Catch of the Day!

On Saturday, fishermen under the age of 12, including this curious tot, turned out to try their hands at catching fish as a part of the Kid’s Derby portion of the Sebago Lake Ice Fishing Derby sponsored by Sebago Lakes Rotary. The event was held at Range Pond State Park in Poland from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. To make it easier, the holes were pre-drilled and traps and bait were provided. Many fish were caught. Photos by Dawn Dyer.

Answering the question: Why is the Sebago Lake water table so low? - By Elizabeth Richards

The flow and depth of Sebago Lake is controlled by the Eel Weir Dam, which sits at the outlet of the lake and the head of the Presumpscot River. Sappi Fine Paper, which owns the dam, holds a license from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission to manage the dam in accordance with a Lake Level Management Plan that originated in 1997, was tweaked in 2000, and had major changes proposed in 2011 which have not yet been acted on. That proposal is currently under appeal.
 

Brad Goulet, hydro manager for Sappi Fine Paper, said that the current plan calls for lowering the lake early in the fall before the weather turns to freezing, with a goal of having the wave action scour the sandy shoreline and try to push it back up onto the beach. In the summer, he said, people want the lake to be full for recreational purposes. The boating and wave action can be counter to establishing a shoreline, and can in fact cause shoreline erosion as well as having a negative impact on water quality, he said.

Goulet said he doesn’t know what will happen with the current proposal, but that the changes were proposed by Sappi in large part to try and establish a plan that would allow for a more consistent outflow from the lake into the Presumpscot. “The main reason we proposed a change to the plan wasn’t so much for lake level as much as trying to establish a plan that didn’t require us to operate the river in what amounted to flood or drought conditions,” he said. 

There’s a big disconnect among people whose primary interests are in recreational or aesthetic aspects of Sebago Lake not realizing the impacts on the river, said Goulet. If the lake were kept full too long, the river would dry up and the lake water quality would deteriorate. The natural flushing of the lake is good for both the lake water quality, and the river, he said. 

In addition to the federal license mandates, said Goulet, the Eel Weir Dam also has a State issued water quality certificate under the Clean Water Act, which impacts what they are able to do.

There are many perspectives to consider when looking at lake level management, and it’s difficult to find a plan that will satisfy everyone. For example, said Goulet, the state park has the best shore frontage when the lake is around 2 feet below full, and at that same level, there are people who are upset, saying that the lake is empty. 

Goulet said it is improbable that they can continue to raise the level because in order to do so, you have to shortchange water going into the Presumpscot River. Sebago Lake accounts for 80 percent of the water flow in the river, and that has to support fish, waste treatment facilities from municipalities, kayaking, boating and fishing on the river as well.

The dam has been at the minimum flow of water, 17,500 cfm, for a month and a half, said Goulet, trying to get the lake level to come up. In the winter, it is difficult to get the water level up because the lake is frozen over, he added. They are also considerations around melting snow, and the potential for flooding. One of the proposed changes to the plan was to have a little more room for fluctuation in natural conditions. “When you’re trying to fill the lake in the spring, you really don’t know how much water is going to come at you from the snow pack. If you get a warm stretch and a bunch of rain, the opening in the river is only so big to get it out,” said Goulet.

The changes proposed do not call for differences in the top or bottom levels of the lake. Sappi would still try to fill the lake to capacity and lower the level in the same time frames, said Goulet. “It’s what happens in between that we looked for some latitude in, to try and level out what happens in the river,” he said.  

Goulet said he is happy to talk to anyone with questions. He also maintains a Tumblr blog where anyone who is interested can check in regularly, or subscribe to get email updates when something changes. Each week, he uses this blog to communicate what is happening in lake levels, and to inform the public on what Sappi is doing at the dam. The blog can be found at tumblr.com by searching for the words “Presumpscot River.”

Mr. Morton's class lives vicariously through Marco and Mr. Day - By Michelle Libby

 

Marco, the moose, is much like a “Flat Stanley”, but this moose belongs to the students in Donna Morton’s fourth grade class. This year Marco has been touring the world with the father of one of the students in the class. Kevin Day is a pilot for UPS and travels internationally for work. He agreed to bring Marco along. 

“Marco has been to 30 different international cities,” Day said. When Morton told him the class was discussing the polar region and the Iditarod, Day was excited as he had been to the race for the last four years and was planning to go again this year. He suggested that the class make good luck cards to one male musher and one female musher that he could hand deliver. 

“What I like is sometimes school and geography can be boring, but if you make it personal and you bring a stuffed animal it makes it more personal,” he said. 

This year the students will be following Newton Marshall of the Jamaican Bobsled Team and Anna and Kristy Berington, identical twins. Day had a friend take video of him giving the racers the good luck card.

Day compared the Iditarod to tailgating at a football game. “They’re out on Long Lake with their snow machines and grills. It’s a carnival atmosphere,” he said. 

There were 70 teams registered and only 65 started the “officially” 1,049 mile race. (It’s actually a little longer.)

 

“(The class) gets very excited to see me. They have so many questions,” Day said. “Mrs. Morton is over the top with excitment.”

Windham company wins QVC Sprout contest - By Michelle Libby

Entrepreneur Shelly Afthim is not afraid of the word “no”. Perhaps that is why she has gone from cooking for her friends to selling her three varieties of meatballs to a national audience through QVC Sprouts program.

“I’m just not afraid of the word ‘no’. I have nothing to lose. If you want it you’ll find a way to make it happen,” she said. 

For two weeks, Afthim competed through a public vote to beat out two other companies for the honor of being the “best up-and-coming products from inventors and entrepreneurs,” according to a QVC Sprouts press release. Gourmet Passionista won with 2,500 votes, Afthim said. 

My friends and family in the community are generally happy for me. They’ve been behind me from the start. There were my taste testers and helped pick my logo,” she said. 

The biggest perk for her business is the relationship she now has with QVC. “QVC does $8.6 billion in business and has $1.6 million homes it reaches in the US. If you’re gonna do it, aim high,” she said. 

“I can’t even believe it’s my story. It’s a great story, but when it’s yours it doesn’t seem like it was that bad, but it was bad,” she said. Afthim spent time in the hospital with heart issues and chronic illness caused by Lyme disease and has spent a lot of time recovering from that. 

She also gives credit to her husband Phil for taking that initial leap contacting QVC. “He’s been there through sickness, physical, emotional strain and financial strain,” she said. She wouldn’t have done this without him, she added. 

Another first for Afthim and her one-woman company is that Gourmet Passionista was the first gourmet food company to compete in and be selected for the Sprouts Program. The other products that week were a bag designed for girls that had swappable panels on the outside and a tooth timer used to time how long a child is brushing his or her teeth. 

“It was a win. No one can take that away from me,” Afthim said.  No matter what happens, Afthim knows she started and finished her quest to be successful. “There are two ways of looking at it. You can see the bad or the good. It’s a teaching moment for (my children),” she said. The children are 13 and 11. 

Now, Afthim is licensed to sell the meatballs out of her home in Windham and has started testing the next flavor, a bacon cheddar southern-barbeque sauce meatball. “I’m growing the business on a small scale,” she said. 

Her long term goal is to bring manufacturing from Bangor to Windham. She’d like to hire five to 10 employees, “which will give me more control and provide jobs for the community,” she said. 

The Sprouts Program is very nurturing, Afthim said. She hopes that sales will be strong enough so that they can be sold on-air soon. 

The Meatball Lady as she is more often known as is looking to develop local markets to sell the products as well including restaurants and caterers.  

For more information about Afthim visit www.gourmetpassionista.com. To learn about QVC Sprouts, visit www.QVCSprouts.com.

Windham-Raymond Athletic Boosters searching for new ideas - By Michelle Libby

The Windham-Raymond Athletic Boosters is a large organization run by only a handful of volunteers. They raise money year round to support athletics in a way that is above and beyond what is in the athletic director’s budget through a car show in September, a craft fair in November, Summerfest, Relay for Life, Special Olympics and homecoming events. 
 

The more than 30-year-old club is in danger of losing some of its fundraising events for lack of participation from its several hundred members. 

Many of the people in charge, like president Dan McGowan, no longer have children who make up the 1,500 athletes in the RSU. “We need leadership. Some of us would like to step down and continue to help in other ways,” said McGowan. “We are looking for parents to step forward to run the boosters.”

 

Photo by Stephanie Coffiin

The group admits they are not looking for someone to walk in day one and volunteer to be president, but they would like someone to make some phone calls or join one of the committees. “Three people come to the car show meetings,” McGowan said.  

McGowan is not the only board member to have athletes who have graduated. Laura Begley the treasurer no longer has students in the school system. When asked why they stay, they said for the athletes.

“A lot of people still don’t know what the boosters do,” said secretary Elaine Hurzig. “Maybe they don’t realize all we do.” 

In many schools each sport has their own booster organization, but Windham is unique that all money raised is equally divided by all of the sports programs. At the beginning of each season, the Boosters give each coach a $500 enrichment check to spend on something for the team. That totals $12,500 each year, which is thousands more than the car show made last year. 

“A unified boosters in the way to go. A smaller program reaps the benefit of a group like this. They’re all paddling in the same direction,” said athletic director Rich Drummond. “There is a great model here. At this point the old blood is ready to go. They’ve served their time and served it well.”

“It’s for the kids. We have a great school We have top notch fields, nice snack shack and when people come they are in awe of what we have,” said McGowan. 

The boosters gave money for the bleachers at Saint Joseph’s College pool for the swim teams, cheering mats, scholarship expenses and trophies for senior athletes, athletic banquets three times a year, flowers for senior parents on senior nights and athletic cords for eligible senior student-athletes. 

“Over the years it’s been really big ticket items that I can’t budget for,” said Drummond. The athletic budget is $135,000, only two percent of the total RSU14 budget, according to Drummond. 

“Somebody’s paying for all that. It’s the boosters,” Hurzig said. “Sign up to volunteer to be a part of the solution.” 

“We’re looking for fresh minds,” said Nancy Graves. 

“One mom loves to work the cash register and writing on the white board. You laugh and joke. You raise money,” said concessions chair Wendy Pesce. She would like to see more volunteers so parents of athletes can watch their children play. “I missed my son’s only touchdown of the season because I was in the concession stand,” Pesce said.

There are 20 chairs in the Alumni board room at Windham High School. Hurzig said she has never seen all of the chairs filled, but she’d love to. The group meets the first Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m. except in the summer. 

“Come to the meeting and voice concerns, see where we’re headed and where we want to be,” McGowan encouraged.