Community News

Spurwink Institute to host Cindy's Walk
New Gloucester- The Spurwink Institute, located at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, is launching an annual fundraising event in memory of long-time Gray resident and community leader Cindy Carroll. The event will include a 10K road race, a 5K trail walk and a 1K Kids' Fun Run at Pineland Farms. Proceeds from money raised will go into a special scholarship fund to underwrite the cost of The Spurwink Institute trainings for educators who work with students with special needs. Teachers from Gray and New Gloucester will be given first preference for these scholarship funds.

Michael Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of the Spurwink Institute, said that after Cindy Carroll passed away last August, the communities of Gray and New Gloucester lost a dear friend and community leader. Higgins said that the staff decided to channel their grief into something productive and also do something to honor Carroll's life, her endearing spirit and love of this area of Maine.

Cindy's Walk will be held on Saturday, June 5th. Registration will begin at 8 am and the 10K road race, 5K trail walk and 1K Kids' Run will begin at 9 am. At the completion of the events, a reception will be held which will include presentations to all the winners, prizes to all the participants who raise certain levels of contributions, giveaways and a program that will remember and honor Carroll. At that time, The Spurwink Institute also plans to dedicate its state-of-the-art technology classroom in Carroll's name.
Carroll was the Project Manager of the Institute's ALLTech division at the time of her death. Before joining the Institute, she worked for nearly two decades for the Gray-New Gloucester High School. She is survived by her husband Mike and two sons, Sean and Jamie.
Anyone interested in more information should contact The Spurwink Institute at (207) 688-4573.

Cable channel 2 is broadcasting again: GCTV 2 is back on the air. Having been off the air on Monday evening, March 8 and March 9 while new carpet was laid and electrical cabling done, GCTV is back on the air. This coming Tuesday's Town Council meeting will be broadcast using a temporary set up while additional equipment and furniture is on the way.
A work day is schedule for Friday, March 12 starting at 6:00 to connect the necessary wiring and cable to put Town Council on the air. Regularly scheduled programming is also running.

First Graders Continue Community Services
The first grade students in Mrs. Haymon's class at Memorial School continue to collect ring table for the Ronald McDonald House. To date they have collected 87 pounds of tabs. Each month they visit their "tab classroom" and gather the tabs. After they have added these tabs to the ones they have brought in themselves, the class weighs the tabs. In June Mrs.Haymon's students will present the tabs to the director of the Ronald McDonald House. The "house" recycles the tabs and gets paid a price per pound for the metal. The money collected from tab sales is used directly by the Ronald McDonald House on Brackett Street in Portland to help maintain the house and for other various needs.

Besides collecting tabs the first graders also bring in items for the "Wish Box". The "Wish Box" are items that help maintain the upkeep of the house. Example: laundry detergent, snack items, soup, cereal, etc. Mrs. Haymon's families donate to the :"Wish Box" each month. The items are Then taken to the "house." In December, the first graders held an all school "Wish Box" collection, asking each family at Memorial School to donate one item to the "box." A total of 243 items was collected. The Ronald McDonald House was extremely grateful when these items were delivered.

Middle School students have joined the first graders in helping with the tab collection community project. The students at the Middle School have contacted the first graders and agreed to collect tabs from the Middle School families for the Ronald McDonald House.

The Ronald McDonald House in Portland is a place where families who have a critically ill child in an area hospital can stay for free while their child is hospitalized. It provides a place to sleep, eat, do laundry and get support during a tragic time in these parent's lives.

The first graders in Mrs. Haymon's class are committed to community service. They have learned that age crosses all lines when it comes to helping others. They are making a difference in people's lives that they will never meet but they are excited to help those in need.

Card of Thanks
The Class of 2005 would like to give a big thanks to all who helped make our "Scrapping the Day Away" fundraiser a huge success! Both the scrappers and students had a great time, and we were able to make over $1000! We greatly appreciate the generosity of all who supported us, especially our local sponsors and contributors:

Bob Milliken - New England Coffee
Wal Mart - Windham
Cindy McFarland - Memorybook Workshop
Mary LeBrun - Stampin' Up
Claudette Simms
Charlene Fraser - Mary Kay
Mirabella Hair Salon
Myra Coffin - Pampered Chef

Thank you to Roberta Meserve, custodian at the Middle School and the local newspapers for advertising our event! To the parents and students who worked hard to make this a success-you're the best! Thank you to all of the scrapping participants for coming and for bringing your canned goods that will be donated to the Gray Food Pantry. Oh, and lastly, thank you to the police officer who was so kind to one of our scrappers on the way to our event!

Sorry! No bean supper
The March Bean Supper at the First Congregational Church in New Gloucester had to be cancelled after the posters were up and the notices put in the newspapers. We very much regret inconveniencing you. Detection of a water problem made this necessary. We would have had to use commercially bottled water for drinking and cooking, and that was not manageable for our menu.

The water problem will be remedied within a week, so we'll be counting on your support when the next Bean Supper is scheduled. There will not be a supper in April because of our Easter activities. The next New Gloucester Congregational Church Bean Supper will be held on May 8th.