Highlights from our recent meeting…
RAFFLE: We sold $466 in tickets and collected $375 in donations for a total of $841. The first prize, $100, was awarded to Steven Lovely, the second prize, $100, was awarded to Colleen Levesque, the third prize, $50, was awarded to Herb Bitter. Herb donated his prize back to Valley Grange, making our net income from the raffle $641.
UDDERLY MOOVELOUS: Dinner was accompanied by Nightingale Farms Milk—straight from the farm! It’s rich and creamy… almost yellow, and pasteurized but not homogenized. If you’d like a quality experience and to support this young farmer, it’s available at the farm—take 150 south from Guilford, and keep an eye on the left side just as you enter Parkman. It’s also available at Whitney’s in Guilford. You can also visit their Facebook Page and meet “the girls.”
DICTIONARIES: Dictionaries have been distributed to PCES (they came to the hall) and Brownville Elementary. Both groups were excited and will enjoy their dictionaries. According to the teachers, the kids keep them at school for a while so they can learn how to find things and get in the habit of “looking things up.” Janice and Pat will be delivering to Ridgeview on Monday (11/21). Teachers will likely use Walter’s video explaining Valley Grange and the Dictionary Project. (It’s less than eight minutes; you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/00pSHDKiZjA .
SeDoMoCha is scheduled for Wednesday (11/30)—we’ll have an assembly at school starting at 9:30 am. Last but not least, we’ll visit Harmony Elementary on Friday (12/2) to work with four third graders. It’s always interesting to go from an assembly of 60+ kids at SeDoMoCha to 4 in Harmony!
I enjoyed a funny coincidence today. I was standing in line at Shaw’s, and the cashier started yelling, “Mr. Boomsma!” She yelled back to me that she’s almost 21 now but remembers me from school. We talked about dictionaries, and she said she remembers making butter with me a long time ago, maybe in second grade. LOL Whether it’s dictionaries, bookworming, or GrowME, it’s great to know we leave a lasting and positive impression on the kids that are our future.
Special thanks to Lynn Bosworth, Jim Annis, Janice Boomsma, and Pat Engstrom for helping out with the PCES kids. We are also grateful to “First Sergeant” Wayne Bennett for “dressing” one of the teachers in uniform. The kids definitely thought that was cool.
One of the Ed Techs in Brownville shared that she was concerned about her assigned student acting out during the presentation, but he remained engaged and excited. We created a slightly different problem. Now he didn’t want to transition to his next lesson—he wanted to continue to explore his new dictionary! I’ve had several adults question whether or not the kids are still interested, given the technology available. The short answer is an enthusiastic “YES!” One young scholar from PCES who has a lot of difficulty reading locked into the sign language at the back of the dictionary. By the time she lined up to leave, she’d already learned three letters. There’s lots to discover in these dictionaries.
BREAKFAST: We discussed breakfast briefly, mainly to make sure the “food groups” would be represented. We can promise Mary’s Bacon, Walter’s Apple French Toast, and Pat’s muffins. If you have a breakfast dish or treat you can bring, the assortment will increase! If you’d like to coordinate, call Mary (564-0820) or Janice (343-1496). Please join us for some good food and warm fellowship on Friday, December 2, 2022, at 6 pm. You can come in your jammies! Parents of kids receiving dictionaries have been invited…
BOOKWORMING: How do you round up and herd worms? Realistically, we’ll probably schedule some sessions starting in January and do them once or twice a week, depending on how many “worms” we end up with. Stay tuned. This will be a focus once we’ve completed Dictionary Days. If you, or someone you know, is interested, contact Walter!
BLISTERED FINGER KNITTER: Mary shared with us the obituary of Roberta Fitzgerald… it specifically mentioned that since becoming a Valley Grange BFK in 2012, Roberta knitted a total of 1,430 hats for infants and children. Her most recent delivery was 330 hats delivered in August. And, since she knitted “right up to the end,” we’ll receive one more delivery next summer. What an amazing woman with fast fingers and a big heart. We voted to donate to the Fred and Hattie Washburn Scholarship Fund, Foxcroft Academy, Attn: Cathy Hall, 975 West Main Street, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine 04426, in her memory and honor.