It was with a big sigh of relief that news spread around town Sunday morning that Peter Bang had been found. Peter, according to his wife Shereen, who posted the first message Saturday afternoon that he was missing, has advanced Alzeheimer’s.

She wrote to the LBB Sunday morning: 

“I want to thank the amazing Lincolnville community for their support during Peter's ‘nature walk.’ He slipped out of the house and was found in the woods about 3/4 mile from our house. He was collecting sticks and stones along a deer path and lost his way. After being monitored at the hospital, he was found none the worse for wear and quite unfazed by the entire incident. Peter was actually found by one of the rescue dogs from Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD), the dog's first rescue.

“The search was through the coordinated efforts of the State Police, Sheriff's Dept, Maine Warden Service, drone operators, airplane pilots, MESARD, and volunteer searchers. I had no idea there would be such a response. How fortunate we are to have this terrific organization! I cannot praise them enough. 

“I wish to put a plug in for Project Life Saver, a new non-profit program the Maine State Warden's Service hopes to get up and running soon. This project is dedicated to the safety of adults and children with cognitive issues who tend to wander. This organization deserves our support as do the dogs and handlers of MESARD, another nonprofit organization. I know I'm giving them a sizeable donation! I could not be more thankful.” 

Peter, who frequently walks up Bayview Trail road with his wife, slipped out of the house alone Saturday afternoon and started up the road. As she learned later from one of the wardens helping with the rescue, people with dementia often just keep walking in a straight line, which is what Peter did, continuing up a deer path when the road turned away.

We in the neighborhood, as well as the rest of town, learned he was missing when the Maine State Police issued a Silver Alert Saturday afternoon, along with Shereen’s LBB post. That explained the circling small plane(s) and official vehicles with lights flashing up and down Beach Road the rest of the day. When a warden knocked on my door to ask if I’d seen a tall man in a red shirt I knew who he was talking about.

“Would you mind looking through your house?” he asked, “Sometimes they [people with dementia] walk right into a house and sit down, thinking they’re home. Or get into a parked car.” I was reminded of the time a guy walked into my son’s house in Rockland, thinking he was at his barber’s. No, Peter wasn’t in my house; I checked.

Shereen says she had no idea there’d be such a full response, and so quickly. In the end, it wasn’t until after dark, when both the heat-seeking drones and the rescue dogs work better ­– fewer distractions – that they finally located Peter.

According the Pilot  update, “ Rockland Fire/EMS flew their FLIR drone camera for almost an hour before locating a heat source that was ultimately proven to be a missing Lincolnville man. The FD drone team was then able to provide a location of interest to the Wardens Service, which knew that the Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD) was in the area searching, according to Rockland Fire Chief Chris Whytock. The search dog and handler ultimately made contact with Bang approximately 15 minutes later. “

Peter was on his hands and knees, Shereen says, pulling up roots, not at all distressed by what seems like an ordeal, lost for some 9 hours in the woods. She was especially impressed by the rescue dogs, by MESARD, Maine Search and Rescue Dogs, a nonprofit supported entirely by private donations. It’s easy to send them a donation – I just did – by clicking on their website.

“Good things happen when we all work together!” said Chris Whytock, said Rockland’s Fire Chief. Yes they do; we already knew that.

School

A very unique school year is winding down, not like any we’ve ever seen, with remote school, zoom school, socially distanced school, many activities held outdoors. And yet, here we are at the end of the year. Eighth graders, who’ve traditionally (for the past 25 years or so anyway) gone on a class trip to Boston, or more recently to Quebec City, this year planned a number of closer-to-home trips. Using the money they’d raised the class spent a day at Monkey C Monkey Do in Wiscasset (a ropes course), went white water rafting up north, and this past week-end a cruise on a schooner out of Camden Harbor. As one mom said to me, “I want to be an eighth grader!

Eight grade advisor Ben Edes credits the new shed for returnables at the school as being a big boost to fund-raising. The shed will remain open this summer so people can drop off their returnables for the rising eighth graders to collect and redeem through the summer.

After more than a year of being masked and distanced from one another, it’s a delight to walk around without a mask, to gather with friends, and for those of us lucky enough to have young people in our lives, to watch them graduate. This Friday CHRHS holds its graduation. As Grandma to a graduate it’s hard to believe that 18 years have gone by since my first glimpse of that tiny baby, our first grandchild. We decided I’d travel alone to Australia to see her, and it was a memorable trip, starting at the Logan ticket counter when the clerk asked for my passport.

“Passport? I’m just traveling to see new granddaughter.” Needless to say, that didn’t get me on the plane.

“Just run home and get it,” said the helpful agent, “you’ve got time.”

“Uh, no I don’t,” thinking of the five-hour bus ride to the airport I’d just taken. Four days later with a new ticket in hand and my passport, I finally got on the plane.

And now, all these years later, that baby’s baby sister, born just down the road at PenBay, will be graduating from LCS, ready for her high school years.

Just to even things out between sisters, there is a third, the middle girl, entering her junior year at CHRHS. Never count out the middle child. Or leave her out.

Town

The annual Town Report has been posted on the town website. If you like to keep the yearly Town Report or read it “in person” print copies are available at the Town Office and at:

Mike’s Align & Repair – 2661 Atlantic Highway

Western Auto – 611 Beach Road

Drake Corner Store – 103 Main Street

Lincolnville Center General Store – 269 Main Street

David Kinney suggests thanking the business owner for allowing the reports to be distributed from their location. And if you are a business owner and would like to give out the T.R. this year or in future years please let him know.

Voting on open positions on the school committee and board of selectmen Tuesday, June 8, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the school gym. For Selectmen, incumbents Ladleah Dunn and  Keryn Laite for the two positions, and for School Committee’s two slots:

Seth Anderson, Beth Goodman, Melissa Nowell, Poonsri Sawangjaeng.

I look forward to showing up in person to vote tomorrow!

Library

Sheila Polson reports that as of tomorrow, Tuesday, June 8, the needlework group will be gathering at the Library from 3-5 p.m.

“We invite anyone who enjoys knitting, crocheting, quilting and others kinds of needlework to come spend time together chatting, learning and sharing ideas while working on your favorite projects. 

“We'll have the teakettle on and volunteers will be there to help with basic patterns and instructions. This group is open to everyone, both beginners and those with more experience. We ask that anyone who is not fully vaccinated to please wear a face mask when inside the library.”

And as tomorrow’s meant to be hot again, I suspect the Library’s air conditioning (thanks to the solar powered heat pump) will be cranking.