Perry observes 90th

Barbara Perry of Gorham was honored at a surprise 90th birthday party at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Ralph and Frances Perry, on Sebago Lake Road on July 14. Guests included her two sisters, Abbie Winslow, 96, of Fryeburg and Louise Chaplin, 91, of Naples.

Perry’s children, Donna Steen of Twin Falls, Idaho, and Sharon and Robert Heskett of Homossa, Fla., joined Ralph and Francis Perry at the party.

Grandchildren attending were Vicki and Jeff Doughty of Gorham, Theresa Perry, Gorham; Michelle Balistreri, Las Vegas, Nevada; Karen Smith, Gainsville, Ga.; Randy and Becky King, Goffstown, N.H.; Joy and Ronnie Singer of Martinsville, Ind.; and Fred and Karen King of Harrison.

Guests included great-grandchildren Cole and Ryan Doughty, Benjamin and Ryann Balistreri, Justin Smith, and Tammy, Tonya and Melissa King.

Other guests included Bob and Bobbi Gregoire, Nancy and Ron Sampson, Rhonda Perkins, Lisa Kelson, Steven and Lisa Pratt, Jessie and Cody, Leta Cross, Judy Johnson, Wanda Graffam, Kathy Allen, Carlton Burnell and Susie Bartlett with Sarah Bartlett, Bill and Darcy Winslow, Lisa Winslow, Brian and Trudy Winslow, Tony and Shirley Caiazzo, Jonathan and Ruth Marshall, Martha Jackson, Patty Edwards, Sandra and Ray Witham, Clyde and Margaret Butterfield, Kenneth and Gail Butterfield, Ann MacDonald, Bonnie Doughty, Elaine Doughty, Chrissy and Steve Larrivee with Gabby and Norah, Nancy Pratt, Jim Turgeon and Shelley Turgeon.

Barbara Perry received many cards, flowers and birthday wishes from those who could not attend.

Schools start ?next week

Gorham schools open next week. Students in kindergarten and grades 6 and 9 start on Wednesday, Aug. 29, while all other grades start on Thursday, Aug. 30.

The three Gorham elementary schools – Great Falls, Narragansett and Village – will each host an open house 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

School bus routes are available by visiting the School Department web site gorhamschools.org/transportation.

Genealogy group ?to meet

Paul Doucette of Gorham has announced the Greater Portland Genealogical Chapter will hold its monthly meeting Saturday, Sept. 1, at the Church of Latter Day Saints, 29 Ocean House Road, Cape Elizabeth.

The meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. with a social time. At 1 p.m., Arlene Schwind, curator at the Victoria Mansion in Portland, will present a program on the families of Ruggles Sylvester Morse of Leeds, and his wife, Olive Ring Merrill of Durham.

The Morses lived in New Orleans and built the mansion in 1858-1860 as a summer home. A business meeting will follow at about 2 p.m. For more information about the genealogical chapter, visit www.gpcmgs.org.

U.S. taxpayer debt

The Bureau of Public Debt reported on Aug. 17 that the U.S. public debt was $15,962,054,850,397.97.

Thompson attends New York conference

A local high school student is back home after participating in a national career exploration camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Rochester Institute of Technology. More than 200 students from as far away as Hawaii participated.

Fangen Thompson of Gorham will be a 12th grade student at Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind this fall.

Thompson recently attended Explore Your Future, a six-day career exploration camp at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus in Rochester, N.Y. Campers got a taste of possible careers in computer art design, lab science technology, business, computing, engineering and health care.

Barbara Burnell Perry, right, celebrates her 90th birthday with her sisters, Louise Chaplin on left, and Abbie Winslow.