By Richard Lenfest

A heartfelt thank you

The families of Brianna Spaulding would like to thank all the people who attended the benefit dinner on Sept. 29 at the Belmont Town Office. Thank you to the Belmont Ladies Auxiliary who donated the food and the staff of the town office for use of the building. The dinner raised more than $1,000 for her medical care. Once again, thank you!

Ducktrap Valley weather

It took one month, July, to dry out the Ducktrap River watershed and two months of nearly normal rainfall (August and September) and one of excessive rainfall to bring the river back to close to normal level. October, to date, has brought 2.15 inches, 1 inch and this past weekend 2.95 inches for 6.1 inches total with the possibility of a windblown heavy rain on Sunday and Monday after this edition hits the street. The Dickey Mill Rip (rapids) is flowing once again with an audible roar where the former Mill Pond flows into the river. Three very frosty mornings in succession with past week with frost lingering on the roof until after 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The low temperature for this autumn season is 20 degrees on Saturday, Oct. 13.

While much closer to normal than 2011, it is nevertheless still above average by a fair amount. As of the last Bangor Daily News that I bought a couple of weeks ago, the heating degree day, the measure used by your fuel supplier, were running over 100 on the low side of the reading with an increase in that number likely since then. With fuel oil prices approaching $400 per 100 gallons this should be some help in the budget!