Coldwell Banker salutes brokers

Kathy Duca, manager of the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage real estate office located at 295 Ocean House Road in Cape Elizabeth, announced that Bruce and Raye Balfour have been named Broker of the Month for October.

Bruce has been in the real estate business since 1996 and lives in Cape Elizabeth.

“Bruce and Raye continue to achieve remarkable success,” said Duca. “He believes the key is to treat his clients the way he would expect to be treated. They believe clients expect and deserve to be informed and involved every step of the way.”

Bruce and Raye specialize in the listing and sale of residential real estate. From cottages to castles. They can be reached at 831-0166 or email Bruce.Balfour@NEMoves.com.

Author shares latest in Elder Darrow jazz mystery series

Richard Cass, author of the Elder Darrow jazz mystery series, will be talking about the latest book in the series, “Last Call At The Esposito,” as part of South Portland Public Library’s Author Talk series. His visit will be at the Main Library on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.

Cass holds a graduate degree in writing from the University of New Hampshire, where he studied with Thomas Williams, Jr. and Joseph Monninger. He has also studied with Ernest Hebert, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Molly Gloss. He has been an Individual Artist’s Fellow for the state of New Hampshire and a Fellow at the Fishtrap Writers’ Conference in Oregon.

His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Playboy, Gray’s Sporting Journal, ZZYZVA, and Best Short Stories of the American West. Cass serves on the board of Mystery Writers of America’s New England Chapter and blogs with the Maine Crime Writers. Cass lives in Cape Elizabeth.

“Last Call at the Esposito,” is the fourth installment in Cass’ Elder Darrow mystery series. The Olympic Games are coming to Boston. Or are they? When a burial detail to the paupers’ grave on Boston’s Rinker Island comes up with one extra coffin, Dan Burton is called in to take the case. The murdered man is one Constantine Boustaloudis, a neighborhood activist against the effort of rich and powerful interests to bring the Olympic Games to Boston. The confusion turns the world around Mercy Street into an uproar.

For more information about Cass, and for reviews of his book, visit his website, www.rjcassbooks.com. For more information about this Author Talk, call Circulation at 767-7660, ext. 2, or stop by the Main Library.

Community invited to tour South Portland Food Cupboard

A frequent recipient of the generosity and contributions of parishioners in South Portland, Scarborough, and Cape Elizabeth will open doors to show donors how their gifts are benefiting many in need in the community.

The South Portland Food Cupboard, located on 130 Thadeus St., invites the public to come and observe its operation on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m. Dwayne Hopkins, the director of the food cupboard, will give an overview of the program. The event is family friendly, and attendees are encouraged to bring a canned good to donate.

Founded in 1997, the South Portland Food Cupboard is a nonprofit, volunteer-based food pantry dedicated to alleviating hunger in South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, and surrounding communities by providing each household in need with nutritious food each month. The organization also offers recipients information and guidance to other community resources.

Distribution hours are on Tuesdays (10:30 a.m. to noon), Thursdays (8:30 to 11 a.m.), and the first Wednesday of each month (5 to 7 p.m.) Juice drinks, animal crackers, coloring books, and crayons are provided to children of families who wait in line. The pantry serves over 700 people each month. Donations are collected Monday through Friday from 8 to 11:30 a.m., and the organization offers a variety of other ways to support its mission, including an Adopt the Family program.

Among the volunteers at the cupboard are many of the students at Holy Cross School in South Portland.

“Some of our students go to the food cupboard and assist the volunteers with organizing donations and stocking shelves. Others serve as ‘personal shoppers’ for those who need support,” said Bill Ridge, a teacher at Holy Cross. “They go there, they see the people in need, and they come back to school inspired to help them. It’s great.”

The school annually hosts a massive Thanksgiving food drive for the food cupboard which fills large sections of several classrooms. During Lent, parishioners at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Scarborough, St. John and Holy Cross Parish in South Portland, and St. Bartholomew Parish in Cape Elizabeth combined to donate 6,683 pounds of canned goods and packaged food, all donated to the food cupboard. The “Garden of Eaten,” a community garden at St. Maximilian Kolbe, donates a large portion of its produce to the food cupboard. Parishioners also work together to tend to one large bed in the garden, set aside to benefit those in need at the cupboard. Youth at St. John and Holy Cross Parish also raised nearly $1,300 for the food cupboard during its annual “Souper” Bowl of Caring collection.

“One of the things we see every day with these kids is that they are really aware of the gifts that they have,” said Ridge. “They work really hard to share whatever they have with the rest of the community. It’s an appreciation of the many gifts they have and being able to give back to people they know don’t have as much.”

For more information about the tour or donating/volunteering at the food cupboard, call 874-0379 or visit www.southportlandfoodcupboard.org.

Pop-up Shop supports Camp Sunshine

Jewelry artist Chaya Caron, owner of Chaya Studio Jewelry, will host the seventh annual holiday pop-up shop to spotlight local artists, support the buy-local movement, and raise funds for Camp Sunshine.
As always, holiday shoppers will find a wide range of affordable handcrafted items from $2 including pottery, jewelry, scarves, art and more. Participating artists, more than 25, include Shannon Wong, Ember Grove, Sue Vittner, James McLaughlin and Melanie West.
Be sure to enter the annual holiday raffle for a chance to win a $200 gift certificate for Chaya Studio Jewelry.
Register at the the shop and online.
New this year are two Happy Hour events and two silent auctions:
Happy Hour at Chaya’s on Nov. 29, 5 to 7 p.m., features refreshments and kicks off a three-day silent auction (Nov 29, 30, 31.
Happy Hour at Chaya’s on Dec. 13, 5 to 7 p.m. features refreshments and kicks off a three-day silent auction (Dec. 13, 14, 15).
A portion of proceeds from the month-long sale, silent auctions and raffle will benefit Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
Chaya Studio Jewelry is located at 22 Cottage Road in South Portland. For more information, call 221-6552.

Mad Horse Theatre
presents ‘Mary Jane’

Mad Horse Theatre presents Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by company member, Stacey Koloski, through Nov. 24 at Mad Horse Theatre, 24 Mosher St., South Portland.
As Mary Jane navigates both the mundane and the unfathomable realities of caring for Alex, her chronically ill young son, she finds herself building a community of women from many walks of life. Mary Jane is Amy Herzog’s remarkably powerful and compassionate portrait of a contemporary American woman striving for grace.
There’s no denying the central, wrenching focus of Mary Jane, but it’s also a story about a small group of women who commit themselves to the tough project of caring for this child and his mother with grace and humor.
The cast includes company member Reba Askari (Mary Jane) and four other actors that play dual roles, Emily Grotz, Gusta Johnson, Elise Voigt and company member, Tootie Van Reenen.

The crew includes company members, Mark Rubin (production manager), Jennifer Halm- Perazone (Stage Manager), Corey Anderson (lighting design), Jake Cote (sound design) and guest artists, Anna Halloran (costume design), Johnny Speckman (props) and Amber White (set design).
”It’s a gift to be working with so many female-identifying artists on Amy Herzog’s beautiful play. This production arrives at a time when the world would benefit from the examples set by the strong, empathetic, intelligent and resilient women of “Mary Jane,”, said Stacey Koloski, director, in a written statement.
Author Amy Herzog received a masters in fine arts from the Yale School of Drama. Her teachers included Richard Nelson and John Guare. Jim Nicola, producer of Belleville at the New York Theatre Workshop, said that “the distinction of Herzog’s work is her belief ‘that private, individual experience is always inseparable from public, historical processes, when she explores human lives.’”
She has received numerous awards including the Helen Merrill Award for Aspiring Playwrights, the Whiting Award, the Lily Award and the 2012 Obie Award in the category Best New American Play for 4000 Miles.
“Mary Jane” won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play for Mary Jane in 2018. Herzog was also awarded the 2019 Horton Foote Playwriting Award (along with Heidi Schreck) by the Dramatists Guild of America. Herzog teaches at Yale as a lecturer in Playwriting. She learned about caregiving the hard way: Her oldest daughter suffers from a congenital neuromuscular disease.
“A wrenching tale of everyday heroism that is all the more touching for its total lack of sentimentality. I’ve never seen a more honest portrayal of the day-to-day demands of caregiving, or a more moving tribute to a mother’s love. It might just be Ms. Herzog’s best play to date.”
– Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal
“Amy Herzog’s beautiful new play, ‘Mary Jane” is about family and illness, and how the difficulties inherent in caring for the infirm can strengthen familial bonds—or erode them.”
– Hilton Als, The New Yorker
“Mary Jane is not the kind to offer solution or resolution….But still, it’s a play with unexpected grace and optimism, and one that offers faith in the power of communion.”
– Chloe Schama, Vogue

Mary Jane runs Nov. 7-24 at Mad Horse Theatre in the historic Hutchins School, 24 Mosher St., South Portland.
Performance times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. There will be an opening night reception immediately following the Friday, Nov. 8 performance.
Partrons are invited to stay after the show, enjoy light snacks, and mingle with the cast, crew, and fellow theater lovers.
A talk-back is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17 immediately following the 2 p.m. matinee. This is an opportunity to discuss the play with the director and actors.
Tickets are $23 for adults and $20 for seniors. For patrons younger than 25, tickets are pay-what-you-can for all performances.
Pay-what-you-can dates for “Mary Jane” are Thursdays, Nov. 7 and 14 and Sunday, Nov. 10. Pay-what-you-can tickets are only available at the door on a first come, first served basis.
Reservations are strongly recommended. Purchase tickets online at www.madhorse.com or call 747-4148 for more information. Please call for group rates.

Toy drive seeks
assistance,
donations

The 2019 South Portland Christmas Toy Drive is seeking assistance so that it can can help children from within the community that are less fortunate and could use a little help during the Christmas season.
Last year, the drive helped more than 220 South Portland children with toys, boots and warm coats.
This is the eighth year for the drive and involves a partnership with the South Portland Police Department, South Portland Policemen’s Association, South Portland school system, Maine Roofing Inc., Evelyn’s Tavern, Port Harbor Marine and Peoples United Millcreek.
Each year the group collects hundreds of toys, boots and coats which are distributed to the identified families with the help of local police officers.
The toy drive is looking for businesses, groups or individuals to “adopt families” for the drive. All volunteers need to do is specify how many children in a family hat they would like to buy a coat, boots and some toys for.
The drive is also looking for donations of new, unwrapped toys, art supplies and gift cards which can be dropped off at the businesses listed. The deadline for donations is Friday, Dec. 6.
To make a donation, checks can be made out to the SPPP Community Needs Fund (South Portland Policemen’s Association) and mailed to Maine Roofing- 24 Bishop Ave., South Portland, ME 04106.
The eighth annual annual toy drive party is scheduled for 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7 at Evelyn’s Tavern. Please bring new unwrapped toys and join attend a night of fun and cocktails.
For more information, call Liz Darling at 767-4243 or by email lad@maineroofinginc.com.

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