This Week's Letters
SHS Project Graduation auction March 31
Editor:
There are many things that we get involved with in life. But how many of these situations give you the peace of knowing that your work made someone’s life safer and happier?
For the past five years, I have been involved with Scarborough High School’s Project Graduation. A group of dedicated parents and community members working tirelessly with one goal in mind: to make graduation night a safe, fun, chemical free celebration for the graduating class.
Being a part of this committee has opened up new friendships, allowed me a positive way to give back to the community and the joy of giving our graduating seniors and their families an alternative choice to celebrating one of their first milestones.
This year we have 255 graduating students. On March 31, Project Graduation is holding its annual auction. This fundraiser underwrites our celebration for the seniors on graduation night. Our theme is the Wild, Wild West. Parent volunteers and students will be transforming the high school cafeteria into the Wild West, serving up hot chili and other vittles to satisfy the palate. There will be a silent and live auction. We even have an official Major League baseball signed by one of the Boston Red Sox! Please join us on March 31, you’ll feel great knowing that you contributed to making our students safe on graduation night.
Nancy Gaudet
Parent Volunteer
Learn more about vernal pools and how to protect them
Editor:
Who would have guessed a salamander can live for 20 years but that a wood frog lives only two years? Both the salamander and wood frog live their lives within 1,500 feet of the vernal pool where they were hatched and they return to the same pool each early spring to reproduce.
Vernal pools are depressions that are wet in the early spring and dry out in the summer. These pools can be hundreds of years old and are the breeding grounds and nursery for fairy shrimp, frogs, salamanders, turtles, toads, newts and spring peepers.
A vernal pool is like a tidal marsh – it cannot be manmade, so it is crucial not to disturb the area around a vernal pool. A small amount of space makes a big difference: most vernal pools in this area are less than a quarter acre and the forested woodland surrounding them is vital habitat for amphibians.
Maine has recently passed legislation to protect significant vernal pools and to assist people who plan to build on property containing a vernal pool. This legislation and the ecology of vernal pools was the topic of a forum organized by the Scarborough Conservation Commission and presented by Sally Stockwell, director of conservation at Maine Audubon.
For anyone interested in learning more, I suggest two Maine Audubon manuals – "Locating and Documenting Vernal Pools" and "Best Development Practices for Conserving Pool-Breeding Amphibians," which are available at the Scarborough Public Library.
The next forum by the Scarborough Conservation Commission will feature the recent restoration project of the upper Libby River marsh, which necessitated the closing of Black Point Road last fall. Ryan Hodgman, an environmental coordinator with the Maine Department of Transportation, will speak at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 22 at Scarborough Town Hall. This project required years of collaborative planning by the many public and private partners of the Friends of the Scarborough Marsh.
Susan DeWitt Wilder
Board member, Friends of Scarborough Marsh
Editor:
There are many things that we get involved with in life. But how many of these situations give you the peace of knowing that your work made someone’s life safer and happier?
For the past five years, I have been involved with Scarborough High School’s Project Graduation. A group of dedicated parents and community members working tirelessly with one goal in mind: to make graduation night a safe, fun, chemical free celebration for the graduating class.
Being a part of this committee has opened up new friendships, allowed me a positive way to give back to the community and the joy of giving our graduating seniors and their families an alternative choice to celebrating one of their first milestones.
This year we have 255 graduating students. On March 31, Project Graduation is holding its annual auction. This fundraiser underwrites our celebration for the seniors on graduation night. Our theme is the Wild, Wild West. Parent volunteers and students will be transforming the high school cafeteria into the Wild West, serving up hot chili and other vittles to satisfy the palate. There will be a silent and live auction. We even have an official Major League baseball signed by one of the Boston Red Sox! Please join us on March 31, you’ll feel great knowing that you contributed to making our students safe on graduation night.
Nancy Gaudet
Parent Volunteer
Learn more about vernal pools and how to protect them
Editor:
Who would have guessed a salamander can live for 20 years but that a wood frog lives only two years? Both the salamander and wood frog live their lives within 1,500 feet of the vernal pool where they were hatched and they return to the same pool each early spring to reproduce.
Vernal pools are depressions that are wet in the early spring and dry out in the summer. These pools can be hundreds of years old and are the breeding grounds and nursery for fairy shrimp, frogs, salamanders, turtles, toads, newts and spring peepers.
A vernal pool is like a tidal marsh – it cannot be manmade, so it is crucial not to disturb the area around a vernal pool. A small amount of space makes a big difference: most vernal pools in this area are less than a quarter acre and the forested woodland surrounding them is vital habitat for amphibians.
Maine has recently passed legislation to protect significant vernal pools and to assist people who plan to build on property containing a vernal pool. This legislation and the ecology of vernal pools was the topic of a forum organized by the Scarborough Conservation Commission and presented by Sally Stockwell, director of conservation at Maine Audubon.
For anyone interested in learning more, I suggest two Maine Audubon manuals – "Locating and Documenting Vernal Pools" and "Best Development Practices for Conserving Pool-Breeding Amphibians," which are available at the Scarborough Public Library.
The next forum by the Scarborough Conservation Commission will feature the recent restoration project of the upper Libby River marsh, which necessitated the closing of Black Point Road last fall. Ryan Hodgman, an environmental coordinator with the Maine Department of Transportation, will speak at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 22 at Scarborough Town Hall. This project required years of collaborative planning by the many public and private partners of the Friends of the Scarborough Marsh.
Susan DeWitt Wilder
Board member, Friends of Scarborough Marsh
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