Letters

The waterfront at Mitchell Field is our own piece of paradise. It's even got a building that could further the community's experience. There is value in preserving a part of Harpswell's history, with the administration building easily becoming a recreation center.

If you love your dog, you should follow leash laws. Your dog should always be under your control — on a leash, fenced in your yard, contained in an invisible fence, or secured on a tie-out. Beeper and shock collars don't count.

Upon reading last month's story about the proposed fire station (OBIFD presses town to reexamine need for central station," Page 1), I became curious as to why the town Fire and Rescue Planning Committee had shown "stiff opposition" to an alternative proposal from the Orr's and Bailey Islands Fire Department.

Initial response to a fire alarm requires a minimum crew of three — a fire officer and two firefighters. To provide this coverage 12 hours a day, five days a week, Harpswell employs a fire administrator, two full-time firefighters, one part-time firefighter, and several per diem firefighters who respond to calls from either Orr's Island or Harpswell Neck.

This beautifully written piece by Erin O'Mara shares a personal journey of loss of one dear to her to cancer. "Her friendship was a treasure," she touchingly describes, "as tangible and precious as something I could hold in my hands."

The Harpswell Neck Little Free Library is up and running right outside the Itty Bitty Coffee Shop on Harpswell Neck Road. We are eternally grateful to Kelly and George for providing a welcoming home for this beautiful building, designed and executed by Carl Rich.

The dust from the election is starting to settle, and the opposing signs are disappearing from yards around town. The good news is that a record number of people voted, some registering to vote for the first time, according to reports from a staff member I spoke to at the Harpswell Town Office.

To members of our community who participated in the voting process, I express my deepest gratitude for your support and the immense confidence you have bestowed upon me.

I will be voting against borrowing funds to build an all-tide boat launch at Mitchell Field. I participated in the brainstorming session more than 15 years ago that came up with the idea of building a ramp at Mitchell Field, which I supported at that time.

My husband and I have stayed on Mackerel Cove four times within the last eight years. Yes, it is a hidden gem and one of our favorite areas of Maine. (See "A summer in Maine's 'hidden gem'," October.)