March Madness

This has got to be one of the most confusing months of recent memory. Today the temperature read 12 degrees and yet Easter is less than two weeks away. Spring will be here by the time you read this, and so will, very likely, a fresh pile of new snow, judging by the forecast. Well, we do live in Maine, a place that is not known for following the rules when it comes to seasons. I heard a story recently from a local 40-something about his remembering snow flurries in June when he was a kid!

Summer Camp

Sign-ups

Naples Recreation will be having registrations for their Summer Kidventure Camp on April 6 from 9 a.m.-noon and April 10 from 4-7 p.m. for full summer and weekly registration. Registration date for split week (Tuesday, Thursday or Monday, Wednesday, Friday) will be on May 1 from 4-7 p.m. All registration will be held at the Naples Town Office. The camp is for children going into first through sixth in the fall of 2013. Registration form will not be taken before the registration dates, but you can still sign up after, if space is available. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Harvey Price at 693-6364.

High School Musical

This time around the drama club will perform “Legally Blonde” at Lake Region High School April 4 through April 7. Evening performances are scheduled on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., with matinees performed on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the high school.

Naples Grange

Wants You

This morning I received a lovely e-mail from Chuck Chanley of the Naples Grange Hall 94. The e-mail is a plea to get the word out that the Grange Hall needs volunteers and some new energy to keep its spirit alive. Read on, and I do hope you will consider joining.

Chuck writes: It was February, 1875, when a group of people gathered for the purpose of establishing a new Grange and the Maine State Grange approved the charter for Naples Grange No. 94.

To put that year into perspective that was 10 years after the Civil War. This is where and how the Grange system started in the country. 1875 is the same year the first telephone was installed in the country (according to the Internet) and six years before, Wyatt Earp and the shoot-out was at the OK coral.

In 2000, Naples Grange was recognized by the State Grange for its 125 years of service. There have been a lot of great grandparents, grandparents, mothers, farther that have been involved in the Grange and yes some of you folks are still here. There was a time when there was even a Junior Grange. Well, here it is 2013 some 138 years later and the Grange hall is still in Naples although probably not the original building. Some folks say the present grange hall, known as the Edward L. Singer Community Center, was moved across Long Lake in the winter from Harrison (year unknown).

There are a lot of social clubs/pantries in town and I like to think somehow they all started from the Grange. The Grange in the community has always been the social gathering place were members meet, discuss issues within the community and try to help the communities and its residents in many ways.

As I said, here it is 2013, and the Granges across the country and here in Naples as well as many other social and fraternal organizations are finding it hard to attract new members. I am asking for your help to keep the Naples Grange’s long history within our community going. You do not have to live in Naples to be a member. Recent members have been and are from Casco, Windham, Bridgton, and Sebago even from Rhode Island and of course, Naples.

If Naples Grange is something you have heard about, thought about, and are interested in helping to preserve, please contact me at chuckchanley@yahoo.com.

A Hunting They

Will Go

The Naples Library will once again host its annual Easter Egg Hunt this Saturday, March 23, from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information, contact the Library at 693-6841.

Naples Lions Club Hosts Sixth Annual “Spring Fling”

Join the Lions at the American Legion Hall in Naples on Saturday, April 20, for this FUN-raiser. The Silent Auction opens at 5 p.m. with Dinner Stations opened at this time as well. The live auction will begin at 7 p.m. and then the Silent Auction items will be announced, all by Dennis LaLiberty, the auctioneer for the evening.

Entree features the “People’s Choice” (Western Me. BBQ) award winner Bob McHatton’s “Bob-b-Que.” Several other local restaurants will also offer entree selections. Past-president Tony Brocato will whip up a super pasta offering, with homemade bread by Julie Crandall. This annual event allows the club to make a major contribution to a single local charity. This year, the goal is to fund the purchase of a new high-tech digital camera to be used for eye-screening of kids entering kindergarten in the fall. The Naples Lions have done this screening for the last 10 years since their founding.

The new equipment will replace the old Polaroid camera concept. Purchasing the equipment may actually take two years of fundraising at the Spring Fling to complete the funding for the expensive device. The camera will be made available to other Lions Clubs in our region for their use, if they wish. Eye screening is a major emphasis of Lion’s Clubs nationwide. Get your tickets now for this event to help the Naples Lions celebrate their 10-year anniversary and support a good cause. Tickets are only $15 per person. All Naples Lions members can dispense tickets or stop by the Augustus Bove House on Route 302 in Naples and see Arlene Stetson, the owner.