Students Ewan O’Shae, Dominic Cataldi, C.K. Kennedy, Lyssi Lekeh, Bella Pinto, Ava Gerrity and Piper Chiccoine of Windham Middle School all helped in the Spirit Week drive. Photo courtesy of Debbie Hall

Ask and you shall receive

A few weeks ago, the Windham Food Pantry put out a request asking for items that were badly needed so they could help some of the less fortunate people in our community. Almost immediately, the caring people of Windham generously responded.

The Sebago Lake Rotary Club did their part with a $500 donation to help provide food and other supplies for people in need. This generous gift will go a long way, especially at this time of year with the holidays coming up.

At Windham Middle School, receptionist Debbie Hall answered the call for help by teaming up with Principal Drew Patin and teacher Sandy Cook. WMS Spirit Week was coming up and so the three put together a list of certain items to be brought into school that would coincide with each Spirit Day theme.

For six days, students brought in items and kept tallies in each classroom, all hoping to win a pizza and cupcake party for their class if they brought in the most items over the course of the week. There was tough competition between Marcia Bailey’s and John Condello’s seventh-grade classes, but when the week was over, it was Mrs. Barry’s sixth graders who won the prize with a total of 277 items donated. In all, the WMS students gathered 916 items for the Food Pantry that included paper towels, toilet paper, mac and cheese, tuna, canned beans and soup, crackers, pet food, canned vegetables and boxed dinners.

Meet the authors

The Windham Public Library will host Penny Guisinger, author of “Postcards from Here” and founder of the Iota: Short Prose Conference, from 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13. Guisinger will speaking about how you can craft creative short pieces of your own. For more information, contact Ray Marcotte at 892-1908.

Holiday fair

The historic North Windham United Church of Christ will hold its annual Holiday Fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9. There will be wreaths and holiday baskets, all decorated for sale. Specially handcrafted and unique wooden items and many handmade items from talented crafts people will also be on display. In addition, there will be a silent auction with wonderful items to bid on, and to top it all off, a delicious luncheon will be offered as well. The church is located at 140 Windham Center Road.

Senior shopping spree

It’s time for Windham seniors to hop aboard the Windham Parks & Recreation bus for some tax-free Christmas shopping in North Conway, New Hampshire, on Nov. 18. Spend the better part of the day visiting some favorite shops and enjoy a nice lunch at one of North Conway’s restaurants. The bus departs from Windham Town Hall at 8 a.m. and will return at 5 p.m. The cost for the trip is $12.

Haley Pal can be contacted at haleypal@aol.com.