Middle-schoolers earn essay awards
Three essay awards will be presented at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20, in the gym at Gorham Middle School on Weeks Road, said John Doyle, Gorham School Committee member.
The first-place winner of the Madison Prize for Written Excellence, sponsored by the Gorham Republican Committee, will be awarded $250, with $100 going to each of the runners up. The public is invited to attend the assembly.
A giving tree and pet-a-tree at Baxter
Baxter Memorial Library, 71 South St., is again hosting its annual giving tree to benefit the needy and is also seeking gifts for animals at the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook.
New, unwrapped gifts for teens and “tweens” (ages 10-18) may be taken to the library through Friday, Dec. 20. All gifts will be distributed to Gorham families in need. Donations may be dropped off during regular library hours. Appropriate gifts might include books, movie passes, winter accessories such as scarves, gloves or hats, and cosmetics or toiletries.
The Youth Services Department is also hosting a pet-a-tree during December. Children may draw or bring a picture of their pet, or perhaps a pet they are wishing for, to decorate the tree.
The library is seeking donations of pet food and/or toys to be placed under the pet-a-tree for the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook. For more information, call the library at 222-1190.
Gift-wrapping reminder
The Gorham High School Prom will hold its gift-wrapping fundraiser from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the school’s cafeteria.
Randy Dyer opens financial business
Randy Dyer, a personal finance coach, has opened Financial Fitness at 22 Brackett Road in Gorham.
A graduate of Gorham High School, he earned a bachelors degree in accounting from the University of Southern Maine. While finishing his college education, he worked at Maine National Bank, eventually being named manager and loan officer at the Mill Creek office in South Portland.
Dyer has also worked for H&R Block preparing client tax returns. In 1997, he joined Unum as a group life underwriter, where he worked for 16 years.
For more information, visit www.mainefinancialfitness.com.
Hunt receives award
Paul Thomas Hunt of Gorham received the 2013 Dexter Brackett Award from the New England Water Works Association, the region’s largest and oldest not-for-profit organization of water works professionals. Hunt is an environmental manager for Portland Water District.
“This award is presented annually to a member who authored the most outstanding paper published in the Journal of the New England Water Works Association during the previous year,” said Raymond J. Raposa, the association’s executive director, in a statement.
His paper, “Making Water Quality Everyone’s Business,” discusses how the Portland Water District, over a 10-year period, transformed into an organization where water quality information is shared throughout the company and used to make informed operational decisions.
Hunt manages the district’s environmental affairs, including the lake-protection program, industrial pretreatment program, and operation of environmental laboratories.
U.S. taxpayer debt
The Bureau of the Fiscal Service reported on Dec. 12 that the U.S. public debt was $17,226,015,851,914.45.
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