FALMOUTH

Therapist wins award

Ryan Francis, certified recreational therapist at Sedgewood Commons, was honored recently with the 2012 Maine Health Care Association Award for his innovative programming benefiting Alzheimer’s residents at Sedgewick Common.

Francis’ “Rhythm Delight” program uses music to help people with Alzheimer’s-type dementia to maintain cognitive functioning through short-term memory recall, address physical function through the use of gross and fine motor skills, emotional functioning through experiencing a sense of mastery and familiarity, social functioning through appropriate interactions with peers and facilitators and auditory stimulation through the sounds produced by percussion instruments.

STANDISH

School honors good citizens

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Students at George E. Jack recently were awarded special citizenship t-shirts for consistently demonstrating the school’s ideals: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible.

Students Hannah Kaspereen, Avery Goan, Segante Frazzita, Carter Gagnon, Ryan Hale, Andrew Hawkes, Tabitha Burgess, Madeline Thompson and Jack Tracy were recognized as outstanding school citizens by meeting and surpassing those expectations on a regular basis.

WELLS

Teens host 400 at dinner

Wells Junior High School eighth graders served dinner to more than 400 guests during the 18th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for area seniors on Nov. 18.

Students greeted their guests, escorted them to their seats, worked in the kitchen, waited tables, prepared take-out meals and helped with cleanup.

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According to school principal Chris Chessie, the meal helps reinforce some of the schools core values in the minds of students, including respect, compassion and giving back to the community.

SANFORD

Key Club had busy fall

Sanford High School Key Club had a busy autumn.

Club members helped Carl J. Lamb Elementary School host a Fall Festival and later volunteered at the Sanford Junior High School Fright Night event.

Recently, Key Club members traveled to Alfred to help Kiwanis members split and stack seven cords of firewood to provide heat for the York County Shelter this winter.

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HIRAM

Library sets holiday hours

Soldiers Memorial Library, at 85 Main St., announced a temporary change in hours in observance of the upcoming holidays.

The library will be closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Effective now through Jan. 5, hours will be 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays. The facility is closed on Mondays and Fridays. For more details, call 625-4650 or go to www.soldiers.lib.me.us.

WESTBROOK

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$20,000 raised for wishes

The Dream Factory of Maine, an all-volunteer organization that grants dreams to critically and chronically ill children, raised more than $20,000 to help grant the wishes of at least four Maine children this year.

The proceeds were raised during a “Make Your Own Candy Cane Event,” hosted by Haven’s Candies of Westbrook.

For more details, call 650-9700.

PORTLAND

Grants aid education causes

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People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, has awarded $7,500 in continuing education funding to two area nonprofit agencies.

Learning Works, which provides support services for at-risk youth, immigrant/refugee communities and low-income families in Maine, will receive a $5,000 grant for its Youth Building Alternatives mentoring program serving central and southern Maine high school dropouts ages 16 to 24.

A $2,500 grant to Maine Boys to Men will fund programming that educates against sexism and violence in adolescent boys at Portland High School. The intensive bystander intervention program teaches student leaders to stand up and speak out against violence and harassment in their schools and communities.

Cheverus students pitch in

During the month of November, the Cheverus community raised more than $3,700 to support the students at St. Peter’s Prep and Xavier High School in New York, schools that were hard hit by megastorm Sandy at the end of October.

Cheverus also sent a small group of student and staff volunteers to the Queens, N.Y., area to help with cleanup projects in the Breezy Point neighborhood, which was virtually wiped out by the effects of the storm and the resulting fires that leveled 111 homes in one neighborhood.

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The group stayed at the Breezy Point Fire Department bunkhouse with other volunteers and many displaced residents.

For two days they worked on two homes, clearing debris and ripping out flooring and sheetrock destroyed by the 4-foot storm surge that flooded the homes.

Other groups from Cheverus also plan to travel to New York and assist with the cleanup efforts in this distressed community.

SCARBOROUGH

Terrace group shops for kids

Scarborough Terrace residents recently used funds raised at their bake sale to buy children’s clothes, coats and gloves to donate to Project G.R.A.C.E.

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The residents bought more than $600 worth of merchandise, further stretching their dollars by buying Black Friday deals.

KENNEBUNK

Titherington’s service lauded

United Way of York County, in partnership with Kennebunk Savings, has awarded businessman Geoff Titherington with the 2012 York County Spirit of Service Award for commitment to service and impact in his community.

Titherington, owner of Bonanza Restaurant in Sanford, is the board president of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Sanford and donates his time to a number of other local organizations including United Way of York County, Waban Projects, Sanford YMCA, Goodall Hospital, Kiwanis Club and Sanford Springvale Chamber of Commerce.

The award comes with a $500 donation from the Kennebunk Savings Foundation to the charity of Titherington’s choice.

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CAMDEN

Library earns 5-star rating

The Library Journal’s 2012 library review and annual report has awarded the Camden Public Library with a five-star service rating for the fifth consecutive year, signifying excellence in programs and service.

The Library Journal annually reviews more than 7500 libraries from across the nation.

Ratings are based on annual performance figures that consider each library’s circulation, number of annual visitors, computer terminal use, audience attendance and participation at community program offerings.

Southwest Harbor Library and Southwest Harbor Library also received five-star distinctions, while Skidompha Public Library in Damariscotta earned four stars and Rockland Public Library and Witherle Memorial Library, of Castine, each earned three stars.


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