Grade 7 (House 2)
Presque Isle Middle School
The Wintergreen Arts Center was started by my mom, Lara Cannon. She started it because she believed that Presque Isle needed more places to do creative things. A year and a whole lot of fundraisers later, the Wintergreen Arts Center was up and ready to go. The location was the Aroostook Centre Mall. Classes were offered, there was open studio every Saturday, and every now and then there would be a party! The most successful party was the 2007 Gingerbread Festival in December.
The Wintergreen Arts Center is in the process of moving to a different building. Everything had been moved out of the previous location in the mall and brought to the new building on State Street. Now the volunteers and employees are working to get enough money to begin renovations.
The new building is very nice, and a lot bigger than the old building. Unfortunately, the building is in bad shape, and needs a lot of fixing up. That is what is being worked on now.
The employees are focusing on the first floor, which will be used for events for kids ages 3-14. After that, they will set up the other floors.
A new idea for the Arts Center is a Juice Bar. This is the brainchild of Lara Cannon. The Juice Bar will sell small healthy snacks and, of course, juice. You will be able to create your own smoothie or juice. There will be mini lemon and lime trees which you can use to add a sour taste to your smoothie.
Another thing the volunteers and employees are working on now is fundraising. As I said earlier, the building is in bad shape, and it’s going to take a lot of money to get it up and running. An offering of money and time would be greatly appreciated.
Lara Cannon’s hopes for the Wintergreen Arts Center are for everyone to enjoy it, and for it to be around for a long time.
