Beautiful pictures, beautiful flowers

You are cordially invited to attend an art show at The Ladyslipper Flower Shop, 55 Portland Rd. (Rt. 100) in Gray, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2-5:30 p.m., where the watercolors of Gray resident Nancy Wilson will be featured.

Her work is on permanent display in the Visitor’s Center at Pineland Farms and in the new East Tower of the Maine Medical Center. She has worked closely with the Shaker Community in New Gloucester to create a portfolio of the buildings and interior scenes at this historic location.

For more information, please call The Ladyslipper Flower Shop at 657-4149

Gray Library Christmas schedule

The Gray Public Library’s schedule during “Christmas Week” is: open Tuesday, 9 a.m. – 8 p.m., but no story time; closed Wednesday and Thursday; open, Friday, 9 a.m. -5 p.m., but no story time; and open Saturday, 9 a.m. -3 p.m. Call 657-4110 or check online at www.gray.lib.me.us. Consider donating money toward the purchase of special books to honor loved ones during the holidays!

Long walk on the shortest day

Celebrate this special occasion at Libby Hill’s ‘Solstice Walk’ on Sunday, Dec. 21, 1-2:30 p.m. Take a break from the craziness of the holidays and enjoy a social 1 1/2 hour walk on the trails with some new friends. Get some tips on how to explore the trails in winter. Bring your snowshoes if there is more than six inches of snow; otherwise hiking boots are fine. Just show up or register at www.LibbyHill.Org

Get out and celebrate!

Get some holiday shopping done and/or enjoy a night out alone by dropping the kids off Friday, Dec. 19, 6-9 p.m., at Fiddlehead. Pizza, craft project, games and activities included. The fee is $25 for one child, and $15 for each additional child in the same family.

Also, the Winter Solstice Celebration is on Sunday, Dec. 21 at noon. Bring your favorite dish, a drum, your dancing feet and come celebrate the Solstice with us! Fee: suggested $5 donation to benefit Fiddlehead’s scholarship program for children.

Contact Fiddlehead, Rt. 26 in Gray at 657-2244 or for more information or check out their Web site at www.fiddleheadcenter.org

Support “The Hill” at Christmas

Gray Community Endowment received an early Christmas gift and a major boost to its fundraising efforts for Libby Hill when the Davis Conservation Foundation approved a grant request for $7,500. The grant will help pay off the loan used to buy the 29-acre Hancock parcel in the Save Libby Hill Campaign. This brings the amount raised so far to just under $117,000 towards the $160,000 purchase price.

Are you looking for Christmas ideas for the person who loves the outdoors? How about a Libby Hill T-shirt, snowshoe lessons, orienteering lessons, a private trail tour, geocaching and GPS lessons, weatherproof map, or an Ortho-Bionomy certificate? All these unique gifts are available for a donation to the Save Libby Hill campaign. Donation gift certificates are also available for any level of giving.

If you want to just make a donation you can mail a check made out to: Gray Community Endowment, P.O. Box 1376, Gray, ME 04039. You can also go to our Web site, www.libbyhill.org, or visit the new donation post located at the parking area. To learn more about helping with Libby Hill, call Steve McPike at 657-2114.

“Giving” spirit

School Administrative District 15’s first graders in Mrs. Haymon’s class are currently collecting aluminum ring tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Portland. At present the students have collected 116 pounds of ring tabs. Tabs are collected from the Dunn School and Russell School population as well as community members.

Ring tabs are collected, weighed and tallied during the school year. In June the tabs are given to the Ronald McDonald House. The tabs are sold for their weight. The money received is put directly back into the upkeep of the “House.” The Ronald McDonald House is a “home away from home” for parents who have a critically ill child in an area hospital. Food, showers, laundry, linens and beds are all provided to the families who, unfortunately, have to stay there.

As part of the school’s character education program, Russell students brought in food for “Giving” month. During this month students read and learned about the difference between wanting something and needing something. The students understand that some families in our community have needs. Russell School students participated in a food drive Dec. 4-18 to benefit the food pantry of Gray. Each student that brought in an item received a “Giving” Panther Paw. In addition to the food drive, the Russell School Holiday Craft Fair funds were used to provide 10 families with Christmas gifts and food cards.

Your Advice is needed

Every year, the SAD 15 Board of Directors asks three citizens of Gray and three citizens of New Gloucester to come forward and volunteer as advisors prior to the final approval of the 09-10-school budget. Citizen input has proven valuable in the past, but is vital for the important decisions that must be made about programs in these extraordinary financial times. Members must be able to meet on March 7 and attend several night meetings in March and April.

Nominations for the Budget Advisory Committee will be made Jan. 14. If you can volunteer, please contact a member of the school board or call Superintendent Victoria Burns at 657-3335 for more information.

New SAD 15 volunteer policy

On Nov. 19, the SAD 15 school board adopted a new school volunteer policy. One of the significant changes in the policy is the background check requirement for all volunteers who work in the schools or who chaperone on field trips. A copy of the policy, the volunteer application form, volunteer agreement and a handbook for volunteers are on the District’s Web site at www.msad15.org.