Geography Champ

Recently, Jordan Small Middle School participated in the National Geographic Bee by testing all students. The top students from each grade were selected to compete in the bee and included fifth-grader Noah Estey, sixth-graders Nathaniel Bailey and Eben Dexter, seventh-graders Emma Laprise and Spencer Smith, and eighth-graders Lucy Algeo and Josh Waldron.

Thousands of schools in the country participate in the National Geographic Bee, a contest created to encourage teachers to include geography in their lessons and spark student interest in the subject, with materials provided by the National Geographic Society. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge.

After nearly 40 minutes of difficult questions, the two finalists were Algeo and Laprise. Laprise won the final competition and will now take a test to qualify for the state competition to be held in April. If she qualifies, she will be competing against the best from 100 other schools in Maine. Congratulations to all the finalists and good luck to Emma.

Race Day

After a day filled with racing their handcrafted cars against one another, the Cub Scouts with the fastest cars were awarded trophies in Saturday’s Pinewood Derby. Competing against the other scouts of Pack 800, Wolf-ranked Scout Evan Bergeron took first place with his fastest run taking only 2.196 seconds to zoom down the track.

This highly anticipated annual event is one of Pack 800’s most popular and its success is the affect of a collaborative effort. A strong parental volunteer base makes it possible and a heartfelt thank you also goes to the Raymond Lions Club for providing a delicious pancake breakfast to start off the day. The Girl Scouts also helped with the breakfast and offered their services in babysitting.

Although it was emphasized that all the boys are winners, the following boys were awarded trophies and the top five will move on and compete in the Casco Bay District Derby in April. Should any of them be unable to attend the district competition, the sixth and seventh place winners will serve as alternates.

• First place – Evan Bergeron

• Second place – Dustin Fisher

• Third place – Brady Southerland

• Fourth place – Noah Larson

• Fifth place – George Blaney

• Sixth place – Josh Mains

• Seventh place – Ben Libby

Help Comes Due

The Raymond Food Pantry currently has a need for facial tissue, bathroom tissue and paper towels. From now until the end of February, the Raymond Village Library would like to support the families using the food pantry by asking patrons who are bringing overdue items back to the library to please bring along a donation of one of the paper products rather than a donation for the conscience jar.

Approximately 500 books, videos and audio books are borrowed each week from the library with most of these being returned in a timely fashion. For those materials that are overdue, however, the library’s main concern is that the materials be returned so other patrons may use and enjoy them. If you have overdue items, their return along with your donation is appreciated.

Sports Lovers Haven

My son recently commented to me that if you like sports, Maine is a great place to live. Instantly, I agreed and excitedly said how fortunate we are to live here and that there is no better place to be if you like to hike, ski and bike. I continued to say that thousands enjoy Maine’s mountains every year, whether it is a casual climb up one of our many smaller mountains or a more adventurous journey through the Bigelows, the 100-Mile Wilderness or Mt. Katahdin, the infamous end of the Appalachian Trail.

I reminded him how Mount Desert Island is literally overflowing with people every year who partake in hiking, cycling and a variety of other outdoor activities. In addition, although our roads are not built with cycling lanes and are somewhat unsafe, the view from a bike in Maine is unbeatable, and cyclists can be seen logging miles on just about any road throughout the summer. I was on a roll and remarked that skiing, particularly this year has been the best it has been in years, whether it is alpine or cross country that you enjoy. With the abundance of snow, it does not matter where you are, it will surely be beautiful and adventurous.

My heart was racing as I was dreamily rambling on about how wonderful it is to live in Maine when I noticed the expression on my son’s face. Clearly I had not understood his statement.

He was shaking his head in shame and let out a long sigh when he finally interrupted and said, “not those kinds of sports, Mom.”

Halted in my tracks, I realized he was referring to professional sports and he is right, our teams have been on fire. The Celtics have the best win-loss record that they have had in years, bringing us back to the glory days in the 80s with Larry Bird and company. The Red Sox just won another World Series, and now the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl. It is true, if you like sports, New England is a great place to live as our teams are making us proud. Friends gather together to watch the games and moods are enhanced with each victory. Everywhere I look, I see signature clothing, signs, flags and a variety of other miscellaneous items displayed to support our teams.

Despite our initial different opinions on the definition of sports, we quickly agreed that regardless of which type captures your attention; Maine is a wonderful place to enjoy sports. They can bring out the best in people and cause reason for celebration. That is a good thing no matter how you define it.

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