Members and visitors at the newly formed St. Anthony of Padua Parish celebrate in 2021 with the first festival at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Windham. This year’s celebration will be held the weekend of July 15-16. Contributed / Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland
St. Anthony Festival returns for second year
The St. Anthony of Padua Festival will be back in Windham for a second year on Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16, on the grounds of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church at 919 Roosevelt Trail.
The event will kick off at 6 p.m. July 15 at with a special Mass in honor of its patron saint followed by a procession to the St. Anthony shrine.
The festival takes place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 16 and features live music and booths with homemade items, jewelry and books. There will also be a silent auction with bids being taken on bikes, kayaks and a homemade quilt. In addition, you can browse through a yard sale, buy some raffle tickets and get yourself something good to eat. Luigi’s Italian Foods will be there along with clam cakes, fried dough, burgers, hotdogs and pizza. At 4 p.m., there will be a Mass followed by a chicken barbeque dinner sponsored by the Knights of Columbus at 5 p.m. For more information, call St. Anthony of Padua Parish at 857-0490.
Slavery topic of talk
The Windham Historical Society is hosting a fascinating program, “Enslavement in Maine in the 17th and 18th Centuries,” presented by Vana Carmona at 7 p.m. July 18 at the Little Meeting House on Route 302 in North Windham.
Vana began studying the topic after discovering that several of her ancestral New England family members had enslaved people of color and were complicit with the slave trade itself. She was aware she was descended from a number of early New England settlers but was surprised to uncover the role they played in enslaving kidnapped Africans. This is a unique look at New England history that you may not have known about before. The program is offered free of charge, but donations to the society are always welcome. Refreshments will be served.
Bumbleroot Farm is growing
Bumbleroot Farm in Windham will use a $50,000 grant awarded by Maine Farmland Trust to purchase an electric delivery van, install deer fencing and invest in solar panels.
The farm completed a two-year trust program that provided 100 hours of business planning and technical assistance to help grow the operation. The farm will use the grant and a $50,000 match of its own money to implement a business plan that focuses on scaling up for wholesale by investing in equipment and infrastructure to streamline production, improve the ability to sell to wholesale markets and make the business more profitable.
Farm owners Jeff and Amy Fisher, Ben Whalen, and Melissa Law were given the grant based on their creative plan, which focused on climate change resilience, preparing for economic fluctuations by improving growing practices, building soil health and transitioning to renewable energy.
Bumbleroot Farm is located at 196 Highland Cliff Road. The farmstand is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and features seedlings, veggies, flowers, eggs and other local products. For more information, email info@bumblerootorganicfarm.com.
Local veteran honored
The late Don Rogers, a past post commander, will be honored by American Legion Field-Allen Post 148 at its annual Don Rogers Scholarship Dinner at 5 p.m. July 23 at the Windham Veterans Center.
The menu will include a variety of beans, chili, side dishes, red hot dogs, beverages and the legendary desserts that alone are worth the price of the meal, which is $10 per person. Children under 12 eat free. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and a pie sale.
Haley Pal can be reached at haleypal@aol.com.
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