Raymond Village Library celebrates summer reading with local heroes - By Michelle Libby

This summer libraries all over the country will roll out their summer reading programs with the theme “Every hero has a story” and Raymond Village Library is no different, but the way they are interpreting the theme is by featuring local heroes and businesses throughout the summer.

“Our community heroes are helping our kids be superheroes,” said Lisa Davison, who is the youth services assistant to the Raymond Village Library and in charge of the summer reading program.

The program starts with a grand kickoff event on Sunday, June 28 at the library, 3 Meadow Road. Jungle Jim’s Magic Super Hero Show will be featured and everyone in attendance gets a goodie bag. Those who can’t make the sign up/kickoff event can get their goodie bag by signing up at the circulation desk.  

“We collaborate with the community and that’s what this is all about,” she said. In addition to police, fire and the sheriff’s offices, programs are set up with Mr. H2O, Classic Paws, Inc. therapy dogs, BKD (Bushido Karate Dojo) and Center Stage dance studio will end the program with a dance party on August 17. The events are for all ages. Older kids can learn about different careers and trades by attending the events, said Davison.

Every week there will be three prizes for different age groups, under five, six to 10 and 11 and older. Each prize will be age appropriate, said Davison. 

Davison took over the role leading the summer program three years ago, but it has been in existence at the library for at least 15 years, she said. The year she started they had approximately 25 participate. Last year there were 106 participants. “My success has been my shows,” she said. The interactive quality of the program gets the children excited to read. 

“The more readers we get, the more they are reading. Everyone feels comfortable and everyone is successful.” 

"It is important that children read during the summer or they may experience what is known as summer slide," said Sally Holt, library director at Raymond Village Library. "Children that read during the summer gain reading skills. Children that do not may slide backward.”

According to the authors of a report from the National Summer Learning Association: "A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year.... It's common for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. That month of re-teaching eliminates a month that could have been spent on teaching new information and skills." 

Raymond Village Library is doing all they can to make reading fun. Sponsors for the program keep cost low for the library, they are Gorham Savings Bank, iDS – Industrial Distribution Services and ECS – Engineered Construction Services. An additional collaborative effort is the evening sky party at Hacker’s Hill wwith Loon Echo Land Trust on August 12^th with a rain date of August 13^th. 

Participants do not have to be Raymond residents. They are encouraged to get a library card. 

Most events will be held outside at the Raymond Village Library, but if it’s raining it will be at the Raymond Public Safety Building. For more information or to check on locations, visit Raymond Village Library on Facebook. The library is open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Sidebar  Keep Kids Reading

During July and August, the Raymond Village Library is providing an opportunity to “adopt” a children’s book through our Keep Kids Reading summer initiative and present it to the library’s collection.  Books for young children through Young Adults will be on display at the library for you to choose from.                                                                                                            

 Library patrons can purchase a book to honor a special person or event, or to remember a loved one.  Each book is $10.  After a book is purchased, a plaque will be inscribed and permanently placed inside.  For more information, call the library at 655-4283 or email sall.holt@raymondvillagelibrary.org.

Nine home gardeners prepare to host visitors - By Walter Lunt

Dianne Larrivee’s home in Raymond is surrounded by greenery, colorful perennials, shrubs and a water garden continuously recharged by two waterfalls. Her oasis is one stop on this year’s Raymond Garden Tour. 
 

“My all-time favorites are peonies and lady slippers,” she said. Larrivee cultivates several varieties of peony, including white, pink, yellow and red; and another, her most revered, a 100-year-old French variety from her grandmother’s garden. “It’s mostly sentimental,” she explained, “My grandmother grew these. It has a high degree of smell. When I put together a bouquet, I slip one of these in to give it a perfumed scent.”

Nearby are eight varieties of rhododendron, bridal wreath spirea, and a yak plant which transforms from pink to white over two weeks in spring. Run a finger along the underside of its pointed leaf and it feels like a soft felt blanket.

Asked about the planning and design of her numerous gardens, Larrivee maintains it is somewhat of an art form, a talent learned from her mother, trial and error and magazines. A garden scheme is the product of arrangement and organization. For example, she advises prospective gardeners not to ignore the height and layering of plants. First, consider that green leaves are prominent all season long, while the flowers bloom for only short periods; so vary the types, sizes and textures of the leafs. Secondly, the taller plants need to be placed in the back, even if their heights vary when first planted. 

Larrivee also combined day lilies and daffodils that have back-to-back blooming times in order to extend the spring color.

 

Larrivee believes her main attraction will be the water garden that she designed, planted and even dug herself. The pond, or “water feature” in garden lingo, contains pond lilies, lotus and reeds. Lining the water are Cyprus, a multi-colored Japanese maple, clematis, yellow and pink lady slippers, jack-in-the-pulpit and purple trillium. Spanning the pond between the heavy flow waterfalls is a humped wooden bridge.

The Raymond tour will be held on Saturday, June 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Patrons will start at Raymond Village Library and receive a “ticket brochure” which will provide directions and describe the nine gardens. Each garden will have volunteer guides. The tour is self-guided and the gardens can be visited in any order. One stop, at King’s Grant, will offer refreshments and a visual tour of Raymond’s history. The tour winds up at the Hawthorne House at 3:30 p.m. with a strawberry festival and program featuring two speakers from the McLaughlin Garden.

Tour committee member Elissa Gifford said, “Each garden is a visual representation of the owner’s personal interpretation, not only of what gardening means to them, but of their own work in developing its meaning.”

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 on tour day, and can be purchased at the library. All proceeds will benefit Raymond Village Library, a 501©3 (non-profit).

Donnabeth Lippman Park installs new playground - By Michelle Libby

Windham Parks and Recreation Department is continuing to improve Donnabeth Lippman Park, just off Route 302 in Windham, with the addition of a new playground play scape this week.
 

The playground is still roped off waiting for 91-yards of engineered mulch to be delivered and spread.

“We are anxiously awaiting it,” said project coordinator Lynn Bucknell. It should arrive within the next two weeks, she said. 

The project was put together last week by CMJ Construction out of Bangor, who was contracted by Game Time, the maker of the playground. 

“[CMJ Construction] said to me, ‘This is my favorite set so far.’ So it looks like we picked out a good one,” Bucknell said. 

The unit was listed for $82,000. The money for the playground was in the budget for this upcoming year capped at $130,000. Bucknell however, found the application for a grant and after doing the paperwork, she was notified within half an hour that the town was awarded the grant for 50 percent matching funds. The play structure cost the town a little less than $40,000, according to Bucknell. There were a few stipulations that the equipment had to be delivered by December 31 and the money had to be paid at the time of purchase, but she was able to make all of the details work. 

“I saved the town $90,000 this year,” said Bucknell. “Working in parks and rec money is always a factor. Not to take such a hard hit, it felt pretty good.” 

 

The buzz around the playground has been huge on Facebook, she said. “People are excited and can’t wait. We need stuff for the kids.” 

In the near future, the town is hoping to add swing sets, and a pavilion is being constructed by Boy Scout Chad Witherow this spring.

Raymond removes its town hall dumpsters due to misuse - By Michelle Libby

As of June 22, 2015, the dumpsters located at the Raymond Town Hall will no longer be there. The dumpsters that were put there as a convenience for the staff at the town hall, but recently there has an abundance of abuse from people outside the town dropping more than just trash off, according to town manager Don Willard. 
 

The two dumpsters started as one for trash and one for recycling, but the recycling bin began being used for trash as well and the town took it out and replaced it with another trash dumpster. “Two dumpsters are more than for the town hall. It’s a kind of courtesy for the residents,” said Mike Reynolds, chair of the Board of Selectman in Raymond. 

“At the end of last summer it started to be more than we could handle. We were noticing more commercial type stuff,” Reynolds said. He said that most of the trash became items that people have to pay to dispose of like TVs and microwaves. With these items the town then had to pay to dispose of at a different location. 

This spring the problem came to a head. The dumpsters went from being emptied once a week to twice a week to everyday. Costing the town extra money to the tune of $8,000 since the beginning of the year. Some of the items dropped into the dumpsters had mail with out of town addresses on them, making Reynolds and others in the town to believe that the problem is coming from non-residents. 

Raymond residents have a curbside pick up service every week where they can put out two big barrels of trash and unlimited single sort recycling each week. Above the two trash cans, residents can purchase a sticker for another trash can or large bag. The service has been protected for those who have summer homes in Raymond. 

“We have decent weekly trash for our citizens,” said Reynolds. “It’s one of the things we want to protect.” 

 

Recently, someone tossed a huge TV into the bin without opening the lid breaking the door. “They’re not being used respectfully,” he added.  

Another concern is that Raymond Public Works is spending one hour four days a week cleaning up after the trash left at and around the dumpsters, instead of working on projects around the town.

The only place to manage the trash is with the curbside pick up and those from out of state with property in Raymond are encouraged to talk to their neighbors about helping with their trash if needed. 

“I feel bad for those who used it the way they were supposed to be used,” he said. 

A sign has been posted at the site and notices have gone out in the paper and online alerting the community to the removal of the dumpsters.