Dear Editor:

McSeagull's did it again! On closing night at the old building, guest bartenders Elena Smith, Neal Page Richard Latter, Sam McLellan, Ron Babcock, Ron Peaslee, Mike Jarrett, Karen Perkins, Shane Therrien and Russ Piercy (I hope we haven't forgotten anyone) donated their tips to the local Meals on Wheels program! Wow! Twice this holiday season, Meals on Wheels has been blessed through the generosity of McSeagull's and its staff. Ralph -- the support is overwhelming and so appreciated.

Pat Wheeler

For the Board of

Meals on Wheels

Dear Editor:

I would like to thank the community for coming to our concert on Sunday. It means so much to have your support. We practice every Tuesday evening from 7 to 8:30. It is great knowing that we practice for people who really care.

I would like to thank the color guard (members of the Boothbay Fire Department) who looked so sharp, former CBS and ABC Radio and television broadcast journalist Palmer Payne, who did an outstanding job, Bigelow scientist, Dr. Willie Wilson's humorous and interesting tribute to Scotland's poet laureate Robert Burns, author of song Auld Lang Syne (Old Long Since), Pastor Alfred Roberts who, as Master of Ceremonies, added a professional touch to the concert, as well as his daughter, Meredith Roberts Fowlie, and her sweet soprano voice.

I would especially like to thank Conductor Meredith Duke for her time, talent and grace; she is an outstanding musician and conductor. Thank you to all band members who volunteer their time and talent to create something that is much bigger than all of us, one band, one sound and one great experience.

Love and thanks to you all.

Dear Editor:

Recent news from Portland is that the new mayor is considering a plan to lead his city and the surrounding counties of York, Cumberland and Sagadahoc into secession from Maine. It seems Portland raises $45 million or so in sales taxes for the state and gets back a paltry $4.1 million for their schools. There's no mention of how much the towns in question generated (and paid) for the state from other sources like property tax, but, I suppose a full accounting would make the financial case even more.

The mayor said he might consider other towns on the borders of these counties to join in. The governor, when he heard about it, laughed at the idea. I wonder if the last laugh is in.

The state of Maine, having first eaten away at revenues generated by out of state (and powerless non- voting) taxpayers is now starting to eat its own. Why is that, you wonder? Well, it seems Augusta is still on the same old spending binge. And Augusta has done little except lip service to open the state to income producing businesses. Sure there have been bills like the "Pine Tree Zone" and "School Consolidation" intended to open up specially taxed business zones and rein in school administrative costs respectively. Both of those ideas, and the numerous ones like them, have been distinct failures -- mostly because they fail to look anything like their original intention once our legislature gets their hands on them.

Now, with even more taxes in the pipeline aimed at property values, and no voice except our few votes against the hordes and hungry in the north, southern and mid-coast Mainers are being treated like (gasp) Massachusetts (and other out of state property owners) and have been for years. And we don't like it.

No one would argue, I think, that Mainers don't care about the less fortunate who live in, say Washington County, though that will be the argument made when "rich" towns resist the pressure to send trains of cash up to Augusta for relief. What we object to is Maine's denial of the real problem. Not one piece of legislation has been architected to really rein in state costs -- Augusta is a huge spending machine with lots of voting state workers. I'd wager that if half the creativity of Maine's legislature was spent on ideas to reduce state taxes as it was on finding new revenue streams (like going after non-voting homeowners) the problem would have been solved ages ago.

Many feel that the best way to solve the problems of Maine's lack of real wealth: income and the resulting (business and personal) tax is for them to get the hell out of the way. For example, maybe then we wouldn't need $50 million in bonds to "build entrepreneurship" in the state (voted for in the last referendum). Why not just reduce some of the onerous regulations and top off the scale taxes by the same amount -- across the board -- and with no "regulating authority" in Augusta? If the state is stoking the fires of spending, taxing the lucky few who are sitting on generational property that wealthy non-voting, non-Mainers covet, then more and more of our coastal towns are going to become voiceless ghosts of their former productive selves.

And we'll all be commuting from Washington County.

I think this mayor is onto something. At the very least it's a good way to force an honest discussion about the real problem that the leadership in Augusta has failed to address for years. In politics, you need a crisis for anything real to happen, sadly. And if ever Maine faced a crisis, it is now. The towns of the Boothbay peninsula need to consider joining this mayor in forcing a dialogue before there's no one left who can.