Christmas reawakens spirit of giving

The spirit of Christmas is being shared in acts of neighborly goodwill in Washington and Charlotte counties. Donors of all ages and many faiths made the extra effort to help make the holiday season a happy one for others.

Remembering soldiers and their families
Passamaquoddy Memorial VFW Post 11299 of Perry tries to help out fellow veterans and their families all year round, but the members make a special effort at Christmas. This year adjutant Mike Farrell reports that Post 11299 paid the postage for six care packages mailed to troops overseas by Cub Scout Troop 127 from Alexander. Two eighth graders from Beatrice Rafferty School at Pleasant Point and a Shead High School student accompanied Farrell to Worcester Wreath in Harrington on December 10 and decorated wreaths that were going to Arlington National Cemetery.

Farrell reports that a Family Support Group Christmas party was held on December 16 at the American Legion in Calais, where donated gifts were given to the children of local soldiers. He guesses that about 14 men and women in the area are serving overseas, leaving behind 27 children and 27 spouses and/or parents.

In Eastport, the American Legion Auxiliary put together some packages for the men and women overseas, and a good Samaritan paid for the postage. One of the auxiliary members, Patti Craig, reminds people to keep the troops and their families in their prayers. If people don't already have a white light shining in their window showing support for the troops, she asks that they put one up and keep it there all year.

Silent Santa program a success
Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, a late start did not hamper the Silent Santa program this year at the Eastport Elementary School. "It's been wonderful," reports Doreen Johnson. "Things have been going well."

She says 197 gift tags were distributed, and, as of December 20, only four of the gifts had not been returned to the school. In addition, all but six of the donated gifts had been delivered or picked up.

Johnson reports that the school received a phone call on December 19 from someone concerned about "an emergency situation" involving a family with five children who needed help this Christmas. Coincidentally, Barbara Lara's Barbara's School of Dance was performing that night. The proceeds are traditionally given to benefit the Silent Santa program, so Johnson told Lara about the phone call. "She's going to take care of it," says Johnson.

"Thanks to everybody. This has been overwhelming," Johnson adds. "It couldn't have gone any better.

Food baskets go to needy
Eastport area churches, for the 15th year, donated items to fill food baskets for local families. Members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the Central Congregational Church, Christ Episcopal Church, Blakey Memorial Methodist Church and the Unitarians, all in Eastport, and St. John's Catholic Church in Pembroke provided enough items for 180 baskets.

Shead social studies teacher Nick Gamerstfelder reports that U.S. government students, as well as some alumni from his Shead High School class, packed the baskets at Christ Church Institute on Thursday, December 21, before delivering them. "We have 12 vehicles with 12 riders, so 24 students [participated]," says Gamertsfelder, adding that the baskets went to destinations in Edmunds, Charlotte, Pembroke, Perry and Eastport.

Shead students also competed in the annual contest to see which class collected the most items to give to the Labor of Love Food Pantry. The "intense competition" between the classes leads to a large contribution to the food pantry. A weigh-in was conducted Wednesday afternoon, December 20.

Operation Santa
Shead students also participated in Operation Santa, buying and wrapping gifts for youngsters in the Eastport Elementary School. There were enough presents for every pupil in grades K4 through 8. "We started earlier this year," says Shead instructor Nick Gamertsfelder. "It's such a good civics lesson for the kids."

The gifts were delivered on December 21 by Santa Jason Featherson and his "coterie of enthusiastic elves," Ruby Beal, Monica Stanhope, Dorothy Pottle and Hailley Bradbury, who arrived via the now-traditional Eastport Fire Department truck.

Youngsters visit elderly at Pleasant Point
Beatrice Rafferty students made 80 goodie bags and delivered them to elders at Pleasant Point. Under the direction of Thea Burrow, 13 members of the Mawe group completed the baskets on Monday, December 18, and delivered them the next day.

A Christmas gift
Connor Sherrard, son of Krista Vining of Charlotte and Chris Sherrard of Calais, turned 8 years old on December 4. He told his mother that he would like to have a birthday party and invite some of his friends. He said he would like to ask each friend to bring a present that would be given to some child that needed a gift for Christmas. Children invited were asked to bring a gift for a child of their own gender. The weekend after his birthday, his mother arranged the party and about a dozen children attended. The gifts were opened at the party, so everyone got to see the gifts.

On Friday, December 15, Connor along with his mother, brother Colton and grandmother, Lana Vining, went to Calais to donate his gifts at the Bangor Savings Bank. The bank had a box set up for donations for Christmas gifts for children. These gifts are given to the United Way and then are disturbed to the children.

At a young age, Connor has learned a wonderful lesson about giving. He hopes that the gifts will help several children have a happy Christmas this year.

Empty stockings to be filled
Marie Thomas, coordinator of the Empty Stocking Fund on Grand Manan, expects 40 food baskets to be delivered on the island five days before Christmas. Each of them will contain a variety of vegetables and fruit, as well as a turkey or chicken, depending on the size of the household to which it is being delivered. There were plenty of volunteers to help pack the baskets and more who delivered them on December 20.

Thomas reports that this year's offering from the annual fundraising event, Singspiration, which was held on December 3, "was the largest we've ever had. It was around $2,530, and there have been a couple of donations sent in since then."

Thomas, who has been involved with the Empty Stocking Fund for at least 35 years, says that the island fishermen and businesses have been very generous.

Keeping children warm and happy
This is the 22nd year for "Let's All Have A Merrier Christmas," a program which provides warm clothing and toys to needy children in Washington County. Rhonda French, who inherited the program from her late father, Philip Huntley, has once again been dedicating a lot of her time and energy making sure families have a happy Christmas.

On Wednesday, December 20, French was finishing up the shopping. "By the time these gifts make it under trees, we will have provided toys and warm clothing to about 320 children," reports French.

"Everyone has been incredibly generous. Machias Dental and the Harwood sponsored a suppper to benefit `Let's All Have A Merrier Christmas,'" she points out. "Down East Community Hospital had a wish tree and provided many gifts to the children on our list. Schools, businesses, churches and individuals have donated approximately $6,000 worth of toys and warm clothing."

Supporting victims of domestic abuse
Penny Guisinger of the Next Step reports that her organization had an entire room full of gifts that were going to needy families. The Next Step has been assisting domestic violence victims in Washington County since it opened its offices in Machias and Calais three years ago. Its parent agency has been serving Hancock County for 13 years.

"We're still working on it," she says of the Christmas gift drive. "This has been our best year if you look at the sheer volume of people across two counties wanting to help."

"I was sitting in the office today, and a young woman came in. She was so moved by all of the [gifts]. She said, `I didn't expect it to be so much.' [A Dora the Explorer quilt] was for her daughter, and the woman smiled, `I can't wait to see my daughter's face.'"

Thirty-six families have been adopted by a mixture of businesses and individuals. Thompson's Simply Soap, the Cutler Naval Base, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, the Ellsworth American, Stanley's Subaru, Union Trust bank and Ellsworth Chiropractors have been among the financial donors.

In addition, Guisinger belongs to a Washington County moms group that gets together a couple of times a month for leisure and support. "About 10 members did an incredible job of buying gifts for the moms [aided by the Next Step]. It was really cool. People seemed to be very excited about participating."

She points out that, when asked what they wanted, the mothers served by the Next Step mentioned items such as laundry detergent, dishwashing soap and other necessary items not covered by the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program.

"There's no shortage of need," sums up Guisinger.