Not the Worst Years

Jordan-Small Middle School has an active reading group entitled the “Scribble Book Club,” led by librarian Lisa Schadler. The book club recently finished reading James Patterson’s “Middle School – The Worst Years of My Life,” and at the same time, the JSMS library was selected as a distributor for the World Book Night. The World Book Night is an organization that gives out half a million books to communities to read. Being selected as a book distributor meant that JSMS had to give 20 books away.

JSMS Scribbles has a new community service dimension and book club members have chosen to give the books to middle school-aged kids who will be attending Camp Sunshine. Camp Sunshine is located in Casco and is a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Scribble members wore their Scribble Book Group T-shirts to the camp when they presented the books. In fact, the Scribble Book Club did some scribbling of their own and each member drew a picture depicting one of the core values from the JSMS Code of Conduct. These drawings were put onto T-shirts. What a great way to blend reading and giving to others. Kudos to our middle school readers!

Gardening with Atwell

Spring is here and it is time to start gardening. What better way to learn new tips than to listen to Tom Atwell’s advice. He will be speaking at the Raymond Village Library on Wednesday, May 22 at 6 p.m. Atwell has written the Maine Gardener column in the Maine Sunday Telegram since the spring of 2004. His gardening goals each year include having continuous compost from his three compost bins, continuous bloom in his low-maintenance garden, and more fruits and vegetables on his family table than the garden pests eat in the field. Not bad goals. Due to limited seating, register in advance by calling the library at 655-4283 or e-mail the library director at [email protected].

National Bike Month

The Windham Active Lifestyles Coalition (WALC) is hosting a Bike and Walk Fun Day on Saturday, May 11, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. This free event will be held at the Mountain Division Trail in Windham beginning at the Gambo Road parking lot. The ride and walk will have several distance options. There will be bike gear giveaways from the Opportunity Alliance, bike/walk safety guides from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and healthy snacks.

WALC works to make Windham a place where residents and visitors of all ages and abilities can safely and easily walk, bicycle, and use other alternative modes of transportation. The Coalition is an ad hoc group of local residents and town staff. For more information, contact WALC Chairman Martin Shuer at 892-6360.

Every Child a Swimmer

Summer is rapidly approaching, and it will not be long before Raymond Recreation’s “Every Child a Swimmer” swim program begins. This is an excellent program for swimmers 5 years old and older. Half-hour lessons are held Monday through Friday from June 24 through July 9 at Crescent Beach and the cost for the program is $25 per child. There will also be a Red Cross Emergency Water Safety course for anyone in seventh grade or older and offers good orientation for those interested in training to become a lifeguard.

Red Cross-certified Water Safety Instructor Sarah Knights is returning for her fourth summer to help make your children better swimmers. Sarah knows our families, the facility and the program. She is excited to be returning to work with the children and will be assisted by Sam Brockelbank, a Red Cross-certified life guard. Parent volunteers are needed to supervise the beach and support the instructors for each week.

Registration will be held at the Jordan-Small Middle School on Wednesday, May 21, from 5:30-7 p.m. For more information, visit www.raymondmaine.org and click on Raymond Recreation Association/Swimming or contact Pat Smith at 655-4657.

Take a Stroll

What better way to enjoy this beautiful spring weather than a walk through the Mayberry Hill Preserve. Loon Echo Land Trust will lead a gentle meandering loop through the preserve on Saturday, May 18. You can search for spring’s numerous wildflowers and various bird species and don’t forget your camera because pink lady’s slippers can be seen alongside the path. This one-mile trail offers a relaxing walk through Loon Echo’s first preserve. Meet at the trailhead on Mayberry Hill Road in Casco at 8:45 a.m. for this 90-minute walk. For more information, contact Jon Evans at [email protected].

New Raymond Brochure

The Raymond Revitalization Committee has again headed the “Welcome to Raymond” brochure project for its second year. The 2013 project is now in production and well under way. In the 2012 brochure, the intent was to include all Raymond businesses with either an ad or listing. If your business was not included in last year’s brochure, please contact project coordinator Ellie Stengel of Custom Designed Graphics no later than May 15 if you would like to be included this year. She can be reached at 892-5994 or e-mail [email protected].

Soccer Anyone?

It’s finally here; warm sunny days filled with time on the lakes and fun outdoor activities. If you are like me, you haven’t given any thought to cooler weather and fall sports and won’t for a long time. However, it takes time to formulate teams and recruit coaches, so registrations for fall programs need to be held early. Registration for Raymond Recreation’s fall soccer program will take place Tuesday, May 21, from 5:30-7 p.m. and Monday, June 3, from 5-6 p.m. at the Jordan-Small Middle School.

The Raymond Recreation fall soccer program is for boys and girls in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, and only costs $30 per player. Soccer practices will begin the last week in August and games will be played on Saturday mornings beginning in September and running through the last week of October. Volunteer coaches, referees, and field volunteers are needed. Being involved with the kids, helping them hone their skills while witnessing their growth and love for the sport is a very fun and rewarding job. Please give this consideration.

For more information, contact program coordinator Stacey Richmond at 655-5097 or [email protected] immediately or join the Facebook Raymond Recreation Soccer group.

Jordan-Small Middle School Scribblers recently donated books to Camp Sunshine as part of the World Book Night. Standing in front of the South Casco nonprofit camp for children with terminal illnesses and their families are, from left, JSMS Book Group Facilitator Lisa Schadler, Caitlyn Nassa, Mya Bolk, Brooke Proctor, Lindsey MacDonald, and Michael Smith, director of special events at Camp Sunshine. Missing from the photo is book group student Colton Wescott. Photo courtesy of Lisa Schadler