Back to school means back to good nutrition basics - By Merilee Kern

As parents prepare for yet another “back to school” season, they will scurry to malls in search of new clothes for their ever-growing child along with a litany of school supplies too numerous to name. But, let’s not forget healthy school lunches and after school snacks as we plan ahead for the upcoming school year.

Here are a few great ideas to assure a happy school day is also a healthy school day:

• Lean meat, such as shaved ham or turkey, on whole grain bread or in a wheat wrap with some lettuce, low-fat/fat-free cheese, and a touch of low-fat/fat-free mayonnaise or mustard is sure to please…and nourish.
• Even the quintessential children’s sandwich, PB&J, can be made in a healthy way these days. Many peanut butter brands now offer low-fat and low-sodium versions. That, coupled with an all-fruit, sugar-free jelly on whole grain bread makes this school cafeteria staple a guiltless pleasure.
• Tuna fish is jam packed with oh-so-beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids. When mixed with low-fat mayonnaise, diced apple, and, if your child likes, a bit of onion and served in a wheat pita it’s nothing short of delish and a healthy home run!
• BLTs can also be healthy! Simply swap regular bacon for the turkey bacon variety (in moderation due to high-sodium levels) and layer with lettuce, tomato and fat-free mayonnaise. Sandwich in whole grain bread or roll into a pita wrap - your child will nary know the difference between this healthy version versus its fat-packed counterpart.
• What to serve on the side of the main school lunch item? Options abound! Low-salt pretzels; fat- and sugar-free yogurt or cottage cheese; celery sticks filed with low-fat/low-sodium peanut butter; any kind of pre-washed fresh fruit (nature's gift to humanity); dried or dehydrated fruit, such as raisins; apricots, pears, apples, roasted or raw almonds, walnuts or peanuts (not oiled or candied); low-fat string cheese or chunked low-fat cheese; and even baked chips or healthy pita chips in moderation are all great choices.
• Skip the sugary juice box and send along a bottle of water instead to get your child in the habit of working toward his/her optimal fluid intake (experts recommend one consume about .5 ounces of water per pound of body weight).

It’s common knowledge that after school is prime time for snacking, and it is also a time when many kids make, shall we say, less than nutritious food and beverage choices. Here are a few health and fitness-friendly after school snack alternatives your kids are sure to love:

• Potato Chips/Fries - Cut the potato in the desired shape (round, rectangular, oblong, etc.). Fully coat with egg whites. Season with a touch of salt or other herbs as desired. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Serve with sugar-free catsup.
• Popcorn: Air pop popcorn and on it drizzle a moderate amount of powdered butter substitute, light parmesan cheese, or even honey for a tasty twist.
• Pizza: On a fat-free/low-calorie/low-carb whole grain tortilla (or whole grain bagel), smear tomato paste or sauce and top with fat-free cheese, whatever veggies the child likes, and even lean meats like ham or turkey dices. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted with a few brown spots on top.
• Tortilla Chips: Cut Chinese wonton squares (usually found in the produce aisle) in half diagonally so they become triangles. Spread out evenly on a baking sheet, lightly spray with cooking spray, and sprinkle on a dash of salt. Bake at 350 degrees until crunchy. Eat alone or serve with fat-free salsa or the below-described Mexican bean dip.
• Mexican Bean Dip: Drain and food process two 14-ounce cans of black beans. Add 3/4 cup of fat-free salsa and 1/2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and blend until completely smooth. Top with a dab of fat-free sour cream, fat-free cheese, diced tomatoes, chopped green onions, etc. as desired.
• Fruit Smoothies: These are a warm weather staple that can, and should, be enjoyed year-round. While fruit smoothie recipes abound, it need not be a complex process. Simply blend, in amounts to your personal liking, either plain or flavored fat-free/sugar-free yogurt with skim milk, ice cubes, and either fresh or frozen fruit chunks. For added sweetness, you can add a touch of honey or an artificial sweetener, such as stevia. Blend and enjoy!
• Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches: These are a snap - and always a crowd pleaser! Purchase any type of round fat-free/sugar-free cookie on the market (preferably the new whole grain varieties) or bake any low-fat/low-calorie cookie recipe from scratch. Sandwich waistline-friendly sherbet, sorbet, or gelato between two cookies and press to make a sandwich. For added excitement, flavor, and visual interest, you can also roll the outside edge of the "sandwich" in chopped unsalted nuts, shredded coconut, raisins or finely diced fresh or dried fruit.
• Parfait: While the word "parfait" may not be in your child's vocabulary, (s)he will love making - and eating - this snack layered with goodness. In a cup or bowl, simply create thin, alternating layers of non-fat yogurt, low-fat granola (or other heart-healthy cereal product), and fruit slices or whole berries. Make as many layers of each as you like and then dig in!
• Jell-O®: Let's not forget how much colorful, jiggly Jell-O® can delight, especially when it is jam-packed with diced fruit.

Children’s health advocate, health industry veteran and two-time fitness champion, Merilee Kern, is the creator of the ground-breaking “Kids Making Healthy Choices” APP for children, parents/caregivers and educators (available on iTunes), which is based on her award-winning, illustrated fictional children’s book, “Making Healthy Choices – A Story to Inspire Fit, Weight-Wise Kids.” She may be reached online at: www.KidsMakingHealthyChoices.com.

Portland Water District upgrades with UV treatment - By Elizabeth Richards

Earlier this spring, the Portland Water District celebrated the completion of a $12-million project, including the installation of a new UV system and upgrade of their ozone disinfection system at the Sebago Lake Water Treatment Facility. The project brought the facility into compliance with new EPA regulations, as well as adding efficiency to their operations.

Chief Operator Joel Anderson said the project began with new federal mandates for enhanced surface water treatment focusing on the pathogen cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite which can cause severe gastrointestinal illness. 

 

The PWD is one of just a few water districts in the country that doesn’t employ expensive conventional filtration methods. “Because we have such a pristine source in Sebago Lake, we were granted a waiver from conventional filtration,” said Anderson. But this didn’t exempt them from the new rules, even though over a two year monitoring program, cryptosporidium was never detected in the water. “When the EPA writes these rules, they’re for everybody,” said Anderson.

The treatment facility in Standish has been using ozonation and chloramination to treat the water since its construction in 1994. When they began looking at how to best meet the new regulations, they took the opportunity to update the ozone system at the same time. “We know that you don’t run your primary treatment system into the ground. You get your useful life out of it – which we did – and then you move on,” said Anderson. 

The primary concerns when looking at the project with engineering consultant CDM Smith were cost effectiveness and safety for customers Anderson said. The rules stated that there had to be a second disinfectant if the water wasn’t being filtered, so they couldn’t just increase the ozone. They could have increased the dose of chlorine used, but Anderson said organic matter in unfiltered water reacts with chlorine to form disinfection byproducts, which are known carcinogens. Therefore, the PWD didn’t want to increase those numbers. Since UV is a physical process, not a chemical one, it does not have any known disinfection byproducts associated with it, Anderson said.

Looking at the existing technology available, they concluded that UV water treatment in combination with ozone disinfection was both the most cost effective and the safest method. The light process means that no more chemicals are added to the average 21.5 million gallons of water that are treated every day. The light penetrates the outer shell of the pathogen and disrupts the DNA so they cannot replicate. One cyst won’t make you sick, said Anderson. It’s when the cells find a host environment and multiply that causes problems, he said. Since UV isn’t very effective against viruses, ozone was also still needed, he added. 

Instead of using ambient air, the upgrades to the ozone system mean that now liquid oxygen is converted to gaseous oxygen and sent to ozone generators. This new process is much more efficient according to Anderson. “We’re using much less electricity to do the same work,” he said. The sustainable design allowed the PWD to receive a $300,000 competitive grant from Efficiency Maine Trust Competitive Program. The energy efficient upgrades are anticipated to save approximately $150,000 annually.

Once the type of system was selected, there were many decisions to be made. Anderson said they didn’t want to increase the footprint of the existing building, and they needed to decide what would come first in the complex treatment process. A series of pilot studies conducted over a six month period clearly showed that because the ozone works by increasing the clarity of the water, the UV was much more effective if it came second in the process. 

Because two of each system is required, finding space to fit it all in was another challenge. In water treatment, said Anderson, redundancy is critical. 

“You can’t afford to have just one ozone generator. You can’t afford to have one UV reactor. You’ve got to have at least two of everything,” he said. In fact, it is required as part of the waiver from filtration. If there are two that means that if something fails another unit can be put on line without missing a beat.

The new system took about two years from start to finish to construct. The biggest challenge, Anderson said, was trying to maintain the existing treatment system while trying to install the new one at the same time. “It was like trying to live in your house while someone is redoing the kitchen, and the bathroom, and the roof – it did present a lot of challenges,” he said. “Our staff here did a great job of meeting those challenges,” he added. 

There hasn’t been a public response to the project, since most people don’t even know that the system changed. This is a good thing, Anderson said. As long as the process is running smoothly and safely there’s no need to know. It is only when there are problems that people want to understand where something went wrong. “It has been an interesting couple of years, but since we never made the front page of the paper, apparently we met the challenge,” he said. “I’m pretty proud of that.” 

More information on the project can be found at http://www.pwd.org/pdf/UVFact%20Sheet.pdf.

New BNI chapter kicks off in Windham this week - By Michelle Libby

On Tuesday morning close to 75 people gathered at the Windham Veterans Center to network as members and guests of the newest chapter of BNI in Maine. This makes the total chapters in the state to 24. Tim Roberts owns five BNI franchises which includes over 109 chapters from Maine to Florida. His passion is the “sexy topic of networking.” He dropped by to speak to the group about networking and how not to waste time doing it wrong. 

“Ninty-nine percent of people who are networking are completely wasting their time. We are the largest structured business organization,” Roberts said. 

BNI was formed as a way for small businesses to learn how to and to network in an environment where they have business relationships with business owners in all industries. At BNI only one business from each industry is in each chapter. Once that slot is filled, another real estate agent for example, could not fill that opening.  

He encouraged referrals. “Closing ratios are higher with good referrals when they are efficient, effective and enjoyable. That makes business fun to do,” said Roberts. 

Most businesses fail in the first three years because they have been beat down by the word “no”. The world is changing into a word of mouth marketing system, he said. People are looking for value. They buy when the perceived value is higher. They also look for trust and credibility when working with someone. 

Referrals with BNI are helpful because A. The person is in the market for what you provide. B. They know they’re in the market. C. We’ve already talked about you and they’re waiting for a call. Those are the successful referrals BNI is based on. In Maine $75 million net has flowed through the local economy with referrals, said Roberts. 

BNI and Roberts want to make sure that their members are successful by providing member success training and other educational opportunities. Through podcasts and other media, the members are able to learn how to market their business and be successful.

“I love the word success because everyone has a different definition of it,” said Roberts. BNI wants to help small business owners become more effective and efficient. “Don’t get so busy working in your business that you’re not working on your business,” he concluded.

There are still openings in the new BNI Lake Region Business Alliance. For more information about that chapter or others, contact Jason Buchanan, Managing Director of BNI Maine at jbuchanan@BNIMaine.com or Kelly Mank, Director Consultant BNI Maine at Kelly@Time4Printing.com.

   

The Windham Eagle welcomes Gray and New Gloucester - By Tracy Scheckel

Our country recently celebrated the 40^th anniversary of the first manned moon landing; we all remember those words, “The Eagle has landed”. Well the Windham Eagle is pleased to announce that it will be landing in Gray and New Gloucester as plans to expand coverage into the two towns are in full swing.

Currently, in addition to a limited number of kiosks in the area, the Eagle is mailed to every home in Windham and Raymond and has a circulation of 21,000. The initial distribution in Gray and New Gloucester will be via kiosks at both the Gray and New Gloucester Town Halls and libraries. Other locations in Gray include Cook’s Hardware, Jess n’ Nic’s, and Shop ‘n’ Save at the Gray Plaza; also at Gray Family Vision, Di Santos, Gray True Value Hardware, and Hannaford. Business locations in New Gloucester include the Village Store, Link’s Variety, the Penny Store, Rosanna’s (formerly Mario’s) and the Pineland Farms Market and Visitors’ Center.

For residents of GNG, the Eagle will provide a much needed conduit providing news, features and information related to MSAD 15, municipal government, local businesses and people of interest. For our advertisers, Gray and New Gloucester combined will expand your market with the potential of 13,000 new readers.

Calendar events, announcements and letters to the editor should be submitted to editor, Michelle Libby, editor@TheWindhamEagle.com.  Tracy Scheckel, Tracy@TheWindhamEagle.com, will be covering news, local government and features, and looks forward to reestablishing her network of contacts. Please feel free to contact her with potential story ideas, and other interesting tidbits.

The success of any news publication depends on a symbiotic relationship between readers, advertisers and the publisher. The publication provides an information pipeline for its readers as well as a mechanism for local business marketing. The advertisers provide the revenue to drive the publication. To that end, the Eagle will also expand its advertising efforts into the GNG business community. In Gray and New Gloucester, Account Manager, Melissa Carter can be reached at 894-3500 or Melissa@TheWindhamEagle.com. She will be working with local businesses to develop customized marketing strategies with the Eagle.

Isabel Taylor commemorates turning 100 with book donations - By Michelle Libby

Isabel Taylor is a very private person. To mark her centennial birthday she didn’t want a big fuss, and presents were really unnecessary, according to her daughter Elaine Libby. So instead the family decided to collect money for the Windham Public Library’s children’s room. 

“I bought 60 books,” said children’s librarian Laurel Parker. “I’ve never had a donation like this before for the children’s room. A donation in honor of one single person.” 

“She has always been interested in kids and reading. She used to tutor reading in the summer for kids,” said Elaine. 

Isabel taught school for 30 years in Windham, spending time at both the former Arlington School and at Manchester School. She still lives in Windham near her daughter Elaine and her husband Dick, and her son John Taylor and his wife Carol. She has two more daughters who live in Massachusetts, Barbara Taylor and Alberta Peavey.

For her birthday party, which was held mid-July, Mike Timmons, one of her former fifth grade students, spoke. 

“She still tells stories about students…good and bad…like Buzzy Cooper, the Olsen’s and Mike Timmons,” said Carol, her daughter-in-law.

Elaine said that Isabel has been a great mother. She loved reading to her children when they were small. “She enjoys reading and doing crossword puzzles and she always read all the time,” Elaine said. Now she reads more by listening to audiobooks. 

“She enjoys sitting on her porch watching the birds and enjoying those,” said Carol. 

Parker, at the library, purchased hardcover books that she already had on her list. She found a list of books from Global Voices at the State Library that named books from other countries that were brought to the United States. 

“It’s so important to expand their minds,” said Parker. Each book will have a special plaque inside to commemorate Isabel. Parker delivered the books to Isabel to show her what the library purchased with her birthday money. She read Isabel every title. Isabel was especially interested in the books about ecology and birds. Parker left the books there for the family to enjoy before they were returned to the library on Wednesday. 

The donations were done mostly by word of mouth by the family, but anyone who would like to donate in honor of Isabel Taylor’s 100^th birthday, can send a check made out to Friends of the Windham Public Library, 217 Windham Center Road, Windham, Maine 04062.