ESTESBOG

by Peter Walker

 

Puritan Mainers abhor open controversy and avoid public display. They tend to minimize or, better still, deny any history that appears ostentatious (or, Heaven forbid, possibly sinful!) until succeeding generations forget it entirely. Thus embarrassing incidents in Maine history, such as the stealing of the statehouse in 1879, the burning of Falmouth (what is now Portland) by the British during the revolution, and the raid on Casco Bay by a Confederate warship, were omitted in the junior high Maine history texts of my time.

Nevertheless, my seventh grade teacher, a career one-room school teacher until the consolidated Poland Community School was first opened in September, 1954, once mentioned that a remarkable religious event occurred in the first half of the 1800s in an area of West Poland called Rabbit Valley or “the Promised Land.”  There seems to be absolutely no mention of these goings-on in history texts or town accounts despite the fact that this activity indirectly resulted in the birth of a major Protestant denomination. From a few internet sites, particularly the website of the Seventh Day Adventists, I’ve been able to piece together what happened. Read more…

  

Charlotte Grant Walker, 84, passed away peacefully Tuesday, October 26th after a long illness at the Orchard Park Nursing Home in Farmington, ME where she has resided for the last 2-1/2 years. 

Charlotte was born April 17, 1926 in Lewiston, ME, the daughter of the late Eugene V. and Jennie (Barlow) Grant.  She graduated from Lewiston H.S. in 1943 and earned a mathematics degree at Bates College, Class of 1947. 

Charlotte is survived by her husband of 63 years, Elmer F. (Ted) Walker, Jr. and her three sons; Peter G. and Nancy Walker of Fort Morgan, CO, Thomas E. and Ann Walker of Farmington, ME and David and Becky Walker of Statesville, NC.  Charlotte leaves six grandchildren; Corey Walker of Pueblo, CO, Emily Walker of Pocatello, ID, Eric Walker of Manchester, NH, Jameson Walker of Helena, MT, Christopher Walker of Kingston, WA and Jennie Walker of Winston-Salem, NC.  Charlotte also leaves five great grandchildren.  Charlotte was predeceased by two brothers, William Grant and Eugene Grant, Jr. 

Charlotte and Ted made their home in Poland Spring, ME while running the family business Ted Walker, Inc., Mechanical Contractors.  Charlotte was an original board member instrumental in the building of the Alvan B. Ricker Memorial Library in Poland, ME, Past President of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Maine Association of Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Contractors and a former member of the National Association of Women in Construction. 

Charlotte’s smile will be missed by all her family and loving friends.

A memorial service will be held at the Poland Community Church on November 20, 2010 at 1:00pm.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Charlotte’s honor to the Poland Spring Preservation Society, P.O. Box 444, Poland Spring, ME 04274 or the Poland Fire Rescue Department, 1231 Maine St., Poland, ME 04274.

Another of my childhood heroes is gone. Even though I met him just one time in a one-room school house in a rural Maine town some fifty years ago, I have not forgotten the experience. He was one of those men who command your attention. To my 12-year-old eyes, he seemed god-like.

 

This and the following photo courtesy of HomeofHeroes.com

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My e-friend and frequent commenter Ralph Romero from southern Colorado had a comment on the flying Oldsmobile story: “Great story. I had a 1976 Oldsmobile Omega Brougham. . .great car. However, it did NOT have the ability to fly! I tried it a few times! Why, yes, there was beer involved!”

In the 46+ years I have been (legally) driving, I have owned just about one of everything and two or three of a few. In fact, my very first automobile after I got my license in the fall of 1963 was a 1956 Olds 88 that my grandfather surrendered to me when he decided to give up driving. Along with it came about ten well worn tires which I managed to rotate around and keep it propped up on inflated wheels most days. That car must have weighed as much as today’s average bus. It contained a substantial amount of steel (one of my aunts suggested the frame was probably cast iron).

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by Peter Walker

Growing up in a very rural area of Maine, having other kids to play with was the exception, not the rule. My social skills were slow to develop. Rural grade school was okay; but high school in the city was absolutely painful. Scholastically I was placed in the same classes with the A-list kids. But being an outsider and the son of a plumber, they were never going to cut me any slack socially. To make matters worse, I had the physical coordination and athletic ability of a top-heavy rock. I couldn’t make the B-list either.

By my junior year in high school I reached my full height of an even 6 feet. My legs were so short I wore pants with a 29-inch leg. My torso was so long I could not wear a hat while sitting in a car. I was a giant penguin!

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THEY CALL HER “DOUBLE UGLY”

Peter Walker

What would you get if you put wings on a combine? The result couldn’t be much uglier than the funny-looking twin-engine airplane that spent a great deal of time at the Fort Morgan Airport Saturday morning practicing landings and takeoffs.

The unmarked grayish aircraft, it turns out, is a recent acquisition of the United States Air Force. Four young pilots from the 318^th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico have been assigned to familiarize themselves with the special plane. Read more…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TANGLED TRAILS

 

Peter Walker

 

 

I grew up a-dreamin’ of being a cowboy,

and lovin’ the cowboy ways.

Willy Nelson “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”

 

Dreams of riding the range are not restricted to kids in the western North America. Nor are they limited to little boys. In my rural Maine grade school in the 1950s many of my daydreams were of going west when I grew up. My big loves in those days were hunting and fishing. Maine is a big timber state and, in those days, moose were still relatively scarce, and deer hunting for the most part consisted, it seemed to me, of wandering around in dense cover hoping for a chance encounter with an equally disoriented buck. I wanted to go west where the animals were abundant and the land so wide open that every hunt resulted in success.  

 

Pursuin’ the life of my high-ridin’ heroes,
I burned up my childhood days.

  

 

 

From sixth through eighth grade, Joanie Welch and I always sat in the rear of the room near the window (Walker then Welch). Joan was a down-to-earth country girl as naïve about the world as me. Joanie was a horse woman (and the best dancer by far of any girl in our school). So Joan had the same types of romantic notions about the West as I did. We shared our dreams a lot – usually when we should have been paying attention to the lesson. She wanted to go west to ride horses all day. I wanted to go there and shoot grizzly bears. The cumulative hours that we spent speculating over the relative merits of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho were many. But then, the lessons, dummied down to the lowest common denominator by our middle-aged former one-room school teachers, could have been made a lot less boring. Read more…

What do the three ships in the photo have in common? They are all fully commissioned warships in the United States Navy. From left to right they are USS Constitution (42-gun frigate), USS Halyburton (FFG-40 – guided missile frigate), and USS Ramage (DDG-61 – guided missile destroyer).

F-18 Hornets of the Blue Angels fly escort overhead as the grand old lady of the U.S. fleet made her way under her own sails in June, 1997 for the first time in 116 years.

Constructed in Boston from 7′ thick live oak and copper fittings and plating forged by Paul Revere, Constitution was first commissioned in 1797. Her unique internal bracing made her sides nearly impregnable to solid cannonballs of the day.

Superior design coupled with equally superior crew training humbled the Royal Navy repeatedly during the War of 1812. “Old Ironsides’” most famous battle was a one-on-one shoot-out with the comparable HMS Guerriere off the East Coast in 1812. Constitution deflected British shot meant to stave in her sides while her own gunners expertly sheered off the British frigate’s masts in one pass. Guerriere surrendered in just half an hour!

Constitution served as a training ship in the Civil War and a floating barracks until her 100th birthday. Public sentiment saved her from destruction and led to her recommissioning in 1925. She now resides on public display at Boston Navy Yard.

The 1997 voyage from Boston to Marblehead and return marked her 200th birthday and demonstrated her complete restoration to battle fitness. She now makes two scheduled “turn around” voyages each year.

A HERO’S STORY

By Peter Walker

One morning in 2003 I heard on KUNC that the hospital ship USS Comfort had embarked from the East Coast for the Persian Gulf. I am a student of history. This was by no means the first time a USS Comfort has set sail to offer care and shelter for American service personnel in time of war.

The present USS Comfort  (hull number TAH-20) is the third such ship to bear the proud name. She was converted to a hospital ship from an oil tanker in 1987 and might still be in reserve had she not been activated for the first conflict with Iraq in 1990.

The first Comfort (AH-3) was converted from a liner in 1906 and brought wounded soldiers home from the Western Front during World War I.

In 1943 USS Comfort (II) was built from the keel up as a military hospital ship. At just under 10,000 tons displacement, she was a large ship for her time. Resembling an ocean liner, Comfort (AH-6) was painted white with large red crosses and carried no armament of any kind.

During World War II, USS Comfort was jointly operated with a U.S. Navy crew and Army medical personnel.

I am going to leave the USS Comfort for a few moments to explain why this seemingly benign auxiliary ship means something to me. Read more…