Enrollment Continues to Surge at York County Community College

WELLS—
For the fifth consecutive year, York County Community College (YCCC) has experienced and sustained growth unmatched, in history, by any public or private college or university in Maine. During this period, credit-hour generation (the actual number of credit-hours for which students have enrolled) has increased 71%, while the total number of students enrolled at the college has increased 60%.
“The dramatic admissions growth can be attributed to a variety of circumstances,” said Dr. Charles Lyons, college president. Two major factors behind the enrollment growth are displaced workers returning to school and traditional-age students looking for a more affordable education, Lyons said. At $84 per credit for in-state residents, a student taking 12 credits would pay $1,008 in tuition costs as well as other fees.
YCCC, which is the youngest of Maine’s seven community colleges, showed the largest gains (up 44%) but the upward spiral continues throughout the Maine Community College System (MCCS). MCCS President John Fitzsimmons noted that in spite of severe budget constraints, the colleges remain committed to providing as many students as possible with the education they need to gain a foothold in a difficult economy.
York County Community College, established in 1994, is one of seven community colleges in the Maine Community College System. The college enrolls over 1,400 students in associate degrees and transfer programs and over 1,600 individuals in non-credit continuing education and professional development areas.

Passionately Pink for the Cure at Five-O in Ogunquit

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
OGUNQUIT—
Ogunquit will be in the pink, so to speak, on Saturday, Jan. 30. That’s when the Donato J. Tramuto Foundation and staff at the restaurant Tramuto owns in Ogunquit, Five O Shore Road, team up for a fundraiser to battle breast cancer. The restaurant will be hosting a brunch that day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to help support the Susan G, Komen Foundation’s fight for a cure for breast cancer.
“Cancer and especially breast cancer is such a serious issue,” said Matt Linder, a manager at the restaurant. “Some of our patrons have been affected by it. We hooked on to their needs, wants and concerns. Cancer has affected all of us as a group significantly.”
Linder said Tramuto liked the idea of the fundraiser immediately. “He pledged to donate $10 for every diner that attends,” Linder said. “He’ll also donate a portion of the proceeds. We all try to reflect Donato’s interest in charity.”
The brunch will offer Five-O’s standard brunch menu, with a variety of crepes, waffles, and benedicts, as well as sandwiches from the lunch menu. Reservations are not necessary, Linder said. Guests should simply arrive between 10 and 2. “We’re calling it Brunch for Breast Cancer - Passionately Pink for the Cure,” Linder said. “We’ll all be wearing pink and we encourage people who come to wear pink.”
Linder said choosing to partner with the Susan G. Komen Foundation was easy. “They’re one of the leaders in the fight against breast cancer,” he said. “This is a cause we really believe in. When I was going around town and putting up posters, I heard some really phenomenal stories from people. People seem to be responding well to this.”
If you can’t make the brunch, or you’re not hungry that day, there’s still the opportunity to donate. “We have already had people come in and donate,” said Linder. “There’s an envelope in the cash register near the bar. Any donations go directly to the Komen Foundation.”
For more information, visit www.five-oshoreroad.com, the Five-O Shore Road facebook site, or call 646-5001. For information about the Komen Foundation and the work it does, visit www.komen.org.
Photo caption: Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon. (Courtesy photo)

Where in the World is La Romana?

SOUTH BERWICK—
Adults and children who answer geography questions at the Great Works School Friday Jan. 29 will be helping to outfit a new emergency room at a hospital in southeast Dominican Republic, The workers that use this hospital are mostly Haitian cane-cutters and do back-breaking work Dominicans generally don’t want.
Where in the World is La Romana, a geography quiz planned by volunteers and local Rotarians, will take place 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan 29 in the gymnasium of the Great Works School. The quiz night is meant to introduce residents of this area to this border area of the Dominican, and to raise $5,000 or more for medical care for a group of people who would otherwise be unable to get even basic health care.
The money raised will help equip a new emergency wing at the Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana, DR. Haiti, the poorest nation in this hemisphere and the site of last week’s devastating earthquake, and the Dominican Republican share the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean and Haitians who live and work in the Dominican often lack legal standing and are the nation’s poorest residents.
The quiz is organized by the Moloney family of South Berwick, with Kennebunk Savings Bank Manager Mike Moloney acting as Quiz Host. The request to use the money in La Romana came from Travis Gatter, a local Rotarian and pastor of the First Baptist Church of South Berwick.
Last April, Gatter took his first trip to La Romana with the Good Samaritan Mission Council. He visited the Good Samaritan Hospital and learned that a new emergency wing was being built and needed supplies.
The Rotary district will donate $5,000 and the South Berwick Rotary club hopes to raise another $10,000. Individuals and churches have already pledged about half this amount and Gatter hopes the Where in the World is La Romana geographical quiz night will raise much of the rest.
The money raised in South Berwick will go to the International Medical Equipment Collaborative, a non-profit organization based in North Andover, Mass., that provides equipment to doctors in developing countries. IMEC fixes US donated equipment so it can be used in hospitals around the world. Organizations like the Rotary then oversee shipment.
The Good Samaritan Hospital was created to provide medical care to bateys, the small communities of cane workers around La Romana, which is the Dominican’s third largest city. Construction began in 1991, with American volunteers doing most of the labor, and it opened in 1997. The first year it served 10,000 people. By 2002, 48,000 people were getting medical care there.
Although the hospital was created to serve the families of Haitian sugar cane workers, it has grown to offer basic health care to all of the poor in La Romana.
At last year’s geography quiz, Where in the World is Haiti?, students, parents and teachers in South Berwick and Eliot worked with the Eliot South Berwick Rotary Club to buy books for Life and Hope Haiti, which runs a school in Haiti. They raised $4,300.
Today, the Eben Ezer School, which is in the north, has been spared the worst devastation of the Jan. 12 earthquake. But Life and Hope Haiti is now central to helping the school’s curriculum advisor, Claudette Charles, who runs a home for the needy just five miles from the earthquake epicenter. Sister Claudette was in South Berwick in September 2008 to collect hurricane supplies donated by residents here. Her entire compound serving 200 of the neediest of Haitians has been decimated, with many people dead or injured and all buildings and materials destroyed. All of Life and Hope’s efforts right now are going to help Claudette and other rescue efforts. Those who want to give to Life and Hope can go to the website: lifeandhopehaiti.org or email sobobooks@earthlink.net for more information.
This year’s geography quiz will feature teams of four people – two students and two adults – answering questions in a TV quiz show format. Each team must raise $150 to participate. The sponsors are Bondgarden Farm, South Berwick Baptist Church, York Chiropractic, Spring Hill, P. Gagnon and Son, Attar Engineering, Lassel Arch., Civil Consultants, employees of the Town of South Berwick, Friends of the William Fogg Library, Good Girl Graphics. Prizes provided by Oscar Stone of The Stone Agency and Richard Donhauser of Eliot Rent-a-Space Self Storage.
A raffle will be held with many donated items.
Where in the World Is La Romana is free and open to the public. For more information contact moloney7@comcast.net.
The Geography Quiz was first held in 2008 and raised money for a water system in Bangladesh.

Centurion to Turn 101 at Kittery Estates

KITTERY—
Alice Mayhew of Kittery will celebrate her 101st birthday Feb. 8th, 2010. She was born in Eliot, Maine, daughter of Charles D. and Georgia Tobey Tetherly. To celebrate reaching the 100 year mark last year, she fulfilled her dream of riding a motorcycle. There will be a lunch celebration to honor her at Kittery Estates Retirement Community, where she has been a resident since September of 2009.
Photo caption: Alice Mayhew (left) enjoys dancing with Gabe Friedman at a special event at Kittery Estates. (Courtesy photo)

TV’s Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Comes to Sanford

By Devin Beliveau
Staff Columnist
SANFORD—
A handful of Maine 5th graders are getting their shot in the national television spotlight.
On Jan. 6 several 5th graders from around southern and central Maine made their way to the Bonanza Steakhouse in Sanford for a chance to be on the popular Fox TV show: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
The game show is a trivia contest that pits 5th graders against adults. The 5th graders who showed up in Sanford, however, were not auditioning to be contestants on the show. These students were being recorded asking and answering trivia questions for viewers at home watching the show.
“It’s not an audition to be on the show, but the question that’s asked (on the local broadcast) is what was taped using these kids,” explained Geoff Titherington, the owner of Bonanza.
“In this way the folks at home can play along and have some local community involvement,” said Jen Myles, an account executive with the CW. “(These taped questions) will actually be in the show. It’s the third break in the show. Then it goes to a commercial break, then the show comes back with these kids saying the correct answer.”
Kayla Bott, a 5th grader from Mt. Vernon who enjoys watching the show, came to Bonanza because “I want to be on TV.” Her favorite part of the show is “when people lose. It’s funny,” Bott said with a laugh.
Jaycee Roberts came to Sanford from Buxton because “I love the show. I like answering the questions.”
Titherington’s restaurant was selected to be the audition location because he advertises with WPXT, the Portland CW Network affiliate that airs Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? “One of the things that they do with the local sponsors of that show is have sessions where the kids can come in and they ask a question which is shown on TV,” explained Titherington.
Titherington has owned and operated the Sanford Bonanza for 25 years, a notable achievement given that only 35 of these restaurants remain from a franchise that once boasted 650 restaurants nationwide. “We have a very stable staff here. There are actually two employees who have been here longer than I have,” said Titherington, explaining his restaurant’s against-the-odds longevity. “We try to be consistent with our service.”
“We look for businesses that are really in the community, and Geoff’s been a really great community supporter so we thought it would be a good fit for him,” commented Myles. Myles also said she believes that these kids questions will be put on the air immediately.
Photo caption: Jaycee Roberts, a 5th grader from Buxton, answers a question at the Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader audition in Sanford. (Devin Beliveau photo)

Maine Diner Named 2010 Restaurateur of the Year

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
WELLS—
Maine Diner owners Myles and Dick Henry added another acknowledgement to the list they’ve compiled for their restaurant over the past 26 years. The Maine Restaurant Association recently gave the Wells establishment its 2010 Restaurateur of the Year Award. The Henry’s will receive the award at the association’s annual dinner at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland on March 30.
“I was shocked,” Myles Henry said, noting that association CEO Richard Grotton had visited the restaurant recently to inform the Henry’s of the award. “He came in with balloons and everything. It was a nice surprise. This is a great award for us to get. I’m thrilled about it.”
The award has been given annually for the past 30 years by the association, with recent winners including the Union Review Lobster Pot in Ellsworth, Slate’s in Hallowell, and Arrow’s in Ogunquit. Grotton said the Maine Diner has long been acknowledged for its quality.
“We have watched them for a long time,” he said. “We watched when they got four and then five million customers and said ‘wow.’ You have to have a really strong game plan to last as long as they have and been as successful. Food fans are fickle.”
The restaurateur award is one of four the association awards annually, along with Chef of the Year. Allied Member, and Lifetime Achievement. “We put out amongst our membership a nomination form asking for the four categories,” said Grotton. “Then a committee reviews the nominations. Generally, one nomination ends up standing out. We cover the gamut of (restaurant types). It’s how well you do what you do and the Henry’s do it very well. You get a measure of the restaurant by the way the help responds. When we went there, they were all out clapping and were pleased for Myles and Dick. It was clear we made a good choice.”
The award culminates a notable few months for the Diner. The Henry’s celebrated their 25th anniversary a couple of years ago and hosted their 5 millionth customer in December 2008. Gov. Jon Baldacci visited recently to acknowledge the diner’s milestones. In addition, the Henry’s will be participating in the New Orleans Food Festival this spring, showcasing their hallmark seafood chowder.
“We’ll be in it annually from now on,” Myles said.
The association is creating a video about the Diner that will be shown the night of the award ceremony. Tickets to the event are $70 and can be ordered online at www.mainerestaurant.com. The ticket price includes a Chef’s reception prior to the diner, the dinner itself, and the ceremony.
The award recognizes more than the Henrys’ 26 years of effort. “It’s a reflection on the restaurant,” said Myles. “It’s an award for the employees and how they do their job. I’m very proud of them.”

Photo caption: (L to R) Myles Henry, Richard Grotton; President, Maine Restaurant Association, Derek Henry, Dick Henry. (Courtesy photo)

MLK Day Celebration to Host Projects for Maine Soldiers

YORK—
Want to spend a couple of hours making a difference on a national holiday? You can, on Monday Jan. 18th during York’s first Martin Luther King Day of Service celebration.
The MLK Day of Service Committee has just announced two afternoon projects that will reach out to Maine soldiers –those who have just returned from Afghanistan and those that are leaving for that part of the world later this month.
You can spend the afternoon baking and decorating cookies for Maine National Guard troops and their families or you can design and write thank you letters to the National Guard troops about to be deployed. The letters will be held and then sent to the soldiers once they are settled in Afghanistan.
“This is a way to tell them they are appreciated and not forgotten,” according to Zoe Keefer-Norris of Old York and the MLK Committee, who initiated these projects. “It will be a ‘day on, not a day off’ as part of a nationwide service program to honor Dr. King’s life and teachings,” she added.
The mass baking effort will begin at 1 p.m. in the Remick Barn on Lindsay Road, and the letter writing will be held at the York Library off of Long Sands Road at the same time.
More than 20 non-profit organizations are participating in the day’s events. Volunteers can choose whatever project most interests them – for the Maine soldiers, at the York Community Services Thrift Shop, York Hospital, or others.
Other non-profits will have informational booths during the morning program to be held at the York High School. They include the 4-H Club, Center for Wildlife, the York Schools’ Civil Rights Teams, ELKS Lodge, Think Again, Hospice of York, Caring Unlimited, the York Art Association and others.
The Day of Service begins at 9:30 a.m. at the York High School with a performance by seventh grade students led by musical artist Randy Armstrong and a performance by Jasmine Shah’s Indian Dance troupe. An inspiring keynote address will by given by Richard Haynes on his experience as an African-American artist. A Community Service Fair will showcase the area’s various non-profit organizations.
Both children and adults can then spend the afternoon on the specific service projects.
People and/or groups are encouraged to register by sending an email to yorkmlkservice@gmail.com or through Facebook (MLK Day of Service: York), or by calling 207.752.0843.