Thanks

Each of us needs help at some time in our lives. Hundreds have been (and are being) helped through donations to Windham Neighbors Helping Neighbors fuel fund. Last week, WNHN received an anonymous donation of $260 representing $10 in memory of each of the victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. What a wonderful gesture of caring. Other donations last week came from Mary and Michael Schwartz, Carl and Norma Kruger, Valerie DeVuyst and another anonymous donation – Thank You! WNHN is a nonprofit all-volunteer group dedicated to helping Windham people who urgently need fuel. All donations to WNHN are tax-deductible. Mail to Windham Neighbors Helping Neighbors, c/o Norma Rogers, Treas., PO Box 1956, Windham, ME 04062.

Summerfest 2013

The Summerfest celebration will take place in Windham this year on June 22. Volunteers are needed to make this a successful event. If you can lend a hand or want to know what it’s all about, contact Brian Ross, director of Parks and Recreation, at 892-1905.

Borrow Snowshoes

Parks and Recreation Dept. at town hall has snowshoes to loan for free to any Windham resident. Both adult and child sizes are available. Office hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.Take a snowshoe hike at one of parks or conservation areas such as Lippman Park or Lowell Preserve or just try it in your back yard!

Father/Daughter Dance

The annual Father/Daughter Dance is Friday, Feb. 8, at the Windham Middle School from 7-8:30 p.m. Space is limited so purchase tickets sooner rather than later for this evening out with dad. Tickets go on sale Jan. 14 at the Windham Parks and Recreation Department. Dads, granddads, uncles, older brothers or special others, mark this date on your calendar. This event is for daughters in 5th grade or younger. FMI, contact the Windham Parks and Recreation Department, 892-1905.

Free Meal

On Saturday, Jan. 26, a free community meal will be served from 4:30-6 p.m. at Christ Chapel, 37 Northern Pines Road, Raymond. This is open to the surrounding communities, and all ages are welcome. The meal includes baked stuffed shrimp, salads, casseroles and desserts. You can just show up.

Eco-Excellence Awards

Local nominees for eco-Excellence Awards are being sought by ecomaine. There are 45 municipalities involved and awards are annually presented to individual, organizations and businesses in these towns/cities, to recognize “green” activities. For details including a list of past winners, go to: www.ecomaine.org. An awards presentation luncheon will be held March 12.

Military News

On Wednesday, Jan. 16, Veterans Service Officer Phyllis D’Orsay is available at the Windham Veterans Center, as she is on the second and fourth Wednesdays every month, from 9 a.m. until noon. She assists veterans, widows of veterans and dependents with questions about benefits and other information. If you have questions of a military nature, stop in and get some answers. No appointment is needed.

Grief Support Group

A six-week grief support group will start on Fridays from 1:30-3 p.m. Jan. 25 through March 1 at VNA Home Health Hospice, 50 Foden Road, South Portland. This will be a closed group, with the same group of people meeting for the six sessions. Call Linda Hopkins, Bereavement Coordinator, 400-8714, or email hopkins1@vnahomehealth.org to register or for more information.

Food Pantry,?Clothes Closet

If you are not a client of Windham’s Food Pantry and Clothes Closet, call Madeline Roberts at 892-1931 and she’ll explain the details. These two services may be of help to you or someone you know – especially this winter.

History’s Mysteries

Saturday, Jan. 19, Windham Historical Society will present a program called “History’s Mysteries,” at 9 a.m. at Windham Public Library on Windham Center Road. The public is invited and may bring some unique or even unidentified object that relates to Windham history to explain or get identified. The one-hour program will be followed by refreshments and a business meeting. There is no fee, but donations are always welcome.

Thrift Shop

The Thrift Shop at the North Windham UCC is open from 1-3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday or 10 a.m. until noon Saturdays. The Thrift Shop is in the lower level of the church.

Windham man sentenced for threatening president

Leroy Eugene Dunn, of Windham, was sentenced Jan. 3 to 33 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for threatening the president of the United States.

Dunn, 30, pleaded guilty to the charge on April 25, 2012. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor by Chief Judge John Woodcock Jr.

According to court records, Dunn wrote a letter addressed to President Barack Obama at his White House address in April 2011 in which he wrote: “I hate you and will do anything I can to get rid of you. … You will die at my hands. … I will kill you Barack Obama.”

At the time Dunn wrote the letter, he was an inmate in the Piscataquis County Jail and asked a corrections officer to mail the letter. The envelope containing the letter included a Dover-Foxcroft return address for Dunn. The corrections officer asked for and obtained permission from Dunn to open the envelope, which contained the two-page letter.

“The sentence is appropriate for a very serious crime, “ said U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II. Public officials must be able to carry out their duties without being exposed to threats against their life.”

The investigation was conducted jointly by the U.S. Secret Service, the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine State Police.