A private pilot called Saturday, wondering if we’d be interested in a story about a Lewiston couple who got engaged in the plane he was flying. We checked it out. The groom-to-be gets my vote for being creative and romantic.

Steven Nadeau said he told his girlfriend, Bria Duval, they were going to take a plane ride to see the foliage.

In the air, the couple was flown over the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, to the coast and back to Auburn. The pilot said he wanted to fly low to spot his sister’s red roof.

At first she didn’t see it. The pilot made a second fly-over. Then she saw it. Huge, 14- by 7-foot block letters that said: “MARRY ME Bria.”

“She started shaking and squealing,” he said. She reached over and hugged him. He got his yes.

The next day her head was still in the clouds. “I’m still shaking,” she said. “I didn’t expect any of this. I thought we were really going up to look at the foliage.”

Nadeau said he spent two hours painting the proposal on a friend’s field in Poland. She was impressed. “It was beautiful.”

– Bonnie Washuk

Super in the booth

When parents went to Poland Regional High School recently for teacher conferences, there was an information booth to provide answers to how Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls will become one regional district.

Who was there to answer questions?

The superintendent himself, Dennis Duquette.

He manned the booth from 3 to 7:30 p.m.

“So many people were asking questions about consolidation. I honestly did not expect so many people would stop and ask questions. It was nice to be able to field parents questions,” he said. He planned to be behind another information booth in Minot.

Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls voters will be asked to approve consolidation when they vote Nov. 4.

– Bonnie Washuk

Helen Thomas quote

Last week, Lewiston Middle School students studied portraits by Maine artist Robert Shetterly, whose collection is called “Americans Who Tell the Truth.”

The portraits are a mix of well-known, and lesser-known Americans, from Abraham Lincoln to Maine peace activist Bruce Gagnon.

They’re all compelling, but one especially caught my eye: long-time White House press corps reporter Helen Thomas, who started grilling presidents beginning with John F. Kennedy.

On his portraits, Shetterly has a quote from each person, which makes the picture seem more alive.

The quote from Thomas is as good as the portrait: “I don’t think a tough question is disrespectful. I say ‘Mr. President.’ I say, ‘thank you.’ What else do you want? The presidential news conference is the only form in our society where a president can be questioned. If he’s not questioned, he can rule by edict. By government order. He can be a monarch. He can be a dictator. And who is to find out? No, he should be questioned and he should always be able to willingly reply and answer to all questions. Because these aren’t our questions. They’re the people’s questions.”

The exhibit is at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College until Dec. 19.

– Bonnie Washuk