Western Maine Neighborhood News, December 25, 2025
Merry Christmas! Enjoy this holiday edition of Western Maine Neighborhood News, and be sure to send your local news and events to your town’s correspondent!
Andover News
Diana Nadeau
Boy did we ever have some crazy weather. The rain fell hard and the wind absolutely howled up here in Andover on Friday the 19th into the wee hours of Saturday morning. We lost the power in our neighborhood 3 different times in 12 hours. Certain areas of town lost it more often and for longer durations.
I was greatly surprised to wake up and find that we hadn’t lost any trees around the house. We slept very poorly awaiting a big crash. Bocephus didn’t care for the sound of the wind whistling about, it made him very nervous, so he spent quite a bit of time pacing around and keeping Bob and I from sleeping. That along with the sound of the wind made for a very restless night.
The 3rd annual Christmas show that was held at the Town Hall was very well attended. It’s such a wonderful time of year with all the festive lights on the common shining brightly across the street. Lone Mountain Campground graciously served hot chocolate and cookies during the intermission at the first show on Saturday. The Grinch even made an appearance at both performances and fortunately for all in attendance he mostly behaved himself.
The Snow Valley Sno-goers snowmobile club is doing a snow dance. They must be doing it well because we are due to have some snow possibly Tuesday into Wednesday (Christmas Eve) so we may have a white Christmas after all.
If you have any news to share please send it my way diananadeau@ymail.com I wish all my readers far and near a very Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy, and Happy New Year!
Bethel News
Linda Howe
The time between Christmas and New Year’s will be a busy one for the Town of Bethel. Folks from near and far will be coming and going. Small businesses will be very active which is a good thing. I wish them all success during this holiday season.
The recent Christmas Concert at the Methodist Church was very enjoyable with many folks in attendance. The Mollyockett Chorus is a fine acapella group of women who have a passion and talent for singing. Their songs were entertaining and they had the voices of angels. Simon Smith, who is a Telstar graduate, is the conductor of this group. Simon is a talented singer/musician himself and he certainly knows how to direct a group of singers.
The majority of these women are from the South Paris/Norway area. However there are some locals from our area. From Bethel we have Janet Coverdale, Jane Luxton, and Janet Willie with Merry York Childs from Bryant Pond.
At the end of the program there was a sing-along of Christmas songs. The Methodist Church sanctuary was alive with songs telling of the good news of the birth of Jesus Christ. The program ended with the song “Go Tell It On The Mountain.”
Jesus Christ brought hope, peace, joy and love to others as he taught and ministered to others during his short time on Earth. Forgiveness was also very important to help foster and maintain healthy relationships between individuals. May the good news of the birth of Jesus Christ continue to help us today to coexist in peace and love with one another.
Merry Christmas everyone and a happy and healthy New Year to all!
Please send any news or events to this digital platform to lhowe7273@gmail.com
East Bethel News
Wally Ritz
The rain on Friday was awful; I hope you all were safe on the roads. I also hope your Christmas was filled with lots of love and laughter.
Soup’s On for Seniors saw a large steady crowd, so I heard. I missed not being there, but will see you there on January 21st from 11:00 till 1:00 at the Bethel Methodist Church.
January 14th will be the next Bethel Senior Group meeting. One of the local farms will be cooking for the group.
One of my cousins from upstate New York has been teaching at an International school for years in Germany. Last month she sent me pictures and a nice message letting me know that she has become a German citizen. No, worries, she is still cheering for the Buffalo Bills, hahaha.
Please, call me at 824-1113 or email heinrichcracker@gmail.com
Happy New Year!
Gilead News
Lin Chapman
It seems that the first round of columns posted online went quite smoothly. Thanks to Amy Chapman and Will Chapman for making this happen. I received a few encouraging comments, so we will see what we can come up with this week. It is hard to find news in a small town this time of year.
This column posts on Christmas, and I would like to send along Happy Holiday wishes to everyone.
The rainstorm with high winds took out the power last Friday. It went out a little after 2:00 pm, but was restored by 5:00 pm. At least it came back before the temperature dropped later in the day.
Claudia Risbara stopped by last Saturday for a short visit. Her husband, Pete, wasn’t with her. I don’t think he likes to have his name mentioned in the column. Oops!
Our son, Chris Chapman, called from Virginia last Sunday. He said that they had experienced the high winds a few days before we did. He has set up a Christmas synchronized light show at their house so that the decorations are programmed to flash to the music that is playing. The wind took a lot of it down, but he and wife, Kym, are putting it back up. They do nightly shows for the neighborhood.
Not too much excitement at the bird feeder this week. Just the usual suspects that always show up. Of course, the squirrels and the turkeys try to get the good stuff before the other birds get there.
Gilead Historical Society
Historical Note: Excerpt from the GHS publication, “The Smile of Providence, A History of Gilead, Maine, by Howard C. Reiche, Jr. and Hugh G. Chapman, 2004”.-“Once the settlers’ strong desire for education for their children outgrew their ability to do it at home, they turned to the Town of Gilead. However, education like most other town affairs was affected by the dividing of Gilead by the Androscoggin River. It must have been like being in two different communities until the Androscoggin River suspension bridge was built in 1872.
At the 1835 Gilead Town Meeting it was decided to arrange the school districts so that scholars would not have to cross the river or walk more than one mile. Remember that there was no bridge across the Androscoggin River until 1872. By the 1850’s the citizens had built six one room schools in Gilead, with three on the North side of the river and three on the South side. There are references to a seventh and eighth district up the Bog Road. However, it appears they were in the disputed boundary land of the Fryeburg Academy Grant.”
Gilead Town Office
The Town Clerk/Tax Collector has been on (well deserved) vacation this past week, so not much to report. Just remember that the real estate taxes that are unpaid as of December 31st will be listed in the Annual Town Report that comes out in March.
Got any news? Email me at chapmal@hotmail.com
Locke’s Mills News
Amy Wight Chapman
Merry Christmas!
I hope all of my readers are able to spend the day in just the way they want, whether that means a big gathering with family and/or friends or a time for peaceful contemplation. My holiday will feature a mix of both, as I’m planning a morning hike with my loyal hiking companion, Eli the Wonder Pup, and then dinner with Steve’s family in Sunday River in the afternoon.
Without my really having planned it that way, my Christmas Day hikes with granddog Eli have turned into an annual tradition. We haven’t missed a single one since he joined the family in 2017, so this will make our ninth. Whether it’s been a year when we’ve been joined by other family members, or a year when it’s just been the two of us, it’s always been good to get outside for a little exercise on a day that is usually spent mostly indoors, overindulging in holiday treats.
