AUBURN, ME – At a meeting held Monday, October 16, the Auburn City Council voted to reinstate a reimagined and refreshed new citywide curbside recycling program for residents. On June 28, the city suspended the curbside collection of residential recycling and launched a 24/7 drop-off system located next to Auburn Public Works on Gracelawn Road. In the weeks that followed, Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque called a meeting with Casella to negotiate a better option for the city.

In September, the city council authorized City Manager Phil Crowell to modify the city’s solid waste agreement with Casella to reintroduce a “pilot” recycling program. During the meeting, staff presented the details of the new program, which will begin on November 1 and will feature every other week curbside collection of recycling to all solid waste participants in the city. The program will feature Zero-Sort® technology, and accepted materials will include #1, #2, #5 plastics, cardboard, and mixed paper.

Another highlight of the program will be Casella’s “Recycle Better App,” which will provide direct communication and education to participants. The app will make it easy for residents to stay connected about trash and recycling collection with an easyto-use calendar, seasonal reminders and tips, service day reminders, real-time updates on weather-related service delays, and more. The app will also feature the “Waste Wizard Tool” to show which items are recyclable.

Public education on recycling is a high priority for the city and for Casella. Auburn-specific direct mail pieces will be produced and distributed by Casella, and the city communications team will provide educational social media content as well as resources on the city’s website. Casella and the city will work collaboratively to collect data over the duration of the pilot program for curbside collection of recyclables. Periodic reports will be presented to the city council, including data on participation by household, and percentage of overall waste collected.

“We are committed to working collaboratively with the City of Auburn to meet its goals, both environmentally and economically,” said Chris McHale, Market Area Manager for Casella. “We feel that this proposal reflects our strong desire continue our partnership with the city and work towards building the recycling program back up.”

The city plans to retain the centralized drop-off containers currently located at Public Works on Gracelawn Road.

AUBURN, ME — Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine distributed a record 33.6 million meals in its last fiscal year, exceeding a target it has been working toward since 2015. This milestone comes as a result of the Food Bank’s recently completed $250 million Campaign to End Hunger in Maine, which helped the state’s largest hunger relief organization rapidly scale distribution through donated food and funds.

“In 2015 we set a bold goal to grow our meal distribution from 19 million meals per year to over 30 million, which is in line with the estimated need we’ve seen in Maine over the past eight years,” said Erin Fogg, vice president of development and communications for the Food Bank. “Not only have we exceeded our original target, but we’ve distributed more nutritious and culturally relevant foods, and increased access to food through new and expanded partnerships.”

Good Shepherd Food Bank credits its growth to the partnership of many, including the network of more than 600 hunger relief organizations across the state that continues to be a lifeline to Mainers experiencing hunger, and the more than 50,000 donors who helped raise $105 million in funds and $162 million in donated food over the past four years, for a total of $267 million raised for the Campaign to End Hunger.

Of the $267 million raised, more than $226 million has already supported communities across the state in the form of food distribution and grants to community partners in the last four years. All told during the four-year campaign, the Food Bank worked with partners to source and distribute more than 120 million meals and granted $12.7 million to community organizations to increase access to food.

Additional campaign funds have helped expand more equitable access to food through partnerships with schools, health care centers, and organizations led by and serving people of color. The organization has also grown its advocacy efforts, created Harvesting Good, a subsidiary of the Food Bank dedicated to processing local produce, and built a modest endowment to strengthen sustainability and support continued innovation for the future. 

Despite the Food Bank’s growth, the organization, statewide partners, and communities are feeling the strain of increased food costs, inflation, and a reduction in pandemic-era public benefits that temporarily reduced rates of food insecurity in Maine.

“Many of our partners across Maine are reporting that they are seeing a need that is higher now than it was during the start of the pandemic,” says Shannon Coffin, the Food Bank’s vice president of community partnerships. “We’ve grown food distribution to a scale that aligns with the estimated need, and now we need to maintain that scale while fine-tuning our understanding of needs at the community level, particularly for communities and populations that are disproportionately impacted by hunger.”

“Our Campaign to End Hunger in Maine was unprecedented in many ways, being among the largest campaigns for a human services organization in our state, and the feeling at the finish line is equally unique,” noted Fogg. “Generous food and philanthropic donors have helped us reach a critical milestone on our journey to end hunger and together we are alleviating suffering and reducing the devastating impacts and costs of hunger across Maine,” said Fogg. “But we don’t have a ribbon to cut or a moment to celebrate; communities are counting on us to maintain this level of food distribution while we partner on root cause solutions that reduce demand on the charitable food network.”

Food Bank leaders have been advocating in recent months to reinstate COVID-era SNAP benefits to address increased rates of food insecurity across the state. The Food Bank is also partnering with community organizations and the state of Maine on its Roadmap to End Hunger by 2030, which is aimed at reducing rates of food insecurity.

Heather Paquette, the Food Bank’s newly named president, is helping lead the organization on the next leg of its journey.

“There are many lessons we’ve learned as we’ve grown our food distribution, and the biggest lesson is the importance of partnerships,” shared Paquette. “Our growth has been in partnership with community organizations, businesses, foundations, and individuals, and our future growth will require new and different partnerships in addition to those valued relationships so that we can all work to end hunger for good.”

The Campaign to End Hunger represents the Food Bank’s largest fundraising endeavor to date. Hannaford Supermarkets, a founding partner of the Food Bank, led the campaign with donated food valuing nearly $75 million. In addition to a $25 million dollar grant from MacKenzie Scott in 2021, more than 50,000 unique individuals, businesses, and foundations contributed to the campaign.

Part 1: Why Raytheon chose Lewiston and why it left

It is easy to understand why the area’s the last two generations identify the 1775 Lisbon Street structure as the “old” Liberty Mutual building, given their 1970 arrival as tenants (purchased from RCA in 1972 and vacated in 2022). It is also understandable that not many people remember that 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of Raytheon’s March 1, 1963, announcement to leave the Lisbon Street plant and relocate their transistor/computer memory manufacturing facility to Mountain View, California.

I do not recollect Raytheon’s opening in June 1961 and never knew much about how its arrival and departure impacted the state, Lewiston, and the greater L-A and Portland areas. It all began in 1957 when Raytheon hired Boston’s nationally recognized Arthur D. Little company, which, at the time, specialized in business operations research and analysis. The Little study would produce data on some 30 New England communities, resulting in Raytheon’s decision to select only Biddeford-Saco, greater Portland, and the L-A area as plant finalists.

Early media reports surfaced about Raytheon’s Maine interest in March 1959. By May, the Portland Press Herald revealed there were “rumors” that Lewiston would be selected. There was also a report that Bangor and Auburn had made last-ditch efforts to derail the selection process. In the end, Raytheon chose Lewiston because its wage rates were slightly more favorable than those of the greater Portland area.

When Raytheon issued their formal announcement of Lewiston’s selection on July 1, 1959, the company’s arrival into the L-A airport came complete with a police-escorted caravan into the city; a banner on one caravan convertible filled with city and Raytheon officials that read “Raytheon IS HERE!”; and a press conference and banquet at Lewiston’s DeWitt Hotel featuring prognostications of a statewide “industrial renaissance.”

Given the challenges associated with convincing manufacturers of their size to relocate to Maine in the 1950s, this was a significant achievement for the elected officials, Industrial Development Director Sam Michael, the resident-created Lewiston Development Corporation (LDC), and the State of Maine’s relatively new Department of Economic Development. Raytheon’s status as a significant national technology company signaled that the city’s economic development work was moving in the right direction.

Raytheon would formally open in June 1961 and sign a twenty-year lease for a building funded and owned by the LDC. All seemed well, and employee numbers would increase to 1,300 by 1962, but the unimaginable would happen on March 1, 1963. Raytheon unexpectedly announced they would leave Lewiston and move their operation, which had just begun

transitioning from germanium to silicon transistors, to a California silicon transistor manufacturing facility they had purchased from Rheem in 1961. It was a stunning announcement as this was all happening in the same year that Fairchild Semiconductor began operations in South Portland. Their new facility was fabricating the same kind of silicon transistors that Raytheon desired to make in California. The question was, why would Raytheon invest the energy and money in Lewiston and leave twenty months later?

Raytheon would say that the California plant was more efficient. Stories also circulated about how their unhappiness with the area contributed to their departure, statements that were utterly contrary to every public report made by the company. What Raytheon did not do was reveal how they failed to develop the kind of silicon semiconductor manufacturing technology developed by Fairchild in 1960 to fabricate competitive and superior silicon transistors. In 1959, they compounded their problems by expanding their germanium transistor manufacturing capability in Lewiston, underestimating the value of silicon transistor competition. These misjudgments would permanently erode their mid-1950s reputation as a transistor manufacturing leader.

Fairchild Semiconductor’s research and development in silicon semiconductors and their control of silicon semiconductor and integrated circuit patents established their early dominance in the analog electronics field. It also helped that the leadership provided by Dr. Robert Noyce, later recognized as the father of the integrated circuit (and co-founder of Intel in 1968), impacted Fairchild’s success in the early and mid-1960s. For Raytheon, their semiconductor/chip division’s missteps eventually led to their abandoning the division and its assets after being purchased by Fairchild Semiconductor in 1996.

The impact of Raytheon’s departure disappointed city leaders, but their resolve to overcome the setback produced a new tenant for the building. This economic development leadership can be traced to 1952 when Mayor Roland Marcotte created the Industrial Development Department, which worked with Lewiston residents who assembled the Lewiston Development Corporation that same year. Those efforts led to the Knapp Brothers shoe company expansion in Lewiston in 1953; the relocation of the New Jersey-based Geiger Brothers company in 1954; the creation of the area’s first business park, the Lewiston Industrial Park, in 1957; and the recruitment of the Raytheon Company. Lewiston’s resolve would also fuel more success in the future and inspire its twin-city neighbor Auburn, who would also create a similar development strategy in the 1950s.

Phil Nadeau has written about L-As history in his book “The Unlikeliness of it All – Part 1” and now produces a free YouTube history channel called “Deconstructing Lewiston-Auburn and Maine History.” See Episodes 1 through 4 for more Raytheon story details.

Radio Electronics Magazine, Feb 1953. Source: rfcafe.com

LEWISTON, ME—Award-winning author Mary Morton Cowan will speak about her family history that inspired her new book, “Trouble in Nathan’s Woods,” set during World War I at a New Hampshire lumber camp. The free presentation is part of the Books & Stories program and will take place at noon Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the Franco Center. 

Cowan is a member of the Morton family that owned the Paris Manufacturing Company in South Paris. PMC is known for manufacturing wooden chairs, skis and sleds. The family operated a lumber camp in Crystal, N.H., near the Canadian border, which supplied wood for PMC. Morton’s presentation will include photos of the camp from the early- and mid-20th century, including a photo of the lumbermen’s bunkhouse. 

Cowan’s father spent his early childhood living in the camp. Cowan’s fictionalized story is based on her father’s and aunt’s memories. World War I raged in Europe while enemy spies lurked in New Hampshire, causing trouble in the woods. 

Cowan will speak about why she wrote the book, and she will share vintage photos of the actual logging operation, taken by her grandfather, Clarence G. Morton. 

This event is free and open to the public. 

It is suggested that participants buy the featured book or any of the author’s books ahead of the presentation and bring them to be signed by the author. 

The Franco Center is at 46 Cedar St., Lewiston. Parking is available in the mill lot. The building is handicap accessible on the Lincoln St. Alley side. 

The Books & Stories program at the Franco Center has been funded in part by the Maine Humanities Council and Maine Arts Commission. 

The lumbermen’s bunkhouse at the logging camp in New Hampshire. Submitted photo. 

LEWISTON, ME–The Franco Center will present the trademark toe-tapping music of Fiddle-icious at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29. Fiddle-icious is a community-based orchestra whose members are determined to preserve the cultural heritage of Maine’s traditional fiddle music, dances, and songs passed down from Scottish, Irish, Quebecois, and Acadian ancestors.  

The members of Fiddle-icious are part of a larger fellowship that strives to bring joy and purpose to all who participate. The orchestra is directed by master fiddler Don Roy and accompanied by Cindy Roy on piano. 

Special guests for this concert include Matt and Erica Brown Shipman, and the sibling act of Rossby, Elsie, and Oliver Arnott. 

The audience will hear fiddles, guitars, flutes, banjos, tin whistles, accordions, cellos, violas, mandolins, harps, stand-up bass and other instruments. The orchestra’s music is scored for beginner to advanced players, creating a full, rich sound. 

Roy and his wife, Cindy grew up in French-Canadian families where music was an integral part of their lives. Fiddle-icious grew out of their desire to share their knowledge with others, foster community through music and keep their musical heritage alive. 

In a social media post, Fiddle-icious stated that the 2023 season is: “Our first concert series since 2019 and we can’t wait to see all your smiling faces!” 

To learn more about the group, view the 2009 documentary short, “Fiddle-icious – Community of Music,” produced by the Salt Institute, at www.fiddleicious.com. 

Tickets can be purchased through the Franco Center’s box office in person from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays or call 207-689-2000. Ticket purchases can also be made online at www.francocenter.org/shows.  

Tickets in advance: 

Tier 1 at $25 and Tier 2 at $20. 

Tickets at the door: 

Tier 1 at $30 and Tier 2 at $25. 

Doors and cash bar open at 1 p.m. Concert is at 2 p.m. The Franco Center is at 46 Cedar Street, Lewiston.  

“Taste the Music” Volume 17, the 2023 Music Series by Fiddle-icious music CDs will be available for purchase at the concert.  

Handicap access is on the Lincoln Street Alley side of the building. Parking is in the mill lot across the street. Additional parking, should the mill lot be full, is in the city-owned Lincoln St. Lot on the corner of Lincoln and Oxford streets; in the parking garage at the corner of Lincoln and Chestnut streets; and in the Lincoln St. Lot across from F.X. Marcotte. 

The toe-tapping music of Maine’s largest fiddle orchestra will be heard in an afternoon concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, at the Franco Center, 46 Cedar Street, Lewiston. Special guests include Erica Brown and Matt Shipman; and Rossby, Elsie and Oliver Arnott. Tickets can be purchased at 207-689-2000 and www.francocenter.org/shows. Submitted photo. 

LEWISTON, ME — Central Maine Healthcare (CMH) is joining healthcare organizations throughout the world in recognizing National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. This important observation began in 1985 and has evolved into a worldwide effort to promote screening and prevention of the disease. 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in this country, with one in eight being diagnosed.             

“There is a lot of social awareness about screening and the fact that early detection saves lives,” said Renee Pinette, MD, OB/GYN and breast surgical oncologist at CMH. “However, every day we still meet women who have never had a mammogram or have missed some mammograms, and we should continue the effort to increase awareness until we reach all of those people, too.” 

Dr. Pinette recommends annual screening mammograms for women, starting at age 40, and annual breast exams with a primary care provider, gynecologist or breast health specialist.

 Central Maine Healthcare has an excellent, comprehensive breast health team, and is one of only a few in the state that is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.

 “Patients feel that when they encounter our team, from front desk staff to our mammogram technicians, from the radiologists reading the mammograms to the surgical staff, we treat people like our neighbors, like we would want our family to be treated,” Dr. Pinette said. 

Central Maine Healthcare team members are recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month in a number of ways, including holding breast cancer screening events at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston, Rumford Hospital and Bridgton Hospital.

 On Fridays throughout October, Central Maine Healthcare team members are wearing pink to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the signs at the Cancer Care Center at CMMC are illuminated in pink.

Cancer Care Center at CMMC, team members wear pink and encourage women to get screened

LEWISTON, ME — The Public Theatre presents the world premiere of Paint Night, a hilarious and heartbreaking new play that will speak to women of all ages Oct 20 – 29.

Imagine a modern-day Steel Magnolias, when six women get together in a Paint Studio for a much- needed girls night out. Their plan is to paint and sip, but as the alcohol flows, so does their laughter and tears, and their thoughts on motherhood and womanhood get hilariously and heartbreakingly revealed. Paint Night is about the way women support each other in an unpredictable world and what happens when we put down our cell phones and paint outside the lines of our comfort zone.”

Director Janet Mitchko says, “Whether you’re a mother, a daughter or a grandmother, every woman will recognize a part of herself or her life in this play.  Paint Night also raises current topics happening in our world in a funny, honest, and relatable way”.

Last season Mitchko directed playwright Carey Crim’s, Morning After Grace. “The great thing about Carey’s writing” says Mitchko, “is her sense of humor and the way she incorporates it so truthfully into the difficult moments of life. We are pleased that Maine audiences will be the first people to see this play and we promise it will make you laugh, cry and perhaps even inspire you to try a paint night”.

In fact, audiences will have a chance to meet playwright Carey Crim and share their thoughts about the play as she will be attending the free Sat, Oct 21 post-show discussion following the 3pm performance.

The six professional actresses in the show portray mothers, daughters, and grandmothers, as well as friends. Kate Udall (Miriam) plays the mother of Lolly (Jessica Mosher) the bride-to-be the paint night is celebrating. Also at the paint night is Miriam’s old college roommate Fern (Susan Craves), accompanied by her multi-tasking daughter Bree (Jessica DiGiovanni) and Bree’s best friend and mother of three, Gwen (Jeri Marshall). Leading the paint night is Vera (Jane Abernethy) the creative and Yoda-like owner of the paint night studio.  These actresses have been practicing their painting skills with local artist Melanie Therien from Wicked Illustrations. In fact, many of the paintings on the set are from actual local paint nights!

The art studio where the play takes place has been designed by Kit Mayer, costumes by Anne Collins, and lighting by Betty Faul-Welfare.

Grab the women you love and go see Pant Night, now playing at The Public Theatre, Lewiston/Auburn’s Professional Theatre, Oct 20 – 29. Showtimes are Thurs and Fri at 7:30pm, Sat at 3pm, Sun at 2pm with an added Sat evening on Oct 28 at 7:30pm.  Tickets are $30 Adults, $25 Groups 10+, $20 Student 19+ with ID and can be purchased online at thepublictheatre.org or by calling 782-3200. The Theatre is located at 31 Maple St., Lewiston.

Paint Night is sponsored by Platz Associates, The Sun Journal, Bennett Radio Group, Androscoggin Bank, Butler Brothers and Twin City Times.

“Paint Night” cast – Left to Right: Jane Abernethy as Vera, Jessica DiGiovanni as Bree, Kate Udall as Miriam, Jeri Marshall as Gwen, Susan Craves as Fern, and Jessica Mosher as Lolly

LEWISTON, ME — The Ladies of Mu Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International are bringing back their annual Teddy Bear Fair on October 28 from 9:00 to 2:00 at the Lewiston High School gym.

The Ladies of Mu are all Educators, active and retired, from the Lewiston/Auburn area. Money generated by our Fair goes to scholarships, one for a graduating senior from one of the high schools in the Twin Cities and surrounding communities who plans to go into education; the other goes to a DKG Member who is working on an advanced degree.

The Ladies of Mu will sell baked goods such as cookies, cakes, pies, bread and an assortment of candies and pastries; used books & DVDs; white elephant items; harvest items such as jellies, jams, salsas, pickles; gently loved stuffed animals; crafts including knitted scarves, hats & mittens, baby layettes, as well as kitchen towels and dishcloths; and holiday crafts including Christmas and Thanksgiving decorations.

They will also have a raffle table with hand-made items, gift certificates for lobster and gas, a children’s craft basket, and many other treasures. We hope many will come out to see us and support our efforts to raise scholarship money.

AUBURN, ME (October 6, 2023) — Rehearsals are well underway for the Community Little Theatre production of the musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone, which will open October 27.

In a loving send-up of the popular stage musicals of the Jazz Age, a fan known only as “Man in Chair” gives a spin to the original cast recording of one such musical, providing the audience with amusing minutiae about the play and the players. As he does so, those actors come to life in his living room and perform one great musical and dance number after another.

Pictured here from left at a recent rehearsal are cast members Justin Morin, Julie Sanborn, Scotty Venable, and Kerianna Merrill. 

Performances of The Drowsy Chaperone will be held October 27, 28, November 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m., and October 29, November 4 and 5 at 2:00 p.m. Season subscriptions and individual tickets are now available online at www.laclt.com/box-office.

Bill Griese will bring the sounds of his James Taylor tribute music to the Franco Center on Friday, Oct. 13. The venue is at 46 Cedar Street, Lewiston. Tickets can be purchased at 207-689-2000 and www.francocenter.org/shows. Submitted photo.

Duo Mundi George & Guli present a two-piano program at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Franco Center, 46 Cedar Street. Students 21 and under admitted at no charge. Adult tickets are $20. Call the box office at 207-689-2000. (Photo credit: Karen Bourdier)