Have you noticed? There’s a gaping hole in the Center this weekend. Not a hole in the ground, but a missing piece in the roadside scenery; the World War II Honor Roll is gone.  Last Friday a crew of eight — Sandy Delano, Cecil Dennison, Rosey Gerry, Ralph Jones, Dwight Patten, Ima Thomas, Tom Thomas, and Jody Williams — (some with strong young backs, others, not so much!) drove up with a trailer, and in 20 minutes, dislodged the 60-year-old wooden monument, loaded it up and took it away. But don’t worry, it’s in good hands and will be back, better than ever.

The Honor Roll was built soon after the war ended, by George Hardy on his front porch at 236 Camden Road on the corner of Fernalds Neck Road. George, like so many men of his time in this town, was a man who wore many hats. Primarily he was a builder; in the fall of 1947 he finished construction on Lincolnville’s first consolidated school. All eight grades moved into the four room structure that fall, built according to state plans for small rural schools, on Hope Road, leaving behind the last five of the town’s one-room schools. With two grades per room and teacher, they just fit in.

During the winter, when building slowed down, George and his father, Fred Hardy, plowed half the town; Herb Thomas and his sons plowed the other half. When the snow wasn’t piling up, George found other ways to stay busy. Constructing the Honor Roll was one of them, perhaps the very winter after the war ended. Ken, who was about 13 that year, remembers his father working on the structure out on the front porch. 112 names were painted on small strips of wood, which were then mounted on the memorial. Ken says his father drew the names with pencil, free hand, then, along with Ken and his mother, painted them black. He remembers trying hard to stay within the lines. His father painted the wooden flags.

Ken thinks George drew the design for the Honor Roll himself; there was no plan that he ever saw. Most likely, he says, several of the men in town came up with the idea, perhaps sitting around Cranston Dean and Bert Eugley’s garage, even as they did in my day. Perhaps several of them chipped in for the materials. It took him only a couple of weeks to build it, during lulls between snowstorms. Ken guesses that his father would be surprised at how long his wooden handiwork would survive

            Now the familiar memorial, painted white with red, white and blue furled flags flanking the names of Lincolnville’s World War II veterans, has seen better days. A close look reveals the peeling paint, and the nearly illegible and faded gold letters of the three men – Aubrey Connors, Maynard Thurlow, and Samuel Ripley -- who didn’t come back. What wasn’t visible from the road were several steel fence posts propping it upright, and the rotten sill boards. The time had come to either restore it or let it crumble.

            The Veterans Park Committee – Cecil Dennison, Cindy Dunham, Rosey Gerry, Sandy Lyle, Gary Neville, Sandy Delano, Everett Fizer, Richard Glock, Jay Foster, Lesley Devoe, Mark Thurlow and me – has taken on the project with the goal of re-erecting the restored Memorial at the Veterans Park they are developing between Breezemere and the Library. With a starting fund of $2,000, money which was raised by the late John Pottle and kept in an account for the past 20 or so years for the express purpose of maintaining the Memorial, the work on the wooden structure itself will be done by Cecil Dennison. Walt Simmons will be doing the painting and lettering.

            The Committee voted unanimously to restore, not replace, the old wooden parts as much as possible. Cecil says he plans to keep 90% of the old wood. For his part, Walt, owner of Ducktrap Woodworking, has been studying the original font (hand-lettered with a pencil!)  and type of paint used, including that gold paint that faded.

Solarizing Lincolnville

Here’s some news from the Library on their solar energy system:

Since being installed in July 2014 by ReVision Energy, the 30 panels on the library’s roof have generated more than enough electricity to meet all the library’s needs. So now, through a recent agreement with Central Maine Power, the library is giving that surplus to the Lincolnville Improvement Association, enough to cover all the electricity needs for the L.I.A. building at 33 Beach Road, which includes the Historical Society’s Schoolhouse Museum. This is accomplished through a series of credits, earned by the library, and transferred to the L.I.A.

Librarian Sheila Polson writes: “Members of the library board and staff are thrilled to be able to share the benefits of their building’s solar installation with another Lincolnville nonprofit organization. And association members say they are happy to have the money they had been spending on electricity to do things such as provide more scholarships to local students.” That’s a win all around! 

            And meanwhile, Dave Kinney informs townspeople that we can all get in on the solar bandwagon through The Solarize Midcoast Maine program. Sundog Solar, in collaboration with Midcoast Economic Development District (MCEDD), will be holding a launch event from 6-8 p.m. at the Rockport Opera House on March 15, free and open to the public. The Solarize Midcoast Maine enrollment period has begun and will run through June 30, 2016. Contact Sundog Solar at 548-1100.

Library News