Snow on Saturday and sleet on Sunday was not the kind of weekend weather I was hoping for! With my recovery from knee replacement going well, I was happy to get outside for a walk at Davis Park with Tony on Friday, which was post-op Day 11. We walked a mile, from the picnic area to the Big Apple and back, and I was dreaming of warm weather and looking forward to more outside walks.
I guess no matter how long I live in Maine—nearly half a century now—I’ll never get it through my head that March is NOT a spring month here, and, in fact, April doesn’t have the best reputation for great weather, either. This weekend’s weather seemed particularly cruel, though, not only because I’m really, really missing being outdoors, but also because I heard that, while it was 30 degrees and snowing here on Saturday, friends in my old hometown in Connecticut were outside hanging laundry in 80-degree sunshine.
Here’s a calendar of upcoming events, a few of which are optimistically spring-focused:
Wednesday, April 9, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursday, April 10, noon to 5 p.m. at the Bethel Library: Second annual Spring Fling. Come and celebrate the new season, purchase raffle tickets for an assortment of prizes, enjoy refreshments, browse for books, get a new library card, and meet library board members, staff, and volunteers. Raffle prizes will be drawn on Thursday evening at the end of the event. I’m donating a six-month “subscription” for homemade baked goods, with the winner receiving a pie, bread, cookies, or whoopie pies each month from April through September, and there will be lots of other great prizes as well.
Thursday, April 10, noon to 1 p.m. at the West Parish Congregational Church, Bethel: Lenten Lunch, an ecumenical gathering providing a free soup and bread meal and a chance to share a thoughtful message during Lent. Contact Rev. Tim LeConey for more details at tleconey68@gmail.com.
Thursday, April 10, 4:30 to 6 p.m. (rescheduled from April 3) at the West Parish Congregational Church, Bethel: “Music and Movement for Seniors,” with yoga instructor Lisa Davidson and singer-songwriter Jim Gallant. This program is part of the To Your Health free wellness series, sponsored by Western Mountains Senior College, the Bethel Family Health Center, and SAD44 Continuing Education. For more information, contact MSAD#44 at 207-824-2136 X1340 or email WMSC@sad44.org.
Friday, April 11, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the West Parish Congregational Church, Bethel: Red Cross Blood Drive. Blood donations are urgently needed! You can make an appointment online at redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.
Saturday, April 26, 9 a.m. to noon, West Parish Congregational Church, Bethel: Smile Fund Sale. Proceeds from this annual community yard sale pay for dentures for adults in the SAD44 area. Please drop off the following items anytime between April 18 and 24: Books, housewares, knickknacks, tools, gardening supplies.
Wednesday, April 30: Opening day for the Swap Shop at the Greenwood/Woodstock Transfer Station. The shop will be open during regular transfer station hours. If you’d like to help, please contact Greenwood Town Manager Kim Sparks at greenwood.me.04255@gmail.com.
Saturday, May 3: Greenwood’s annual spring roadside cleanup day. Meet at the Town Office at 9 a.m. to be paired with a partner (if you wish) and receive a road assignment.
Saturday, May 17, at 9 a.m. at the Locke’s Mills Legion Hall: Annual Greenwood Town Meeting. Plan to attend to catch up with neighbors and friends, learn what’s happening in town, and have a voice in your municipal government.
I want to send out special birthday wishes to East Bethel native Deborah (Farwell) Eldredge, who will celebrate turning 99 years young on April 6. My father was Debbie’s second cousin, and I grew up spending time in the summer with her three boys, Will, Lee, and Eddie.
Every summer, Debbie would plan a few days’ escape from the demands of running a busy general store with her husband, Bill, first in Freedom, Maine, and later in Unity, and bring the boys to camp for a visit. She would always arrive with a couple of big boxes full of groceries from their store, usually including an assortment of dented canned goods, or mystery cans that had lost their labels, so that we were never quite sure if we were going to open one and find pineapple, peas, or tomatoes.
Although I confess that I didn’t always look forward to the disruption the arrival of three rowdy boys caused to my blissfully unstructured and introverted summers, I know that my mom, who was a widowed mother of five, loved having the company of another adult for a change. And the boys and I did always end up having fun, swimming and running around the ponds in boats while our boring mothers did nothing but sit on the deck and talk all day.
Although she moved away from her East Bethel home at a young age, Debbie always kept in touch with and visited many friends in the area. I know that most, if not all, of her lifelong friends and contemporaries, including Millie Jackson and Barbara (Hastings) Honkala, are now gone, but there may be some readers of this column who remember Debbie and would like to send her birthday greetings, in care of her son, Will Eldredge, 18 Fox Meadow Lane, Merrimack, NH 03054. Happy birthday, Debbie, with lots of love!
If you have news or events you’d like included here, email me at amy.w.chapman@gmail.com or call 207-890-4812. Remember that the next print edition of the Bethel Citizen will be published in two weeks, on Friday, April 18, but you can find this column online every Friday morning at amywchapman.com; just click on the Locke’s Mills News tab, where you can also subscribe for free to receive it by email.
“Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.” – Charles Lamb
Thanks for this, my friend.