Dipping for Olympians

Once again, Team Raymond took the plunge and participated in the 24th annual Special Olympics Lobster Dip which was held on New Year’s Day at Old Orchard Beach. Dippers were treated to a gorgeous 44 degree sunny day to make the icy 45 degree water temperature just a bit less painful. This year’s event had 322 dippers who together raised more than $80,000 for Maine Special Olympics. Team Raymond consisted of veteran dippers John Dionne, Jack Fitch, John Keller, George Tanguay, and Jean and Mary Thornton and new dippers father and daughter duo Ed and Emily Gagne and John Dionne’s young sons, Hunter and Colby Dionne. Together, Team Raymond broke their record of $5,240 and raised $5,615 to help many children and adults with intellectual disabilities enjoy training and competition in many Special Olympics sporting events around the state. Happy New Year

It is hard to believe another year has come and gone. I am excited to embark on the much anticipated year of 2012 but before doing so, I wanted to recap of the best of 2011 in Raymond. While we may lack in commercialism, we have an abundance of good people doing great things and it has been my privilege to share a slice of these stories with you over the past few years. It is always a risk to write this annual recap because I cannot possibly include everyone and this is just a small glimpse at the many things that happen in our little town. We had many talented athletes winning competitions, college students earning Deans List status, teachers winning awards, and new businesses opening.

As the year began, our groups and committees went right to work to keep the town moving forward. A huge thank-you goes out to all those who volunteer their time to serve as our selectmen and school board members as well as those who are part of the budget and finance committee, library board, recreation, technology, recycling, conservation, Scouts and so many others.

The area came alive when hundreds of fishermen flocked to our lakes to take part in the Sebago Lake Rotary Derbyfest, which provided entertainment well beyond fishing as well as a special kids’ day outfitting local kids with traps and help learning to fish.

The Jordan-Small Middle School hosted an inaugural spring craft fair as a fundraiser for the eighth grade class. The fair was extremely successful drawing more than 30 artists and craft vendors from all over the region selling their many wares, and this looks to be an annual event.

The Raymond Village Community Garden, a nonprofit organization established to help our community and promote a healthy lifestyle, entered its second year of providing rows of crops to individual gardeners. They also dedicated rows for food grown specifically for the Raymond Food Pantry, and residents responded by weeding, watering and harvesting the pantry rows.

June rolled around and another incredible summer began in full swing. The PTO concluded another successful year by offering scholarships to deserving college-bound students, the Black Ghost Cafe? floating restaurant opened while watching over Raymond Beach to ensure it stayed open all summer, and several athletes competed in the locally held Pirate Triathlon held to benefit Camp Sunshine.

The Raymond-Casco Historical Society celebrated their 40th anniversary by giving guided tours of the museum, and the book “Images of America, Raymond and Casco,” was written by Pam Watkins Grant and Betty Watkins Glassford and made available.

Reverend Nancy Foran of the Raymond Village Community Church was awarded a grant for a four-month sabbatical that took her all over the world in search of sacred spaces while church members sought similar spaces here in Maine.

Several Raymond women participated in the Maine Cancer Foundation’s 4th Annual Tri for a Cure and swam, pedaled and ran to help raise more than a million dollars to rid ourselves of this terrible disease.

The Hawthorne Community Association held a series of elegant Victorian Teas attracting more than 100 people throughout the summer who were treated to period costumes, hats and jewelry and were served a full luncheon with scones, sandwiches and cakes of the Victorian era. Profits from the teas were donated to the Hawthorne Community Association to assist in refurbishment of his boyhood home, which will be 200 years old in 2012.

Hurricane Irene delivered September to us with massive winds and fallen trees causing power outages for many days and requiring crews to work nonstop to clean up the mess. Friends and neighbors reached out to help each other as we slowly restored normalcy.

A new field hockey program was launched to introduce the game to girls in grades 3-6 and was extremely popular, attracting 28 girls to the fields who were taught the fundamentals of the sport and also scrimmaged against other youth teams from surrounding communities.

Fall arrived much too quickly and the 11th annual Loon Echo Land Trust Trek took place drawing many residents out to pedal or hike while raising money for land conservation, and the 3rd annual Dempsey Challenge brought more than 3,000 cyclists from around the country through town and raising over a million dollars for the Center for Cancer Hope and Healing. For the fifth consecutive year, Raymond Cares, a group of dedicated fighters against cancer, hit the road and participated in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 3-mile charity walk held in Portland. October ended with another Village Halloween, a collaborative effort to entertain and provide a safe and fun place for our children on this festive holiday.

November brought the start of the holiday season with touching celebrations to honor our heroes on Veterans Day, embrace reading with the annual pajama story time at the library, and get in the festive spirit with the community tree lighting. Several groups continued to work toward filling food pantries, providing gift and food baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and caroling to our elderly.

The Beautification Committee spruced up our town by hanging wreaths from lampposts as well as placing planters filled with boughs and berries throughout town. This was a collaborative effort with many businesses responding to help enhance the look of our town.

The year concluded with joyous celebrations and the same strong sense of community that makes the town of Raymond the gem that it is. I look forward to another exciting year in Raymond.

Team Raymond, still warm and smiling before plunging into the
icy waters of the Atlantic to raise money for Special Olympics.
From left are Colby Dionne, George Tanguay, John Dionne, Jack
Fitch, Mary Thornton, Jean Thornton, John Keller, Ed Gagne, Hunter
Dionne and Emily Gagne.     (Photo courtesy of Ellen Gagne)
Casco Public Library volunteer and board member and avid
genealogist Celeste Hyer will present “How to Start a Genealogical
Search for Your Ancestors” at 6:30 p.m on Monday, Jan. 9, at the
Raymond Public Safety Building, 1443 Roosevelt Trail. The program
is hosted by the Raymond-Casco Historical Society. (Courtesy
photo)