Sixty-six years is not that long when talking about history. It was that long ago that Redbank Village was built and also had a form of self government, surprisingly enough. Today, I have read a few articles concerning surrounding drug busts in various parts of the greater Portland, Maine area. It is always the same story. The police can only do so much to curb this activity. They are asking people to get involved in their communities. The communities are disengaged with what is actually happening in the house next door. Both parents work full time, and kids have responsibilities such as schoolwork, jobs, and sports. Our communities become who we meet regularly. If your kid is on the hockey team, you know the parents. You become a volunteer of sorts to help transport kids to practice, to help with hockey bingo, to help assist with ice time. Your community is not necessarily those who live next door. To gain control of your community, you must invest in your community and become an engaged participant in making it a nice neighborhood. I would like to write about the earliest days of Redbank Village and what life was like in a community where there were approximately 900 kids on a 200 acre piece of land.
         First, I would like to thank Scott Irving for all the research he has done to find these early Redbank articles on microfilm at the library. It is a difficult and tiresome task. Without his work, undoubtedly, I would most likely not have any early material regarding Redbank for some time.
         The following story is taken from a newspaper article dated April 11th, 1948 published in the Portland Sunday Telegram. The story, ‘Redbank Village is Typical of American Resourcefulness’, written by Paul Porter was full of interesting info about the earliest days of Redbank. Built in 1942, by the US Government to house the thousands of families that relocated from all over New England to the area mostly shipyard workers and military personnel. When Redbank was built, the shipyard was at its height of activity, but when this story was written, the activity had died at the shipyard. When the site was chosen to build Redbank, it was described as ‘being on a long stretch of barren land on Westbrook Street, South Portland, near the edge of an ice pond surrounding land known as the Phinney Farm.’  Imagine if you will, a place where there was so much mud, in an area that was cut off from the rest of the city. It was as if there was not anything nearby for a couple of miles. As a result, self sufficiency was of most importance, and bonds developed between families. These bonds between neighbors happened because they needed each other to live day to day. There was not much activity in that part of the city, a very rural area. It was a little city unto itself. See http://www.redbankstreets.com under Vintage Photos to see early snapshots of the village. 
          The tenants had to contend with many difficulties. The mud was a major problem as no streets were paved and there was no grass. There was no bus service, no school and there were no stores. Many of the homes were not even equipped with clothesline poles. Paul Porter writes that is was a common site to see people shuffling back and forth to the village on Friday and Saturday nights carrying a box of groceries across their shoulders, as the nearest store was more that one mile away. Of interest to me was that many children trekked back and forth to school which was a two mile walk EACH WAY. As a result, many parents did not want their children walking to school and many lost a year of schooling, which resulted in many staying back a grade. In January 1943, bus service came to Redbank and a school was being built. One tenant, John McCarthy, told of scrap lumber from the construction of the dwellings, being dumped in an empty lot in the village. Many a child was sent to the scrap pile to bring home wood, which helped keep the homes warm.
         In 1948, Redbank had 302 four room homes, 48 three room homes and 150 five room homes. It had a very nice playground, a community hall, which was filled with activities and a few businesses on the edge of the village. There was a meat and grocery store, a barber shop, a handy store, and a filling station. The residents included lawyers, musicians, tradesmen, teachers, factory workers, military personnel, newspapermen, athletes and nearly every occupation imaginable. The article stated that everyone was either a veteran or former war workers. It was said that the turnover was nearly 115 families per year. At the time of the article, there were 317 Veterans, 17 servicemen and 164 former war workers.
         The community hall was seldom empty as activities prevailed day and night. It was the center of Redbank’s social life. Movies were shown there as well as talent shows. Many outside entertainers came to Redbank and performed on the stage there. Nursery school was held there for many years. There were whist & bridge parties for the adults. Scout meetings, beano, men and women’s clubs and religious services were held at the Redbank Community Hall. Henry Clay managed the Village.
         The school as I knew it, shaped like a squared letter “U”, was more like a letter “L” as it did not have the last wing added until the 1950’s. There were 400 pupils there who attended K-8. 
         Redbank’s Tenant Council and the Management worked together to provide the best services for the residents and the best for the children. The form of self government was perhaps the most interesting aspect of this article, in my belief. The tenant’s council consisted of 15 members. They were elected by the residents to fill a two year term. Eight were elected one year and the following year, seven were elected, and it alternated. The council’s duties were to better the community by appointing various committees to deal with social, athletic, housing, education and health concerns. There was also a committee formed to study the government’s proposed sale of Redbank, named the Disposition Committee, always keeping the interests of the residents close to heart. 
        With 900 children, Juvenile delinquency was a concern, so the committees in the village worked on ‘creating proper and supervised diversions’. Of interest, were the village’s voluntary policemen. There was also a Junior Tenant’s Council, consisting of boys and girls over age ten, who would become involved in learning how the community government worked. They also learned parliamentary procedure. This council also recommended punishment for juvenile offenders, who were reprimanded by the voluntary policemen in the village. So it seems Redbank even had its own newspaper at one time to keep residents connected and informed. Rents at the time of the article [1948] were approximately between 33-37 dollars per month.
        Lastly, having recently read an article by Mike Mack in the Lakes Region Weekly, dated Friday, March 21st, 2008, I would like to comment on his column entitled, “INVOLUNTEERISM’ He writes about his opposition regarding mandatory community service as a requirement to graduate from High School. He argues that families are already strapped for time with all the commitments they have, with athletic events, school, work etc. Although it is a nice gesture, don’t folks already give when there is a need in the community? I can understand his point, but I wonder where to draw the line. I cannot give monetary donations to worthy causes, but I can give some of my time at times. My sister values her time, so she would rather give a monetary donation. Presently I volunteer at least 12 hours per week. I still know what life was like many years ago as a result of  transcribing family diaries from the 1800’s, much like early Redbank…..they did what they had to do to survive. Life in the 1800’s was difficult enough without having to do everything yourself. Why a barn burned and within weeks, neighbors were raising a new barn all together. They stopped their own work on their farms to help build a new barn. Their survival depended on it, so that is why so many seemed to be neighborly. When your neighbor went ill, you took over his farm chores. There were early social groups who gathered at homes monthly and made clothing, and canned food for the poor in their communities. There were poorhouses that housed the homeless. I read many accounts in the city reports of the poorhouse. Many times, residents were sent back home to their town of origin at the taxpayers expense. Self government works, but  people need to become involved and engaged in their communities. They have to care.