Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • Why is this election so important

    By Peter Gately Guest Column The 2024 election is rapidly approaching, 13 weeks as I write this. While I have voted in every presidential election since 1972, I cannot recall another that has so captured my attention. The 1972 one is memorable for me on many levels. This came at a similarly tumultuous time in […]

  • In Ye Olden Times: The First (Modern) Olympic Games

    By Mike Davis BN Columnist Howdy neighbor! It’s that time again; America’s best athletes have once more voyaged far beyond seas to compete upon the international stage in behalf of our country, striving in honorable contest against the rival nations of the world to bring home the golden medallions and laurel crowns of the grand […]

  • In Ye Olden Times — Uncle Jab and the Waterford World’s Fair

    By Michael Davis BN Columnist Howdy neighbor! This past weekend, I had the pleasure of enjoying a day spent at the World’s Fair out to North Waterford, and let me tell you, while the whole world wasn’t necessarily in attendance, we made a pretty good showing at the very least. Now, I’ve been told the […]

  • In Ye Olden Times — A Community Fourth of July

    By Mike Davis BN Columnist Howdy neighbor! Our small town sure fills up for Independence Day, doesn’t it? Now, I don’t have any hard statistics for this year’s attendance numbers yet, though I’m sure someone somewhere in the town office is busy tabulating the data even now, but speaking just anecdotally, doesn’t it feel like […]

  • R.B. Hall Day — A Musical Gem

    By Mike Davis BN Columnist Howdy neighbor! What a fine summer season it’s working out to be here in Bridgton. My oh my, it seems every week there’s another great spread of events, concerts, and historic tours going on in the village, and of course this week, we go to press early on account of […]

  • Earth Notes — Artificial Unintelligence

    By Rev. Robert Plaisted Guest Columnist A guy walks into a bar and spots his friend sitting at a table. “Hey, Jim,” he calls. “Did you hear the news? Astronomers just found intelligent life on another planet!”  Jim looks puzzled and responds, “That’s funny. I didn’t know they’d found it on Earth yet.” This column […]

  • In Ye Olden Times: Memorial Day, 1877 & Today

    By Mike Davis BN Columnist Howdy neighbor! This past Memorial Day, it was my special honor and pleasure to contribute a short address to our American Legion Post 67’s annual Memorial Day observance at Farragut Park on North High Street. I want to thank the Post for inviting me to come and speak, and in […]

  • In Ye Olden Times: The Northern Lights

    By Michael Davis Guest Columnist Howdy neighbor! Some skies we’ve had this past week, eh? Certainly, one for the record books — more auroras sporting in the skies over Bridgton, and indeed all of Maine, than I’ve seen in my lifetime. Not since I was a boy have I seen anything even approaching the grand […]

  • Independent Thought: Thank God for good government

    By Rev. Robert Plaisted Guest Columnist Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” and said it “shall not perish from the earth.” He called our government “the last, best hope of earth.” Decades later, Benito Mussolini proclaimed, “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, because it is the merger […]

  • In Ye Olden Times — On the value of a small town newspaper

    By Michael Davis Columnist Howdy neighbor. Today, we’re talking about The News, and sadly I can’t sugarcoat things; it’s as our editor tells it in our past few numbers. Things are not all well down in the old office at Tannery Falls, not for a long time now, and if we’re not at the breaking […]