Locke's Mills

Twenty-seven notices of pending foreclosure were mailed from the town office last week. The deadline for payment is Dec. 28, and Town Manager Kim Sparks said most everyone pays their overdue taxes and fees by that date.

Dogs need to be licensed by Dec. 31. It is $6 for those spayed/neutered; $11 for “fully-equipped.” There is a 30-day grace  period that ends Feb. 1. At that time, owners will be assessed a $25 late fee.

Anyone out there remember the old pin-up lamps that were popular in the 1950s? Recently I needed one and went online searching for them. They were not easy to find and the few available were $90 and up. Too rich for my pocketbook.

I recalled my mother had one she bought many years ago at Maine Line Products. Out of curiosity I stopped at their store in Locke's Mills, and, lo and behold, they carried them. In fact, they make them. The only problem was their lamps had brown electrical cords and I needed white. Not a problem. They offered to make me one with a white cord if I brought the cord to them. What a service!

Not only did they make the lamp, they lowered the price because I had supplied the cord. And their price was a fraction of what these lamps were online. At a time when it seems that customer service is dying, it is alive and well right here in Locke's Mills. Certainly a good reason to shop local.

The Mt. Abram trail lights were on all night last weekend for the

first time this winter. Rather picturesque with light snow falling.

Lorraine Larson and Ralph and Lorene Mills were among the guests at a Thanksgiving dinner, Sunday, Nov. 25, at the home of Lorene's mother, Laura Hutchins, in East Andover. Also present were Lorene's brother, Greg Adams, wife Fran, her mother, Eleanor Farrington from Sweden, Maine, Lorene's Aunt Lenona “Peggy” Blake of South Paris, and Lorene's children and grandchildren, Miranda Conkright, husband Mat, children Blythe and Melia; and Preston Cobb with his significant other, Abbie Hutchins. Everyone had a very good dinner and a fun afternoon as Mandy and Preston, with Lorene verifying, pulled out one memory after another about their lives growing up. Mandy wrote these down to give to sister Calla Cobb who is preparing a booklet to give to people in the family for Christmas presents. Blythe Conkright was also surprised with cake, ice cream, and presents in honor of her sixth birthday Nov. 24.

A young beaver has been swimming in front of Jane and Jim Chandler's home on North Pond. Jane mentioned this only a few days after I had spent an afternoon exploring in a beaver habitat in Andover and checking out their handiwork.

Wendy Hutchins (Wheeler to those of us with long memories) and I walked out an old logging road north of Andover to a small beaver pond with dams on each end. Nothing unusual there. What was new to me was seeing the trails and the “clear cut” the beavers had made over the years.

Their trails were as well constructed as any hiking trail only they were cut for short creatures. The trails led to a small clear cut area in the woods. The beavers had harvested the trees there, dragged them out along the trails, down the pond bank, and floated the logs to their dam sites. Some beavers have been reported to walk on their hind legs as they carry logs out through the woods. That would certainly be something to see.

Beavers harvest many young trees before the ponds freeze solid and  store them under the ice at their lodges. They eat these during the winter when the ponds are frozen and snow-covered.

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