Marshwood High School Students Compete inU.S. Constitution National Finals

By Magen Petit
Staff Columnist

SOUTH BERWICK —

The senior students from the Advanced Placement Government class at Marshwood High School will travel to Washington, D.C. on Friday, Apr. 24 where they will represent Maine in the national finals of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution.
According to the We the People web site, “The primary goal… is to promote civic competence and responsibility among the nation’s elementary and secondary students… [It] enhances students understanding of the institutions of American constitutional democracy. At the same time, students discover the contemporary relevance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”
About 1,200 high school students from all 50 states and Saipan will participate in the highly prestigious academic competition on the U.S. Constitution.
Leading the seniors is Social Studies teacher Matt Sanzone. This is Sanzone’s sixth year coaching students into the state and national levels of We the People.
“It is a tremendous honor to represent Marshwood and
the State of Maine at the National Finals,” said Sanzone. “This group of students is incredibly talented and motivated. Their performance at the state championship was exceptional.”
The Marshwood students have studied for months to prepare for their role as experts testifying on constitutional issues in a simulated congressional hearing.
Twenty-six Marshwood students competed at the state level against the Portland-based all-girls Catholic college preparatory high school, Catherine McAuley, on Wednesday, Mar. 4. Marshwood swept all six units, defeating McAuley, and winning the state championship.
“The curriculum consists of six units with 39 lessons addressing principles of constitutional democracy and a culminating authentic performance assessment,” according to the web site.
“In all six years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen a final result like this year,” explained an excited Sanzone. “This group is very motivated and had an excellent performance for the judges.”
Out of the 26 students, only 14 will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete at the national level. The other 12 students have a pre-paid European trip they will be on.
The first round of the national finals will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott,
Arlington, Va., Saturday, Apr. 25 and Sunday, Apr. 26. Now in its 22nd year, the competition involves entire classes making presentations and answering questions on constitutional topics before a panel of judges recruited from across the country. Constitutional scholars, lawyers, and government leaders, acting as congressional committee members, will judge the students’ performances. The combined scores of the classes during the first two days of hearings will determine the top 10 classes to compete in the championship round Monday, Apr. 27 in congressional hearing rooms in the Senate Dirksen Office Building.
Senior Sean Strausser is nervous and excited for the competition, but optimistic.
“I feel we have a strong chance,” said Strausser. “We prepare well for it and I think we’re ready for it. We practice all the time and we know what we’re talking about.”
With the amount of work and practice to prepare for the state and national level, it all pays off in the end.
“We each have to write papers and we combine those and end up writing more papers,” explained senior Katelyn Connolly on how to prepare for the competitions. “The practice is worth it for D.C. It’s a good reward in the end.”
The annual three-day final competition is the culminating activity of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, the most extensive civic education program of its kind in the country. The Marshwood students have been studying We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, developed by the Center for Civic Education. The text provides students with an understanding of the fundamental values and principles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. During their stay in Washington, D.C., the students will tour historical sites and have an opportunity to visit Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and District 1 Representative Chellie Pingree.
Besides Strausser and Connolly, other students representing Marshwood at the National Finals are: Elise Amioka, Chris Bowen, Erin Carter, Tyler Corbly, Kari DiCecco, Cara Evans, July Flores, Sarah Kent, Marc Michaud, Sam Parady, Chris Protzmann, and Maria Sedler.
“Our big challenge now is fundraising. Each student needs to raise approximately $500 to help pay for the travel and lodging expenses. We are hoping the community will be supportive and help finance the trip,” said Sanzone.
For more information on the competition visit www.civiced.org or anyone interested in helping support the students can contact Matt Sanzone at Marshwood High School at (207) 384-4500.
Photo caption: The senior students from the Advanced Placement Government class at Marshwood High School recently won the state competition of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution. They will be competing at the national level on Friday, Apr. 24 in Washington, D.C. (Weekly Sentinel photo)

Local Student Named Maine Geographic Bee Semifinalist by National Geographic

SOUTH BERWICK —
Marshwood Great Works School fifth grade student Hayden E. Fitt has been notified by the National Geographic Society that she is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2009 Maine Geographic Bee, sponsored by Google and Plum Creek.
Bees held in schools with fourth through eighth grade students throughout the states determine each school’s Geographic Bee winner. A school level winner then takes a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. In each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, and the US territories, the National Geographic Society invite the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level.
The 2009 Maine Geographic Bee will be held at The Abromson Community Education Center at the University of South Maine in Portland on Friday, Apr. 3.
The state winner will receive $100, the “National Geographic Collegiate Atlas of the World”, and a trip to Washington D.C., where he/she will represent Maine in the national finals at the National Geographic Society headquarters on Tuesday, May 19 and Wednesday, May 20. The first national place winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership in the Society. The national winner will also travel (along with a parent), all expenses paid, to the Galapagos Islands with Jeopardy host Alex Trabek and the Jeopardy Clue Crew. The winner will experience geography first hand and up close.
How would you fare as a bee contestant? At the school level Bee this year, students had to answer such questions as: 1) Which state does not rely on corn and soybeans for much of its agricultural output — Pennsylvania, Illinois or Iowa? (Answers to follow the article); 2) The Laramie Mountains, a livestock and timbering region, extend north from Colorado into which state?; 3) You can visit an aqueduct built by the Romans in Segovia, a city located approximately 40 miles northwest of Madrid, in which country?; 4) Approximately 40 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line despite an oil and gas boom in which country where Baku is the capital?; and 5) Mexico City is located on the site of Tenochtitlan, the island capital of what empire that was conquered by Spanish explorers in the 16th century?
Don’t feel so bad if you got any of the answers wrong! That’s why we leave it up Hayden to get them all right! Good luck and congratulations, Hayden!
Answers to the previous questions are as follows: 1) Pennsylvania; 2) Wyoming; 3) Spain; 4) Azerbaijan; and 5) Aztec Empire.
Photo caption: Marshwood Great Works School fifth grader Hayden Fitt placed first in the school’s geography bee. She is up for a chance at winning a $25,000 college scholarship. (Courtesy photo)

The 38th Annual Waban Telethon Held This Weekend

YORK COUNTY —
The 38th Annual Waban Telethon will be held on Saturday, Mar. 21 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 47 High Street, Sanford, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Television coverage will be provided by Metrocast Cablevision (Channel 12) in conjunction with Time Warner Cablevision (Channel 22). The Telethon can be seen throughout most of York and Cumberland County in over 50 communities including the towns of Sanford, Springvale, Acton, Alfred, Arundel, Berwick, Biddeford, Bridgton, Buxton, Cape Elizabeth, Cornish, Cumberland, Dayton, Denmark, East Baldwin, East Lebanon, Falmouth, Gray, Harrison, Hiram, Hollis, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Limerick, Limington, Lyman, Moody, Naples, New Gloucester, North Berwick, North Yarmouth, Ogunquit, Old Orchard Beach, Parsonsfield, Porter, Portland, Pownal, Raymond, Rochester (NH), Saco, Scarborough, Sebago, Shapleigh, South Portland, Standish, Waterboro, Wells, Westbrook, Windham, Yarmouth, and York.
Over the past 37 years, $1,607,488 has been raised through the Telethon. In spite of difficult times, last year $95,226 was raised from this event. The funds are used for developmental therapy, specialized equipment, assessment services, therapeutic recreation, and other educational and habilitation-based services for children who attend the Waban Child Development Center in Sanford, the Infant-Toddler Program, the Assessment Program, or who receive services from the Case Management Program.
In the course of one year, the Child Development Center provides service to over 150 children ages three to five, the Infant Toddler Program and Assessment Programs will support over 50 children ages birth through two-and-a-half years old, while the Case Management Program will provide services to over 100 children and their families. All the children have special needs that require specialized training and equipment.
The Telethon is sponsored by the Tri-Parish Catholic Churches of Sanford-Springvale.
Hosts for the day will be Kevin Mannix of WCSH-TV, RJ and Jim Legere the sons of long-time Telethon volunteers Bud and Sandy Legere who will be joining us remotely, and Kristen Guillemette Perfeuto, who works for Boston Medical Hospital.
Entertainment will include the Big Bad Wolf Band, the all-time favorite Ben Guillemette, the Joel Jolicoeur Band, the youth performers from Sanford’s Jazz-Tappin Dance Academy, while Laura Pelkey and the Pepper Steppers will be strutting their stuff along with the Eric Andrews Swing Jazz Quartet, and guest appearances from the Sanford High School Band that played at the Presidential inauguration. The Sanford Mainer’s own B’roose da Moose and Kenny Bear from Kennebunk Savings Bank will be there and once again, MECA will be on hand to finish out the day.
There will be other guest appearances throughout the day including parents from the Child Development Center discussing how the Program has helped their children and the awarding of the Waban Making A Difference Award to a community member and a Waban staff member who over an extended period of time through their dedication and efforts have made an indelible difference in the lives of the children and adults that Waban supports.
A team from Metrocast Cablevision will be producing the Telethon.
Certificates for merchandise and other gifts, donated by merchants, businesses, and individuals, will be given away for donations and pledges throughout the day. Some of the items will include a vacation week condo at St. Thomas, furniture from Central Furniture, Red Sox tickets, a baseball autographed by Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papalbon, Portland Pirates tickets, official autographed pictures of the Celtic’s Eddie House and the Patriot’s Rodney Harrison, a Wasco skylight, various Easter baskets, Smitty’s Cinema passes, and much more. There will be several raffles including a recliner donated by Landry’s Furniture Barn, a Nintendo Wii system and a Nintendo Wii FIT both donated anonymously, a Manatee Kayak Package with paddles and cover donated anonymously, a 14-foot Old Town Canoe donated by an anonymous donor and a king size beautifully crafted handmade quilt donated by Rachel Hunter.
Refreshments for the volunteers are donated by local restaurants and businesses.
The Knights of Columbus will be having a breakfast starting at 8 until 10 a.m. to benefit the Telethon. An old-fashioned bean supper will also be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Debbie L’Heureux and the Sanford Wolves Social Club will sponsor the 22nd Annual Waban Jam to be held at the Wolves Club on 40 High Street in Sanford. The Jam will run from 4 to 11:30 p.m. with live music provided by the Alan Roux Band, Lipstick and Leather, the Delrays, Freedom, Tung in Groove, and of course Big Bad Wolf.
Contributors may make donations prior to and after the Telethon at the Sanford Institution for Savings, 900 Main Street in Sanford. Donations may be called in during the day of the Telethon by calling (207) 324-5344 or 1-877-544-4275 or by accessing PayPal on Waban’s web site at www.waban.org.

Local Auto Dealerships Remain Optimistic

By Larry Favinger & Magen Petit
Staff Columnists
YORK COUNTY —

Although there seems to be bad news for the auto industry on the national and international level almost daily, that is not necessarily reflected locally.
While there has been an acknowledged drop in new vehicles sales, local dealers are very optimistic and are compensating in other areas, including the sales of used units and the quality of their service.
“New car sales are definitely off for us,” Steve “Hoaty” Houghton, general manager at Starkey of York, said, “but not as far off as nationally.”
Sid Porter, corporate director of sales, leasing and finance at Dick Bournival Dodge of York, said “business, traffic wise, is a little bit off” but used car sales are holding, or, in some cases, are going up.
General Manager of Somersworth Nissan, Dan Forget, mentioned sales were “actually pretty good” during President’s Day weekend.
“We are down a little from last year, but we sold almost 70 vehicles,” said Forget.
Over at Dover Auto World, General Manager Curt Sylvia said he’s “doing better than in 2008”.
“During President’s Day weekend, we sold about 15 percent or more from last year,” said Sylvia. “They were mostly used, but that’s expected. In these economic times, affordability payments are an issue. Eighty-five percent of sales are used cars.”
John Hayes, owner of Village Motors of South Berwick, a dealer who sells only used vehicles, has seen truth in that statement.
“For us, I would say we’re a little recession resilient,” Hayes said, sitting in his office at his Route 236 sales and service facility. “We do actually, a little better, usually, during these times for the simple fact that people either fix the cars they have or buy used.”
At times like these, former customers and referrals become even more important than usual.
All the negative publicity nationally has an impact on the walk-in or impulse buyers Porter said. “You have to divert your energy to your repeats and referrals. We’d love to see more walk-in business, but we’re getting by with our data base, our own owners.”
“Our repeat and referral business is double the national average,” Houghton said. “That puts us in a unique position and gives us a little bit of an edge in the current economic climate.”
Adding to that, Sylvia claims he’s had very low turnover.
“I think that plays into relationship building,” expressed Sylvia. “We build a lot of tenor here. We have a lot of repeats and referrals. This market is in hard economic times, so that’s the best source of advertisement.”
“This time feels a little bit different than the other two recessions I’ve been through,” Hayes said, “but business has been steady, if not a little up tick for us.”
One area in which national news has had an impact is the feeling of the general public toward financing.
“That’s a whole other category,” Houghton said.
In the last quarter of 2008, he said, “It was difficult to get financing for people who should have had no trouble getting it.”
But since then, Houghton said, things have loosened up a little bit and banks are lending more money.
“People with good credit will not have trouble getting a loan,” he said. “Difference is, if you have poor credit, you’re going to have trouble getting financing.” He said. “People who have the best credit will get the best rates.”
Dover Auto World is offering zero percent financing.
“We have rates as low as 1.9 percent,” explained Sylvia. “It’s all about mathematics because when the payment is calculated, it seems too high for folks.”
Forget’s keynote way of doing business is “you pay, we pay”.
“We’re selling cars at invoice price, which costs less than rebates,” explained Forget. “This also helps save time because there is no hassle or negotiations as well as saving money.”
Hayes said there are people who think financing is not available even though it is.
“They have raised the bar,” he said of the financing institutions. Among other changes, he said, is that the banks “want more money down.”
This part of the country is lucky in that there are more community banks and credit unions. “Those guys are still lending,” he said. “They haven’t been hit like the big guys.”
Overall, the auto industry, from a local standpoint, isn’t as bad as it could be.
“It’s no shock, right around October, we took a decline, but there are positive signs, too,” said Forget. “February was a great month, so hopefully that’s a good sign.”
Sylvia added, “It’s not as bad as one would think. We focus on being positive and focus on taking care of the customer. We have the ingredients that makes us successful.”

Center Provides a Place for Youths, Teens

By Magen Petit
Staff Columnist
SOUTH BERWICK —

One effective way to get youths and teens off the street is by providing them with a place to go when they aren’t in school or at home. In 1998, South Berwick Police Officer Peter Gagnon and a group of high school students started the South Berwick Youth Teen Center, located across from The Lunch Box on Agamenticus Road in South Berwick.
Gagnon approached the Town and asked them if the Center could use the old red barn for a place for youths and teens. The Town agreed and gave the front half of the barn to the Center.
The Center provides a place for the youths and teens to do many activities such as quilting, homework, cake decorating, candy making, scrap booking, and many other crafts. Many games including board games, foosball, pool, and air hockey are also available to the kids.
Other groups also use the barn as a place to meet, such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Cub Scouts. The Center also opens its doors to an autism group, which meets once a month, local sports teams, home school groups, the recreation department, and a summer camp.
Now, Louise Cole-Anderson is the director of the non-profit organization and wants nothing more than to continue keeping youths and teens off the street.
“I’ve always been involved in volunteering, especially with the Center,” said Cole-Anderson. “I saw the kids growing up and volunteers leaving, but I stayed. I wanted a place for the kids, but I realized I needed to get a younger group of kids to start coming.”
Cole-Anderson reached out to kids as young as the junior high level and eventually to the fourth and fifth grade level.
A few years ago, Cole-Anderson wanted to expand the Center for the kids as they were outgrowing the space.
“Jerry Easter of the Knights of Columbus gave me the encouragement to get this done,” remarked Cole-Anderson. “He told me the Knights of Columbus were looking for a project and he chose us and he told me that this could be done.”
The efforts of the volunteers resulted in raising about $5,000 to replace the roof as well as gutting out the back room and re-doing the wallboards.
“The whole process started about two-and-a-half years ago,” explained Cole-Anderson. “We ran into a few delays with Mother Nature coming earlier than expected that year and making sure everything was weather-tight. We were able to finish smaller projects before starting on the bigger renovations.”
Instead of just a front room, there is now a back room, which was divided in half to two rooms. The back rooms will be for quilting and sewing as well as a living room area with a television and the popular game Dance Dance Revolution. The front room will be just for games.
The renovations are still not complete.
“In essence, we have two more projects remaining,” explained Easter. “We will be expanding the kitchen and re-doing the bathroom.”
Easter started the renovations and as he put it, “I’m a jack of all trades, but a master of none.”
Greg Paquette of Maplewood Construction in North Berwick took over the project and Easter noted, “He’s the master.”
“You know that saying, “It takes a village…” well, it really does,” said Cole-Anderson who donates about 20-24 hours of her time a week just toward the Center. “If it weren’t for Jerry or the volunteers or Ann Hussey and Dr. Mike Nazemetz of the South Berwick Rotary or my husband supporting me 100 percent, none of this would have happened.”
Cole-Anderson is hoping to have the rest of the renovations completed this summer. She is very appreciative of all the support and donations people have given to help the Center and keep it open.
For more information on the South Berwick Youth Teen Center, visit the 3 Willow Drive (just off Agamenticus Road) location or call Louise at (207) 384-4731.

Photo captions: The backside of the barn after the renovations were completed to the Center... Jerry Easter receives an award from South Berwick Youth Teen Center Director Louise Cole-Anderson for his time and dedication to the youth and the community of South Berwick. (Weekly Sentinel photos)

Born With“Broken Heartstrings”

By Richard “Chip” Schrader
Book Review Editor

The line from page one of Wayne C. Perreault’s novel Broken Heartstrings: “In the tomblike silence inside, Father Madeiras padded slowly beneath the windows of the shadowed nave,” sets the tone for the rest of the novel that takes place in a small New England mill town that is haunted with the very ghosts you’d only expect from one of Faulkner’s equals.
An abusive priest, a brutal Greek patriarch, and a local doctor are the opening players in this skeleton laden small town. They make a pact to help pull off a scheme to cover up a scandal that would surely jar the town to its foundation, and be the end of their good friend.
In Broken Heartstrings, Perreault extends the gothic American milieu into Post-Vietnam New England. The narrator, Ashton, is a home coming Vietnam Vet facing a nation that shows disdain toward the war and the people who fought it, and he steps into his home to a defeated mother and combative father only to realize he wants that to be in his past.
Like any small town, everybody knows nearly everything about everyone. Perreault has a deep understanding of this dynamic as Ashton (Ash) finds himself out of favor with many women’s families for what his father might have done twenty years ago.
Then along comes Evangeline, the small town beauty all grown up and decked out in nylons and a dress suit working as a secretary where Ash grinds his days away as a laborer, and drinks through his debaucheries of the night life. But, he has met his match through an unusual courtship with this Greek woman of mythical beauty.
A major hitch in his designs emerge when he finds a Marine Veteran stands in the way already claiming this bombshell as his current fling, but Ash sees more than just a few evenings of fun as he falls in love with Evangeline. Even though he gets caught in a love triangle commonly found in fiction, the angle from which Perreault depicts it is unique, and the confrontation that ends the triangle is too original and funny to give away.
Marriage and children grace their lives and appear to create a familial union that shatters the preoccupation with Ash’s non-Greek heritage. But, the relationships is again tested with a loss that deeply wounds Evangeline, and Ash as he can only observe a woman who has fallen from his reach with grief. The pathos is played evenly within these pages and never glides into the melodramatic droning that tempts many authors.
Soon Ash finds that Evangeline too, has inherited an unforgivable family history, a well kept secret that gets exposed during a court case involving Evangeline’s family estate. The effect it has on the players of this drama unfolds before our very eyes and heightens the drama to tragedy. This piece of the saga consists of the final chapters of the novel, and brings the reader to realize that life itself is a series of trials.
The romance and the character of Ash are what Hemingway would have written if he had emerged from Vietnam and came from small town New England. The characters are tough, cool, and heartbroken and the marriage is stricken with loss and interfamilial conflict. All the while, Perreault has honed his own style while unmistakably being influenced by the twentieth century’s best writers in this treat of a novel.
Anybody looking for something more than the mass produced novels the mainstream publishers crank out should give Broken Heartstrings a read. It is provocative, funny, emotional, and tightly written without the sacrifice of detail. This book is a fine representative of the storytelling that our independent press has to offer, and proves how relevant the small press really is.
Photo caption: Cover of Wayne C. Perreault’s novel Broken Heartstrings. (Courtesy photo)

A Century of Heartfelt Home Care:SMMC Visiting Nurses

YORK COUNTY —

Dottie Valentine isn’t one to mince words. She knows what she likes, dismisses what she doesn’t and has a delightful charm that is hard to resist. She is independent and prefers to stay that way. But at 90 years of age, it is challenging to live on her own. A variety of ailments related to her advanced age require professional attention. The key to ensuring Dottie’s independence, as it has been for thousands of individuals in southern Maine over the past 100 years, is SMMC Visiting Nurses.
Founded as the Kennebunk Public Health Association in 1909 in order to provide a public health nurse to the Town of Kennebunk, SMMC Visiting Nurses has evolved from a single person entity to a national award-winning 60-person organization that was named to the 2008 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the most successful Medicare-certified home health care providers in the United States. This annual review identifies the top 25 percent of agencies, ranked by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement and financial performance.
“We’ve come a long way from that simple beginning on the second floor of the Pythian building in Kennebunk,” said Elaine Brady, RN, executive director of SMMC Visiting Nurses and an employee for 27 years. “The one constant, though, has been our continuous service in providing home visits and health promotion activities to the community. Our goal is simple: We want to ensure that our patients are able to function at their highest possible level of health while living independently.”
Registered nurses teach, supervise, coordinate referrals and provide skilled care in concert with physicians and other health care professionals, including physical, occupational and speech therapists, social workers and home health aides. SMMC Visiting Nurses also offers flu shot clinics, blood pressure screenings and support groups. But the key service remains the highly technical, acute restorative care, which often requires the temporary installation of equipment in the home.
One of the newer technologies in use is the Telehealth monitoring system that allows patients with chronic needs to have their vital signs monitored daily for close observation and compliance with the doctor’s orders. The monitor has a voice system that instructs patients and their families on how to take specific readings. Many patients say that it’s like having a nurse in the home 24 hours a day. A recent hospital study proved that patients on the Telehealth system have less readmission to the hospital than those without the system. This saves health care costs while enabling the elderly to remain at home.
“We service all of York County with the very best home care services,” noted Brady. “Our affiliation with Southern Maine Medical Center enables us to provide the highest level of coordinated care with electronic medical records that work in synch with the hospital’s system. Physicians can log on and receive reports from our nurses and therapists in the field that provide updates on the status of their patients living at home. With the aging of the population in Maine, the need for our services is growing every day.”
According to a community study initiated by SMMC Visiting Nurses, people 65 years and older will comprise 16 percent of the population in York County by 2012, a number that has increased over the past few years as retirees choose to move to the southern Maine coast to enjoy the advantages of the lifestyle here.
The growth in the aging population creates challenges for SMMC Visiting Nurses, which is celebrating its centennial year. “We receive funding from private donations and some municipalities,” said Brady, “but in challenging economic times towns and individuals are tightening spending. Yet the need continues to grow.”
For Dottie, who was born just a few years after SMMC Visiting Nurses was founded, the service represents more than independence. Nurse Barbara Ingraham has become a friend.
“The care she provides means a lot to me,” said Dottie, who has received cardiac, diet and ostomy care for several years. “She boosts my morale, gives me a confidence and makes my day every time she visits. I look forward to seeing her.”
Article submitted by Tim Dietz.
Photo caption: Barbara Ingraham, RN, CDE, CWCN, a diabetes educator and wound care specialist with SMMC Visiting Nurses, gets a warm greeting from Dottie Valentine of Kennebunk during one of the twice weekly visits provided by SMMC Visiting Nurses. (Jeff Stevenson photo)