Letters

From Ned Toll: While my family knows this all too well, I am hesitant to make it generally known that I am absent-minded. However, after I left my spotting scope at Wharton Point in Brunswick on Nov. 18, I need to thank a number of people in the Harpswell and birding communities who acted quickly to make sure it was returned to me.

From Nat Pulsifer: The Midcoast Wood Bank has begun a partnership with the town of Harpswell. Arranged through Town Administrator Kristi Eiane and Community Services Coordinator Katie Neal, the partnership provides free firewood, helping ease fuel insecurity for Harpswell residents in need.

Your article "Motorist collisions with deer on the rise in Harpswell" (December) blames deer for the rise. I feel that we should reframe the issue. Who determined that the deer were the problem? The deer were here first. We just moved in on them.

On Sunday, Dec. 14, my daughter Emma and I attended a moving, albeit sorrowful, celebration of life for one of Harpswell's finest: Christopher Glenn McIntire, who passed away on Nov. 24 at a mere 32 years of age, leaving a beloved wife and two little boys.

"Together, we thrive." This simple yet complicated statement is the theme of this year's United Way of Mid Coast Maine fundraising campaign.

Home fires don't stop for the holidays. In fact, they tend to spike nearly 20% because of seasonal risks. In Maine, 200-plus families experience devastating home fires every year. Every time a Mainer experiences this loss, the Red Cross will be there. I know because I am a Red Cross volunteer. Our disaster action team members respond at a moment's notice to comfort these families, providing critical care after the unimaginable happens.

Between the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 11, and the morning of Monday, Oct. 13, two floats went missing from the beach at Mackerel Cove. They had been tied to a stout post next to the boat ramp, one behind the other, waiting to be picked up.

I read with interest the article "More wells running dry as drought grips Harpswell." Once-reliable wells are running dry and water storage systems are becoming more prevalent as "property owners run out of other options." Harpswell's geology makes wells harder to drill and more likely to run dry everywhere, especially near the shore.

I read the story "More wells running dry as drought grips Harpswell," in the October Anchor, with interest. As it turns out, our well seemed to be easily handling the demands we put on it through most of the summer — until it didn't, seemingly crashing overnight.

On Sept. 27, approximately 28 "Voter ID for ME" signs were legally placed in Harpswell. As of this writing, almost all of them have been defaced with swastikas or black marker changing the number in Question 1 to an 8. After the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office was notified, most of the swastika signs were removed.