Mark those calendars - Summerfest is rapidly approaching - By Michelle Libby

With a week left until Windham Summerfest, organizations, businesses and the Summerfest committee are scurrying around to gather volunteers, purchase supplies and organize last minute details to make this year’s event the best one yet. 

Summerfest is an annual fair and community event that brings together all of Windham for a fun, entertaining time, where food is plentiful and people are there to have a great time. It is all located on the Windham High School complex. 

This year there will be new additions to the line up on the main stage. Motion Man entertains the children and families at 12:30 p.m. with everything from balloon twisting to magic and illusions. New bands include Air Away, made up of local high school students and Country Roads, a country band. There will also be a So You Think You Can Zumba contest featuring local Zumba instructors and students. 

The first event of the day will be the car show, with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. Breakfast sandwiches will be available for purchase in front of the high school and along the parade route.

The awards for the car show will be at 2 p.m. in front of the high school. 

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the rotary of Route 302 and Route 202 and continue to Windham High School. The time of the parade is big difference for this year. Fundraisers have been happening for the last few months from recycling cans and bottles to a Bob Marley show last Thursday night, the community has been showing its support for the annual community event. 

 

Windham Police officers Sgt. Bill Andrew and Steve Stubbs will do a K-9 demonstration at 4:14 p.m. with their dogs Grinko and Vader. For a photo listing all the events, visit Windham Summerfest on Facebook. 

This year Landing Real Estate and Robie Builders will be the event sponsors as well as a host of other businesses stepping up to help support Summerfest. 

“Don’t miss this year’s event. It brings the town together,” said Summerfest chair Kelly Mank. “Summerfest allows Windham businesses, non-profit organizations and community members to get together and share what it means to live, work and play in Windham.”

For last minute sign ups or questions, contact anyone on the Summerfest committee, including Kelly, Niels Mank (logistics), Robin Mullins (fundraising), Ben Schultz (parade), Deb Matthews (vendor booths), and Rick Sanborn (business expo). 

The carnival opens at 10 a.m. and the event will close with fireworks at 9:20 p.m. provided by Central Maine Pyrotechnics.

East Windham ball field renamed to Ciccarone Field - By David Field

Two months ago, Windham Little League’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to rename the Lowell Farm Field to Ciccarone Field at Lowell Farm in honor of the man who diligently maintains it and announces at each game. Bill Ciccarone resides in nearby Falmouth but spends his springs and summers daily at the field. He can’t wait for the snow to melt to begin the process of opening the field. This year, the opening was delayed due the depth of and slow melt of snow. Bill’s goal is to give each player on the field “an experience”. 

Last year, Windham hosted the 10- and 11-year-old State of Maine Little League Baseball Tournament. Teams from all over came to Windham to play. The compliments that were received about the Windham facility were abundantly positive. We have one, if not the best, small diamond in the State of Maine.

Only because Bill pours his heart and soul into the field.

Windham Little League announced their baseball All-Star team on Saturday. With the teams and families on the field, David Field presented the field being renamed and it caught Bill by surprise. When he walked on the field and heard the proclamation and saw the sign, he was speechless. He quietly said thank you, wiped the tears away and went back to the scorer’s booth. 

On the Windham Little League Facebook page, Amy Bilodeau posted “We as a league cannot thank Bill enough for the endless hours he pours into maintaining this field and his tireless commitment to the players, coaches and our league! We are beyond proud of this field, Bill and his dedication and it was a true pleasure to see him honored! Thank you, Bill!”

For more on Bill Ciccarone, read the article written by Elizabeth Richards at http://frontpage.thewindhameagle.com/2013/08/volunteer-keeps-lowell-farm-field.html.

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.