AUGUSTA

Coalition honors people who support bicycling

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s board of directors has presented awards to the following individuals and organizations:

• Mike Smith, director of the Maine Winter Sports Center’s Healthy Hometowns program in Aroostook County. Smith of Presque Isle is a driving force behind the growth of mountain biking in northern Maine, especially among young people.

• Chris Carleton and Mike Davies, owners of Allspeed Cyclery & Snow in Portland. Carleton and Davies partnered with the Bicycle Coalition and Go Maine to help promote Commute Another Way Week last spring. The two shop owners and their staff did safety checks and repairs on bicycles at community events.

• Julie Fitzgerald, organizer of Portland Slow Ride during Portland’s First Friday art walk. The ride attracts cyclists of all ages. They decorate their bikes and themselves according to each ride’s theme.

• South Portland Police Chief Edward Googins, recipient of the coalition’s Just Do It Award for Leadership in Public Service. Googins wins high marks from cyclists for responding quickly to their concerns about enforcement of bicycle safety and Share the Road laws.

• Sally Jacobs of Orono, founding president of the Sunrise Trail Coalition. A retired University of Maine biochemistry professor, Jacobs led the effort to create a trail on a rail corridor in Washington and Hancock counties. After persevering for more than 20 years, her efforts came to fruition when the final section of the 85-mile Down East Sunrise Trail opened last fall.

• The committee that organizes the Bicycle Coalition’s annual Maine Lobster Ride & Roll in Rockland each July. Over the past decade, the event has grown from 45 bicyclists to 700 riders from more than two dozen states, Canada and other countries.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine advocates for Maine cyclists at the Legislature and in Washington, D.C., teaches bicycle safety to thousands of Maine schoolchildren each year, partners with state agencies on a Share the Road media campaign and serves as a resource on local bicycling issues. For more information, go to its website, www.bikemaine.org.

Time for hunters to enter moose lottery

Applications for this year’s Maine moose permit lottery are available online through the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website, www.mefishwildlife.com.

The deadline for online applications is 11:59 p.m. May 13.

The department no longer prints or mails paper applications for the moose lottery. If an interested hunter is unable to apply using the online licensing system, the department suggests:

• Picking up a February issue of The Maine Sportsman or Northwoods Sporting Journal, in which the application is printed.

• Printing out a paper application from www.mefishwildlife.com and mailing it with the payment to the department;

• Coming to MDIF&W’s main office to fill out a paper application. The address is 284 State Street in Augusta;

• Sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 41 SHS, 284 State St., Augusta, ME 04333-0041.

Paper applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered to the department in Augusta by 5 p.m. April 1.

This year, 3,205 permits will be allocated. This is an increase of 65 permits from 2010.

NEWCASTLE

Family event to teach about animal tracks, birds

Hidden Valley Nature Center and Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association are offering a family event next weekend.

From 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 13, Lynne Flaccus of the Chewonki Foundation will lead participants in tracking animals and birds at Trout Brook. Snowshoes are recommended, and Hidden Valley Nature Center has some available to use.

A $5 donation is recommended.

For more information, call Hidden Valley at 586-6752 or go online to www.sheepscot.org.

WEST GARDINER

Nature day camp taking vacation week sign-ups

The Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed’s Winter Nature Day Camp will be held during February school vacation week at the Cram’s Point School on Cobbossee Lake.

Two-day camp sessions will be offered. Both sessions, open to children in grades 3 to 5, will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and will include a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities, including snowshoeing, winter tracking and games.

The culminating activity will be learning to ice fish with Ryan Burton of the Cobbossee Watershed District.

Cost for each two-day session is $75 and includes the use of all equipment along with afternoon cocoa and snack. Early registration is recommended, as space is limited to 14 campers per session.

Registration forms can be downloaded at www.watershedfriends.com.

For more information, contact Tamara Whitmore at 621-4100 or tamara@watershedfriends.com.

WISCASSET

Chewonki offers week of indoor, outdoor fun

Chewonki is signing up kids and families for its Winter Vacation Camp, with great indoor and outdoor activities.

Programs will be offered Feb. 21 to 25 on Chewonki’s 400-acre campus.

Events and activities are designed to be fun and educational and are geared for children in grades 1 through 8.

For more information or to register, go online to www.chewonki.org/camp/camp_vacation.asp or call 882-7323.

EDGECOMB

School outing groups win Teens to Trails grants

Teens to Trails is pleased to announce this year’s Outing Club grant recipients from 17 high schools across the state. They are:

• Boothbay Region High School

• Bucksport High School

• Cape Elizabeth High School

• Central High School

• Cony High School

• Dirigo High School

• East Grand School

• Greely High School

• Greenville High School

• Maine Central Institute

• Monmouth Academy

• Mt. Blue High School

• Mount View High School

• Scarborough High School

• Waterville High School

• Wiscasset High School

• Yarmouth High School

Outing clubs received requested tents, snowshoes, backpacks, GPS units and emergency medical kits from L.L. Bean. Cash awards will help with transportation costs.

The schools were awarded outdoor gear and/or funds totaling almost $9,000 to help more teens get active outside. The grants were made possible by support from L.L. Bean, the North Face Explore Fund and other private donations.

Teens to Trails is a nonprofit all-volunteer organization engaging Maine teens in the outdoors. Its goal is to establish an outing club in every Maine high school community.

For more information on Teens to Trails and the grant program, visit www.TeensToTrails.org.

 

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