MARS HILL NEWS
by Tomi Henderson
The first fall meeting of the UMW was held in the church vestry with 10 members present. A special blessing was said before all enjoyed the sandwich or lunch brought from home. Hostesses Elaine Bailey and Ruth Sylvester served chips, drinks and a delicious dessert.
After an hour of socializing, President Elaine welcomed all back after a three-month hiatus. She led in repeating the Purpose Pledge and Prayer. One of the favorite parts of the meeting is hearing members tell of their various acts of kindness.
The secretary’s and treasurer’s reports were read and accepted as read. Several thank-you notes were read from those who received money from our local missionary projects. Treasurer Diane Ketchum announced we had realized around $400 from the recent “Trash and Treasure” sale. The secretary was instructed to write a thank-you to Rolind Footer of the Easton UMW for helping with the sale.
It was announced that the Northern District meeting of the UMW will be held in Patten on Oct. 2. Several were interested in attending. It was voted for President Elaine to purchase $25 worth of listed items as requested by the host church, as a project for helping the underprivileged in that area.
It was brought to our attention that our UMW will be responsible for conducting the regular church service on Oct. 10. Special plans will be made at the next meeting.
It was voted to buy mini Bibles and make them available at the back of the church for anyone interested. It was suggested that many would like to carry one on their person at all times and have extra ones to give as they visit friends or those in the hospital.
The annual Holiday Craft Fair, also serving soup and pie, will be held on Nov. 6 in the church vestry.
For the program, President Elaine gave a thought-provoking reading on “An Interview with God.” Members responded with interesting happenings during the summer. After the benediction, the meeting was adjourned.
Members attending included: Donna Brewer, Elaine Bailey, Alma Smith, Frances Banks, Diane Ketchum, Ruth Sylvester, Joan Walsh, Joan Boone, Carol Guiggey and Clara Hussey.
The Mars Hill Rotary Club met on Tuesday morning, Sept. 14, at 6:30 at the Aroostook Health Center. The special speaker was Shelly Cronkhite of NMCC.
The college wrote a grant over the past year and received $1.27 million in funding to be used over the next five years to help serve the underserved population — those with low incomes, first-generation college students and those with disabilities. Eighty percent of the student population at NMCC currently fit into one of these three categories.
In the last two years, there have been many non-traditional students at NMCC. Currently over half of the students on campus are non-traditional.
Shelly works in Student Services at the college, providing academic, financial aid and personal counseling. In addition to these things, they also help students with decisions about their next steps after school. Some continue on to a four-year college while some start work.
NMCC has a retention rate of 65 percent, while the national average is 30-35 percent. The school also has a placement rate, six months after graduation, of around 90 percent. Most graduates are working while around 13 percent are enrolled in a four-year college.
TRIO, as part of the Student Services division, started with three programs, although there are many more now available. The initial programs included an education talent search that targeted middle school students, Upward Bound targeting high school students and guidance counselors for college-level students.
My daughter, grandson and I will be away for a few weeks. We will be spending a few days in Washington, D.C., before going to Orlando to spend time with my son and his family while he’s home on leave. I’ll give you some snippets of our trip each week.
The travelers are finally headed back east but enjoyed a few days in southern California first. Ray and Judy Mersereau stayed in a campground in Santa Clarita, a “small” town on the outskirts of LA. Evidently, in California a town with a population of 123,000 is considered small!!
Their first outing was to Malibu Beach, but they were not very impressed with it. Houses were so close together you couldn’t see the beach, and the public area wasn’t worth the hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic it took to get there. They spent the next day at the campground, enjoying one of the four pools and the 90-degree water.
The next day they set out again and went about 45 miles to Ventura Beach. The drive was much nicer, with some farms along the way. One was interesting as they were harvesting red peppers. The beach itself was a delight, with large, wide pedestrian walks that went for miles. They discovered that there was also a bike path, so they went back the next day for a long ride.
The ride itself was wonderful, although Judy found herself with a flat tire at the farthest point from the truck, several miles down the beach. As they couldn’t walk the bike back, Ray decided to ride back for the truck and drive down for Judy and her bike. After discovering several dead-end streets, Ray’s persistence paid off and he found Judy. They found several thorns in her tires, one of which had penetrated the tube — actually in both of her tires. Ray also had some thorns in his tires, but luckily they hadn’t gone deep enough to flatten his.
The next day, they took a couple of tours into Los Angeles. One was an hour and a half walking tour around the Main Street area. They learned about the history of the area and saw Bob Barker’s star on the sidewalk as well as John Wayne’s boot prints in the concrete.
The second trip was a two-hour riding tour in an open van. They toured around some of the stars’ homes, around Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. One of the things that impressed Ray most was the Bugatti sports car he saw parked on the street. The tour guide thought it belonged to Simon Cowell.
Ray informs us that it “lists for $1,980,020, has 1001 horsepower, a twin turbo-charged motor, will go from 0–60 MPH in 2.7 seconds and is street legal!” This must be a “man thing.” as I only can think of what else I could do with that kind of money!
They had had enough of Hollywood, so decided it was time to head east. They drove over 300 miles, traveling over two mountain passes, and arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The roads into the passes were tough on the truck with some hard pulling going up, but the trips down the other side were even scarier. I imagine that Judy dug her fingerprints even deeper into the dash!
They got some quarters, but used them all up in the laundromat. I guess that Ray and Judy are not what you would call “high rollers”! Not sure what they’ll do for the next few days as the temperature is supposed to be around 100 degrees, but will fill us in later.
Due to scheduling conflicts, we are sad to announce that our supper planned for Sept. 25 has been canceled. Sorry to inconvenience anyone.
We have just presented our 2010 winner of the Boston cane, Nedra P. Hartley, with her plaque. We plan to have photos and a story in the near future. In the meantime, congratulations to Nedra.
We have finally reached our goal to replace the hall’s sound system. It is not quite all installed yet, but that will happen shortly. Thank you to all who have made this possible.
Our Thursday night music program from 6-9 p.m. with Outside In will continue until the end of October. So, come on down and join us for a night of fun while you can.
On Fridays and Saturdays, October 1-2 and 8-9, we will be having indoor yard sales from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you would like to make a donation or rent a table, please contact: Gloria McCleary 425-6941 or Stephanie Willette 429-9309. Table rentals are $10.
Don’t forget to get your costumes ready. Our Halloween dance is being held on Oct. 30 from 8 p.m. to- midnight. Tickets are $6 if you’re wearing a costume and $8 if you are not. There will be lots of prizes and lots of fun. Snacks and soft drinks included. Music will be provided by Outside In. Last year almost 100 percent were in costume.
For more information on any of our events please contact the BHA, P.O. Box 341, Bridgewater, ME 04735, or call Jann Votaw, president, at 425-7901.
Tomi Henderson is the correspondent for Mars Hill, Blaine, Bridgewater and Westfield. She can be reached at 429-9126 or e-mail tomihen@yahoo.com.
