Dr. Seuss night

Do not forget that tonight, March 4, is the annual Dr. Seuss party, a free event hosted by the Raymond Village Library to honor the great wordsmith. The fun will kick off at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymond Elementary School and children of all ages and their parents are invited to celebrate his birthday and enjoy games, crafts, storytelling, and prizes. There will be lots of fun for everyone, so you will not want to miss it.

Go Solar

Would you like to learn how to improve your home, save money and help the environment? Raymond’s John Rand will be teaching a course on solar energy offered through Windham Adult Education on Thursday, March 17 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This is an introduction to solar thermal including an overview of the technology, the economics of solar thermal at the residential and commercial scale, reasons to invest including financial and environmental, resources for further information and plenty of time for questions and answers. Known for his tireless efforts chairing the Raymond Conservation Commission, Rand is a consultant primarily involved with planning, design and permitting solar energy. Space is limited so register immediately by visiting windham.maineadulted.org or calling the adult education office at 892-1819.

Calling all writers

I am excited to report that a new writing group has been formed for those in the Sebago Lakes area who are interested in writing. The Writers will meet at the Raymond Public Safety Station on the third Monday of each month beginning March 21 from 6-8 p.m. The moderator of this group will be T. Jewell Collins, and Betty Libby is the founder and manager. Collins is a widely published writer and adult education instructor in the Fryeburg and Lakes Region area. Libby is an owner of the Sebago Lake Development Corporation of Casco and Raymond. For more information, please call 655-9214.

Camp Sunshine ?hits the slopes

Each year during February school vacation, Shawnee Peak hosts Camp Sunshine families for an afternoon of skiing and riding. Approximately 100 students were excited and nervous as they got their chance to learn to ski or snowboard while their parents watched from the sidelines. Many of these kids have spent countless hours in hospitals, and this is a wonderful opportunity for them to experience a joyous new adventure. Providing a wonderful experience for all requires a substantial group of caring, snow savvy volunteers, and once again, many friendly, cheerful people from Raymond stepped up to the plate and volunteered their time to help.

A special thank-you goes out to Coleen Laprise for helping to organize this event. She has been involved with this program for several years and when recruiting volunteers she said, “it is a very rewarding experience. It is nice to share something we love with these students. You don’t have to be an expert skier, but great attitude and positive spirit is required.”

Raymond ?Community Garden

Even though a look outside proves it is clearly still winter, those who manage the Raymond Village Community Garden are getting their seeds started for summer. The RVCG is a non-profit organization established to help our community and promote a healthy lifestyle. Located next to the Raymond Village Library, the garden provides rows of crops especially grown for the Raymond Food Pantry, and they need our help.

There are many ways to get involved in the garden including weeding, watering and harvesting the Raymond Food Pantry rows. You can also have your own garden rows for the seasonal stipend of $10 per row which includes some seed varieties or you can bring your own organic seeds or seedlings. Only organic seeds are allowed in the garden so your family will eat only the best of healthy and flavorful foods.

Volunteers are also needed to promote healthy eating at the Raymond Food pantry once a week. You will have samples to provide to the pantry visitors as well as recipes which use ingredients found in the garden. All watering and weeding tools are provided and you can work around your schedule.

RVCG is a great opportunity to give back to the community while at the same time learning and harvesting fresh organic vegetables of your own. The RVCG is a non-profit organization with a goal to be self-sustaining for future years. Tax deductible donations are greatly appreciated and can be made payable to RVCG, c/o the Raymond Village Library, 3 Meadow Road, Raymond, ME 04071. If you would like to help, please contact Leigh Walker at 655-2135 or lwalker4@maine.rr.com.

Church supper

The Casco Village Church, located on Route 121 in the village of Casco is hosting another Saturday night supper on Feb. 28 from 5-6 p.m. Come enjoy all the favorite traditional beans and casseroles but with an Italian twist. The cost is only $7 for adults, $4 for children under 10 with a maximum charge of $20 per family and includes salads, rolls, beverages and desserts.

Play Ball!

Spring is just around the corner and soon America’s favorite pastime will be in full swing. Those who run the Raymond baseball and softball program are busy making plans for the 2011 season and will hold registrations on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, March 8 and 10 from 6-8 p.m. at the Jordan-Small Middle School. This program is open to boys and girls ages 5-15 playing all levels of ball from T-ball through the senior league.

Registration can also be done online at www.raymondbaseballsoftball.com, so please be sure to register your child as soon as possible so teams can be formed. Assessments and try-outs will be held on March 26. For more information and a schedule of tryouts, please contact Kevin MacDonald at Kevin@raymondbaseballsoftball.com.

The Happy Prince

Despite, or perhaps because of my lack of acting abilities, I have a deep appreciation for our local performers, particularly our youth. I enjoy all of the schools’ musicals and am looking forward to watching Windham High School’s upcoming performance at the Maine Principals’ Association’s Maine Drama Festival.

Windham High’s One Act team is notorious for finishing in the top three of this highly competitive annual event and will compete on Saturday, March 12, at Morse High School in Bath. They are performing “The Happy Prince” and will hopefully move on to the state finals to be held at the end of the month.

To help fund these trips, they are hosting a preview performance of the play on Sunday, March 6 and Thursday, March 10 at 7 p.m. at the Windham Performing Arts Center. Tickets to these shows are only $5 for adults and $3 for students and available at the door.