Houlton Council of Catholic Women
by Lois Downing
Houlton Council of Catholic Women met Jan. 10, instead of the usual first Monday of the month. The meeting was held in the parish center after the 11 a.m. Mass with the Rev. David Raymond celebrating. Fr. Dave was present for our meeting as well as Makayla McGuire, Judy Reid’s granddaughter, and Lucy McNally.
We were advised that lunch would be first on the agenda with Janet Barker saying the traditional prayer before the meal. After lunch, our meeting resumed. Jane Stile gave the minutes of the last meeting and Bernette Roach the treasurer’s report. Lois Downing read the correspondence.
Co-president reported on the annual Giving Tree. One hundred families were helped equaling 273 children. Thanks went to Fr. Dave, David Grant, Shirley Reardon and Mark Stile, who helped the ladies in various ways. Steve DiMarco, Ethel Mersereau and Gail Schools were also thanked for distribution on Thursday evening.
Council helped one family and provided an opportunity for them to have a Christmas dinner with gifts.
Betty Ann Childers reported on the Pizza Hut fundraiser. It was held Monday, Jan. 11. Many of the members agreed to help that night with diners who did not have coupons. Mary Grant, co-president, advised the group that our cluster has a web page. Mary added HCCW to the site.
Feb. 13 is the date for a parish wide potluck supper at the parish center. Fr. Dave will be honored, as this is the year of the priests. The state quarterly meeting will be at Sacred Heart Church in Hallowell January 23, with theme Revitalizing Your Organization.
For the February meeting, valentine bags will be packed. Council members will bring cookies and candy and Janet will buy the fruit. Let Janet know if someone knows a person who should receive a bag. Jane Mitchell reported on the end of the year banquet. Kathy Bither from SAVE will cater in May. More on this at a later date.
Betty Ann told us about a retreat for seniors 55 and older Feb. 21-23 at our parish center. Rev. Thibodeau will be the moderator.
A spaghetti supper will be at the parish hall Jan. 23 for Jeff Jewell, who is battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A fund-raiser for Kevin Larson, who has cancer, will be at the parish center on Jan. 31. Council was solicited for desserts.
Birthdays and anniversaries were recognized. Mary Callnan recited the Prayer for Priests.
Valerie Pelletier was the winner of the door prize. The seminarian fund was taken up.
Fr. Dave was the speaker and he began with “Today is very special as it is the day that God revealed his Son. Father Dave gave us a talk on baptism and how important the sacrament is and is one of his favorites. He also talked on church doctrine and Godparents.
The meal was in charge of the January committee. The next meeting is Feb. 8 when the valentine bags will be packed.
On Wednesday, Jan.13 the Happy Losers held their meeting at the Congregational Church vestry in Island Falls. Jackie Pratt, our leader opened the meeting with our pledge and roll call, Loretta Bouchard was the person who lost the most weight for the week, and Lois Green, and Shirley Sides were runners-up. Great job ladies.
Reports were given by our secretary and treasure for the week. We had 11 ladies weigh-in and ten attended our meeting. Joanie Sides led the program for the week. Her topic was on what we could do to lose weight for the week, like keep a journal, and don’t eat after 6pm. and snack on healthy foods.Meeting was interesting and informative. Please feel welcome to our group every Wednesday 8-8:45 a.m. weigh-ins and meeting starts at 9 a.m.
Call 365-4884 for more information. See you there.
Purple Hat Society
by Lois Downing
The Purple Hat Society met at Brookside Inn Restaurant in Smyrna Tuesday, Jan. 12 for its first meeting of 2010. Twenty-one ladies attended in their purple hats. Charlotte Marley, leader, was at the door to welcome everyone.
Lois Downing offered grace before meals. All the ladies gave their Purple Hat names after the meal.
Birthday greetings were extended to Joan Simpson and Evelyn Johnson.
Charlotte revealed that Peggy Sanders had surgery. She had talked with her and she was expected to be home by Thursday, Jan. 14.
A discussion was held on the location of the February meeting. Grammy’s Country Inn in Linneus was the destination.
At the December meeting, the diners were given an empty tin with a ribbon with the idea to fill it with cookies or candy and to deliver it to a person you ordinarily would not give to. Several of the ladies told their stories of the recipients of their tins. Charlotte asked if we saw any of the tins at sales or otherwise, to please pick them up for future use.
A thank-you card was received from the animal shelter. We had a financial report on our money. For December Betty Wyman was given the purple shoe since it was forgotten then and Tessie Barrett received it for January.
Charlotte will mail more cookies to the troops.
Attending from Cary were: Joanne Scott and Denise Kinney; from Dyer Brook, Wanetta Townsend, Sandy Wyman and Marie Gillotti; from Merrill, Arlene Friel; from Smyrna, Cindy Gray and Charlotte Marley; from Oakfield, Evelyn Burpee, Delores Locke, Bernice Campbell, Alma Clark, Elaine Barrett, Sandra Johnson, Ursula Levesque; from Hodgdon, Brenda Lacostic; from Island Falls, Mildred Gagnon; from Houlton, Paula Wyman, Betty Wyman, Lois Downing, and Rose Levesque.
The next meeting will be in Linneus Feb. 9. For information on the chapter, you may call Charlotte Marley at 757-8483 or any of the other ladies. Come, join and have fun.
Ricker Rumblings
by Lois Downing
Happy New Year everyone! May your year be spent with family and friends with love, peace and joy. The winter is upon us. Snowing now and will for a while, so the prediction.
What do we call the new year? Twenty ten or two thousand and ten? That is something that has been discussed.
I spent Christmas in Bangor with my daughter, Kathryn Hall. We spent Christmas Eve with my great nephew and his family, Aaron and Betsey Shaw and Christmas with my niece, Susanne, and her husband Joe DeGrasse. It was a lovely week.
Dot Campbell has made her appearance at Ricker last week. She is spending some time here and some time at her daughter’s. It was good to see Dot, and she told me how blessed she is and a lot of good things since and during her recovery of her accident.
We had a nice Christmas party at Ricker Plaza, hosting was Charlene and her husband Brian. We all had shrimp, cheese, crackers, eggnog, tea, coffee, punch, and then seafood chowder, which was delicious plus salads, beans, rolls, and chicken. We had an exchange of gifts and were entertained by Paul Armstrong and some of his friends. We all received gift certificates and it was a fun time. Thank you to all for making this possible.
Isabelle Fitzpatrick of Highland Avenue is a patient at a Bangor hospital at the time of this writing. Her sisters, Ruth McGillicuddy and Rita Benn are both residents at Madigan Estates.
Ron Brownlow, husband of Priscilla of our second floor, is a patient at Houlton Regional Hospital, as of Saturday, Jan. 2.
It was with deep concern that I learned of Rev. Coleman O’Toole’s health problem. He is a victim of Lou Gehrig’s disease and has resigned as pastor of St. Margaret in Old Orchard Beach. I have an address for him in Portland if you care to send him a card. Fr. O’Toole was pastor here at St. Mary of the Visitation Church for many years. Many will remember him.
Jeff Thibodeau is a frequent worker in the office. He will be around for some time.
What is the answer to this question? “I should still idle my car in really cold weather before driving, right?” The answer I read in a recent written printing is: Cars warm up faster when driven, says the CEC Reader’s Digest. Version: turn it on and go. Do you agree?
The Healthy Living course taught in the community room is going well. Those attending like it. It will soon come to a close.
The meeting of the Houlton Council of Catholic Women scheduled for Jan. 3 was postponed until Jan. 10. Those who are members please take note.
I’m ending this with a passage from the Bible: “Therefore I say unto you, when things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24) Have a good and safe week.
Sherman fund-raiser
There will be a supper on Feb. 6th at the Sherman Recreation building from 4 – 5:30 p.m.
This will be a bean supper with ham, potato salad and rolls, plus many extras and cake for dessert.
This event is for the class of 2012 from Katahdin High School. It will also honor Sherman’s Centurions who turn 101 this year. They are Dot Tozier and Fred Goodwin. Fred turned 101 on Jan. 3rd and Dot will be 101 on Feb. 17th.
Admission is $6/person or a family price of $20.
If you have any questions, please call Errol at 538-6755, Peggy at 365-4270 or 365-4307.
TOPS ME 0233, HOULTON
by Lois Downing
Take Off Pounds Sensibly Chapter 0233 of Houlton met at the Aldergate building on High Street Friday, Jan. 15. Fourteen ladies were present; two KOPS. Jackie Reinzo is a new member and we welcomed her. Several of our members were on the sick list.
Joyce Estey, leader, asked for roll call. Reports were given by Joanne Scott and Lois Downing. The skinny dish was handled by Betty Ivey and held over. Joyce read a letter from Janice Cote, area captain. She told us she had been in the hospital for three days.
Brenda Lacostic asked for names of themes for our workshop in June. Some of the theme names were given and we were told to keep thinking on this subject. Joyce spoke on the subject of pleateau. Her suggestion is to be honest and accurate if we are on a plateau. We eat what we want so maybe we should substitute. Do not be discouraged. Change our routine; mix up our calorie count—one day 1500, another 1200. Our water intake should be increased, take up a new hobby, new workup class or change your kind of activity, burn more calories.
Several ladies walked around the meeting place to end the program. The next meeting will be Jan. 22 at the same location. If you need more information about the chapter, you may call Betty Ivey at 532-9653 or Charlotte Marley, 757-8483. Weigh-in time is 8-8:45 s.m., then the meeting begins at 9 s.m. and usually ends at 10 a.m.
Lt. Dan Pelletier of the Houlton Police Department gave a talk to the Town and Country Seniors at their Jan. 12 meeting. The program, called TRIAD, is designed to help seniors feel safer in their community. The Town and Country Seniors will meet Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 11 a.m. in the Gentle Memorial Building. For more information, call 532-7556 or 532-4860.
Top Racer
Bonnie Stone and Maxine Morris spent a week in Clarksville, Tenn. They attended a banquet in Knoxville, where Logan Stone was honored as Top Points Driver for 2009 in the Stock Medium Class Go-Cart Racing. Logan is the son of Chris and Mishalyn (Swimm) Stone, formerly of Littleton.
