JULY

A celebration of life for historic preservationist Andrea Burns was held July 8 at McLaughlin Garden and Homestead in South Paris. Burns died June 23 at her home in Norway. She taught first grade at the former Mildred M. Fox School in South Paris for a quarter century. Following her retirement she spent the next quarter century galvanizing volunteers and donors to save endangered landmark properties in the community, including McLaughlin Garden, Norway’s Opera House and the Gingerbread House. Her activism garnered multiple organizational awards for community planning and development as well as individual accolades for her dedication to historic preservation.

Otisfield lost one of its most revered town leaders when selectman and veteran fire fighter Lenny Adler died July 10. At the age of 80, Adler went out at the top of his game the way he wished, “with a firefighter’s celebration … with a lot of lights and lots of noise.” In June, he was honored by the Maine State Legislature in Augusta for 60 years of fire service at multiple officer ranks, including chief. He had also recently been reelected to what he indicated would be his final term on Otisfield’s Select Board, following decades of service in that role. Just two weeks before his passing, the Advertiser Democrat interviewed Adler about his commitment to and lifelong love for Otisfield.

Following the annual town meeting vote to carry out numerous major road repairs, Oxford’s Board of Selectmen approved a $3 million road bond to fund the projects. The $3 million was in addition to a $1.6 million Recovery & Resilience Grant awarded last year by the Maine Department of Transportation to rebuild Rabbit Valley Road.

AUGUST

In response to Paris residents making a stand against rising taxes at June’s annual town meeting, the Select Board acted by cutting hours for key employees. Town Clerk Elizabeth Knox and Code Officer Christopher Summers saw their fulltime work schedules decrease from 40 to 24 hours. Knox would leave her job within weeks.

Vern Maxfield retired as Woodstock’s town manager after 37 years of service. Maxfield’s long career in town began as a selectman before transitioning to town clerk. In an interview with former Bethel Citizen staff writer Alison Aloisio, he recounted events as varied as the crippling Ice Storm of ’98 and wrangling an errant snake that had slithered inside the town office during a spring election. Post-retirement, his plans would include leisure, travel, creative pursuits, and continuing as a town meeting moderator in other western Maine communities.

MaineHealth Stephens Hospital in Norway announced it was embarking on renovations to expand care services in western Maine. Among the improvements is a larger emergency department to accommodate behavioral health patients, expanded space for its infusion therapy center, and reorganization of its surgical and maternity units to increase patient care and capacity.

Norway Fire Chief David Knox apologized to the community after he accidentally posted a profane music video to the fire department’s official Facebook page, a seemingly thinly-veiled jab at the town of Paris, employer of his wife Elizabeth Knox. Interim Town Manager Jeffrey Campbell then announced a new social media policy going forward where online communications would solely be handled by Norway’s town clerk. “It was my fault” for the offensive post, Knox told the Advertiser Democrat. “I’ve apologized and that’s the end of this story.”

SEPTEMBER

Mutual aid between some Oxford Hills towns became contentious when Paris citizens informed Norway’s Select Board that the Norway Fire Department had removed the Paris Fire Department from its “run card,” the guide 911 dispatchers use to call neighboring towns to assist in public safety emergencies. Paris was eliminated from Norway’s run card following a confrontation between Norway Chief David Knox and Paris Chief Mark Blacquiere at a June 7 residential fire in Norway. 

Blacquiere explained his version of the argument during an interview with the Advertiser Democrat but failed to provide the official department report when the newspaper requested it through the Maine Freedom of Access Act. At Norway’s Aug. 7 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Knox explained that changing the run card still allowed 911 dispatchers to tone Paris for mutual aid, but he did not address his altercation with Blacquiere.

As Oxford Hills middle and high schools’ 2025-26 academic year began, kids were met with a new policy: no personal electronic device use on school grounds at any time during the school day. Students could keep their cell phones as long as they were turned off; if caught using them their device would be forfeited for the day. Use of school-issued devices and email would continue. School staff and students later reported the policy improved face-to-face communications and engagement during class.

An ambitious plan to convert the vacant Robinson Manufacturing Woolen Mill complex in Oxford to 77 affordable senior apartments got real as housing developer The Caleb Group invited Oxford Historical Society and local residents for a final tour of the old space. It was the last time the doors would open before environmental abatement and demolition phases were set to start. A new building with 33 units will be constructed during a first development phase, with another 40 to be built in the mill’s historic brick building and boiler house in the future.

OCTOBER

Municipal upheaval continued in Paris when Select Board Vice-Chair Matthew Brackett announced he would step down as of Sept. 26. Brackett gave no reason, but resigned via text message to Town Manager Natalie Andrews after one Paris resident questioned his absence from a board meeting. A few weeks later, Selectman Michael Bailey resigned after Selectman Robert Ripley asked him to abstain from a vote on whether to suspend Road Commissioner and Highway Director James Hutchinson. Ripley cited Bailey’s and Hutchinson’s personal relationship as the reason for his request. Hutchinson was suspended by the other board members and would resign shortly after.

National politics became a local issue when Oxford Hills resident Jason Brine attended a Maine School Administrative District 17 school board meeting to say that some employees had made vile comments about people losing their lives. Brine said he was prepared to place posters showing social media posts relating to an activist’s recent murder in prominent locations. 

In a Sept. 25 interview, Brine would not publicly name the district employees he said should be held accountable. He also stated that publicly sharing individuals’ posts made on social media sites — including private group pages — does not meet the definition of doxing. Doxing is known as publicly posting private information about others without their consent.

An Oct. 18 No Kings rally drew more than 700 demonstrators to the Route 26 section along the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School campus in Paris and Norway. Nationally, the rally was organized by groups like Indivisible and the American Civil Liberties Union and locally by Western Maine Take Action. Affiliated rallies were held in at least 40 Maine communities that day. An estimated 7 million people participated in the nationwide protest, which took place during a drawn-out federal government shutdown.

NOVEMBER

With a vote of 5,241 for and 3,050 opposed, Oxford Hills residents approved building a state-funded $88.1 million middle school during a Nov. 4 referendum ballot. The new school, serving sixth through eighth grades, will replace the aging Oxford Hills Middle School in South Paris. Two additional school construction projects that would require local property tax revenue were voted down.

At a special town meeting held Nov. 8 in West Paris, townspeople overwhelmingly voted to acquire Agnes Gray Elementary School, shuttered by SAD 17 since February of 2024. Only two of 111 closed ballots opposed returning ownership of the town’s old high school to West Paris. Agnes Gray’s former parent-teacher organization, The Bobcat Committee, planned to reorganize as a charitable group to enable it to fundraise as the community consider plans for the property’s future.

DECEMBER

Paris voted in a pair of new selectmen at a Dec. 2 special election, replacing two who resigned midway through their three-year terms. Scott Buffington defeated opponents Ronald Ramsey and Michael Lance to serve the last six months of former Vice Chair Matthew Brackett’s term, while Robert Federico secured enough votes against challengers Troy Ripley and Matthew Gary to serve out the remaining 18 months of Selectman Michael Bailey’s term.

After losing its property lease and shutting down West Paris’ postal office in May of 2021, the United States Postal Service announced in December it would open a new office in January, at the Ledgeview compound at 141 Bethel Road. Long rumored to be the plan, it took years of lobbying efforts and federal legislation preserving rural mail service by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden before USPS delivered on its pledge to reopen.

An Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School teacher and the president of Oxford Hills Athletic Boosters developed a community fundraising arm to cover site add-ons rejected by voters in November’s middle school construction referendum. Educator Jeni Jordan and booster Joe Trybus started a charitable organization, OHMS Expansion Projects, to raise $2.1 million and ensure the new school is built with outdoor education stadium seating in the courtyard and a high school regulation sized gymnasium. With only five or so months to act, the group is targeting corporate and individual donors for support.

Harriman, the architectural firm and project manager of the OHMS construction project, announced during a School Administrative District 17 board of directors meeting in December that it will spend the next six months finalizing designs and soliciting contractor bids. The main classroom section of the school will be completed by September of 2029, with the supporting wings — including gymnasium and courtyard — the following year.