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Town Council Trims Municipal Budget
Bill Ambrose
At a Town Council Budget Workshop on April 15, reductions in the Municipal budget were approved, resulting in no increase in the tax rate for fiscal year 2008/2009. The cost savings were made possible by the elimination of several positions in the Town's work force, as well as other budget modifications.
Town Manager David Cole proposed the reductions to the budget as the result of a Council request following a prior Budget Workshop on April 8. In a highly detailed memo to the Councilors, Cole recommended nine changes to the previously submitted budget. Among the recommendations was the elimination of five staff positions, including the Town Engineer, the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer, the Compliance Officer, the Reference Librarian and the Administrative Assistant at the Fire Department.
After testimony from Code Enforcement Officer Clint Cushman, the Council relented on the Assistant's elimination, voting 4-3 (Loveitt, Caldwell, Knapp) to retain the position. All of the other position eliminations were approved unanimously, which reduced the budget by $132,861.
Other savings were realized by reducing staffing levels at Baxter Library, replacing contracted janitorial services at the Public Safety Building with inmate labor from the Windham Correctional Facility and adding Cable TV franchise fees to the General Fund.
The next action in the Town's budget process will be a joint Council/School Committee Workshop on May 7. The approval of the combined Municipal and School Budget will be the subject of a public hearing and vote at the regular Town Council meeting on June 3. A legally-required public referendum to approve the School portion of the budget will be held shortly afterward.
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Patriots Needed for Memorial Day
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The Travis James Band could be heard throughout Gorham Village on April 26 as crowds of people visited 20 local participating businesses during the Block Party; taking advantage of free raffles, activities and moon bounces while learning about the different businesses Gorham has to offer.
Photo credit Martha T. Harris
Patriots Needed for Memorial Day Parade
Gail Platts,
Administrative Assistant, Gorham Parks & Recreation
Calling all Gorham neighborhoods, civic clubs, churches, youth groups, business and community members—Get your group together and join in this year's Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 26. The theme is "Patriotism," so show us red, white and blue Gorham!
Plans are currently underway for the 2008 Memorial Day parade in Gorham, according to George Gerrish and Don Veilleux, volunteer parade coordinators on behalf of veterans of Gorham. "We have been in communication with Ron Shepard, Gorham Police Chief; Cindy Hazelton, Gorham Recreation Director; and Bob Lefebvre, Gorham Fire Chief to discuss this year's parade and how we can involve more citizens of Gorham in this day of remembrance" said Gerrish and Veilleux.
According to David Merchant of www.usmemorialday.org, Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day established to remember those who have died in our nation's service. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings.
Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Many towns either planned or held spontaneous gatherings of people in the 1860s to honor those who died in war. It is not important who was the very first to commemorate the men and women who have died in military service to their country, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division, it is about reconciliation and honoring those who gave their lives for our country.
"The Gorham Memorial Day Parade will be our only community wide parade for 2008," said Cindy Hazelton, Gorham Recreation Department director. "We are encouraging all of Gorham to come out, get a float together that displays your patriotism and join us on Memorial Day," said Hazelton.
The traditional wreath laying ceremonies and cemetery remembrances in Little Falls will be held as usual with only a slight time change, moving them to 9 a.m. The color guard and veterans units will move into Eastern Cemetery for their wreath laying ceremony and remembrance as well as a 21 gun salute. The parade will proceed behind them onto Johnson Road and pause there for the duration of the ceremony. The parade will then finish by crossing New Portland Road and entering White Birch Lane where it will end at the rear parking lot of Village School.
"To date, we have secured the Maine St. Andrews Bagpipe Band to join us in the Memorial Day Parade and hope to attract other bands as well," said Hazelton. "Visit the Gorham Rec. Dept. website at www.gorhamrec.com to download a parade registration form and send it to Gorham Rec. today!"
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Ring in 2009 with Style at New Year Gorham
Gorham Times Staff
It's official! Gorham will ring in the New Year on Dec. 31, 2008 with a spectacular celebration of the arts. While final details will take several months to complete, the working committee is well on its way to coordinating this event.
"New Year Gorham will be a community-wide and alcohol-free celebration affordable for all," said Virginia Wilder Cross, who with a group of volunteers is coordinating the event with the support of the Town of Gorham's public safety and fire departments, public works and recreations departments. "It will feature musical, performing and visual arts in a variety of venues including churches, schools and public buildings throughout Gorham. The New Year will ring in with an exciting celebration culminating with a fireworks display at midnight accompanied by music, church bells ringing and lots of 'Auld Land Syne.'"
The committee will seek corporate funding to cover necessary seed money that will supplement the cost of the event and make it affordable for all. It is projected that the admission to all events will be covered with the purchase of a button. The plan is to keep the button cost at a minimum (no more than $5/person) with family rates available. Fundraising efforts will begin over the next few weeks and continue throughout the coming months.
Volunteers are needed to work with the committee on all phases of the event from coordinating entertainment, working on publicity and other administrative tasks. The committee is also seeking performers who would like to be part of the entertainment. Performances will vary from individuals and small combo groups to large groups (such as choirs and choruses and bands), storytellers, puppet shows, dances, etc. Interested people should contact Virginia Wilder Cross at 222-2248 or Cindy Hazelton at 222-1630.
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No More
Gorham Days
Family Tradition Comes
to an End
Cindy Hazelton, Gorham Recreation Director
"If You're Riding a Horse and it Dies, Get Off," is a great book written by Jim Grant. This is the feeling we sensed the community seemed to be having at the end of the Summer Festival 2008. That event, as we have known it, has lived its life and it's time for something and/or someone new to spark interest.
With that in mind, Gorham Recreation Department has joined efforts with the folks who plan the Memorial Day Parade in Gorham. We wanted to bring the entire community out and celebrate Memorial Day this year and this seemed the perfect way to get started. This is a great opportunity for neighborhoods, churches, community service clubs, school groups, athletic teams, businesses and more to get together and join in a parade to celebrate our patriotism and remember those who have served and continue to serve our Country.
The parade will be on Monday, May 26 at 11 a.m. Lineup will be at 10 a.m. at Village School on Robie Street. Our Veterans groups lead by George Gerrish and Don Veilleux have been coordinating the Memorial Day parade for many years and we thought, why not bring our energy and efforts of the summer parade into this event? It seemed like a natural.
Gorham Recreation Department has also added a new feature to our Tuesday evening concerts in the Gazebo. This year, we will be hosting a "farmers market" during the concerts beginning Tuesday, June 24. Concerts are from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and the farmers market will run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Our special kick off the gazebo concert series will be held on Tuesday, June 17 with the Casco Bay Band providing the community with a free kick off concert from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
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