PERU — When Maurice Lacroix Jr. was 8 years old, his father taught him how to use a 41-pound chain saw with half-inch-high teeth. “I wanted to know this stuff because I’d seen him do it, I’d seen all the guys do it, all the women,” Lacroix said. “The saw was so big and heavy […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
David Handley, One branch, one berry, one plant at a time
MONMOUTH — David Handley is the state’s strawberry expert, one of the state’s sweet corn experts and likely to be the state’s hops expert — as soon as he bones up on hops. He jokes that he’s still not entirely sure how that crop fell to him. “I’m desperately trying to learn how to be […]
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People You Know: Diane Jackson, a helping hand for business
When Diane Jackson was 16, her father left his executive job at Boston’s Logan International Airport and moved the family from Massachusetts to Maine to run The Outpost grocery store on Thompson Lake in Otisfield. “He was going to chuck that world and come to a place he’d always loved,” Jackson said. It was the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
People You Know: Arnold McLean, Making every day a good day
AUBURN — The Wal-Mart Supercenter has two major entrances out front — left for groceries, right for everything else. Arnold McLean is the reason a lot of people hang a left. He’s quick with a laugh, a smile, a “woo-hoo!” and a booming, “How you doing?” from his greeter’s post just inside the door. In […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lisa Cailler: aka Mrs. Flu Shot
LEWISTON — Walking home from middle school, Lisa Cailler would often see nurses crossing the street from St. Mary’s Hospital to the nursing home across the way. There was something about the group of women in white. “I’ve always wanted to be in nursing, always wanted to take care of people who were sick and […]
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Sawyer Memorial: Tyler Rose, Keeping tradition alive in Greene
GREENE — Starting in the sixth grade, Tyler Rose would help his grandfather at the Sawyer Memorial, vacuuming in the stately old stone building’s auditorium, mowing the lawns outside, painting. In May, its board voted him president, his grandfather’s successor. Rose, a new college graduate, is the 10th generation in his family to grow up […]
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People You Know: John Corrie, making music happen
LEWISTON — John Corrie speaks with a genuine passion for singing and teaching, about getting to know his students and choirs and about the joys of collaboration. And he speaks with an accent that’s . . . British? Something European? “It’s really quite fun because no one can place the voice,” said Corrie, 68. The […]
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People You Know: Joyce Gibson, a dean on the go
For six years, Gibson has led the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College as dean. Her home is still in Massachusetts, where she and husband, Roland, a retired school principal and consultant, are helping raise a 14-year-old grandson. They meet halfway for dinner some nights and, on weekends, do a lot of driving back and […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Oak Hill principal returning to teaching
SABATTUS — The opening — his opening — came this past spring when a fifth-grade teaching position opened at up at Carrie Ricker School. Jeff Ireland called the principal. What did she think? He asked the superintendent the same, then the school board. Ireland, Oak Hill Middle School’s principal — its only principal since it […]
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People You Know: Verla Ridley – Beaver Park’s longtime ranger, on to her next adventure
LISBON — When Verla Ridley was hired as Beaver Park’s first ranger, the park didn’t have trails or even a picnic table. Locals used its 337 acres as a dump when the landfill down the road was closed. “I didn’t hear a bird sing for three years because they’d all been shot,” Ridley said. “The […]