High honors: Cody Devaney, Jacob Devaney and Lily Vinci. General honors: Lily Bray, Nick Christiansen, Timmy Christiansen, Eric Cochran, Robbie Conlogue, Atilio Delgado, Isabella DeRose, Jessica Giguere, Grady Hotham, Rachel Huntoon, Bo Johnson, Moira MacDowell, Richard Mahoney, Holden McKenney, Sophia Pilotte, Kaden Porter, Karen Potter, Lily Potter, Riley Reitchel, Kiley Stevens, Paige Sutter, Aidan Tirrell, Jackson Tirrell and Sam York.
The order deadline for the August 4 shipment of tree-ripened New Jersey peaches is fast approaching. Last call for that shipment will be Wednesday, July 26. There will be two more shipments, however, on August 11 and August 25, but quantities are limited. Some nectarines will also be available. Please call Connie Bellet at 993-2294 or e-mail pwhitehawk@fairpoint.net.
Proceeds from this sale will go toward a well for the Palermo Community Center and Food Pantry. Your support is highly appreciated!
The Palermo Community Garden, just off Turner Ridge Road across from the Athletic Field, will host Open Garden Day on Saturday, July 22, from 9 a.m. to noon, or a bit later. The cool morning is the best time to graze on fresh lettuces, crisp beans, tart sorrel, and aromatic herbs in the raised beds. This is an activity for the entire family to try new tastes and textures, and even eat some flowers! The blackberries should be ripe for picking, as are the raspberries, and the Egyptian walking onions in the front yard look like something designed by Dr. Suess. As the sun gets higher, the cool shade of the grape arbor beckons, and cold iced tea is waiting.
The Community Garden was built by Phil White Hawk and volunteer members of the Living Communities Foundation. Master Gardener volunteer Connie Bellet will be on hand to help with gardening tips. For those who have not visited the Palermo Community Center, Bellet will offer tours of the facility and explain its programs. This is a good opportunity to pick up a schedule for the monthly Dinner-and-a-Movie Series and even place an order for tree-ripened peaches from New Jersey.
For more information, please email pwhitehawk@fairpoint.net or call 993-2294.
The following local students have been named to the University of Vermont Dean’s List, in Burlington, Vermont:
Delaney Curran; of Skowhegan; Kaitlyn Sutter, of Palermo; and Kayla Christopher, of Oakland.
To the editor:
The Palermo Food Pantry thanks the generous people of Palermo who donated food for the pantry in the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive sponsored by our post office. It was a great success again this year and is much appreciated by many families. Anyone who would like to support the Palermo Food Pantry may bring non-perishable food items on Tuesdays after 10 a.m., or call for a pick up. The pantry is open every Tuesday from 11 a.m. – noon and is located at the Community Center across from the ball field on Turner Ridge Road.
Palermo food pantry volunteers
Due to the recent fire at the Hannaford distribution center in Portland, food donations from Hannaford stores to the local food pantries have decreased. The timing could not have been more unfortunate, as very little local produce is coming in just yet.
Over the past six years, the Palermo Food Pantry has grown from 15 families to at least 50 families. Most of these people are disabled elders, although there are some young families with children and infants who regularly use the Pantry. Since food stamps have been cut drastically, food pantries across the country have sprung up to provide a safety net for people facing layoffs, injuries, and family breakups. Here in Maine, a recent report stated that 20% of us face food insecurity. Most of those people are children.
Meanwhile, people still need to eat. The Palermo Food Pantry has access to food from Good Shepherd, but must buy it from the distribution center in Orono. Please consider donating money or non-perishable food items to your local pantry. The Living Communities Foundation can also act as a funding conduit for the Palermo Food Pantry, to purchase gas and food. Please send your check to: LCF, P.O. Box 151, Palermo, ME 04354, and put “Food Pantry” in the “for” line in the lower left corner to assure that all 100 percent of your donation will go to feed people.
The Palermo Community Library presents Sister Elizabeth Wagner, the award-winning author of Seasons in My Garden: Meditations from a Hermitage, on Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m. She will disclose what led her to become a hermit and the founding of Transfiguration Hermitage, in Windsor.
In the prologue, Sr. Wagner writes: “I didn’t come to Maine gladly. In fact, I came kicking and screaming: ‘This is Siberia, Lord!’…I came to Maine because it was a place that I could earn a living in solitude… And yet for me, it felt as if I’d been exiled to Siberia.”
In her inspirational book, she reveals how her contemplative life of prayer, tending a garden and meditations, led her to a deeper understanding of the presence of God.
The Library is located at 2789 Route 3. For more information: call 993-6088 or email palermo@palermo.lib.me.us.
The Palermo Community Library offers Kindles, books, large print books, audio books, Inter-library loan, DVDs, VHS tapes, Wi-Fi, patron computers, printing, faxing, and ancestrylibrary.com! There is also a community room with a large screen TV available for meetings and presentations.
The Palermo Community Library is an all-volunteer library. If you would like to volunteer, please call 993-6088.
The deadline for ordering Vidalia onions, fresh from the farm in Georgia, is fast approaching. April 27 is the last day to call Connie at 993-2294 or e-mail pwhitehawk@fairpoint.net. These fresh, sweet beauties will be ready for pick up at the Palermo Community Center on Turner Ridge Road as of 8:30 a.m., on Saturday, May 6, as well as Sunday, May 7.
The onions are carefully packed into 25# boxes to prevent bruising on their express trip to Maine. The price is $27.00 per box. These onions keep up to 6 months, if they are kept in a cool place and not allowed to touch one another. Half boxes can be ordered for $16.00 a box (We have to buy boxes.). However, if you get together with friends and order four or more boxes, you get a discount of $2 per box. Recipes are available!
PALERMO — As Earth Day approaches, now is the time to consider all of the lifeforms that share our planet with us. Native Americans consider these beings as relatives, and that is really a good way to value them. However, humanity has not been treating these relatives very well.
Academy Award-winning filmmakers expose the forces that are leading our planet to what could be the next mass extinction, potentially resulting in the loss of half of all species. Two forces, the shadowy international wildlife trade, and the gas and oil industry, are uncloaked for what they ultimately do to life on our Earth. This may sound depressing, but the film is actually an inspiring affirmation to preserve life as we know it, and know that we can get off what Native Americans term The Death Path.
Racing Extinction will be shown on Friday, April 28, following a delicious free potluck meal at 6 p.m. at the Palermo Community Center on Turner Ridge Road in Palermo. Bring a dish to share or a donation to the Food Pantry and prepare for spirited discussion following the movie. Contact Connie Bellet at 993-2294 for further info.
High honors: Cody Devaney. General honors: Lily Bray, Wyatt Bray, Nickolas Christiansen, Timmy Christiansen, Eric Cochran, Jacob Devaney, Jessica Giguere, Grady Hotham, Hallee Huff, Rachel Huntoon, Bo Johnson, Moira MacDowell, Richard Mahoney, Adalyn Mann, Holden McKenney, Sophia Pilotte, Kaden Porter, Karen Potter, Lilly Potter, Riley Reitchel, Kinsey Stevens, Paige Sutter, Aidan Tirrell, Jackson Tirrell, Lily Vinci, Savannah Weymouth and Sam York.