At the Rec

Horseback Riding Open House on Sunday, Dec. 8, from 1-3 p.m. Come visit North Wind Performance Horses at 163 Center Road, Gray, and see what riding lessons are all about. Meet the horses used in the lessons as you roam throughout the barn and arenas. Instructor/Owner Ursula Soobitsky will be on hand to answer any of your questions. Hot cocoa and hot apple cider available.

The Gray Recreation Department would like to give shoebox gifts to Caring Community to pass along to local children in need. They are in need of shoe boxes for families to fill with small gifts for local children.

Come grab a shoebox from the Rec. office through Dec. 19 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (or use your own). You choose the gender/age of a child you’d like to donate to. You do the filling and bring it back to the office. They’ll make sure Caring Community delivers it before Christmas. Any new/unwrapped toys or games for children are also being collected. There is a collection box in their office. Please stop by the Gray Recreation office if there are any questions or concerns.

Please find all information at www.grayrec.com or call 657-2323.

Christmas Sponsors

Sponsors are always needed for Christmas Food Baskets and gifts/clothing for children, individuals and families of Gray and New Gloucester, as are monetary donations. Donations can be sent to CCGNG, PO Box 1244 Gray, ME 04039. For more information, including how to become a sponsor, contact Christina Foster at winkers92@yahoo.com or 233-0828.

Going Back To College?

Come to the Adult Ed College Transitions Open House orientation on Monday, Dec. 9, at the Gray-New Gloucester Adult Education Office’s entrance near the high school gym at 10 Libby Hill Road. There will be two sessions, one at 1 p.m. and another at 6 p.m.

There are four areas of college and career readiness: personal, career, academic and college knowledge, in which adult learners are typically underprepared. Without skills and knowledge in these areas, it is difficult to thrive in a college environment. Come learn how they can help ensure your success in college, how you can participate for free and begin earning college credits now in order to be better prepared to get started.

Call 657-9612 to reserve your spot and let them know which time you plan to attend.

Children’s Theatre Winter Production

There will be a (PRE) Audition Workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 10 from 6-7:30 p.m., for Fiddlehead’s Children’s Theater Production of “The Music Man.”

In this workshop you will learn the ins and outs of auditioning. Cost is $5/child/student.

Auditions for “The Music Man” will be held Saturday, Dec. 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15, from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. Audition time slots are by the hour. Eight students will be accepted per hour. (Don’t worry, plenty of room for all). Ages 7-16 may audition at this time. Audition paperwork will be available soon online at their website.

Ages 4-7 may join our storybook theater group on Thursday’s at 3:30 p.m. for a Winter 10 week session.

Rehearsals for the performance will begin in January and be held most every Saturday morning and during the week for some actors. Schedule will be available at the first rehearsal in January.

For more information, go to Fiddlehead Art and Science Center, 25 Shaker Road, Gray, Maine, call 657-2244, visit www.fiddleheadcenter.org or email info@fiddleheadcenter.org.

Calling All Knitters, Crocheters

In anticipation of the cold weather, Dunn School at 667 Morse Road in New Gloucester has started collecting homemade or store-bought hats and mittens for students of Gray and New Gloucester. The hats and mittens will be distributed to the students of Dunn, Memorial and Russell schools. Please drop off your donations to the Giving Tree in the lobby of Dunn School.

You Guys Rock

The G-NG Middle School chapter of the National Junior Honor Society has completed 20 Thanksgiving Dinner baskets in cooperation with the Gray/New Gloucester Caring Community. The students planned and completed a food drive, they packed the food in decorated boxes, and ran fundraisers to offset the cost of Butterball turkey gift certificates. Each box contains canned vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing, bread mixes, muffin mixes, pie crust mixes, pie fillings, holiday napkins, five pounds of potatoes, and a $20 gift certificate for a Butterball turkey. The National Junior Honor Society thanks the G-NGMS community for donating the food and money that made their project such a huge success.

This group plans to complete 20 boxes for Christmas dinners and will start their project and fundraisers as soon as they get back to school after Thanksgiving break.

Here’s the list of students in the Society: Evan Bergeron, Kayleigh Bowen, Emily Brewer, Emma Cadran, Hannah Dawkins, Ben Dowe, Sam Farrington, Jeremiah Gendreau, Hunter Johnson, Ethan Johnson, Robert Koening, Alexandria Lambert, Eliza Larrivee, Sarah Levier, Scott MacGregor, Lauren Malloy, Alison Martell, Jaley Martin, Emma Matusovich, Logan Nickerson, Devon Plummer, Faith Quatticci, Ethan Ray, Josiah Rottari, Elisabeth Seliga, Jasmine Taudvin, Madiline Testa, Kathryn Tibbetts, Cameron Usher and Chloe Young.

Getting Ready

The Gray Snowolves’ next meeting is on Tuesday Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. at the State Police Barracks on Route 26. Lots of trail work is being planned and completed on the weekends to get the trails ready for the season. If you can’t make the meeting, but can help with trail work, please join them. Contact Brad at 428-3308, or email snowolves@gmail.com.

Holidays at the Library

The annual Gingerbread Houses event will be held on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Gray- New Gloucester High School Cafetorium (because of the library construction), Libby Hill Road in Gray, and is free for all ages. Patriot Parents will also be at the event with Pictures with Santa (cost for picture is $5).

Ugly Holiday Sweater Day is on Tuesday, Dec. 17. The Gray Public Library invites you to wear your jolliest holiday sweater into the library. We will be serving coffee and baked goods to celebrate the winter season.

During the renovation and construction process, Story Time will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the second floor of Pennell. There will be no Story Time on Dec. 20, 24 and 27.

Gray Public Library, 5 Hancock St., Gray, ME 04039, 657-4110 or www.graylib@gray.lib.me.us for more information.

Members of the Gray-New Gloucester Middle School’s chapter of the National Junior Honor Society load up the 20 completed Thanksgiving Dinner baskets in cooperation with the Gray-New Gloucester Caring Community. The other half of the group plans to complete 20 more boxes for Christmas dinners and were scheduled to start their project and fund raisers as soon as they got back to school after Thanksgiving.