April 30, 6:30 PM to 11:00 PM • $25.00, Regatta Banquet & Conference Center, Eliot, ME

The Automated External Defibrillator has been proven to be a life saver for students, parents, staff and visitors to schools and libraries. This device can save a life by detecting and treating cardiac arrest in those critical first few minutes until rescue services are available, increasing the chances of survival to 70%. Every year 365,000 people in North America fall victim to cardiac arrest, including 7,000 children.

Marshwood High School and Marshwood Middle School have the AED in place at this time. South Berwick-Eliot Rotary seeks to raise the funds to purchase AED’s for Central School in South Berwick,
Eliot Elementary School, Marshwood Great Works School, Eliot’s William Fogg Library and the South Berwick Library.

Hearty Hors d’Oeuvres • Cash Bar – Live and Silent Auctions

Tickets available at: Eliot’s Kennebunk Savings Bank, South Berwick Pharmacy, P. Gagnon & Son, Eliot Elementary School, Central School and Great Works School  in South Berwick

“The snow and ice are melting, birds are singing, people are getting outside, but we forget what is underneath all that snow,“ observes Pat Robinson, the Commission’s chair. Residents are encouraged to team up with friends and family to “adopt” a road and make it the cleanest in town. Last year, approximately 55 children and adults pitched in to remove a winter’s worth of trash from South Berwick roads.

Roadside trash often washes into rivers and streams where it can choke or disable wildlife, such as ducks, fish, turtles and birds. In one study, researchers found that 18 percent of all litter ends up in our streams and waterways as pollution. “Keeping our roads free of trash not only makes the town look good, it protects important resources like the Great Works and Salmon Falls rivers, as well as their streams and tributaries.”

The transfer station will accept trash from the clean up between 7 am and 6 pm. All participants should wear gloves and bright or reflective clothing. For more information call 384-3300 ext 336 (conservation commission voice mail) or email prnel@comcast.net. The South Berwick Conservation Commission works with the citizens of South Berwick to preserve community and regional natural resources and recreational opportunities that define the rural character of the Town of South Berwick.

Annual Meeting & Dinner: Thursday, February 17, 5:30-8:30 pm, dinner at 6 pm

Great Works Regional Land Trust (GWRLT) is celebrating 25 years of land conservation as the local land trust in the Berwicks, Eliot, Ogunquit, and Wells. The public is invited to the Annual Meeting on February 17th, 2011, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm at the North Berwick Community Center. Tickets are $7.50 per person and $20.00 per family for dinner and dessert. RSVP to 207-646-3604.

The guest speaker will be Jay Espy, who 25 years ago came to meet with a small group of citizens in the basement of the North Berwick branch of Kennebunk Savings Bank and inspired them to form a land trust in order to conserve much of what makes this part of Maine a place in which people want to live. Espy will discuss GWRLT’s significance on the national level and the conservation challenges ahead. In 2008 Espy became the first Executive Director of the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, following a long tenure as Executive Director of Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Espy has many achievements to be proud of, including helping establish the Maine Land Trust Network. He also served as chair of the Land Trust Alliance, a national organization serving land trusts throughout the United States and last fall was recognized with its Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership award.

“As we pass through the seasons of our 25th Anniversary year, it is inspiring to think about Joe Hardy and a few friends and neighbors acting on the land trust idea,” stated Jack Kareckas, president of GWRLT since 2009. “Margaret Mead was right, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’ With that, we’d like to recognize the vision our founding Board Members: B.J. Jones, President; Craig Blouin, Vice President; Sandy Agrafiotis, Treasurer; Joe Hardy, Secretary; Peter Gustafson, Jack Knight, David McDermott, Elizabeth Perry, Tin Smith, and Michael Wright.”

A member supported, nonprofit organization, Great Works Regional Land Trust’s mission is to conserve the value of our area’s natural, historic, agricultural, forestry, scenic and recreational resources. GWRLT pursues this mission by providing landowners with a means of protecting their lands from future development, by holding property and conservation easements.

With 94 projects completed and around 4,500 acres conserved, GWRLT has made a significant impact in Southern Maine. Thousands of volunteer hours; members who support the work with their wallets; a hardworking board; conservation minded landowners; communities that recognize the importance of our natural resources – all have contributed to the successes of the past 25 years. In order to accomplish its goals, GWRLT has formed partnerships with other conservation organizations, including other land trusts in the area, local conservation commissions, state and federal agencies, and larger organizations such as The Nature Conservancy. The Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative is one such project, a coalition of ten conservation organizations working together to protect a full range of community and ecological values in the six-town area around Mt. Agamenticus.

Great Works Regional Land Trust owns over 1800 acres of land, and maintains trail networks at five locations: Bauneg Beg Mountain Conservation Area, Fox Farm Hill Road in North Berwick; Orris Falls Conservation Area, Thurrell Road in South Berwick; Douglas Memorial Woods, State Road in Eliot; The Raymond & Simone Savage Wildlife Preserve, Dover-Eliot Road in South Berwick; and Beach Plum Farm, Route One in Ogunquit.

For more information, and to RSVP for the Annual Meeting, please visit the Great Works Regional Land Trust website at www.gwrlt.org or call (207) 646-3604.

Conditions couldn’t be better right now. We’ll be open from 12-4 Saturday and Sunday!

Please help by parking in a sensible manner. We must retain access for emergency vehicles. No parking signs have been posted, please mind them!

Remember there is NO PARKING on Agamenticus Road. Please drop your peeps off at our drop off area and park toward town down Portland Street in legal spots only. See you on the hill!

FMI:  www.powderhousehill.com

You can help make the holidays a little brighter for a child in our community.

If you have questions, call Vicki at the South Berwick Social Services Department at 384—3310.

Parade line up will begin at 2:30. Judging begins at 3:00, with best-in-category awards being presented prior to the parade start. The Mayor of Whoville, wearing the traditional lighted Grinch sweater, will present the “Cup of Good Cheer” to the neighborhood group that creates this year’s “judges’ choice” for best overall float. The awards will be proudly displayed by the winners as they file past large crowds of festive on-lookers.

Keeping with this year’s parade theme “Christmas through the eyes of a Child”, groups and neighborhoods are encouraged to gather on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, for float-making parties. Float rules and application forms are available at the South Berwick Municipal Building and at P. Gagnon and Son on Main St or here. Groups for both floats and marching units are encouraged to reply to the e-mail addresse s on the application to declare their participation.

Another year of spectacular creations is expected. During the parade the South Berwick Fire Department will be collecting new unwrapped toys for local needy children.  As lineup takes place, the South Berwick Strawberry Festival Committee, this year’s parade sponsor, will be handing out hot cider and cookies in front of the SB Town Hall. Richard Goulet, long-time and recently retired, parade chairman, will be this year’s Grand Marshall. Other anticipated parade participants include a contingent of sailors from the USS Helena, local Boy and Girl Scouts, the Marshwood High School Marching Band, and numerous local organizations with floats, trucks, equipment, and marchers of all ages. No holiday parade would be complete without Santa making an appearance. This year, he will park the sleigh and reindeer and will hitch a ride on a fire engine supplied by the South Berwick Fire Department.

Gracie, CFW's broad-winged hawk ambassador

Tues.,  Nov 9, 5 pm -8:30 pm
Community Supper Fundraiser to benefit Center for Wildlife
Where: Robert’s Maine Grill, 326 Rt 1, Kittery, ME
FMI & Reservations: tel 207-439-0300
Every Tuesday night Robert’s Maine Grill in Kittery offers a “Community Supper”, a $12, 3 course “recession buster” menu!  As part of it, each Tuesday a portion of proceeds is donated to a local non-profit. Community Supper opens to the public at 5pm and continues through closing.  Reservations are highly recommended. Be there for a great meal and support CFW on Nov.  9.

Tonight’s menu:
Tomato Bisque – Kittery tomatoes, Parmesan crostini
Salmon Pot Pie – dill, parsnips, carrots, onion, potato, peas, rosemary & lemon sauce
Blueberry Crumble a la Mode

Center for Wildlife‘s mission is to protect and build a sustainable future for wildlife in our community through our animal assistance hotline, rehabilitation services for injured animals, educational outreach and conservation programs. CFW focuses on: strengthening regional capacity to respond, rehabilitate and return injured animals to the wild; and providing information and practical advice about wildlife and habitats to people of all ages to teach and inspire them to help protect local wildlife populations.

Keep South Berwick Warm provides funds for the South Berwick Social Services Department, who determines eligibility and disburses funds confidentially.  The funds raised by the KBSW are available for emergencies and to help families who may not fit strict state eligibility guidelines for fuel assistance but are in need of short term assistance with heating costs.

The Keep South Berwick Warm fuel fund has been raising money since 2008 when community members decided to do something to help make sure that no one in South Berwick, young or old, should have to be cold in their homes in the winter.  Keep South Berwick Warm hosts an annual soup supper and accepts donations year round to assure that the fund is there when families need extra assistance. This year, the Soup Supper, held on  October 20, raised nearly $2000 for the fuel fund.

Keep South Berwick Warm is a program of Sobo Central, a nonprofit corporation, so donations to the fuel fund are tax deductible.   Those wishing to to make a donation to the Keep South Berwick Warm fuel fund may send a check to Sobo Central, 9 York Woods Road, South Berwick, ME 03908, c/o Fuel Fund.

If you have any questions about fuel assistance, please call Vicki Desilets at 207-384-3310.  For questions about the challenge or donations, call Pat Robinson at 207-337-2792.

Around 20 local businesses have contributed to a gift basket being raffled to raise funds for construction of a new library. The “South Berwick Holiday Gift Basket”  holds gift cards worth more than $350 in total.

“An enticing part of this basket is that it can be divided up and given out as gifts– to teachers, for instance– or kept to use oneself on downtown shopping jaunts,” said Julie Parker, the Friends volunteer who organized the raffle.

Tickets will be on sale through Dec. 4 at the Library at 37 Portland St. Tickets are $5 each or $20 for five. All proceeds will benefit the Friends’ Building Fund.  The winning ticket will be drawn at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, at the end of South Berwick’s Home for the Holidays downtown celebration.

The following businesses are participating:

Alexander’s, Rollinsford  -  Asia Cafe  -  Black Bean Cafe, Rollinsford
Early Bird Cafe  -  Figtree Catering  -  Fogarty’s  -  Lunch Box
Monkey Business  -  Pepperland  -  Abby Chic  -  Doodlebugz Studio, Rollinsford  -  Emporium Framing  -  J.A.D. Mercantile  -  Nature’s Way Market
Portland St. Mobil  -   Riverside Farmstand, N. Berwick
Salmon Falls Garden, Berwick – Vacuum Village – Jewelers Outlet, Sanford

Find out more about the Friends at friendsofsouthberwicklibrary.org

The annual Rollinsford/So. Berwick Christmas Parade is scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving…November 27 at 4:00 PM. There will be prizes and the 2nd annual “Whoville Cup of Cheer” award.  Last year this award was won by the St. Pierre family for showing the most community Christmas spirit.

This year’s parade theme is “Through the eyes of a child.”

The organizers of the parade are encouraging organizations, neighborhoods, businesses and families to participate.  Walk, march, include four legged friends, decorate a float.  The definition of a float for the parade is flexible say the organizers, “decorate a “dump trailer”, pickup truck, hay wagon, commercial truck, 18 wheeler…little red wagons,….HAVE FUN!”

Download the required 2010 RollinsfordSB Parade Application.

For some inspiration, check out this YouTube video of last year’s parade.