According to people who live in West Lebanon Village, the tree was posing no problem to anyone or anything, as far as they knew.  The family is very upset over this situation.  They have many, many memories which are now forever gone because of someone’s mistake?  You decide…………..

Thankfully, the owner and his family does have many photos from which they can remember the 100 year old beauty of this majestic monument…………………

It is a nice thing  what they are doing tomorrow remembering the civil war veterans, but what about our service men and women who ARE SERVING NOW and who have served in our armed forces in order to make this a wonderful and safe place to live.  When I got home I wrote Glen an email and gave him my idea and he said it was great feel free!!!!!

As you read this, feel free to respond  by writing your loved one down who served to protect us.  Make sure you send and make sure everyone can see it, if you would like to participate in this.  (Of course it is not mandatory that you do this)

I just thought it would be a nice gesture  to remember ALL of our loved ones who fought for us!!!!

HAVE A GREAT AND SAFE MEMORIAL DAY!!!!!!

Please include in your posting, the name of whom you want to remember, the branch of service (army, navy, air force) etc.  and if you wish conflict served in……

The ride will start in Portsmouth and travel down to Hampton NH and up along the New Hampshire and Maine coast ending in Ogunquit ME. I did the ride last year and raised nearly one thousand dollars! This years route is 56 miles

You make the donation and I will do the work!

Help put an end to Lung Disease. If you would like to ride with me or volunteer that would be great too!!

Here is my Online Donation Page ! http://www.breathenh.org/stadig

If you would prefer to right a check, let me know and I will stop by and pick it up.

I lost my father to lung cancer in 2007. I know many of you have also lost loved ones and have seen the effects of lung cancer, COPD, and other disorders , Every dollar helps this important cause!

Getting Ready to Start Out

I Made It!!

This website is for people to come and share their ideas and thoughts.  Not to bash anyone.  I only want good for this town and the citizens of it.  I know sometimes I get a little carried away and when I see that I apologize.  Glen is a wonderful person and this website is a very special place for all, so please forgive me if I have offended you.

You may print and complete the appropriate forms below…For more info contact Jessica Brewington at   jessdoitnow@metrocast.net or call the Lebanon Town Hall at (207) 457-6082

Family Application Form

Road Race Entry Form

Without going into what happened too much, we had some work done by a chimney contractor out of Shapleigh.  He did a horrible job and it was not fire safe after it was finished.  We have not been able to use our wood stove all winter, and finally we decided it was time to do something about it.  At first we called the Fire Marshall’s office in Sanford and he, in turn, called Skip Wood.  Within an hour Chief Wood was knocking at our door.  Chief Wood gave us some really good advise and told us what we should do next.

We thought we would share this with everyone, because I know there is so much controversary going on.  He also shared that he would call the forest person about the lovely stump wall down at the bottom of our driveway, lol.

I just think we all need to start helping each other up, instead of  putting each other down.  Maybe this would help us get some of the things done that the town needs done.  I remember the old saying “never look down on another unless your helping them up”!

Thanks so much Chief Wood, for your kind assistance and patience.

I am no lawyer, but I have just been through the procedures of foreclosure and wanted to give some vital information that people can pass on to others that you may know who are going through this horrific and sometimes scary procedure.

We received the papers from a sheriff in the middle of a big snow storm last year in January.  I kind of skimmed the first couple of pages.  It did say Summons from  District Court.  It also said you have 21 days to answer the Summons.  I was confused and scared and not sure where to turn.  We had two days left to answer that Summons.  Something in my gut told me I had better call the District Court to find out what to do.  (Don’t be afraid to call them.)  They are a wonderful bunch of  ladies who are willing to help you.  However, they cannot give legal advice, they can tell you what the steps are you need to take.

All of the forms you need are on the Pine Tree Legal Site.  You can print it out and fill it out.  We had it done in time.  Please note when you do this it stops all proceedings.  This should give you time to contact your mortgage company to try to work out a plan.  Our mortgage company was very willing to help us.  We did get a plan and have been paying for over a year.  We will be coming out of  foreclosure soon.

God Bless and prayers to everyone who is going through this.

We did all of this on our own, but I do suggest you get a lawyer.  We did contact Legal Aide for the Elderly and also there is Pine Tree Legal in Augusta.

I just wanted to share this because alot of people just give up and don’t do any more.  Don’t get discouraged and give up, there are people out there that are willing to help.

I am not bragging about coming out of foreclosure but only want to help….

We  looked long and hard for a law firm and found what we “thought” was a prestigious  firm in Wells, Me.  The lawyer who owned the firm was a prominent probate judge.  This, I might add, was in April of 2006, so it was NOT the probate judge who is serving now.   We made an appointment, which was set with an associate.  We were told we had an excellent case, an even better chance of winning it. The first step was to allow the attorneys to open an  “ECROW ACCOUNT”, to cover costs for experts, surveys, stump tallys, and other expenses.  For those of you who don’t understand what that is.  It’s simply, you write a check for the sum that the lawyer requests and they place in a bank, under their firm’s name. They asked us for $50,000 for this purpose, adding this money would only be touched if we authorized it.  Our escrow account actually was  a bank account, in the lawyers name, that he could dip into at will.  In a year or so,  he skillfully managed to  deplete our $50,000 to $17.90.   We found this incredible because, after 7  months of his representation, he switched us to a “contingency fund”, whereby legal representation would be based on a percentage of that amount awarded in the final  judgement. In early November of 2006, the judge who headed the law firm walked into our associate’s office and told her to “offer the Henderson’s contingency on their case, and petition the court to make me lead attorney. You’re supposed to be able to trust your lawyer.  We got billings but because we “DID” trust them we didn’t really check the escrow account.  When we finally did check it, we found that there were double billings, over billings,  expenses for consultations that were never conducted, and fees for lawyers that weren’t even on our case. There were payments to ”expert” witnesses who bailed out, etc.  Oh yes, let’s not forget, we paid for  mileage all over the state!  When all the money was gone, not only were they looking for MORE MONEY,  but they wanted to switch back to a “pay as you go” plan.  We had already mortaged our home to set up the escrow account, and would have a hard time financing this extra burden.  Additionally,we should add,  while all this was going on, our associate lawyer kept going missing every couple of weeks, and we couldn’t figure out what was happening to her.  She finally called us one evening, and said she was being escorted out of the firm’s office, under guard, and was no longer going to be working for this law firm.  Needless to say, we were shocked beyond words.  She offered to continue with our case on her own.  and honor the contingency plan. I truly believe she was seeing dollar signs.  It took her awhile, but  she did write a 14 count complaint outlining the actions of the defendants. Further, as of now, this probate judge is NO LONGER allowed to practice in Maine, after several reprimands and sanctions from the Maine Overseers of the Bar.  No wonder!!!!!   We asked our attorney if she, or the firm’s other attorneys had ANY dealings with the defendants, and were answered that although they knew of the defendants, there were NO instances that “would make any difference”..  Later we found out that the probate judge had handled  some pretty large litigations for these people in the Probate Court.  Surprised?  I”m not.   This whole thing was full of lies, deceipt, and omissions.

My husband’s family had never gotten a survey done.  There was no need to, back then.  We were told that we  needed a certified survey to prove our case.  The probate judge suggested a surveyor out of  Berwick, and low and behold, guess what,  a surveyor right here in the Lebanon area!!!  My husband decided to take the one out of Berwick because the Lebanon man was related to the defendants.  I do believe this was a plan that was conjured up by the probate judge, the defendants lawyers (yes, I said lawyers, because they had three different law firms and four to five lawyers representing them through out the case and trial) , and probably the defendants also.  Then we found out, sometime into the surveying,  that the defendant’s surveyor, and our surveyor, used to work together (we felt like we had been “set up”, no matter how we tried to avoid it..  In their surveyor’s sworn deposition she revealed our man had “called her and asked if she could HELP HIM OUT with his survey of our land”.  I do believe they collaborated, because the two surveys were so similar as to be identical.  We spent a total of over $7,000 on this erroneous survey.  The surveyor we hired wouldn’t agree with the documentation we provided him with, and sought  information from the opposing partie’s surveyor IN A BOUNDARY DISPUTE!!  He said there was a contradiction to what we claimed in the language of the deed, although he NEVER bothered to research back to when the original parcel of land was sold, or he would have seen that the seller had conveyed LAND SHE DIDN’T OWN to the buyer, thereby making the questionable language sound correct.  We ended up hiring another surveyor, from Portland, who did another survey, and recognized the ambiguity correctly.  He agreed with our findings.  When he put the survey up against the face of the earth, it fit perfectly.  I might add, when the defendant’s surveyor drew their rubber stamped survey, they had to spin it 3 times to make it fit on the surface of the earth.  That part,  though confusing, also made sense to me.  Our second survey, I might add, cost us another $9,000!!!!!  All and all, there were 4 surveys done, with none of the findings matching.  So NO ONE, other than our second surveyor and we ourselves, really knows where our boundary lines are. Certainly not the defendants, who presented the court with TWO similar deeds, one of which was  VERY UNSKILLFULLY, altered, to make it fit on the face of the earth.

The long and short of things is, that when we went to court, the judge ORDERED our second surveyor to say that he had NOT completed a survey.  I ask you why??????  The judge  would not allow this survey in evidence, nor did he  let any of our evidence, such as Town records of the tranfer of our land at the time the parcel was created, to even be mentioned because “it may be prejudicial to the defense”.  The defendant’s lawyer remarked that, “OUR EVIDENCE WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO HIS CLIENTS DEFENSE”.  GEE, I WONDER WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!  I ask you,  is what happened to us fair?  You be the  judge.

Lastly, the ONLY thing we wanted was to quiet the title to our 15 acres, to be compensated for  the trees cut and damages done to our land.  The many  ”mediations” that we went to, made it clear that the defendants were NOT going to even try to set things right…..  We were forced into taking action to protect was was rightfully ours.  The defendants said, “ their family owned OUR land for generations.  However my firm belief  is that they made up these lies, and repeated them for so long, that they believe it themselves.  I’ll never understand why they have to “CLAIM” other peoples land, when they already have so much……..or is that how they got SO MUCH???

Finally, our  lawyer, was deemed “MENTALLY INCOMPETENT” by the  Overseers of the Bar for the State of
Maine, three weeks after she tried our case. .  I am no psychiatrist, but it seems to me that one doesn’t become mentally ill overnight.  Nothing was said about this where our appeal was concerned.  The appeals court did not say anything  about it. They let our case languish on their appeals docket  for one year before they “got to it”.  Of course they affirmed the judge’s decision  and we lost the appeal.  The old addage,” Money talks and BS walks”, is so absolutely true.  When it came down to the court process, the tables were turned. We were treated like we were doing something  awful to these poor, poor people.  NOT!!!…..This truly happened, and we can prove it, with documentation that hasn’t been ALTERED” !!  So, if you are thinking of sueing someone because you can’t get  justice, DON”T DO IT IN THE MAINE COURTS…………………

It  just goes on and on, seemingly without end.  All we ever wanted was to live peacefully in our little Cape Cod in the woods. That, and the rights of  life, liberty and pursuit of happiness (which I guess the defendants feel are only for them, and on our dime).  That is our right as stated in the Constitution of the United States, and we’re still fighting for it!

This is the story of what happened to us and I wanted to thank Glen for letting my husband and I share this with everyone.  I know people are shaking their heads at disbelief, but it is the truth and nothing but the truth so help us God…….

We learned  in a deposition from one of the defendants, that in 1973 they “HELPED O’Donnell Surveyors establish their boundary lines”.  Why didn’t SOMEONE contact my husband’s family back then, and say there was a problem?  A phone call from any one of the defendants, or a letter, perhaps some notice from Lebanon’s municipal government, would have saved much time and litigation. But then, there were still still too many people who were alive and could tell the truth. There didn’t seem to be any question as to who owned the 15 acre parcel for the preceding eleven years, or to who the tax bills were sent. Could that be because the primary parties to the transfer of the 15 acres WERE STILL ALIVE, and could corroborate what was sold? Why for almost 50 years did my husband’s family pay taxes on 15 acres of land? Not until wood was cut on almost 12 acres of land that we own, and we tried desperately to stop them, was ANYTHING said about O’Donnell Surveyors.  Why did they cut the wood on what they THOUGHT was their land and we KNOW is our land?  The explanation in one defendants deposition was the wood was “HANDY”!  So watch out,  this logger might come onto your land, and cut your timber because “It was HANDY, too”!!!

So you see why we are steadfast in our anger and resolve over behavior of the defendants that can only be characterized as atrocious?  People need to know that it is not JUST town government that needs to be better.  It’s the unethical and unlawful things that go on all over this town that need to be stopped.  It has been going on for years and years, or “Generations and generations”, as the defendants seem to like to put it.

There is not much more that we can do now, except to go public and tell all of our story. What better place than here for all the citizens and interested parties to see?  This family continues to acquire land, not only here in Lebanon, but in many of the surrounding towns. What keeps sticking in my mind is, why do they want OUR land.  I will tell you why.  It almost completes a large block of several thousand acres around us. Maybe those few independent landowners here should check their deeds and surveys? In the will for these defendants land they can start to develop it in January of 2010.  Guess what!!! It’s now February of 2010.   Parts of this several thousand  (or so) acres is in tree growth, (supposedly)!!  I can tell you that ever since last year you could hear logging equipment up near the Acton line.  What do you suppose they were doing?   I don’t want to even hazard a guess, but I’ll bet it wasn’t roasting marshmallows.

How much truth there is to the defendant’s rumors saying, ”The Henderson’s are expanding their land holdings”, or another, “This whole mess is the town’s fault”, is not only completely untrue, but actually laughable.

So you may ask, ”Are we are sore losers”?  Not by a long shot,  outraged is more like it.  Are we hurt at how the State of Maine thought this was such a trivial matter?  You betcha.  You know the old saying “Money Talks,” and so on  and so on?  It sure does.  Don’t think for one minute that this couldn’t happen to you.  Because it can.

I am writing this because as of today January 28, 2010, our battle to save our land has come to an end.  Come to an end as far as the Appeals Court is concerned, that is.  We have been in and out of Court since 2006, spending an astronomical amount of money that we had to get a mortgage to pursue.  We put everything “on the line” to save our land and my husband’s inheritance, but to no avail.

It doesn’t matter that my husband’s family had paid taxes on 15 +/- acres of land since 1961.  It doesn’t matter that we have a legal real estate binder (bill of sale), or that the Town Evaluation  books proved we own the land.  It only proves to me, all that  matters is how much money you have,  how your case is presented, and who you know as to whether or not you get to keep your own property.  It also proves to me that  unethical presentation of the facts will win your case, no matter how big the lies or how much of the truth you leave out.

My heart is sick and greiving for my husband.  He was suppose to be able to live on this land in peace and harmony until he passed away.  It has been nothing but turmoil even before I moved here in 2001.   We have been intimidated with  lethal weapons and harassed to the point of applying and getting a restraining order, each time calling the police, not that they did anything .  Writing to the selectmen only fell on deaf ears.

These people who abut our property, although they have enough land of their own,  go through these measures, ever taking more, any way they can. They have almost 50 “boundary agreements” over the past 30 years. I know of very few of these other landowners who were satisfied with the outcome of these negotiations. My husband’s family has done nothing to them, except try to live their lives by doing the right things.

GREED is a powerful sin.  This is a message to the people who did this to us.  It is not over until the fat lady sings and I have not SUNG, or SUNK yet.

Plese know I am telling the absolute truth.  If you want to know more please feel free to email us.

Some of our selectmen know very well who the intruders are and have condoned this type of behavior for years and years.  You wonder why our  once beautiful town is in the sad state of affairs that it is?  Just think about it.  If they don’t say anything about the land grabbing deals, or buying property up for back taxes, do you really think they should be in office now?????

Remember, Judge Judy, Judge Wapner, and Mignion, Joe Brown, and Judge Mathias might stand up for justice on T.V. where thousands of people are watching,  but Maine’s  Courts  of today, have no such constraints…….

First of all, I truly do love Lebanon and have met some wonderful people here.  I know that I have been somewhat harsh towards the Town’s employees and wanted to say that in no way do I feel that way about ALL of the Town’s employees.  Most of them work very hard to make  Lebanon a beautiful place to live.

I hope no one has taken offense to what I have said in my posts and if you have I do apologize.  Thank you for letting me share my thoughts.

To some present board members this is complaining about nothing. Several years ago I worked for the town of Lebanon and several employees were talking about an elderly lady that our road commissioner and town crew had done a private job for. Talking with the employees I was told the town actually paid for the cost for all the equipment and labor involved while the commissioner and a sub-contractor (for the town) pocketed the money the lady paid them.

After hearing this story my wife and I went to visit the lady to get the details of what happened. She explained to us how she had hired the commissioner privately to fix her driveway and the job  was done by him and a bunch of men. Unknown to her this was the town crew. The material used to do the job came from a junkyard which contained glass,metal,oil,etc. and was washing down into her well which she called the commissioner on to fix the problem. This went on deaf ears.

Talking with this lady was in the winter time and she had all her rooms of her house blocked off because she couldn’t afford heat for the whole house. She explained how she had no money for food and was barely scraping to get by.After leaving my wife went shopping and filled boxes of food and delivered to her to helpout. To make a very long story short I collected all the information to provide our selectmen (timesheets, signed affidavits, pictures,etc.) and presented it to them. Their response was it was a personal matter and to drop it.

Fearing retrobution from some individuals involved she moved out of state and sold her house. This is when I called the D.A. and explained what was happening in town. Shortly thereafter our road commissioner resigned due to health reasons followed by two selectmen with the same health issues. The last selectmen opted not to seek reelection. All this information is located with my attorney for verification.

Would you turn the other way if you found out a situation like this??

Would you want someone to stand up for your mother or grandmother??

Call me a bitcher or a complainer as one of our present selectman has repeatedly done (which was involved with this and made a REMARKABLE recovery from his health issues) but when I see misuse of our tax money I will make the town aware of what’s happening!! Unfortunately, I can’t stand on the sidelines and watch as people struggle in this bad economy and our tax money is wasted. Thank you for reading and remember it’s your money.

Posted on Behalf of Chris Gilpatrick…

I am not too happy… For some reason at 2:30 pm in the afternoon I only have had a plow go by my house once, at 1:00 pm. I thought it would be right back…. According to a neighborhood kid and my UPS guy (and I could also ask the mail lady) this is only in front of my house and the dead end part of Kennebec Drive.  I did try to call the Town Offices but they are not open and have no emergency information. Called the York County Sheriff they passed me off to the State Police who gave me the “TownBarn/Road Commissioners Office” where I only got a message machine. Finally called Ray Davis’s home and left a message with his wife of the situation. It is now 3:15 pm and I cannot wait to see how long it takes to get my road plowed.

Photo Of Unplowed Road

Has this happened to anyone else? or am I just being paranoid?

This would not bother me except I live in a neighborhood where there are a lot of elderly people, small children and several disabled people. If I am being “punished” for being politically active so be it, but do not put the safety of my neighbors on the line.

Another Example Of Road

Posted on Behalf of Corrina Cole

Jenn

Jennifer Griffin
Town of Lebanon Planning Board Clerk

First of all, most  of the lawyers know or at least are acquainted with each other.  As a client,  you really don’t  know what’s going on between them.   There is very  little client confidentiality in Maine.  We were amazed when we finally got ALL of our files back from one of our attorneys.  Which by the way, right after our trial was over, was found mentally incompetent by the  Supreme Court.

It was a very long and tedious ordeal.  We hired a lawyer and paid big bucks to handle our case, then  she asked my husband to do most of the research  (He is not a lawyer or anything of that nature).  She made it out to be a big case, and continued to take more  money from us,  all the way up to the day the trial was suppose to begin. Before hand the courts  tried to get us to settle our case with several mediation meetings.  We were willing to listen to what the defendants were offering, but they were being completely unreasonable, forcing us to go to the Courts.  After much research, we believe the defendants have used this method to acquire other properties in our Town.

Our trial was a laugh.  It was one-sided  and  pathetic. Thanks to a judge that seemed biased to the defense, most of our evidence thrown out, and witnesses testimony discounted  (talk about backroom politics!). One of our lawyers told us to “ Be prepared to loose”.  She said that, ” What is the truth and what is allowed by Maine State Law isn’t always the same thing.”  Was she ever right!  It was truly heartbreaking.  When you have paid taxes on your land for 50 years, and someone comes along one day and tells you that you really don’t own what you thought you did, what do you do?  Turn to the Town?  Nope, they are exempt and can only help you for two years prior.  You turn to the Courts and lawyers thinking that they will help you, and be fair and just.  But don’t believe that  for one second.  They are the least likely to do the right thing.  Its all about money, power, and who you know in our society, and that is truly, truly sad.

We are still plugging away at this ordeal, four years later.  We are in appeal and won’t give up our fight to save what we know is ours.  So we thought it wise  to remain anonymous on this website.  We wanted to tell some of our story.

Take my word for it, please don’t give up the fight to do what is right here in Lebanon.  We need to make things better here so that others don’t have to suffer the same ordeal as we did. And just to let you know, Dear Reader, we DID have incontrovertible  proof,  in the Town’s Evaluation Books, that we do own exactly what we claim to own!

We are not telling you this true story for sympathy or notarity.  We are telling it because we truly want to make Lebanon a better place to live.  This kind of thing has been happening for generations and generations………

There are things in our Town government that seem to need improvement, but what is appauling to me is that the Town does NOT like it when our citizens, who are in trouble and NEED help, go to the Town for assistance.  I have had many people come to me and say they are disgusted with this situation,  that they went to the Town to get help and were treated very disrespectfully. They were put through a degrading process of  questioning that made them feel worse than having to request asking for that assistance.  They didn’t mind the questioning as much as  how the questioning was conducted.  By the time they were done, these people were so upset that they would rather suffer then ask  the town to help them.  What is wrong with this picture?

WE need someone in our Town office to handle these cases with compassion and caring, not someone who has a thumping gizzard for a heart.  I don’t mean to sound so harsh, but times have changed and we have been going through a recession. Our people, who try to do the next right thing, are penalized for it.

It’s just one of the many areas in our Town government that need to be made better.   You have a selectman tell you that you should apply for general assistance. You think all will be well. But, you go to the Town and are treated like a second class citizen, that’s just heartbreaking.  What is wrong with this Picture?

Please share your thoughts on this.  I guess my heart just goes out to the people who don’t try take advantage of our Town, and who work hard to make an HONEST place in the world for themselves and their families.

Although it doesn’t seem to be the most important problem we are having here,  none the less, it is a major  problem.  Surely this case is an exception, that only rarely happens?  Actually, this is becoming an ongoing problem in Lebanon. We know of at least 4 families right now that are dealing with, or have dealt with this situation, and have proof of over 40 other cases involving the same abutters seeking “boundary agreements”  with land owners  who don’t own what they thought they did for years.

Our family has put everything on the line to save what is near and dear to us.  We have almost lost the home we  live in  trying to save our property which we have been paying taxes on since the early 1960s.  Our health issues have become severe and it has taken a toll, both physically and psychologically.

You may ask,” Why doesn’t the Town step in and help in these situations, whether or not they are responsible?”  The answer is the Town is exempt through  the laws of Maine.

The older deeds are very vague, and whether through an irresponsible surveyor who doesn’t do “all”  the research, or a fast talking attorney,  it seems that this is  becoming a way of  life for some in Lebanon –  to enhance ones financial gains by manipulating the laws or just plain strong arm tactics.  There is more than one family who are trying this measure of self gain.  Isn’t anything sacred here in Lebanon?  What would you do?

Glen has done a wonderful job in setting up this website and Corinna by setting up the Round Table, but we can’t do it alone.  We need you guys, each and every one of you.  No matter what you have to say, it could make a difference in our community, and  a better way of  life for us all.

As President Obama says “Yes We Can”.  Glen, I hope you don’t mind me writing this I am just so excited about your website.

Thanks so much.