Employee of the Month
Congratulations to Raymond resident Coreena Dyer Behnke for being awarded Employee of the Month at Portland High School. Coreena has been a police officer for 16 years serving the last five as a resource officer for the students of Portland High School.
Aladdin, Jr.
Windham Middle School Drama Director Mary Wassick invited the students of Jordan-Small Middle School to participate in their winter musical, Aladdin, Jr., and Dani Meader jumped at the chance. Dani was the only Raymond student to attend auditions, which was a scary endeavor not knowing many of the kids from Windham. She was made to feel very welcome, landed a principal role of a Narrator, and began rehearsing in December. She joined more than 40 Windham Middle School students as they delighted audiences with their outstanding performances of “Aladdin, Jr.” last weekend. The cast also performed their show to the second-graders of Windham Primary School on Tuesday and the kids were thrilled. When the final curtain closed, Dani said, “this experience has been so awesome. I have made so many new friends. I cannot wait to go to Windham High School with them.”
Dani is not new to the stage, she has performed in the children’s show at Windham Center Stage Theater, in all of JSMS’s plays, and she is a dancer at CenterStage Performing Arts where she is also a member of the competitive team, Project Dance. She enjoys ballet, tap, lyrical and Pointe. She has just been cast as the Wicked Witch in JSMS’s “Wizard of Oz” with performances scheduled for April 11 and 12.
Dani is currently an eighth-grader at JSMS and is looking forward to attending Windham High School and participating in the performing arts there. Mary Wassick would like to remind JSMS students they are always invited to audition and participate in the middle school shows, and she looks forward to seeing more of Raymond students next year.
Got Game?
Join Game Day at the Raymond Village Library, on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 1 p.m. All students ages 8 and older are welcome. There is no need to register, just show up. Bring your friends and plan for a fun afternoon, hanging out and enjoying all kinds of available games. Learn new games or play favorite ones. There will be help to learn the new games, so no worries. If you need more information, call the library at 655-4283 and be sure to mark your calendars.
President’s Day Library Schedule
The Raymond Village Library will be open during regular hours on President’s Day, Monday, Feb. 17. Regular library hours are Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday and Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Book Group
The book chosen for this month is “The Book of Ruth,” by Jane Hamilton. Pegged the loser in a small-town family that doesn’t have much going for it, Ruth grows up in the shadow of her brilliant brother, Matt, and her tough, half-crazy mother, May. Ruth tries to survive in a world of poverty and hardship – as well as mercy, compassion and love. This bittersweet tale was the winner of the 1989 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel.
The library invites all interested readers to join the discussion at the library on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. to share their ideas and opinions of this controversial novel. The book will be available at the library upon request.
U Can Run
The second annual U Can 5K run will be held on June 14 beginning at the Mill Street playground. A kids fun run will be held at 8 a.m. with the 5K starting at 8:30 a.m. For additional information or to register visit www.ucan5k.com or you may also register at www.active.com and enter “U Can.” Cost to participate is $20 with all proceeds going to improve the Mill Street Playground in Raymond. If interested in volunteering to run this event, please contact Suzi Bradford at sbradfor@maine.rr.com. The U Can 5K Run is held in tribute to Candance Woolston.
Coreena Dyer Behnke, of Raymond, was awarded Employee of the Month at Portland High School. Pictured from left are Portland Police Chief Michael J. Sauschuck, Coreena Dyer Behnke and City Manager Mark Rees. Send questions/comments to the editors.
