Nutrient management for high tunnels to be presented

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High tunnels provide many benefits to farmers and gardeners but provide challenges for managing soil nutrients. (Photo courtesy of USDA-NRCS)

by Hildy Ellis

A presentation on Nutrient Management for High Tunnels will be held Thursday, October 24 from 5 – 6:30 p.m., at Sheepscot General Farm & Store, 98 Town House Road, in Whitefield, the first of two fall programs in the Knox-Lincoln Farmer and Gardener Workshop Series. Bruce Hoskins, University of Maine Soil Testing Program Coordinator, will discuss high tunnel soil testing at the University of Maine and how the lab addresses the specialized management concerns of this unique growing environment.

High tunnels – or unheated hoop houses – provide many benefits to farmers and gardeners in terms of heat gain, season extension and control of foliar diseases. However, these covered growing spaces provide challenges for managing soil nutrients. The combination of high temperatures inside the high tunnel and the need for water to be supplied only by irrigation creates what is essentially an irrigated desert, which over time results in nutrient salt build up and soil stratification.

Hoskins will discuss how to manage nutrients to compensate for these conditions and the much greater nutrient demand on these soils. This free talk is co-sponsored by Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District, Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Midcoast Farmers Alliance.

FMI and to register for this free program contact julie@knox-lincoln.org, 596-2040 or visit www.knox-lincoln.org/farmer-gardener.

Skowhegan’s annual trunk or treat

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The annual Trunk or Treat, sponsored by Skowhegan Savings Bank, will take place on Saturday, October 26, at the bank’s lower parking lot.

Residents, businesses and community groups are encouraged to participate. Children will come in costume and travel from trunk to trunk in front of the hall for treats that will be handed out at each vehicle. Everyone is encouraged to decorate their trunk and a prize will be given to the best decorated trunk. We ask that trunk themes are family friendly.

This event is free of charge. Please contact us asap for the registration form and information. Registration for this event is coming soon.

Halloween Party
Friday, October 25, 9 p.m.
Southside Tavern

Haunted House
Friday, October 26, 5 p.m.
Saturday, October 26, 5 p.m.
Sunday, October 26, 5 p.m.
Somerset Lodge #34 AF & AM – Skowhegan

Kid-Friendly Haunted House
Saturday, October 26, noon
Skowhegan Community Center

Haunted Circus
Saturday, October 26, 6 p.m.
Skowhegan Community Center

T&B’s Halloween Bash
Saturday, October 26, 9 p.m.
T&B’s Celebration Center

Trunk or Treat and Halloween Dance
Saturday, October 26, 4 p.m.
Cornville Regional Charter School – Cornville Campus

Ghost Hunt
Saturday, October 26, 7 p.m. – 12 a.m.
Skowhegan Free Public Library

Boo Bowl
Tuesday, October 29, 5:30 p.m.
Central Maine Family Fun Bowling Center

Costume Kickball
Wednesday, October 30, 4:30 p.m.
Memorial Field (end of East Maple Street)

Tessier Farm Halloween
Thursday, October 31, 4-7 p.m.
Tessier Farm

Madison Annual Trunk or Treat
Thursday, October 31, 5-7 p.m.
Main Street Park and Playground

Norridgewock Annual Trunk or Treat
Thursday, October 31, 5:30-7 p.m.
Quimby Child Care Center

Dog Walk Costume Contest
Thursday, October 31, 5 p.m.
Coburn Park

Trick or Treating
Thursday, October 31, 6-8 p.m.
Redington Memorial Home.

Halloween Farm Fete October 27

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Photo: Pumpkin Vine Family Farm

What better place to celebrate Halloween than on a farm? Join us at the Halloween Farm Fete at Pumpkin Vine Family Farm, in Somerville, on Sunday, October 27, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Come in costume or slip into a straw hat and overalls at our funny farmer photo booth. The first 20 children get to decorate a free mini pumpkin; every child gets a free dancing gourd. Play our pumpkin games, including relay races, ring toss, and tic tac toe. Make an acorn pumpkin and a mini witches broom. Have a masterpiece at home? Enter it in our contest! meat, dairy, baked goods – and Yes! we still have carving pumpkins!

The farm is located at 217 Hewett Rd., in Somerville; please email info@pumpkinvinefamilyfarm.com or call Kelly at (207) 549-3096 for more information. This is a weather dependent event – in case of rain, please call 549-5089 to find out if it’s been canceled.

Fundraiser for McCormack’s employees coming this Saturday, October 26, to Winslow Congregational Church

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photo: McCormack Facebook page

Delicious $5 take-out soup-and-bread lunch will support McCormack Building Supply employees impacted by the recent devastating fire

Winslow Congregational Church will host a delectable take-out soup-and-bread lunch to raise money for McCormack’s Building Supply employees impacted by the recent devastating fire. The take-out lunch will be held at the church, located at 12 Lithgow Street, in Winslow, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 26. Cost of your take-out soup-and-bread lunch is just $5, with all proceeds going directly to McCormack’s employees, to help them address financial challenges brought on by the fire.

Please consider helping McCormack’s employees as you enjoy a yummy take-out lunch!

Mark your calendar now!

For more information, please visit www.WinslowUCC.org.

Vassalboro public works director cited for service

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Vassalboro Public Works Director Eugene Field (Photo by Mary Sabins)

At the October 3 meeting of the Maine Chapter of the American Public Works Association, in Bangor, at the Maine Municipal Association Convention, Vassalboro Public Works Director Eugene Field was presented with the 2018 Public Works Leader of the Year Award. Gene was chosen after nomination by the Vassalboro Selectmen and the Town Manager for his nearly 40 years of dedicated and commendable service to the residents of the town of Vassalboro.

Northern Light Inland Hospital initiates innovative solution to ensure food bank access

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Northern Light Inland Hospital is responding to the problem with an innovative solution to ensure access to food banks for patients who do not have dependable transportation.

Nearly one in six households in Kennebec County lacks enough food to maintain healthy, active lifestyles for all household members. Nutritious food is available, yet many families can’t access the food because they don’t have transportation to a food bank. Northern Light Inland Hospital is responding to the problem with an innovative solution to ensure access to food banks for patients who do not have de­pendable transportation.

The new transportation initiative, funded by a John T. Gorman Foundation grant, builds on an existing partnership between Northern Light Inland Hospital and Good Shepherd Food Bank to provide emergency food bags to families in need at Inland’s primary and specialty care practices, emergency department, inpatient units and other care site.

Inland Hospital providers and staff routinely screen patients for food insecurity, and patients whop have immediate needs are offered emergency food bags on the spot. If transportation to the food bank is also found to be an issue, the provider can refer the patient for transportation assistance. The hospital explored many different solutions to the problem and found that arranging a taxi ride would help the largest number of food insecurity patients get access to the food they need.

“One of the biggest struggles is getting people to the food, and food to the people,” says Bridgette Gemelli, community health navigator, Northern Light Inland Hospital. “Some people can welk to the food bank but can only carry so much back to their homes.”

In her role as community health navigator, Bridgette considers each person’s unique needs and helps them find solutions to a range of issues that affect quality of life. Her work often includes providing education about and connections with resources available in the community and strategies to help patients overcome barriers.

“You can’t recover from illness or live your healthiest possible life if you aren’t getting the proper nutrition,” says Crystal Richard, director, women’s health at Northern Light Inland Hospital. “In order to improve overall health and wellness, we need to get to the root of the problem, which is sometimes transportation.”

Inland Hospital’s approach to addressing food insecurity for its patients may serve as a model for other hospitals to follow. The initiative, funded through spring 2020, augments Inland’s ongoing work with several community organizations to address the most significant problems that affect health for the people of Kennebec County.

For more information, please contact Bridgette Gemelli, community health navigator, at bgemelli@northernlight.org or 207-861-6091.

Tech students reach out and help barbershop singers

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Maine-ly Harmony chorus members display their safety riser backs, from left to right, Dee Dumais, Cathy Anderson, Betty Avery, Candace Pepin, BJ Pellett, Lea Davis and Dotti Meyer. (Photo courtesy Maine-ly Harmony)

by Lea Davis

Maine-ly Harmony women’s a capella barbershop chorus travels around the state performing for civic and church organizations, senior citizens, VA veterans, open houses, festivals, fund-raisers, Valentine greetings to individuals, the list goes on and on. The women who harmonize together bring smiles wherever they go. The members rehearse on Wednesday evenings at the Emmanuel Lutheran Episcopal Church, in Augusta. At rehearsals and performances, they stand on risers to be able to see the director and to be seen by audiences. But singers positioned on the high back row of the risers have been uneasy for some time, fearful that a move could result in falling backwards. Well, the ladies fear no more!

Thanks to teacher Bob Stewart, at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center (LRTC) and his students, the singers now have riser bars across the back to keep them safe!

It all came about when chorus member, and former Lewiston High School teacher, Dee Dumais, contacted the LRTC regarding the need for riser bars. Since students are geared to work on community projects as well as school projects to enhance and promote their valuable skills, Bob was receptive to considering the project for his Sheet Metal and Welding Class. To the delight of the chorus members, the juniors and seniors of his two-year program tackled the challenge. And what a challenge it was!

Most of the construction was custom made, with no manual or instructions, other than YouTube videos and comparisons with the back rails of the risers used by Lewiston’s high school chorus. Some issues involved pipe bending, he said, which had to be very specific, as well as reworking dimensions, sizing and measurements. Reworking also involved the welding because the process can cause warping of the metal.

The clamps that hold the rails to the risers had to be redone a couple of times to allow installation to be user-friendly. It turned into a three-year intensive project for Bob and his students, with a few setbacks along the way, and all done while other class projects were ongoing. The riser bars were completed last June, with the juniors and soon-to-be-graduating seniors adding much labor to the finishing touches.

Students who participated on the project were Caleb Anthony, Daniel Bolton, Joe Cloutier, Griffin Johnson, Justin Merrill, Garrett Sampson, Connor Sullivan and Corey Wires. Bob said that he and his students feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in their efforts and hope that Maine-ly Harmony will remember them with fondness whenever they sing on the risers (which is every week!)

Lewiston Regional Technical Center encompasses students from area schools in Lewiston, Oak Hill, Lisbon, Edward Little, Poland, Leavitt Area High School and Christian Academy, as well as home-schooled students. Bob Stewart is only the second instructor of sheet metal and welding, hired in 2005 to replace retiring long-term instructor Rene Chicoine. Bob credits his predecessor for being a great instructor and the driving influence for keeping him in school when he attended Rene’s 1985-87 class, adding, “Rene’s kindness and LRTC’s ability to give me purpose and a place to shine truly changed the course of my life.”

Maine-ly Harmony members are grateful, indeed, and breathing easier these days when their repertoire includes dance moves in such songs as “Could I Have This Dance” and “I Heard It On the Grapevine!”

Unity College reinventing how students receive first two years of college

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TERRAIN uses Expeditionary Learning as its educational model. (contributed photo)

Unity College is nationally known for its experiential education, but this fall the college is taking that to the next level, by reimagining its curriculum for students in their first two years. The fall of 2019 saw the launch of a testbed for TERRAIN at Unity College, which is designed for students to develop career-focused skills beginning on day one.

TERRAIN at Unity College is a direct response to the changing demographics and needs of residential learners in the first two years of college. Nationally, roughly 30 percent of freshmen drop out after their first

year. Anxiety and depression on college campuses are on the rise, and there is an increasing demand for return on investment for students once they graduate with a four-year degree and enter the job market or pursue graduate school.

Faculty and staff spent two years developing the co-curricular activities that have become TERRAIN at Unity College, gaining insight from students on how they want to learn, as well as employers on the skills they seek in ideal employees.

TERRAIN uses Expeditionary Learning as its educational model, with innovative and integrated courses where students receive comprehensive, relevant, and outcome-based opportunities to help build or retool their knowledge and professional skills in sustainability fields.

TERRAIN brings an integrative approach to learning, allowing students to learn where they live in Living Learning Communities. Cohorts of students share academic experiences and projects in addition to social and recreational opportunities centered around a theme or real-world challenge.

Of Unity College’s incoming Flagship class of 223, 61 students are participating in this fall’s testbed, and in the fall of 2020, all incoming Unity College students will take part in TERRAIN.

“We listened to the challenges that students face in the first two years of college, to industry leaders in the green economy who hire our students, and did extensive research, which found that TERRAIN would revolutionize our curriculum and appeal to residential students who want to learn career-focused skills beginning the first day they enter Unity College,” said Unity College President Dr. Melik Peter Khoury. “TERRAIN allows students to explore a range of professional opportunities, which will help them build the foundational skills for their careers and graduate school.”

In TERRAIN, students will:

  • Learn from guest speakers and field experts in the residence hall lounge while exploring ideas they’re curious about.
  • Participate in multi-day excursions in locations across the state and country to put new knowledge into practice.
  • Work with tutors right in the residence halls to strengthen skills and refine projects. Develop and practice leadership skills.
  • Collaborate with others in the Living Learning Community to explore issues, tackle challenges, and communicate ideas across academic, professional, and social contexts.

In addition to TERRAIN’s customizable curriculum, internships, practicums, and short courses offered year-round, its four-quarter academic calendar allows students to engage in a robust residential college experience while having the flexibility for work, family commitments, and career opportunities. If a student wants to accelerate their education and earn a bachelor’s degree in fewer than four years, TERRAIN gives them that option, or if they want to participate in a more traditional college schedule they can. It also allows them to take time off for any reason, if they need to without falling behind.

“Learning those practical skills that I can apply to my major first before I settle down into a desk with a textbook was my main goal,” said Savannah Sedivy, a first-year Marine Biology major taking part in the TERRAIN testbed. “Being stuck in a general classroom, even if you’re using real-world examples, doesn’t compare to actual real-world experience. With these intertwined classes, TERRAIN has pointed me toward skills that I’ll use later in life, or even the very next day.”

For more on TERRAIN at Unity College, visit unity.edu/terrain-at-unity-college/.

New school store provides learning experience at MMS

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Messalonskee Middle School students at their new store. (contributed photo)

by Mandi Favreau

The preparations started last year. Team Boothbay sold freeze pops to earn money, held a vote to choose a name, and started the work of creating a school store. The result was the Eagle’s Landing which had its official grand opening at Curriculum night a few weeks ago.

“I wanted to give my students an experience that would be engaging, beneficial and impactful,” said team Boothbay social studies teacher, Pamela  Atwood. “For many, it’s a great reason to come to school.”

The store also teaches valuable economic lessons in a very real context. All of the store positions, from general manager to order clerk, were posted along with their descriptions. Students had to apply and interview for any position they were interested in. Thanks to looping on team Boothbay, Atwood was able to staff the whole store by the end of the school year.

“Currently, I have over one-third of our team of 89 directly involved in the store,” said Atwood. She holds whole class lessons about accounting and decision making and holds regular staff meetings during lunch. While the administration was involved in the decision-making process during the opening of the store, the plan is for Eagle’s Landing to be run entirely by the students with staff oversight.

The store is open before and after school each day and carries school supplies, snacks, drinks, fidgets, school logo stickers, and a few novelty items.  They have recently added student-made products to their inventory to encourage entrepreneurship. They also offer gift cards that some staff members use as part of their incentive programs. Any profit that doesn’t go back into the running of the store has two possible destinations. Some of it will remain with Team Boothbay to help fund field trips or purchase academic supplies, while the students hope to donate a portion to Messalonskee Middle School’s general fund which pays for special events and items for the whole school.

“It is my hope that the store will continue to grow and eventually expand beyond the reaches of Team Boothbay,” said Atwood. “This was a great way to help students feel like a part of the MMS community and take on some ownership.”