Personal bests

The annual Maine State Special Olympics Swim Meet was held at Bates College last week and four of Raymond’s Special Olympians competed against 300 swimmers from 75 teams. All the swimmers gave it their all in age group races including freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and relays. Team Raymond was comprised of Lee Peet, Luke Korzeniowski, and Andrew Tanguay, all students at Jordan-Small Middle School, and Connor Daigle of Raymond Elementary School.

Connor was excited to participate in his first Special Olympics competition, and he swam personal best times in the 25- and 50-yard freestyle races winning two bronze medals. Lee placed eighth in the 50-yard freestyle race, and she set a personal best in the 25-yard freestyle race with a very exciting finish touching the wall just hundreds of a second ahead of another swimmer to win the bronze medal.

Luke was happy to return to the Special Olympics swimming competition after a two-year absence and swam fast in both the 25-yard freestyle and backstroke races coming in third place in each race with personal best times. Andrew, a five-year Special Olympian veteran, smashed his personal best times with a fourth place finish in the 25-yard freestyle and third place in the 50-yard freestyle races.

The team is coached by John Keller and John Dionne who took their swimmers to a celebratory lunch at a local restaurant following the meet. Coach Keller said, “it was an exciting day for them and all of the swimmers who were all winners due to their outstanding effort, performance and sportsmanship.”

Recreation running

The 2011 Raymond Recreation Spring Running Program is about to begin another season of relays, games, races and stretching and they need your help. Bob Payne has coached this program for more than a decade, has a tremendous amount of experience and teaches the kids much more than the basics of running. I have had the privilege of assisting him for the past several years but can no longer do so.

The goals of this program, open to second through fourth graders, are to expose young kids to a variety of fun running experiences and to build the children’s self-confidence in their fitness abilities. The program is extremely successful at igniting elementary school kids and most who participate join the cross country team upon entering middle school.

Practices are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school from May 3 through June 2 on the school athletic fields and woods trails. There are usually up to 20 kids who participate in this program and volunteers are needed to keep this program “running” smoothly. Please contact Bob Payne at 655-2165 to register your child or to volunteer.

I will try

Speaking of running, the Panther Track Club is about to kick off another season. Founded in 1989 and based out of Poland, the Panthers consists of children ages 5-14 from Poland and the surrounding towns including Raymond. It is the goal of the club to give children the opportunity to participate in a healthy activity that encourages them to develop self-esteem, a sense of team spirit and, at the same time, increase their athletic ability. Participants can compete in running events of various distances, javelin, shot put, discus, long jump, triple jump and high jump.

The Panthers practice on Monday and Wednesday evenings throughout the summer with meets held on most Thursdays. Along with many volunteers, they are coached by Dan Roy whose motto is “I Will Try,” and that is all that is expected. Coach Dan says “the focus of the team is to improve each athlete’s personal best performances. Some athletes are more skilled than others and will earn ribbons in the meets. Others will work hard to improve their own personal times and distances and will be recognized by the coaches for their own personal successes.”

The Panthers have won the Maine USA Track and Field State Championship title for the past three consecutive years. To register your child, please contact coachdan@roadrunner.com or visit panthertrackclub.com to download an application.

Hugs of Hope

Do you enjoy the art of making quilts? If so, Camp Sunshine needs your help. For the past 11 years, they have received several hundred “hugs” from quilters responding to their Hugs of Hope Quilt Program. Friends in the quilting community have helped make quilts and their replenishments for all their 40 family housing suites providing family members with warmth, comfort, and love during their stay at camp.

Camp Sunshine is excited to open their new Orokawa Foundation Family-Volunteer Center which will include 10 new suites and a volunteer lounge. This new building will house families who are now returning as volunteers to give back to Camp Sunshine. As with their family suites, Camp Sunshine hopes to furnish these new suites with the same “hugs” that greeted families back when they were attending camp as camper families; therefore, they need 50 new quilts. If you can help with this project, please contact Donna Leith at dleith@campsunshine.org or 655-3800.

Predator hunting

The Sebago Lake Anglers’ Association is excited to present Predator Hunting, a one-hour presentation on coyote hunting and other predators, made by Dick Drysdale, a Master Maine Guide and well-known expert coyote hunter. The presentation will cover calls, decoys, hunting strategies, gun selection and baiting techniques as well as time for questions and answers. The presentation will be held at the Naples Town Office on Tuesday, May 10, at 7 p.m. and is free of charge. For more information, please contact Bob Chapin at (571) 217-1700 or 655-1028.

Community meal

Christ Chapel, located at 37 Northern Pines Road near Crescent Lake, will hold this month’s community meal on Saturday, April 30 from 4:30-6 p.m. The menu will consist of Swedish meatballs, rice, salad, casseroles and desserts. This meal is free of charge and is open to the surrounding communities. All ages are welcomed. For more information, please contact Tammy Gisel at 655-5058.