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Arts Fest:
Fiddlehead Center for the Arts in New Gloucester, in partnership with Maine Public Broadcasting, is hosting an Arts & Cultural Festival this spring. The festival will be held on the Pineland Campus in New Gloucester on May 14th & 15th, 2004. A Poster Contest is open to artists for a design that will be used as the promotional artwork for the festival. Theme information, guidelines and registration form are available on line at www.fiddleheadcenter.org or by calling Mary Jo Marquis at 207-688-2244.

It's Ice-Fishing Tournament Time!
NEW GLOUCESTER--Sabbathday Lake, in New Gloucester, is the place to be on Saturday, February 7, the date of the annual Ice Fishing Tournament sponsored by the town's First Congregational-Christian Church. Tickets are $10 each. The proceeds of the tournament will sponsor a family for a week
at Camp Sunshine, a camp for children with life-threatening diseases.
Tickets may be purchased at Cloutier's Market and Wing's Variety (both on Rt. 100, New Gloucester), Buddy's Store (Rt. 26, New Gloucester), and Dag's Bait Shop (2 Towle St., Auburn). Also, by calling tournament chair Roger Hines (926-3943). The Sabbathday Lake Grange, on Rt. 26, will be the tournament's headquarters.

Watch these pages for further information about prizes and tournament regulations.

See you at Sabbathday Lake on Feb. 7th!

Hockey news
In Middle School action Sunday night, GNG-Poland beat Marshwood 8-3. Scoring for GNG Poland were 2 goals for Matt McLeod & Ben Piper and one each for Gardner Lajoie, Brent Landry, Jarred Mruphy & Codie Keene. Assists went to Joey Davie, Seth Champagne & Cam Penney. Sean Bilodeau & Nick Roy shared goalie duties. Scoring for Marshwood were Ariel Kaplan, Alex Tobey & Billy Tobey. Jake Allen had an assist.

Gray Public Library Notes
The Gray Public Library is offering a program on Scrapbooking. Maybe you are looking for ways to get rid of the winter blues or just fill in some time during cold and snowy weather. On Wednesday, January 28 at 7:00, Claudette Simms will present an overview of Scrapbooking and have a small project for you to complete. Space is limited so please call the library to sign up at 657-4110.

On Wednesday, February 18, 2004 there will be a book discussion on the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. If you haven't had a chance to read the book the library has several copies as well as the audiobook. This is great chance to get together and talk about this book that has been so popular and that can be read on several levels. Come and be part of the discussion as we look at this book. Give us a call if you are interested.

Blood Drive
It is that time of year again as we will have the Holiday rush behind us and the New Year rung in, you still have a chance to help someone in need. Your Gift of Life is the greatest gift of all.

As you reflect on your good health think of a loved one or neighbor that may be lying in the hospital waiting for the Gift of Life that you may be able to give them. Also as we grumble about the wait we may have have at the Donation site, think of the person waiting on the other end their day is long and endless as they wait for your GIFT of LIFE.

Why Donate Blood?
· every ten seconds, someone needs blood
· one out of every ten hospital patients requires a blood transfusion
· a liver transplant recipient can need 50 units of blood
(sometimes as many as 300 units of blood) during the course of treatment, some cancer patients may require hundreds of units of blood products

And did you know?

many lifesaving surgeries can only occur with the availability of blood for transfusion
· the need for blood is continuous, yet only about five percent of the population donates blood
· blood cannot be manufactured, it can only come from generous blood donors,
· blood is needed in the treatment of trauma, for surgeries, and also for long-term treatment of patients with chronic diseases,
· every blood donation may help several patients, because blood is separated into components: red blood cells, platelets, plasma and derivatives.
Imagine being able to help save lives by just giving an hour of your time and a pint of your blood.

This year's Date : January 20, 2004
Time: 2-7 PM
Place: First Congregational Church Parish House, Brown Street, Gray, Maine
Cheryll Gray (657-2248) and Karen Taylor (657-4783) again this year we could use a helping hand with calling and working the day of the Annual Blood Drive.

AA Meetings:
Mondays 10:30-noon, Thursdays, 8-9 p.m.
Al-Anon meetings: Thursdays, 8-9 p.m.
All are held at St. Gregory's Parish hall, North Raymond Road, Gray. All are welcome.

Card of Thanks from Salvation Army and Friends of New Gloucester
Forty dinners were delivered for Thanksgiving, at Christmas 54 families received dinners and forty eight families received gifts, a total of 213 people, 83 adults and 130 children. Many families were adopted this year by businesses and individuals; we had many volunteers who knit, shopped, wrapped, helped pack boxes and a delivery crew.

The following groups assisted in many different ways to make our work possible: Royal River Rod and Gun Club, Eagles, Block House, New Gloucester Rescue, Cloutier's Market, Learning Tree, Optimist, St. Gregory's, Dunn School, Donation in Memory of Bob Leighton, Shaker Society, Amvets Post #6 Auxiliary & Lucky Seven Fund, First Congregational Church Lady Circle & Youth Group, Pine Tree Networks, Good Shepard United Methodist, New Gloucester Town Office Staff, Pine Tree Seeds, Trinity Assembly of God Church, Sabbathday Lake Jr. Grange, Loose Moose, Spurwink Institute, Energy East, Girl Scouts, the Salvation Army, ten private individuals giving money.

Total for the Holiday Fund was $1,203. The Bruce Roberts Fund was very generous; many families received toys from them. We also have coats for kids so if you have a need please call 926-4351. Thank you one and all.

Carroll & Heidi Ray
Coky Wills
Amy Maheux
New Gloucester Salvation Army Service Unit