School Spirit?

Lake Region High School is excited to announce that the school has been selected to compete in this season’s School Spirit Challenge sponsored by Channel 13 and Fox 23 on Friday, Feb. 13.

They are looking to raise as much non-perishable food and/or monetary donations for the Good Shepard Food Bank. To date, more than 700,000 pounds of food have been collected through the School Spirit Challenge with the goal of getting to 1 million pounds by the end of this season. You can go to the WGME 13 website and click on the School Spirit Challenge link to see video clips of other school challenges.

They will be asking the other schools in the district if they would consider having a food box for their students to donate as well since this challenge is not just about Lake Region High School, but a community challenge and they want to share the spotlight! The high school will make arrangements each week to collect the food donated from the other schools. The high school invites the local business community to participate in this challenge as well. Channel 13 and Fox 23 will be broadcasting live from 6-8 a.m. on Feb. 13. Go Lakers!

Got Talent?

Nine acts were whittled down to six as Lake Region’s Got Talent continues on the stage of the Mayfair Theater at the Magic Lantern on Depot Street in Bridgton.

On Sunday, Jan. 18, four judges, Mary Bastoni, Laurie Shepard, Barb Stauble and Jerry Walker, themselves talented both on stage and behind the scenes, scored the acts and provided feedback to the contestants. They lent considerable experience and expertise to the reviews of each performance.

Emcee Peter Allen announced that the following acts will move on to the semifinals: It Doesn’t Matter, a band comprised of high school students Morgan Lamontagne, Reed Bridge-Koenigsburg, Matthew Buchanan, Anthony Champoli and Galen McLaughlin, who were asked where their next gig will be; Gracie Vaughn, singing “On My Own” from the musical “Les Miserables” with excellent diction; The Gypsies Quynh Nguyen and Carly Dyer, who put their hearts and souls into dancing and singing to an original song entitled “New York;” Magician Madison Martin who fooled volunteer and LRCT president Janet Ver Planck as well as the audience; Briley Graves, with her bold rendition of Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova;” and Contemporary Dancers Liza Collins-Schrader, Kristin Farwell and Laura Taylor performing to “People Are Strange” with extremely creative moves.

The top 10 acts of Lake Region’s Got Talent, including these six and last week’s quarterfinal winners, dancers Bailey Nassa and Mackenzie Gifford, singer Abbie Vaughn, singer Julia DiStefano and guitarist/singer Christian Martin, will battle it out on stage in the semifinals. Who will make it to the top six? Don’t miss Lake Region’s Got Talent Semi-final performance on Sunday, Jan. 25, 1 p.m. at the Magic Lantern.

During the semifinals, the judges, with help from the audience, will narrow the field down to six acts. Those six finalists will compete on Feb. 8 to see who will be named as the top three Lake Region talents. Support your family and friends as well as Lake Region Community Theatre, which is the host of this talent show. You can help your favorite act win in this fierce competition when you cast a ballot. All are competing for a chance to win a share of more than $1,000 in cash and prizes in second annual Lake Region’s Got Talent. Tickets for the semifinals are available at the door: free for ages 5 and under (non-voting); $5 for ages 6-12; $7 for students and senior citizens; $10 for adults.

All of the shows are televised on Lake Region Television after the show dates. Check www.lakeregiontv.org for the schedule.

What to Do?

Three district forums were held this week to discuss District Facilities options for short and long-range planning concerning the overcrowding of Songo Locks School, and more specifically, where future fifth-graders will call their home school.

The options discussed to date include: Status Quo, don’t do anything this year; Build onto current facilities, Repurpose current structures such as Crooked River or the White House, Redistricting or, moving all Grade 5 students to Lake Region Middle School. Stay tuned.

Liam Opie, pictured with his homeroom teacher Susan Hanington, accepts his certificate for winning the Lake Region Middle School Geography Bee.Courtesy photo