Book illustrator coming to library

Portland artist Blue Butterfield will be the featured guest Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 6:30 p.m., at Freeport Community Library.

She is the illustrator of a new, special edition of “Christmas in Maine,” released by Islandport Press of Yarmouth, featuring intricate woodblock print illustrations. The book captures the same holiday themes as the 1941 book by Pulitzer Prize-winning Maine poet Robert P. T. Coffin. The evening will include readings, as well as a printmaking demonstration.

Butterfield grew up in Bar Harbor and lives in Portland. She is known for her woodblock calendar, “A Year in Maine,” which is in its ninth year of annual production.

Downsizing, moving topics of meeting

Lois Lengyel, of Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International, and Liz Pattison and Kim Dorsky of SimplySized Home are the featured guests at the monthly meeting of the Freeport Woman’s Club, Friday, Dec. 11, at 1 p.m., at the Freeport Community Library. The three women have some 25 combined years of experience in real estate, downsizing and moving management, having helped hundreds of clients navigate the selling and moving process. They will address concerns and questions about de-cluttering, simplifying, packing, moving and staging. All are welcome to attend.

The Freeport Woman’s Club is a service organization that has been in existence for 90 years. It meets once a month at the Freeport Community Library for a business meeting and program. The club’s fundraising projects include a spring bazaar and a bake sale on Election Day. Monies raised provide local scholarships, community improvements, donations to Freeport Community Services and support for women seeking career education. New members are welcome. Contact Betty Duckworth at 847-0240 or [email protected].

Step-up grant

The Freeport Woman’s Club is looking for a candidate for its 2015-16 Step Up Grant, a $1,000 gift for a woman over the age of 21 from Freeport or Pownal who is seeking occupational training and is experiencing financial need. Criteria for selection of the applicant are based upon financial need, clarity of goals, educational program and references. For more information, call Virginia Boyles at 865-3973.

Chorus to perform ‘Visions of Hope’

The Greater Freeport Community Chorus will present its winter concert, “Visions of Hope,” Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13, at 2:30 p.m., at the Congregational Church in Cumberland, United Church of Christ, 282 Main St. The concert will include works by English composers, as well as Jewish choral pieces. The event also will feature Jay Zoller’s accompaniment of the 75-member chorus on pipe organ. Director Virgil Bozeman leads the singers, with piano accompaniment by Kellie Moody.

On the program is “Christmas Day,” a 1910 arrangement of carols by Gustav Holst. Another major piece will be organist and composer Samuel S. Wesley’s “The Wilderness and the Solitary Place.” Music from the Jewish choral tradition will include a setting by David Burger of the Naftali Imber poem that ultimately became the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah (The Hope).”

The chorus members hail from 18 midcoast towns. Admission is $10, with a per-family maximum of $25. Tickets can be purchased at the door. For more information, visit the chorus on Facebook or at www.gfccsings.org.

Youth chorale ?to perform

The 18th annual “A Wescustago Winter” concert by Wescustago Youth Chorale will be performed Sunday, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m., at the Freeport Performing Arts Center, 30 Holbrook St. A reception will follow.

Wescustago Youth Chorale is an 80-voice auditioned coed choir of singers from third to 12th grades. Singers hail from Freeport, Durham, Pownal, Bath, Brunswick, Portland, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, North Yarmouth, Dresden and Phippsburg. The chorale is conducted by Amanda Mahaffey of Freeport, Jen Runge of Yarmouth, and Renovia Day of Topsham.

Tickets, at $10, $5 for students and seniors 65 and older, will be sold at the door, starting at 2 p.m. For more information, see www.wescustago.wordpress.com or call Leigh at 846-0705.

‘Coastal Winds Christmas’ Dec. 15

“Coastal Winds Christmas”, by Freeport’s community concert band, featuring holiday classics such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Sleigh Ride,” will be performed Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 6:30 p.m., in the Casco Bay Room of the Harraseeket Inn, 162 Main St., Freeport. There will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The suggested admission is a non-perishable food item for the Freeport Community Services Food Pantry or a cash donation.

For more information call 865-4747. New members to the band are always welcome.

Tune in to ‘Radio Hour’

Freeport Players’ “WFCP Home Time Radio Hour” will be back “on the air” with an all-new collection of music and radio sketches to kick off the holidays. The 1950s holiday edition of “Radio” will be performed Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 – 5, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. at the Freeport Performing Arts Center, 30 Holbrook St.

Tickets are $15 at the door. They are also available at Maine Wicked Goods Mercantile, 304 U.S. Route 1, and R&D Automotive, Varney Road; or by mail at Freeport Players, PO Box 483, Freeport ME, 04032. Patrons can save $5 and get tickets online at www.fcponline.org/tix.htm.

The “Radio” show will include hit songs of the 1950s and a few holiday favorites, new episodes of “Joe Tanner,” “Home On The Range” and “Rocket Space Quest,” new sketches, new product jingles, live music from the band, led by Tom Dube (Dube Music), and, of course, the Sound Effects Ladies.

The “Radio” cast of familiar faces and new talent includes Maryellen Carew, Barb Finn, Betty Gravelle, Randy Roy, Judy Lloyd, David Wallace, Elizabeth Guffey, Penny Davis-Dublin, Sam Hunneman, Cole Tamminen, Erik Brobst, Hilary Manuel, Gordon Adams, Deborah McLean, Andrew Hammann, Bernie Horowitz, Sally Grover, ?Trish Scott, Phil Chin, Jackie Downing, Jake Junkins, Don Labbe, Johannah DeGrandpre, Mary Lessard, John Paterson, Gar Roper, Denise Shannon, Betsy Roper and more.

Freeport Players was founded in 1989 to provide opportunities for members of the community to be involved in all aspects of theater. Freeport Players produces a wide range of theater experiences – classical and contemporary, comedies and dramas, plays and musicals.

‘Night Tree’ on Saturday

A holiday tradition for children, Wolfe’s Neck Farm’s “Night Tree” event, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5, is inspired by Eve Bunting’s book, “Night Tree.” Her story is about a family that feeds the forest animals by making decorations for a special tree. Each hour during the day, a reader will share the book and children will decorate pinecones with birdseed and string popcorn with dried fruit and cranberries. A short hike will take the children on the trails to leave the treats in the woods for the animals.

Programs begin at 9 a.m. The last program is at 2 p.m. The cost is $5 for those 2 and older and free for members. Tickets are available at www.wolfesneckfarm.org.

Holly Jolly Fair this weekend

First Parish Church Congregational will hold its annual “Holly Jolly Fair” in the church hall at 40 Main St., Freeport. on Friday, December 4, 5-8 p.m. and Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. There will be homemade baked goods and crafts items for sale plus white elephant, a cake party, cookie walk and a raffle on both days. On Saturday there will be a fish chowder/Italian sandwich luncheon plus a special visit from Santa between 11:30-2:30. All are welcome.

Dine-out benefit

On Thursday, Dec. 3, customers who eat at participating Freeport restaurants will receive a raffle ticket for a week on Daytona Beach, Fla. Proceeds from dining will benefit Freeport High School class of 2016’s Project Graduation.

Participating Freeport restaurants include Amato’s, Gritty McDuff’s, Subway, Stirling & Mull and The Corsican (lunch only).

‘East Meets Weston’ photo exhibit opening

A photography exhibit by Bruce Barlow of Westport Island will be on display at Freeport Community Library during December. Barlow’s exhibit, “East Meets Weston,” consists of pairs of photographs – one from the East Coast and one from Weston Beach in the Point Lobos State Reserve south of Carmel, Calif. Some of the work is black and white, some is color. Barlow has been making pictures since 1984, has run photo workshops and published two books on photography.

Film classic

The 1947 holiday classic film, “Miracle on 34th Street,” will be shown Thursday, Dec. 3, at 1 p.m., at Freeport Community Library. The public is invited to enjoy this enduring holiday film, along with tea, coffee and homemade cookies, free of charge. “Miracle on 34th Street” stars Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn and an 8-year-old Natalie Wood.

2015 Holiday Helpline under way

Sign-up has begun for the Freeport Community Services Holiday Helpline program for Freeport and Pownal residents. The Holiday Helpline program is designed to provide warm clothing and toys, thanks to a partnership with the Press Herald Toy Fund (formerly called the Bruce Roberts Toy Fund) to needy residents. Freeport Community Services is hoping to find volunteers and donations to help this effort. Residents needing help this holiday season should see Sarah Lundin at Freeport Community Services to pick up an application. Deadline for completed applications is Dec. 1. The toy und will provide four brand-new, pre-selected, age-appropriate toys for each child up to age 19.

Community volunteers are essential to the success of the Holiday Helpline program. Here is how to help:

• Adopt a family: While the toys come from the toy fund, FCS still hopes to supply two articles of warm clothing per child, and one gift for each adult in the family.

• Adopt an adult: FCS provides one gift per adult, for some elderly, disabled, ill or unemployed adults. This may be the only gift they receive this holiday season.

• Provide cash donations: FCS uses these donations for items such as Bow Street Market gift cards and gas cards. Each family or adult, in addition to the gifts provided by donors, will receive a “Fund-a-Feast” Box from Hannaford and a Bow Street Market gift card. Donors also can make a contribution to the toy fund.

• Donate time: Help with gift wrapping, sorting, and delivering gifts and food boxes.

To volunteer, contact Debbie Daggett, at 865-3985, ext. 206. To adopt a family, make a contribution or apply for help, contact Sarah Lundin, 865-3985, ext. 205, as soon as possible.

Toys for Tots

Caleb Stephens, financial adviser with Edward Jones, is supporting the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program by using his office as a drop-off location for this year’s toy drive.

Local residents can help needy children in the area by bringing in a new, unwrapped toy to the office, at 5 Depot St., Suite 24, Freeport, during regular business hours, 8 a.m.- 4 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, from Monday, Nov. 2, through Friday, Dec. 4. “With the holiday season around the corner, we are all getting ready for the festivities,” Stephens said. “And as this is the season of giving, now is a great time to remember the less fortunate in our community.”

Edward Jones, a Fortune 500 company, provides financial services for individual investors.

2015 Citizen ?of the Year

Each year the Freeport Town Council presents a Citizen of the Year Award to honor those who have contributed significantly to the quality of the town. Nominations are now being accepted. Nomination forms are available at the Town Office, Freeport Community Library and at www.freeportmaine.com. Deadline for is Dec. 10.

Upcoming meetings

Planning Board, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 6 p.m., Town Council Chambers.

Board of Appeals, Monday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m., Town Council Chambers.

Conservation Commission, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 6 p.m., Freeport Community Center.

Coastal Waters Commission, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m., Freeport Community Center.

A full listing of upcoming town meetings and agendas is available at www.freeportmaine.com.