany, an unorganized territory, consider organizing.

The West Bethel Post Office goes on the market for $115,000.

In an about-face, Woodstock residents voted to save their grange hall on route 26 from demolition when an unnamed party offered to paint the aging hall. Besides needing paint, the hall has no foundation, does not meet fire codes and lacks a septic system. There is little more property than the lot it sits on, making parking an issue, too.

 

April

Former Sunday River owner, Les Otten met with the members of the board of Project Opportunity at the 4-H Camp and Learning Center in Bryant Pond in Woodstock. The fund awards scholarships and grant money to local teens. They discussed what they could do better.

Northern Forest Center Program Manager Amy Scott toured Town Manager Natalie Andrews and Bethel Selectboard Member Meryl Kelly  around the Gehring House, located in Bethel’s historic district and adjacent to the Bethel Resort and Suites. The center  purchased the 10-acre property on Broad Street on December 15, 2022, and will turn it into middle income housing.

Neighbors were included when the Bethel select board chose an ad hoc committee to look at ways to use the Ethel Bisbee lot.

Natalie Andrews reminded the Assessor board members at an April meeting that they took an oath to follow the statute of the constitution of the State of Maine and assess personal property tax. Board Member Robert Blake, responded, … They [the state] look at what other towns the same size as Bethel should be assessing, they add that to a state valuation that is what determines our taxes in county and school. We’re not picking up those taxes locally, that’s the biggest problem … other than that there’s nothing the state can do to the town, they can’t mandate it. That’s how we pay for it,” he said.

Cummings descendent Sue Nusbaum, and others vowed to restore the Cummings cemetery on Greenwood Road across from the town beach in Greenwood.  Blaine Mills who had grown up bicycling by the cemetery, saw it destroyed by a logger when he came home from serving in the air force in 1960. War veterans and their families were buried there.

 

 

SAD-44 School Board Superintendent-elect Mark Kenney recommended John Eliot be elevated to Telstar High School principal from his current role as dean of students. Lindsay Luetje, dean of students at Telstar Middle School, was Kenney’s recommendation for middle school principal. The board proposed an increase of 10.39% for the 2023-24 budget.

Gabby Groves, of Bethel, won the 2023 Principal’s Award at Telstar High School. She was given the award in recognition of her academic achievement and citizenship. She and three friends started the Civil Right Team at Telstar.

A Greenwood fire destroyed the Bird Hill Road home of Mike Jewell and his daughter Meagan. “I think my only option is to tear it down. There’s nothing salvageable there. The whole second floor is gone,” said Jewell, noting that he may be able to save the attached barn. Greenwood Fire Chief Ken Cole said he was grateful for the 40 firefighters from Greenwood, Bethel, Newry, Mexico, Woodstock, West Paris, and South Paris who responded to the fully engulfed fire.

Woodstock Town Manager Vern Maxfield and Select Board Member, Bob McQueeney talked were unhappy with the construction a state contractor was doing on route 26 in Woodstock Village.

May

Sunday River and Town of Newry officials will conduct a highway traffic study this winter to look at traffic congestion during ski season on Sunday River Valley roadways. They will also participate in a corridor committee made up of town officials from Newry, and Bethel; the Chamber of Commerce; and the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT). The group will invite and include business owners and residents to join, said Sunday River President Dana Bullen. The traffic study will include, Sunday River Road, Skiway Road and Monkey Brook Road on high traffic volume winter weekends and must meet the standards set by Maine DOT.

Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) workers, along with local highway workers and firefighters spent the morning of May 1,  and much of the beginning of the week, dealing with flooding from a rainstorm that dropped a month’s worth of rain, between 3 and 5 inches, in 36 hours in the Bethel area. Bethel Town Office and SAD-44 schools closed around midday. In Newry, rescue crews assisted passengers in two cars caught in floodwaters on Route 26. Workers from Central Maine Power repaired downed lines on Walker’s Mills Road, (Route 26). Traffic was detoured onto Sunset Road and Intervale Road then back to 26. The detour was flooded and motorists had to jockey around a few feet of water on the roadway to pass each other.

Four Bethel select board members voted against carrying a proposed short term rental ordinance forward to either a public hearing or town meeting warrant. The ordinance would have required short term rental owners to register their property with the town and follow a common set of rules. The town would have had a contact to call in case of emergencies or noise complaints at STR’s. Further, the ordinance would have created a baseline of the total number of short term rentals in Bethel.

Oxford County commissioner Tim Turner,  said, “You will be voting here. We listened to the people.” Albany Township voters retained the right to vote at their 19th century town hall. The commissioners had earlier proposed abolishing the town registrar position and requiring voters to cast their ballots in an abutting town.

At Town Meeting Newry residents voted to sell Newry Church. Do you really want to spend $210,000 on a building that you don’t know what the purpose is going to be?” asked a resident. People were asked to stand to more accurately count the vote of 15-10 to sell the building. They voted ‘no’ on the food sovereignty ordinance, that would have allowed bakers to sell goods at farm stands without a state license.

Bob Coolidge, who ran Bob’s Corner Store, and longtime selectman Arnie Jordan were both feted during Greenwood’s Town Meeting. Articles were bundled and passed as one vote. Later, Angie Lovejoy, deputy clerk, said the bundled articles and the quick votes were because residents have confidence in town leadership. At the close of the meeting, Select Board chair Amy Chapman walked a colorful begonia over to Kim Sparks, the town manager as everyone sang, “Happy Birthday” to Sparks.

June

Bethel remembered Memorial Day with a short but poignant ceremony in Veteran’s Memorial Park. Pastor Mace Wilder honored the Finnish American heritage at Memorial Day Services in West Paris.

Amy Lilly’s Telstar Middle School class with the help and expertise of quilter Donna Gillis, of  Bethel, created a heart quilt for the Chapman Family who lost their house and pets in a March fire. We wanted to present this to you, because we care and we love you,” said Lilly to Chapman. “You don’t realize until you lose everything … my kids lost everything. To see the love like this and the love from the community is a very humbling thing. Thank you all very much,” said Chapman.

On June 5 Corey Emerson, 41,  and Kayla Day, 35, were charged with car theft and other offenses. Cars were stolen from Amy Chapman, of Greenwood and Shelby Maniatty, of Bethel. Maniatty’s boyfriend chased the criminals who were later arrested by Oxford County deputies. Both cars and most of Maniatty’s camera gear were recovered.

Gould Academy graduated Memorial Day weekend. Telstar’s seniors graduated the following Friday. Special guest Senator Angus King delivered the keynote speech for Telstar.

Town meeting in Andover lasted four hours as 46 residents discussed and approved almost all of the 63 articles on the warrant for the 2023-24 town budget. They approved spending $900,000 on a bond to be used to reconstruct East Andover Road damaged by flood waters.

Telstar Freshman Academy students high-five each other May 31 after finishing a mural titled “Celestial Landscape” on a wall in the Bethel Public Library. The project was part of the academy’s Pay It Forward program to connect ninth graders with the Maine School Administrative District 44 community. From left are Evy Cummings of Bethel, Gideon Bonsant of Woodstock, and Michaela Mowery and Dylan van Buren, both of Bethel. Rose Lincoln/The Bethel Citizen

 279 Walkers Mills Road in Bethel, directly across the street from Telstar Middle/High School on Route 26, became the new home of the combined Bethel Area District Exchange and Food Pantry. “We will be relying heavily on help from local contractors, community support, and fundraising to complete this project and get our new doors open to the community,” said Executive Director Dave Bean. Voters approved  a donation of $25,256.32  at Bethel’s town meeting.

SAD-44 School Superintendent Dave Murphy retired after 39 years serving the SAD- 44 schools. Murphy had been a teacher and a principal in the district before becoming superintendent.

Copy the Story Link