Garden Club scholarship
The Gorham Garden Club is now accepting applications for a scholarship.
To be eligible, applicants must either be a high school senior or enrolled in a post secondary school and plan to major in plant and soil science, environmental studies, botany, ecology, forestry, wildlife management or related fields. The club’s merit scholarship will be at least $300.
Applicants should submit an essay that tells Gorham Garden Club members about themselves and their background and why they are interested in their chosen field. The essays will be judged on content, form and clarity of expression.
The scholarship will be paid directly to the school in which the selected student is enrolled after it has been established that he or she is in good standing and is enrolled for the next semester.
The essay should be typed and not to exceed two pages. It should include the applicant’s full name, telephone number, mail and e-mail addresses. It should be sent to Scholarship Chairman, Gorham Garden Club, 20 Carll Lane, Gorham, Maine, 04038, by June 1.
Gardeners to hear Mattor
John Mattor will speak about growing native orchids when the Gorham Garden Club meets on Tuesday, April 25 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the First Parish Church.
The public is welcome to attend.
Woman’s Club art show
The Gorham Woman’s Club will host their annual district high school art show on Wednesday, April 26 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Baxter Memorial Library, 71 South St.
A panel of professional artists will judge artwork at 4 p.m. followed by a reception. The show will include artwork by students from Westbrook, Sacopee Valley, Massabesic and Gorham high schools.
Underage drinking forum
Gorham Youth Voices is hosting a community program, “Taking Action to Prevent Underage Drinking,” on April 27 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Gorham Middle School on Weeks Road.
Barry Atwood, the group’s advisor and a former chairman of the school committee, said the program is one of several dozen around the state aimed at raising awareness of underage drinking. “I encourage people to come and to learn,” Atwood said.
Kimberly Johnson, director Maine Office of Substance Abuse, will be as featured speaker along with Chris Trout, president and CRO of Strengths in Focus. The program will include interactive dialog.
A video aimed at adults will be shown, but the program won’t have anything inappropriate for middle school students. “The goal is not to scare people but to motivate people to be more pro active,” Atwood said.
Atwood said Gorham Youth Voices includes 15 high school students. He said seven are seniors.
The event is free and the public is invited. Refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m. before the presentations.
For more information, call 874-1140 ex. 319.
Community chorus featured in benefit
The Gorham Community Chorus will perform in a concert with other choral groups and special performers at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, in Merrill Auditorium in Portland.
“Voices of Hope” will benefit Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn in the memory of its founder, JoAnn E. Pike, as well as Robert E. Dunton. They were both instrumental in the creation and success of the food bank, which has been serving Maine’s hungry for 25 years. They serve 70,000 people each month, providing food to more than 500 pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and crisis programs.
The benefit will also feature performances by Ave Maris Stella, Oratorio Chorale, Musica de Filia, Portland Community Chorus and Shannon Selig, a vocalist from the 2005 Magic of Christmas concert.
Those attending are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item to donate. Ticket prices begin at $15 and are available at PortTix, 20 Myrtle St. Portland. To charge tickets, call PortTix at 842-0800 or order online at www.portix.com
Platt works in music festival
Performances of classical and jazz arrangements by University of Southern Maine student Asher Platts will kick off a musical festival at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 24, at the St. Lawrence Arts and Community Center on Congress Street in Portand.
Tickets for the “Everybody Deserves Music Festival” are $12; $10 for seniors and students. Proceeds will benefit the effort of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to restore music programs in schools affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Platt’s arrangements will be performed by the Pastel Sound Explosion.
Palm Sunday dancer
Ava Dolley, 3, of Gorham performed in the palm dance on Palm Sunday, April 9, in Portland New Church on Stevens Avenue in Portland.
Surette attends forum
Patrick D. Surette, a senior financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., 358 Main St., was among a group of advisors invited to attend the company’s national retirement wealth strategies forum in Philadelphia earlier this year.
The findings from a groundbreaking new study by Ameriprise Financial were presented at the forum. The study, which uncovered five distinct emotional stages of retirement – imagination, anticipation, liberation, reorientation and reconciliation – provides useful insights to baby boomers about avoiding some of the pitfalls that often occur after the “honeymoon” of retirement wears off.
“There have been many studies about the financial challenges of retirement but this is the first study that maps the emotional stages of retirement,” Surette said. “As the first wave of boomers moves closer to retirement, it’s important for people and financial advisors to understand the personal challenges, both financial and emotional, that a retiree may encounter.”
Surette can be reached at 839-9550 or patrick.d.surette@ampf.com
A day to remember
Children delighted in two Easter egg hunts on the lawn of Portland Faith Center, 8 Elkins Road, following two services on Easter Sunday.
While adults attended a drama presented in the sanctuary, children had Easter parties in Sunday school classrooms before they ventured outside with their parents for the egg hunts.
Cutline (church)- Ava Dolley, 3, dances on palm Sunday in Portland. 
(Easter egg hunt 1) 
Cutline (Easter class 1) 
(Easter class 3) 
(Easter egg hunt 4)
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