Friday, Oct. 20 saw the students of Machias Memorial High School (MMHS) dispersed across Machias and surrounding communities working on service projects to better the region. MMHS holds its Community Service Day annually each autumn, and also encourages community service by requiring students to complete 10 hours per year to graduate.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Which comes first—poverty or drug addiction? Drug addiction or homelessness? When you’re spending money to improve Washington County’s well being, where does a dollar go the farthest?  And how do you measure success?

These were some of the ideas considered by attendees in a discussion sponsored by the United Way of Eastern Maine (UWEM) on Oct. 17 at the Calais Motor Inn. 

State Police, working with the State Medical Examiner’s Office and the Maine Marine Patrol, are appealing again to the public for help in identifying a man found floating off the Maine coast in 1990. The body was found eight miles south of Schoodic Point and eight miles east of Baker Island by a pleasure boat on August 9, 1990. Previous efforts over the past 27 years to identify him have not been successful. 

Help is currently being sought in finding the grave site of the last Civil War Soldier to pass away and is buried in Washington County. Perhaps members of the several Washington County historical societies might have the answer. Or perhaps a descendant of a Civil War Soldier might know just where that person might be buried.

 “The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War ( SUVCW) is seeking community help to identify the name of the last surviving veteran of the Civil War in each county of every state.”

by Sen. Joyce Maker

Things are usually quiet during this time of the year at the State House, but last Monday was different as we all returned to Augusta once more to convene for a special session.

Although the special session was called by the governor to address the new food sovereignty law and correct a specific drafting error in the biennial budget, much of our time and effort was spent passing an important ranked-choice voting delay bill and debating LD 1650, “An Act To Amend the Marijuana Legalization Act.”

Machias’ Trick or Treat on Main Street was another outstanding success. One count estimated more than 800 children in attendance, as compared with 650 last year. The streets were crowded, and the daylight lets you appreciate all of the creative costumes. My personal favorite was a family that dressed as characters from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The father was Willy Wonka himself, the mother was Violet Beauregarde after she turned into a blueberry, and their child was an oompa loompa, complete with orange makeup and cute white knee pants. 

Volunteers came together last week to plan the Machias Community Christmas, scheduled to take place on Saturday, Dec. 2. Committees were formed to handle the annual parade, Voice of Downeast singing contest, decorations, children’s activities and more. Frosty the Snowman was also on hand, one of a dozen Christmas inflatables purchased in memory of Danny Manchester. The illuminated decorations will form Danny’s Village, which will surround the Machias town Christmas tree near Station 1898.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

On Tuesday, Nov. 7 Maine voters will go to the polls to cast their vote on four ballot measures. Unregistered voters may register to vote right up until they vote on election day. Two of this year’s questions are citizen initiatives, which means they came to the ballot by way of petition, a process permitted in only 23 other states.

For additional information, visit www.maine.gov and search for the Maine Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election.

Gambling in York County

Wildlife artist Fred Hartman is the featured artist at Jonesport’s Peabody Memorial Library in a show that opened Oct. 14. A retired wildlife biologist whose career took him from Pennsylvania to Maine, he has been involved in wildlife management along the eastern seaboard and with Ducks Unlimited since 1974. He and his photographer wife Patty own and operate DownEast Drawings in Whiting. The show is up through January 3. 

It’s a Halloween Thing…as Maggie Allen, Sofia and Renee St. Pierre, Dusty and Olivia Korasadowicz, and Rocky, all of Machias pay homage to Dr. Suess.

Home Deer was the order of the day as Scott, Chelsie, Madison, Lauren, Emersyn and Griffin Gordon of Machias were hunting for treats.