Locke's Mills

The Greenwood-Woodstock Transfer Station was the subject of local scrutiny lately. The Transfer Station Committee, which consists of the Greenwood Selectmen and the Woodstock Selectmen, met recently to review the budget for the coming year. The 2013 budget has been set at $150,512. This is paid through property taxes from the two towns. Woodstock pays 60 percent and Greenwood pays 40 percent. These figures are based on population. According to 2000 population data, Woodstock's population is 1,307 and Greenwood's is 802.

A few weeks before this budget meeting, a Woodstock resident claimed Greenwood was bringing more waste to the transfer station. No data is kept on usage so it is unknown how this claim originated. Transfer Committee members Steve Bies and Fred Henderson will research the 60/40 cost split and present their findings at the April Transfer Committee meeting. Bies is a Woodstock Selectman, and Henderson is a Greenwood Selectman.

The Local Hub brings a new approach to the idea of a corner store. They opened for business last week, and I hustled over there within 24 hours of their opening to check out what the new store would be like. I was in for a pleasant surprise. Half of the store is food items, and they are healthy ones from local farms. Homemade breads and rolls are from No View Farm, gluten-free breads and pastries are from the Dunham Farm, goat cheese is from Laurie Vogt Bailey's farm, butter is from Inch by Inch Farm. The list goes on. All the beer is from Maine. And then there is the excellent wood-fired oven pizza. That takes care of half the store. The other half is a garden supply center. They carry an assortment of organic gardening products and fertilizers as well as Fedco seeds. Fedco seeds are my favorite, and I bought half a dozen seed packets of vegetables I usually grow. If you have not stopped in, check out this breath of fresh air on Route 26 in Locke's Mills.

It was a shock to see that Penley's Mill burned recently. Buildings can have so many memories and feelings tied up in them, and this one certainly did. Many people worked there over the years. Some spent their whole lives working there along with family members. There was a lot more lost than just a building in West Paris.

Bald eagles are showing up on North Pond to eat the fish remains left by the folks who have been ice fishing. Ravens and crows are doing the same on South Pond. Bird treats.

It is February and we are over the hump of winter. There is roughly an hour and 15 minutes more daylight now than there was at the winter solstice (Dec. 21). The bitterly cold January weather has a hard time following us past the first few days of this month. And, the good news for those of us who enjoy winter activities, February can be our snowiest month.

The seed catalogs arrived back in January, and, like many gardeners, I thumbed through each of them and mentally planted flowers and vegetables that I do not normally plant. Many folks seem to do this same thing. Last month a friend mentioned she was thinking about a large and beautifully blooming rose garden at their home. While that may not happen this summer, I suspect several rose bushes will appear at their home this year. Maybe the doldrums of January push us into using our imaginations to create a more pleasant world for ourselves. A little imagination, a little creativity, and, voila, a rose garden is born of such a month.

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