Green Thumb Award nominations accepted

Green Thumb Award contest nominations are now being accepted. The Scarborough Garden Club is looking for home gardeners to honor this summer. These gardens should not be professionally maintained, but maintained by the homeowner. The deadline for nominating a garden is July 31. Judging will begin thereafter. Only Scarborough gardens are eligible. Vegetable gardens are not judged for the award. There will be gift certificates awarded from local garden centers for first, second and third place.  To place a nomination for your own garden, a neighbor’s garden, or a friend’s garden, or several gardens in one neighborhood, submit their name, address, phone number as well as your name and phone number to: 839-4033 or email gardenz@maine.rr.com.

Golf classic raises money for nonprofits

On May 29, golfers gathered at Prout’s Neck to play in The Don Martin Golf Classic and raised more than $34,000 to benefit St Nicholas Episcopal Church and Project G.R.A.C.E. Since its inception, the classic has donated more than $110,000 to these charities. Tournament Chairman Gregg Frame said this is a “way to honor his father-in-law, Don Martin” who died suddenly in 2006.  Funds will support the work of St. Nicholas Church including their mission and outreach programs such as The Diocesan Youth Ministry’s, AA meetings, Scarborough Food Pantry, Preble Street Food Bank, The Root Cellar, Girl Scouts, Brownies, and Cub Scouts.

Project G.R.A.C.E.’s (Granting Resources and Assistance through Community Effort) mission is to improve the lives of its neighbors by identifying both those in need and those willing to share their gifts, and coordinating the interchange in a compassionate confidential manner; assisting more than 1,200 families since 2000.  Donations from individuals, student and civic groups, businesses and churches have made this possible.  

Rotary club on the move

Henry VIII Carvery, in the Cabela’s Gateway Plaza, will be the new host of Scarborough Rotary Club’s weekly Tuesday morning breakfast meetings. As Rotary began its new year, Club President Karen Vachon, thanked Scarborough Downs for hosting the club for five years. The Rotary wheel represents a wheel in motion, and in Rotary tradition, meetings rotate among members. Scarborough Rotary welcomes guests who are interested in learning more about Rotary visit www.rotary.org.

Credit union raises funds

On June 12 Project G.R.A.C.E was presented with a $500 contribution from cPort Credit Union. The credit union raises funds throughout the year, which are donated to the Maine Credit Union League’s Campaign for Ending Hunger. Those funds are then distributed to organizations within the cPort community. The 2008 Maine campaign raised more than $375,000, a new record for the fundraising endeavor that has been active since 1990 and has an accumulated total of more than $3.1 million. All money raised through this campaign is distributed to hunger organizations and food pantries throughout Maine. 

Lions Club celebrates 62 years

The fifty-plus member Scarborough Lions Club held its annual dinner to celebrate and install the new slate of officers for the 2009-2010 club year. Outgoing President Kathryn Rolston presided over the dinner and awards banquet at Garafalo’s Restaurant at The Higgins Beach Inn on Thursday, June 18. Incoming officers include President-elect Carol Varney; first Vice President Bev Green; second Vice President Len Libby; Treasurer Bill Pape; and Club Secretary Ed Connolly, all Scarborough residents.

The “Melvin Jones Fellowship,” the vlub’s highest honor, was bestowed to the member with the most humanitarian contribution. The fellowship is named for Chicago businessman Melvin Jones who founded The International Association of Lions Clubs and expanded the clubs purpose from professional concerns to the betterment of community and the world at large. “Service to community above self” became the guiding principle. This year the award was presented to Bob Buttarazzi and Bob Holmes, both Scarborough residents.

 The Scarborough Lions Club was formed in 1948 and is the town’s oldest service club. The club’s purpose is to support community projects and makes annual donations to Project G.R.A.C.E., Scarborough’s community service programs, the town’s fire stations and others.