Washburn news
by Christie Cochran
Six local residents recently traveled to Charlotte, N.C., to take part in a very special way of celebrating the Christmas season. The efforts of Carol Blackstone, Dwayne and Lynn Dow, Beth Hartford and Bayfield and Nancy Bubar began locally through the Dunntown Advent Christian Church.
The church collected 311 shoeboxes and, with the assistance of two school teachers, Mandy Castonguay of the Saint John Valley and Karen Wark of Fort Fairfield brought the final shoebox tally to over 400.
The group made arrangements to volunteer for a three-day period of time to pack and wrap boxes collected nationwide at an Operation Christmas Child distribution center owned by Samaritan’s Purse. One of their days there was known as “Media Day.” The group was fortunate to get the chance to hear Billy Graham’s son Franklin speak while in North Carolina. They also heard from a former Romanian girl who as a child received a treasured shoebox who told of how thankful she was for the shoebox and its contents.
In total, there were about 1,000 workers representing approximately 27 states. Each of the workers worked in “stations” where they were involved in inspecting each box, making sure that only allowable items would be included in the boxes, packed and taped boxes, and wrapped boxes up. The team also worked one day on “special countries’ boxes” which was more intensive due to national securities of the countries, along with their religious restrictions.
The six folks from the Washburn, Wade, Perham and Caribou area enjoyed their time in this operation which included meals from the southern area like Chick-Fil-A. They also took time to visit the Billy Graham Library and noted what an impressive facility it was.
Much thanks goes to the local Dunntown Advent Christian Church for purchasing the flight tickets for these volunteers and all the help they received from various fund-raisers prior to leaving on this excursion.
The district coordinator of Operation Shoebox is Ellie Thomas of the United Baptist Church of Caribou. She will be forming committees the first of the year to plan for future activities concerning this mission outreach.
Those who went to North Carolina this year had a special time and hope to be able to go again. They said they “went to serve, but received blessings in return.”
Welcome to 2010! For those readers who missed the column last week, it just didn’t make it to presss. Sometimes there’s just too much news and not enough space for everything.
This is the first Washburn column for the New Year, and the citizens should feel free to add their news to the paper, keeping in mind that no story is too small! Photos and events can also be e-mailed to me or, if possible, I can attend the function to get a photo and story.
Anyone wishing to add to the column can e-mail me at gramchristie@yahoo.com or phone 455-8034. Most of you know where I live, so you can also just drop some news off here. There is a basket inside the front porch with Star-Herald written on it.
Due to computer failure, I am missing some birthdays and anniversaries for the first two weeks of December. Please e-mail me your family dates. If you have any new additions in your family, I’d like to include them.
Ongoing town events are now going to be put in the column the last Wednesday of each month, but any events that will be missed by the timeline, can also be added prior to the last Wednesday.
Those celebrating birthdays last week included: Caleb Giustra, Renee Belanger, Chris Farley, Yannick Kilchenmann, Ricky Tarbox, Mia Pangburn, Alton Bragg, Corey Pinette, Denna Bragg, Mark Tarbox, Darrell Philbrook, Eugene McCrossin, George Connor, Jamison Haley, Andrew Thompson, Gary Cole, Alex Searles, Jere Humphrey, Letha Lundgrand, Shelby Willett, Joe Nadeau, Andrea Bragdon, Kelly Olcutt, Meranda Hafford, Addison Dahlgren and Deanna Viola.
Special anniversary wishes for last week go out to: Kevin and Vicki Woodbrey and Josh and Mandy Johnston.
Birthdays for this week include: Joshua Johnston, Brandon Tingley, David Kofstad, Angel Tingley, Cheryl Sperrey, Sandy Sargent, Lucia Bragg, Ed Woodman Jr., Holly Dobson, Bruce Bragg, Mark Tarr, Pamela Quirolo, Derek Baker, Linda Brown, Jacob Doody, Bill Pike Jr., Joyce Jenkins, Liza Maynard, Matthew Bechard, Emily Carter, Ruth Duncan, Judy Drost and Penny Rand.
Anniversary wishes go out to: Merle and Linda Bragg and Fred and Ruth Woodman.
The 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday breakfasts at the clubhouse on Station Rd. have begun and will continue each Saturday and Sunday of the month. During the February school break, the kitchen will be open every day.
The clubhouse schedule includes special dinners on the second Friday of each month starting at noon and are always open to the public.
The members and guests enjoyed their New Year’s Eve Stew Night supper and silent auction with the event being well-attended.
The club also wishes to notify all members, snowmobilers from all over and Washburn residents that the annual Andy Santerre Sno-Run will once again include a stop at the Washburn clubhouse. Santerre will be at the lunch that will be held on Saturday, Feb. 6, starting at noon.
Friendly Co-op order week will be the week of Jan. 18-22, with a projected delivery date of Jan. 29. Orders are to be paid for and picked up no later than Friday evening, Jan. 29. If for some reason this cannot be done, please call Brenda at 455-8421 or e-mail her at bunny@ainop.com.
Eric Beckwith is the winner of the $30 award for December from the Washburn Redemption Center drawing. Keep in mind that the center will be taking donated bottles for Washburn Boy Scout Troop 177 and the Central Aroostook Humane Society.
January is the last month for the food boxes to be distributed through the Washburn Food Pantry located on Trafton St. Supplies are limited and no more will be coming in, so be sure and get there as soon as possible. The final two dates for distribution are Tuesday, Jan. 19, and Tuesday, Jan. 26.
On Jan. 5, the pantry filled their largest number of boxes to date with 50 residents picking up their supplies. The volunteers, director and board members all thank the supporters of the Soup Kitchen this past year and wish the best for the participants of the program.
Abriella Phyllis Sullivan made her presence known to family and friends on New Year’s at 10:45 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces. She was the first Washburn baby born in 2010 and is the daughter of Benjamin and Cassie Gagnon Sullivan. She is the second daughter for the couple, and is the special baby sister of Anessa Sullivan.
The proud grandparents include Frederick and Charlas Sullivan of Caribou and Kirk and Elizabeth Lilley of Presque Isle.
In mid January, grade 5-6 boys’ and girls’ travel basketball will begin. If you didn’t receive the registration form for this event, contact Marcie at 455-4959.
On Wednesday, Jan. 13, there will be cross country skiing from 2:45 to 4:30 p.m.
On Thursday, Jan. 14, the last day of grade 3-4 basketball will be held at the elementary school from 7 to 8 p.m.
On Monday, Jan. 18, there will be two grade 5-6 basketball games against Mars Hill. The girls’ game will begin at 10 a.m. and the boys’ game starts at 11 a.m. There will also be men’s basketball from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
The Rec Center is available for rental and the fee (including a $10 key rental) is $35 for the first two and a half hours and $5 for each additional 30 minutes. For further information, please contact Marcie at 455-4959 or stop by during regular business hours.
Girl Scouting is a fun way for our youth to learn valuable life lessons while earning badges and rank, all while having lots of fun and good times, plus making some special memories.
There is currently no active Girl Scout troop in town. We have some girls who are Scouts who wish to form a troop. One or more leaders are needed, and troops can range from all ages including Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior.
Meetings can be held in various places including the Rec Center as well as private homes and at the times of your choice and can be weekly or any other workable schedule. Some troops can be a combination of the younger groups and others of the older groups. Much information is available and lots of help can be supplied. More than one can lead the troops, such as two or three women who would be able to work together or take turns. Grandmothers and aunts make great leaders as well. The girls can also take part in some of the fun county-wide programs which recently have included skating with Santa, a sock hop and Christmas caroling.
For further information, or to volunteer as a leader, please contact Wendy Burtchell at 551-1193 or Christie Cochran at 455-8034, 551-6979 or gramchristie@yahoo.com.
Christie Cochran is the correspondent for Washburn, Wade and Perham. She can be reached at 455-8034 or gramchristie@yahoo.com.
