Scout donates cancer care packages to area patients

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Dalton Curtis and his crew of volunteers, with their Christmas haul, at the Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan.

Dalton Curtis, 14, is a life scout of Boy Scout Troop #485, of Skowhegan, traveling on his journey to becoming an Eagle Scout.

In memory of his grandfather Frank G. James Jr., who passed away last year of cancer, Dalton decided to donate 50 cancer care packages (25 for men, and 25 for women) to the patients of the oncology department at Redington-Fairview General Hospital, in Skowhegan, the hospital where his grandfather received chemotherapy treatments in Skowhegan.

He chose the undertaking as his Eagle Scout Project. It is his way of giving back to the hospital for giving his grandfather such wonderful care. Each kit includes the following: a fleece throw, warm socks, hand sanitizer, hand lotion, tissues, a tooth brush with soft bristles, goat milk soap, lip balm (2), puzzle book with pen, a handmade bookmark, gum (no mint), chocolate, plastic utensils (the metal utensils taste bad after receiving chemotherapy), and a reusable tote bag. These kits are designed to help with side effects, and to teach others about chemotherapy as well.

Dalton typed up a letter on BSA (Boy Scouts of America) letterhead to ask for donations to purchase materials and supplies from places such as Walmart and Hannaford stores. He received donations through family and friends, he also did a fundraiser through Pampered Chef. Dalton was able to raise $600 for these kits! With the help of his troop, the Boy Scouts assembled all 50 kits, and donated them to the oncology department of Redington-Fairview General Hospital, on November 29.

Kennebec retired educators provide necessities

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Pictured from left to right, Pastor Mark Wilson, Gail Morris, Carl Daiker, and Lora Downing organize items and volunteer in the Essentials Closet, located at the First Congregational Church, Eustis Parkway, Waterville. Contributed photo

‘Tis the season for giving, and educators certainly know the truth of that statement as they choose to spend their lives serving thousands of needy students throughout Maine.

Members of Kennebec Retired Educators Association (KREA) and Kappa Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International recently donated a variety of items and funds to The Waterville Essentials Closet at the Waterville First Congregational Church on Eustis Parkway, Waterville.

Pastor Mark Wilson explained, “A few years ago our church sought the alignment of God’s dream for our church in our community and how we could help the needy the most. After meeting with community leaders, it was noted that we have the local soup kitchen, evening sandwich program, the food pantry, and homeless shelter.

“However, in none of those places are people able to obtain the essential items – laundry detergent, toilet paper, dish detergent, shampoo, paper towels, tissues, bath soap, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, diapers, baby wipes, and toothpaste.

“We find that people really appreciate the laundry detergent and shampoo, although young families are always looking for diapers,” explained Lora Downing, director of the program with her husband Pete of Sidney. “These items cannot be purchased with EBT cards and state assistance programs.”

The program depends on 20 volunteers, “and we are always looking for more,” says Lora. Volunteer Carl Daiker, of Waterville, says he greets the patrons when they walk in the front door and logs their names and contact information. They are then directed to another volunteer who is in charge of distributions.

“We are hopeful,” says Carl, “when we do not see a patron returning month after month to the closet. To us, that could be a sign that the patron’s situation has changed to the point where they no longer need the assistance provided by the Essentials Closet. I know that working as a volunteer gives me a good feeling and a sense of contributing to the welfare of my community.”

Pastor Wilson noted that the church also offers the Evening Sandwich Program, Laundry Quarters, Reading Changes Lives, and other ministries that have “helped to transform our church to a more outward-facing mission stance of being the church in action serving others.”

The Essentials Closet is open the last two weeks of every month—Mondays, 5 to 7 p.m. and Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. “We have served more than 900 people and average about 200 people per month from all over Central Maine,” said Lora.

KREA represents retired educators from 60 schools in 31 cities and towns in Kennebec County. KREA President George Davis of Skowhegan cites the generosity of members who “donate funds to local charitable agencies in two of our six meetings each year.”

Donations to the Essentials Closet may be dropped off at the church office Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon. For more information interested folk may call the church at 872-8976.

Skowhegan to sponsor photo contest

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Photo: Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce Facebook page

With the holidays upon us, the Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce would like to celebrate by giving away two prizes valued at $50 each. Two ways to win, see below for more.

Enter the Holiday Photo Contest for a chance to win, now until December 22.

To Enter:

Upload a photo of you shopping in Skowhegan area stores to their holiday Facebook Page. You can post more than just one local store, for each post the more likes you may get, the more chances you have to win.

Please include the contestant’s name(s) and where they are. This will also serve as permission to use the photo in the future as needed.

Ways to win

First way: Have your friends and family vote on your photo, the more likes the more chances you have to win.

Second way: Write an inspirational story of why you shop local and your experience at the shop you are at.

Deadline: Saturday, December 22, 2018, by midnight. Winner will be announced Monday, December 24, on the Skowhegan Area Chamber Facebook page.

Unusual tree

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An unusual Christmas Tree has been put up at Freddie’s Service Center, Rte. 32, in East Vassalboro. (Contributed photo)

Bill Pullen, owner of Freddie’s Service Center, Rte. 32, in East Vassalboro, built this Christmas tree from old tire rims, a steering wheel, alternator, plug wires, chains, tools, etc., and, of course, a fan for the tree top. Do you have an unusual Christmas tree? Send it to us at townline@fairpoint.net.

Where’s the gun?

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A similar statue in Winslow with the gun in hand (left), and the statue in Vassalboro missing the gun (right). (Photos by Isabelle Markley)

Where’s the gun on the Civil War statue in Vassalboro?

The white granite statue dedicated to the memory of soldiers from Vassalboro who lost their lives in the Civil War, 1861-1865, stands in Monument Park on Route 32, between the China Lake boat landing and the old Vassalboro School, now a town museum.

The soldier’s hands are seen gripping the muzzle, but the stock end of the gun from the statue’s belt to the ground where it should be resting at his feet is missing. Compare the Vassalboro statue to a similar model in Winslow’s park at Halifax and Monument streets to see where the rifle would have been. If you have any information please contact The Town Line (townline@fairpoint.net).

Palermo scouts meet military medal of honor recipient

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Pictured from left to right are Scoutmaster Roy Lucier, scouts Nickolas Christiansen, Parker Potter, RJ Nelson, Timmy Christiansen, Wyatt Bray, Kaleb Brown, Atilio Delgado, Bo Johnson, Assistant Scoutmaster Barbara Files-Lucier, and Logen Bolduc. Ssgt. Ryan Pitts stands in back. (Contributed photo)

On November 8, Palermo Boy Scout Troop #222 met Medal of Honor recipient, Ssgt. Ryan Pitts, at the University of Southern Maine campus, in Portland. Ssgt. Pitts lectured on the role of leadership.

Caitlyn Denico joins Army National Guard

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Caitlyn Denico, 18, of Vassalboro (Contributed photo)

Caitlyn Denico, 18, of Vassalboro, recently enlisted in the Army National Guard. The senior, honor student, at Erskine Academy, in South China, will be attending basic military training in Missouri, and follow that with advance individual training, in Mississippi, specializing in construction, with a concentration in masonry. Caitlyn is the daughter of Rick and Cindy Denico, of Vassalboro.

Jefferson food pantry announces December openings

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On November 14 the Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry supplied food to 56 families, representing 125 family members. The largest attendance to date. In addition to fresh produce from Twin Villages Food Bank Farm and Good Shepherd Food Bank, non perishables, fresh eggs, bread, pumpkin pies, turkeys, plus additional assorted meats were available.

Generous donations were received from several churches and community citizens and are greatly appreciated during this holiday season. If you would like to donate food, please call the number below. Monetary donations can be sent by check and made payable to St Giles Church, PO Box 34, Jefferson, ME 04348, with “JACFB” written in the memo area.

The December opening dates are two weeks in a row this year. Wednesday, December 12 and Wednesday December 19, 4 – 5:30 p.m., at St Giles Church, 72 Gardiner Road (Rt 126), Jefferson. For more information, call 315-1134.

Two gifts from the Hermitage: fruitcake and stillness

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Sister Elizabeth Wagner of the Transfiguration Hermitage, in Windsor. (photo by Jeani Marquis)

by Jeani Marquis

Hidden from view on Windsor Neck Road behind a stand of tall pines is a monastic community named the Transfiguration Heritage. As you drive up past those pines, you get an immediate feeling of peace, perhaps it is because of the expansive idyllic view or perhaps it is the atmosphere established by women who have dedicated themselves to the contemplative life of the St. Benedict Order.

Contemplative lives do not mean they are not busy every season of the year, as this is a self-sustaining order. Their busiest season comes during Advent, their fruitcake season. This is when they put the finishing touches and gift box the fruitcakes they have expertly nurtured for most of the previous year.

These are traditional English fruitcakes handmade by centuries’ old methods, laden with fruits and nuts, aged for months while soaking thoroughly in brandy. These are not the fruitcakes you may have remembered that brought on jokes about doorstops or bricks. The brandied fruitcakes from the Transfiguration Hermitage are rich, moist and warmly mellow. A gift of this fruitcake is genuinely welcomed throughout New England by mail order. It is also available locally at the heritage gift shop as are six varieties of cookies, homemade jams, rum cakes, traditional stollen, a hot sauce and a French herb mixture they call Herbes des Landes.

St. Moira’s Retreat House

Guest room at the St. Moira’s Retreat House at the Transfiguration Hermitage. (Photo by Jeani Marquis)

When the sisters are not in the middle of fruitcake season, they are busy in their gardens or attending to visitors at St. Moira’s Retreat House. The inviting house offers four single rooms, a small conference room, a kitchenette for making breakfast and enjoying other meals prepared by the sisters. The weather-tight, passive solar house is fully handicap accessible and offers the seclusion visitors seek. Each room has peaceful views of the natural setting as inspiration for meditation, reflection and meaningful prayer.

Sister Elizabeth explains that people come to the retreat as a way to recharge themselves or perhaps they are in a point in their lives where one is faced with a major decision. The reasons why guests come are almost as varied as the visitors themselves. During their stay, guests have the supportive presence of a praying monastic community and are invited, but not required, to join the sisters in their daily prayer services.

A retreat offers the opportunity for a person to get away from their hectic lives and clear their minds of the everyday, anxious thoughts. Quieting one’s mind is not easy, even Sister Elizabeth admits she struggles. “Stillness is a gift,” she says.

In her book Seasons in My Garden, Meditations from a Hermitage, Elizabeth Wagner writes:

“God is greater than all that is, so is found in the stillness that is beyond feelings, beyond words, beyond concepts, or images or thoughts. Stillness is a contemplative posture, a waiting for God’s Word to be quietly received in the stillness of heart and mind and soul.”

Guests are welcome from all faiths to stay at St. Moira’s Retreat House and are only requested to leave a nominal fee of $50 per night. During the holiday season, the gift shop is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 205 Windsor Neck Road, Windsor, Maine.

Traditional English fruitcake soaked in brandy and other items from the Hermitage gift shop. (Photo by Jeani Marquis)

Erskine’s Field Service club to hold craft fair

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The American Field Service club trip to Costa Rica in 2014 (photo from Erskine Academy)

The American Field Service club, at Erskine Academy, in South China, will be hosting a first ever Christmas Craft Fair at Erskine Academy on Saturday, December 15, from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. They are giving children in the community an opportunity to get their picture taken with Santa, write letters to the North Pole, buy Christmas gifts, and do their own crafts.

Admission is $3 a person, or $10 a family (3 persons.) All the proceeds will go to the AFS Club’s new humanitarian project in Guatemala: Casas Esperanzas. They are creating their very own house building organization and are building the first house in March 2019. The money raised will go towards tools, lumber, cement, and shipment fees. They are also looking for crafters who would like to sell their product at the Christmas Craft Fair. It is $10 a table, which includes a table and comes with a free breakfast.

For more information, contact Erskine Academy.