STILL LIFE: Trying out the new wheels

Gabe Sprague learns to ride his new bicycle that he got on his ninth birthday on Sunday as his stepfather Paul Gombos lends a hand along May Street in Waterville.

SNAPSHOT: Snow babies…and Grandma

Dawn Casey and her grandchildren Jace Bryan, center, and Jasmine Liberty went for a walk during Thursday’s snowstorm in Waterville. Casey said she took the day off from work to be with the kids on their day off from school. “We’re making the best of the day,” Casey said.

STILL LIFE: Freighted with maple goodness

Amish farmer Edward Kulp keeps a hold on buckets filled with maple sap as he and his horse Truzy and wagon descend a steep hill in a field off Ward Hill Road in Unity on Saturday. Kulp said the sap runs have been good so far, considering the early season.

STILL LIFE: Assume all ice is thin ice

A pickup truck remained partially submerged in Unity Pond Tuesday after it crashed through the ice on Sunday off Kanokolus Road in Unity. Waldo County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Curtis said at the scene that the truck is probably resting on the shallow bottom. Game warden Steve Couture says drivers are urged to be cautious, know the thickness of the ice and stay away from pressure ridges, seen above in the foreground, that can make ice unstable.

SNAPSHOT: Palmyra barn fire

The blackened remains of a barn are all that is left following an early morning fire at the Dena Worster residence on Route 2 in Palmyra on Monday. Worster said she did not know the cause of the fire. “When I came out and saw the fire, it looked like a scene from the ‘Gone with the Wind’ movie,” Worster said.

SNAPSHOT: Where there’s a will, there’s a way

The Rev. George Sadlo reads a religious book to children in the Thorndike Congregational Church Sunday school class as parishioners listen during a service held at the new Thorndike Town Office on Sunday. Services have been held at the office and in homes since the church burned in December. A new church will be built this year.

SNAPSHOT: Early start, early end

Claude Thomas of Unity checks on how the sap was running in one the buckets he tapped last weekend at the Reggie Heald farm in Troy. Thomas said the mild winter has meant an early start to tapping. He wanted to get started before any significant snow falls. Thomas predicted an early start and finish to the maple syrup season this year.

STILL LIFE: The flying 4-year-olds

STILL LIFE: Bridging the gap in Winslow

Workers with CPM Constructors erect one of two sets of support piers in front of an old pier at the new Mile Brook bridge on the Garland Road in Winslow on Tuesday. The $5.4 million bridge is scheduled to reopen this summer.

SNAPSHOT: It’s a dog’s life

Blake Richards hands a shiner to his father Keith as their dog Gage looks on while fishing in the Oakland Lions Club Children’s Ice Fishing Derby on Messalonskee Lake in Sidney on Sunday. Kids competed for prizes by ttring to catch the biggest fish in area lakes and ponds.