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2023 HUNGER TREES FUNDRAISER

Dear Friends, Neighbors and the Paris Hill Community: 

As we all come together in the Christmas spirit and celebrate another beautiful year on  Paris Hill, we all have wonderful memories for which to be thankful. However, this has  been and will continue to be a difficult year and winter for so many families in our area.  There will be so many families wondering how to put food on their tables, buy warm clothes for their children and heat their homes. So in the true meaning of Christmas,  perhaps we can all dig a little deeper and offer comfort to those families who ask for so  little but need the very basics of a hot meal, warm clothing, and oil for their furnace.  

I’ve been busy creating the “2023 Hunger Trees” from a newly found source of  cardboard cones. All proceeds from the sale of the “2023 Hunger Trees” will benefit the  food pantry sponsored by and located at Stephen’s Memorial Hospital in conjunction  with Maine Health and the Good Shepherd Food Pantry. The director of the Stephen’s  Food Pantry, Carl Costanzi, assured me that the donations will go directly to purchasing  needed items for residents of our local communities. Mr. Costanzi was very grateful for this donation effort on behalf of the Paris Hill community.  

The Hunger Trees will be available at Becky and Peter Roy’s Christmas Tree farm or by  emailing Linda Richardson at cozycider@gmail.com. There is only one size tree this  year and they are $20.00. Supplies are limited. If you would like to make a donation and  not receive a tree that is also possible. My goal is a $500.00 donation to the Stephen’s  Memorial Food Pantry. Make checks payable to: Stephen’s Memorial Hospital and write  Food Pantry on the note line. Together a few can feed many.  

My heart breaks when I think of ‘what could’ be or ‘should be’ and ‘what is’ for so many  families trying to provide for their children. Let’s make the true meaning of Christmas  shine in our community.  

My Christmas Blessings to all: 

Linda Richardson

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are a community of neighbors, friends, families,   children, volunteers, business men and women, entrepreneurs, artists, writers and retirees…did I leave anyone out. However,  for as long as I can remember, Paris Hill has always had a unique way of bringing people together. Whether old or new to the area, in my case very old having grown up on the Hill and my ancestral history, everyone seems to find their niche and settles into the Hill’s peaceful lifestyle.

Other than Native Americans, Paris Hill was founded by outsiders who came from a Massachusetts colony. Throughout the years, decades and centuries ‘settlers’ have traveled here and made Paris Hill their home. Many of the original buildings remain although some have been repurposed from county municipal buildings into generational family homes. Some have been lost to fire or decay and others have sprung up out of the ashes. Families and names have come and gone but a true community spirit remains. A handful of original buildings and homes have  survived to remind us of those who came before and insure that generations to come will enjoy the peace and tranquility of this exceptional historic village. 

This past winter we lost our 200 year old pasture pine that graced our back field. I’ve seen photographs of it when it was slightly more than a sapling. I would gaze upon it from my kitchen window and envision the memories of the past two hundred years held in its branches. It survived two house fires on the corner lot of Lincoln and Paris Hill roads as well as many severe blizzards,  summer droughts, the occasional tornado and the scourge of the white pine weevil infestation. A testament to the survival of this centuries old beautiful village we all call home. Many of us have left the confines of this village looking to embark on our life’s journey only to return ‘home’ to live out our days enjoying the cherished peacefulness of Paris Hill. 

We go out of our way to welcome newcomers, rekindle old friendships, mend differences, embrace challenges and support our community. We take care of one another, running errands for  an elderly neighbor, being quick to lend a helping hand, shovel snow, mow a lawn, walk a dog or just watch a neighbors house while they are away. But most of all we are dedicated to preserving this village we call home. 

We come together for community dinners, holiday breakfasts, fairs, entertainment and celebrations of all kinds. We lower the flag on the Common when a neighbor passes away and welcome the births of the next generation. Everyone shares their hidden talents and their hopes for a bright future we can all appreciate. 

Some of us are walkers, runners, bikers and some of us are just porch sitters. We wave, chat, engage, share a story, offer an invitation and sometimes just try to figure out who walked past our house. Seems many ‘outsiders’ like to partake of our serene environment. People feel safe walking around the Hill and enjoy the beauty at every turn: the old houses, gardens, mountains, sunsets and occasional rainbows. 

Late at night I fall asleep to the solemn ring of the church bell and train whistle in the distance. It’s a lullaby I’ve experienced most of my life and has washed over this community for centuries. 

So as you go about your day and prepare for the holidays take time to enjoy the peacefulness that surrounds you and be mindful of the treasures God has bestowed on our small community. As fall transitions into winter yet again, we accept the falling leaves, the inevitable snowstorms, piercing cold, bare landscape and brisk moonlit nights. We huddle in our homes by the fire and relive summer’s memories. Some neighbors have closed up their summer homes and  left for warmer temperatures. The rest of us hunker down and count our blessings by the hearth with family and friends. 

‘HAPPY THANKSGIVING’ to all my friends and neighbors who help make this community so very special. And a very special thank you to all of you who support my fundraising projects throughout the year.

Linda Richardson

Summer BBQ this Weekend!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and got to check out some of the Founders Day festivities!

We wanted to make sure everyone saw the BBQ invite for this coming weekend! We hope to see a lot of neighbors (adults and kids) there! We will have lawn games, music and BBQ on the Academy lawn. This is our first Saturday BBQ and we hope to make it an annual tradition! If you can rsvp it would help with a head count for food!

Not only is it a great opportunity to meet or chat with your neighbors, all proceeds support the upkeep of the Academy building.

There’s a number of historic public buildings on Paris Hill and non-profits support their upkeep and maintenance – with neighbors volunteering to support. Should you be interested in helping out with any of them, please reach out online via the contact page or at the BBQ, and we will happily help get you as involved as you’d like to be!

Hope to see you all on Saturday!

Paris Hill Village Yard Sale!

Saturday, June 25th is the first Paris Hill Village yard sale from 9am-4pm! We are looking forward to nice weather and a good turnout – with over 2 dozen houses participating in the sale.

There will be increased traffic on the hill on Saturday, so please be cautious with kiddos and walks. The Paris Police are going to swing through occasionally to check on things as well.

Thanks to all participating and helping – and for any donations you choose to send to the community club for the promotion and organization of this event. This event is funding additional repairs to the historic Academy building so we can make more use of it throughout the year as a community resource. Also new this year, we hope to host some rentals of the building to help offset the maintenance and upkeep costs in future years. Should you be interested in renting the Paris Hill Academy building for your event, please click here.

Welcome to the new Paris Hill Community Website

Welcome fellow neighbors!

After 12+ years of publishing the On the Hill newsletter, Janet Brogan has decided it is time change things for the better.  We have a mailing list of over 200 residents, and others who love our village, and the newsletter has a been a valuable way to communicate, share stories and events. We believe moving to a dedicated website with more frequent, interactive and dynamic content will help us tell the history and happenings on our village more easily!

A huge thank you to Janet Brogan and all the newsletter contributors who supported the On The Hill newsletter for the last 12+ years!

While the format is changing from the print newsletter to this new website, Janet is staying onboard as an editor and coordinator for news and features going forward.

Should you still want a print copy, we will be sending monthly copies to those who request, as well as posting in the Historical Society display box for viewing each month. The Hamlin Memorial Library is also making available their computers and wifi for access to the site.

Introducing ParisHill.org

As part of the transition to this website we wanted to offer a central place for all Paris Hill organizations, events, notices, news, galleries, links and contacts. These sections make up the menu at the top of the page on mobile devices, or the left sidebar on desktops. When new features and news are posted, emails with links will go to the newsletter and facebook, and the ParisHill.org site will always have the latest information.

Organizations
Each organization has their own page with contact information, history, uses, nonprofits involved, events, news and links. You can view these pages in the Organizations menu, or directly at each link; Hamlin Memorial Library & Museum, Paris Hill Academy, Paris Hill Baptist Church, Paris Hill Country Club and the Paris Hill Historical Society.

Events
In addition to the new organization pages, we wanted a centralized event calendar to capture the many events that happen each summer (and some in winter!) We have over a dozen events this year, including the summer suppers returning, Hannibal Hamlin’s Birthday, the Music Festival, the (43rd annual) Founders Day and more! Details for each are in the events section of this site and updated regularly. We will also continue to promote the same events on our Paris Hill Residents group and the public Paris Hill Historic District facebook page for public events.

There are no events

Notices, Links and Galleries
In addition to events, we have notices – which are brief community notices such as power and water outages, MSAD 17 budget meetings, and other things our community may find of use. There is also a community links section which includes links to local resources like the Town of Paris resources and the Utility District. Also new, a Gallery section containing photo galleries from events and happenings around the hill. Expect to see a lot more galleries soon!

News and Features
We’re most excited to begin to have more frequent and visual News and Features content, starting with stories and spring updates from each organization. We’re also planning more frequent stories contributed by writers who are interested in documenting the history of the Paris Hill community! Some great feature ideas Janet Brogan suggested include the Mt Mica Mine, Cooper Springs, the Cornwall Preserve, the Lost Buildings of Paris Hill, and the Little buildings of Paris Hill. Please volunteer if interested in helping write or contribute to a feature!

We realize there may be some hiccups during this transition, so please stay engaged and feel free to reach out anytime with questions, issues or corrections. We’re planning a support session as part of our June summer dinner, if anyone has any questions or needs help navigating the site. We’re also delivering a printed “Community Invite for Summer 2022” to everyone in the coming week. We’ll also be using that to promote this new website and make sure after such a long winter (or two, or three!) new residents are aware of all the events, historical buildings and organizations that support them in our community.

Most importantly, we hope that you will continue to stay engaged with our community after we come out of a much longer than usual winter hibernation. See you out walking as the temperatures warm and yard work calls, and hopefully at some of the many events planned this summer!