Seminar focuses on gluten-free lifestyle

The St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, in partnership with presenter and gluten-free specialist Suzanne Dunham, will be offering an introductory workshop about living a gluten-free lifestyle on Thursday, Feb. 14, from 6:30-8 p.m., at the Nutrition Center, 208 Bates St., Lewiston. It’s also a potluck, so attendees are encouraged to bring a favorite gluten-free dish to share.

The cost of the presentation is $12 per person. This and other workshops to come are part of the Nutrition Center’s regular Living Gluten-Free Support Group.

Dunham has given seminars and cooking classes about living without gluten since 2005 in various venues in Maine. She developed her most recent presentation is to raise awareness about cross contamination. The presentation also provides a summary of gluten intolerance and celiac disease and the latest news on living gluten-free. She operates a gluten-free commercial kitchen from the family farm in Greenwood, and provides baked goods and mixes to area natural foods stores. She and her husband Brian are also beekeepers, are maple syrup producers and they grow a variety of produce.

For more information, contact the St. Mary’s Nutrition Center at [email protected] or (207) 513-3844.

Hand-to-Hand Food Drive March 9

This years Hand-to-Hand Food Drive has been rescheduled from April 6 to Saturday, March 9, from 10-11:30 a.m.

Volunteers will be in front of First Parish Church, 40 Main St., to accept bags of non-perishable food, personal care items and cleaning supplies. Items will be passed “hand-to-hand” to the Freeport Community Center, 53 Depot St., to help stock the Freeport Community Services food pantry.

Goods can also be dropped off in advance at the lobbies of the Morse Street School, Mast Landing School and Durham Community School.?

A free week for one child to attend Camp Seaside (valued at $160) will be auctioned off at 11 a.m. at the Freeport Community Center. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase ahead of time.

For more information, call 865-6171 or see www.rsu5-rce.org.

Caregivers program set for Feb. 21

Mid Coast Senior Health Center in Brunswick offers a monthly support group for those caring for someone with dementia. Presentations are designed to help understand the challenges, fostering supportive and beneficial conversation among participants.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Jay Conway, a social worker and program coordinator from Mid Coast Senior Mental Health Services, will present a program, “Exploring Our Ideals About Caregiving.” The presentation will focus on how expectations about caregiving are developed, perceived and responded to by the caregiver.

After the presentation, Conway will facilitate the group in a discussion about the impact of ideals, on the role and product of caretaking, as well as the health and wellbeing of the caregiver. The group will be co-facilitated by Cindy Hughes, activities director for The Garden, an assisted living home for those with dementia.

The support group is free and open to the public, and meets the third Thursday of every month at Mid Coast Senior Health Center, 58 Baribeau Drive, Brunswick. For more information about the support group and future presentations, call 373-4656. For more information about the services of Mid Coast Senior Mental Health Services, call 373-6975.

Elwin Curtis of Curtis Landscaping removes a chunk of snow Monday morning from the parking lot of the Irving store on Mallet Drive in Freeport. A weekend storm walloped the area with high winds, freezing temperatures, and reports of more than 2 feet of snow in some spots. Freeport Police Chief Gerald Schofield said Monday the town was in “pretty good shape” as public works employees continued to clear streets. Schofield said only a few minor accidents were reported with most people heeding the advice to “hunker down” and stay off the roads. While most Freeport businesses closed during the storm, L.L. Bean remained open through it all.