Staff Writer

NAPLES — In the Town of Portland, one individual set up shop on the sidewalk and sold “marshmallow shooters,” which were actually pieces of PVC pipe. The vendor claimed his product fell into the category of art.

Attorney Mary E. Costigan, of Bernstein Shur, shared that story with the Naples Board of Selectmen as it reviewed a proposed ordinance to control use of the town’s green space.

“You have all this green space, and you don’t have people setting up hot dog carts wherever they want,” she said.

“Very broadly what this (proposed ordinance) does is it allows a permitting system for street vendors. On public property, it gives the town the chance to create designated” areas and types of commerce, Costigan said.

Additionally, the town would be able to preserve its festivals and special events by creating a buffer between vendors that are part of the event and those who sell their wares on private property.

On Monday night, the board provided feedback about and edited the proposed ordinance. Also, a special meeting occurred on Wednesday to finalize changes and formally make the document into a warrant item.

The ordinance will go before Naples citizens at the annual town meeting on June 5.

The land-use ordinance has a name that is almost longer than the Naples Causeway. It is called the “Town of Naples Ordinance Regulating Businesses Utilizing Publicly-Owned or Controlled Lands within the Town of Naples, other Activities on those Lands, and Private Property Vendors.”

According to Town Manager Derik Goodine, the ordinance has been a work in progress for about two years and has been scrutinized by three different legal counselors.

If adopted by the town, the ordinance would permit seasonal vendors — mobile businesses that pay an annual fee to lay claim to a space on the Causeway. Even during weekend festivals, those seasonal vendors would be allowed to conduct business as usual.

“If there is a festival going on, you can stay there while the festival goes on around you,” Costigan said.

Meanwhile, vendors that are associated with an event or a festival, such as the Maine Blues Festival, would be permitted under the umbrella of the particular festival. Those would be short-term vendor permits.

Also, the proposed ordinance addresses private property, over which the town has little control.

Because it is private property, the town cannot govern what types of vendors set up shop, other than requiring those people to get a license, Costigan said.

The town and festival organizers can create a buffer around the designated venues where the festival is occurring, she said, adding that approach would help accommodate traffic flow.

“However, if there is a festival going on, the vendors on public property have to be at least 25 feet apart. So, you don’t have a flea market effect,” Costigan said. One goal of the proposal is to maintain in the green space a cohesive, non-cluttered look — especially after years of work by the Causeway Restoration Committee (CRC) to create an aesthetic public space.

Selectman Rick Paraschak suggested requiring vendors to use the same type of trash receptacles as the town has ordered for the Causeway.

CRC Chairman Bob Neault, who was present at Monday’s meeting, recommended protecting the stain on the boardwalk.

“If you are going to be on the boardwalk, we may want to make certain the sealant is not damaged,” Neault said.

Town Manager Goodine said the board’s objective has been to put an ordinance in place before the completion of the Causeway green space.

“We keep getting calls from street vendors who want to come and sell Italian ice, and we say we don’t allow that right now,” he said.

“But, that time is coming up,” Goodine said.

A BIG THUMB’S UP — When the New York Times came to Bridgton to interview Stephen King, he told the editors specifically to use The Bridgton News as backdrop. Here, after a long day of interviewing with both the Times (at Rosie’s in Lovell) and CBS This Morning (inside the Bridgton Library), King still had energy enough to give thumbs up to the newspaper serving Bridgton — a town he calls the perfect example of “little America.” Bridgton is the real-life inspiration for his 2009 epic novel, Under the Dome, to be aired by CBS starting June 24 as a 13-episode TV series.

By Gail Geraghty

Staff Writer

As one of the world’s most famous living authors, Stephen King treasures being treated just like anyone else whenever he pulls into downtown Bridgton. As has been his routine for over 30 Maine summers, he makes the half-hour drive into town from his home in Lovell, sometimes with his wife Tabby; more often, alone.

The smiles and small talk flows easily as he goes about his business, which often as not includes a stop at Bridgton Books for a chat, or a walk next door to Main Street Variety, where, he said, “They’ve got great subs.” In small-town Bridgton, where he lived from 1972 to 1979, King is a known quantity, no more unexpected than any other familiar face, however huge his fame.

Most days, King breezes in and out of Bridgton with little or no fanfare. As a writer of over 60 books, many based in western Maine, he likes it best when he can be like a secret agent, observing others instead of being observed.

But last Thursday was far from a usual King visit.

It was a day when King invited the national media to come along, to see the real-life town behind Under the Dome, his 2009 post-apocalyptic epic novel that CBS has adapted as a 13-week summer TV series to begin airing on Monday, June 24, at 10 p.m. The network is betting heavily on the show as the next blockbuster series in the spirit of such hits as Lost, and The Walking Dead. And King, always the pro as well as one of the Dome’s executive producers, is glad to do his part.

On May 16 he drove up from his son Joe Hill’s home in Exeter, N.H. to meet CBS Correspondent Anthony Mason and a crew from CBS This Morning. They filmed an interview inside The Bridgton Public Library. Then King drove to Rosie’s Restaurant in Lovell to meet with New York Times reporter Amy Chosuk, returning to Bridgton by late afternoon so that the Times could photograph him at the location he specifically requested — the marquee in front of The Bridgton News building.

With an ease known only to the most seasoned of celebrities, King gracefully straddled the line between his public and private worlds, if at times all the “commotion,” as he called it, may have seemed a bit strange. Wearing his typical summer attire of a T-shirt and jeans, King served as Bridgton’s ambassador to the world on a beautiful early summer day. He even found time, in between his interviews with the two national journalists, to grant an impromptu third interview, with a local reporter for The News.

KING AT EASE — A photographer takes an upclose shot of author Stephen King, who is sitting on the sidewalk on Main Street in Bridgton. (Geraghty Photos)

When the cameras began rolling inside the library as he sat across from Mason, it was as if King switched on an inner light within his larger-than-life mind, pouring forth with answers showing why he has earned such a huge following of loyal readers and fans.

But before the filming began, King had time for some friendly banter.

“You don’t have to worry about getting my good side, because I don’t have one,” he said as he entered the side door and sat down next to the checkout area. Looking over a row of his books that had been removed from the shelves to use as background on the set, he said, “Oh, you’ve got all my books.”

Then he noted dryly that his response over the years, whenever librarians have asked him to sign one of his books for the library, is “Not unless you want to lose it.” The signed copies become instant collector’s items, he said, and are never returned.

King said he is pleased with the TV adaptation of the Dome, which uses the book as more of a springboard for ideas than as a literal template for the show. Some of the characters that die in the book live on in the TV show. And the ending? He expects it will be quite different than his, and he’s glad.

“You know, my ending was the weakest part of the book,” said King. The TV town also won’t bear much physical resemblance to Bridgton, designed as it is to appear as any town in small town U.S.A., with even the license plates artfully disguised.

“The show weaves scenes from the book back and forth. It’s a little like a game of Thrones, where everything from the book is there, but sometimes it’s in different places, and different things happen” from the way it was written. “I don’t want it to feel like Network TV,” said King. “It’s a model for the networks that first got premiered on cable TV. I don’t want it to be like NCIS, where it’s basically the same story week after week.

After filming ended, King took Mason on a brief sidewalk stroll from the library past the bookstore and Main Street Variety, up to the Bridgton map on the Southern Maine Retirement Services building that is reproduced with eerie similarity, in the front pages of Under the Dome. He chatted with Mason as he walked in advance of the film crew, stopping at the Bridgton map like a good tour guide to point out places in Bridgton that are duplicated in the book and the TV show.

After wrapping it up with CBS, he invited the local reporter for the News to sit with him for a few minutes on the park bench overlooking Stevens Brook.

Taking time for the local angle

WALKING INTERVIEW — CBS Correspondent Anthony Mason interviewed Maine author Stephen King May 16 inside the Bridgton Public Library, as well as during a walk along Main Street.

“Oh yeah. I love Bridgton. Especially on a day like this,” said King, explaining why its downtown geography and some of its businesses served as inspiration for Chester’s Mill, the town whose residents one October day become mysteriously imprisoned in King’s imagination under a transparent nuclear missile-proof dome.

Besides, he said, when spinning a tale over 1,000 pages long, it’s much easier to write about what you know.

“I know this place. I’ve got the vibe of the way people live here. I lived here myself for a while and I know the feeling of the place,” King said.

Knowing the geography was important too. “When you have a novel with this many characters, it’s nice to know what’s on your left and what’s on your right, and where the streets are,” without really having to think about it, said King. “It made the whole thing a lot more manageable.”

That’s also why King said he had the dome descend in the fall, after Bridgton’s summer tourists had all left town. And to keep things even more local, King said he had the dome appearing on a weekend, so that a lot of people could be out of town.

“I did have a couple of people come out to be leaf peepers, because it is like a four-seasons community. So they were like my token visitors,” he laughed. “But I did want to stay with the locals.”

King turned then, perhaps thinking of some of the Dome’s more evil characters, like car dealer Big Jim Rennie, whose surname is a play on Renys department store and who is in no way, shape or form related to Bob Macdonald of Macdonald Motors.

“There’s still so many characters — but they’re not based on anybody from town,” he said in all seriousness, knowing many local readers of the book have thought otherwise.

No, King said, the message he wanted most of all to convey with Under the Dome is simply that “resources are finite on this planet, and that people have to pull together if we are to survive.”

As King was wrapping up Under the Dome, he said, “Bush and Cheney were still in power,” and if a power-hungry Big Jim Rennie evokes Cheney with his utter ruthlessness, it’s no accident.

“I tried to create a governmental system that was bound to fail” by discarding democracy when crisis descends and imposing a fascist-style rule. “So I just took Bridgton and turned it into a little Chester’s Mill, and then I took Chester’s Mill and said this is “little” America. Because that’s what Bridgton is, is this “little” America,” said King.

If Bridgton was such a perfect setting for a novel, King was asked, why not then for a TV series?

“First of all, your readers should not be disappointed that it wasn’t filmed in Bridgton,” said King. “Movies and TV brings income into the area, but it also brings hassles,” like a recent incident near the show’s location in Wilmington, N.C., when some local school children got scared by blank rounds the show shot off for one of its scenes.

“I never had a doubt in the world that the production staff told them that there was going to be blanks fired, but somebody didn’t get the message,” King said. Then there’s the hassle to drivers and businesses when sections of town are closed off for filming, he said.

Still, he hopes someday Maine will have its own film commission, like Wilmington does. He said it’s been tried several times in the past, under two different governors, but without success so far.

The general education budget calls for $27,928,764 while money for adult education, community use of facilities and subsidy for the food service program pushes the overall figure to $28.5 million.

Voters also decided to keep the current budget meeting/validation referendum format for the next three years by a 454–246 margin.

Here’s the vote breakdown:

Article 1, Budget

Bridgton: 134 Yes, 82 No

Casco: 83 Yes, 74 No

Naples: 131 Yes, 59 No

Sebago: 76 Yes, 67 No

Article 2, Meeting format

Bridgton: 132 Yes, 81 No

Casco: 95 Yes, 61 No

Naples: 132 Yes, 56 No

Sebago: 95 Yes, 48 No

A year ago, the budget passed by a 506–268 margin. Voting was down in Bridgton (46 votes), Casco (12) and Sebago (14). Naples was up four votes.

Naples Town Secretary Harriet Condon stands in front of the Village Green on Monday afternoon. Condon was hired last month as town secretary. Previously, she worked for the Town of Southington, Conn., for 15 years. (De Busk Photo)

By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Lately, Harriet Condon has received a lot of heartfelt handshakes from area Mainers.

She has met so many community members, including those people serving on local committees and boards.

Condon is being introduced to people as the new Naples Town Secretary.

After 15 years of municipal experience in Southington, Conn., Condon said the transition to this much smaller municipality in Southern Maine has been a fairly smooth one.

“I find that the people we serve are so friendly and positive,” Condon said, adding, “Mainers have a friendly nature.”

She should know.

Condon “grew up on a potato farm in Presque Isle and moved to Mass. soon after having graduated from high school. While living out-of-state, I missed the friendliness that Mainers have,” she said.

“Later, during my years in Conn., I got a little homesick for the open fields and the big skies of Aroostook, and began painting oil paintings of the potato fields back home,” she said.

“It is great to now be living back in my home state,” she said.

Condon’s career started out as a reporter covering town meetings. She worked as a news correspondent for the New Britain Herald and The Observer, and her beats also included human interest stories.

“As a reporter, I first got interested in the running of a town. When I went from reporting on town issues to being a town employee in Conn., I knew everyone already. So, it was an easy transition,” she said.

“I began by working in a busy town clerk’s office, serving a population of just over 40,000,” she said.

“I like seeing how a town runs. I didn’t know it was going to pull me in as strongly as it did in Southington,” she said.

“When you find something you like, you stay,” she said.

During her municipal career at the Southington Public Library, Condon “was in charge of balancing an over $1,000,000 budget and helping to keep the facility running smoothly. I became the go-to person for the 22-person library staff. I sometimes had to make some hard decisions while maintaining good working relationships,” she said.

At one point the library’s acting director stepped down, and Condon’s duties stepped up while the vacancy was being filled.

“I managed my regular tasks while doing everything from scheduling temporary help to keeping an eye on the municipal budget, from scheduling building repairs to (assisting with) FBI investigations of public computers,” she said.

Compared to Southington, Naples has a year round population of about 3,800. Still, the workload in the town office is sizable, she said.

“In Southington, there were four people in the office and a town clerk. Here, there are three people plus the town secretary,” she said.

Her job duties will include assisting the code enforcement officer and the town manager.

“They don’t register motor vehicles in Conn. — not at the town level.

It is just new for me here — how they do it in Maine. It’ll be an easy transition, because I love working with the public,” Condon said.

In an interesting swap of workplaces and residencies, former Town Secretary Barbara Beckwith closed on a home in Naples at roughly the same time that she accepted a job with the Town of Gray. Meanwhile, Condon and her new husband purchased a home in Gray in late 2012, and five months later she was selected for the position with the Town of Naples.

Condon started her employment in Naples on April 30.

“Although I am a Maine native, I had never been to Naples. When I first visited, I was pleasantly surprised at its beauty. I can tell that I am going to enjoy working in this wonderful town,” she said.

“The atmosphere is wonderful here. The people contact with Naples citizens is enjoyable,” she said.

“And, it doesn’t hurt to look out at the scenery,” Condon said.

“It even makes me want to paint because I love painting skies,” she said, glancing up at the billowing white clouds that gathered above Long Lake.

In her spare time, Condon likes to do oil painting, an art medium that she learned in 2005. While the potato picking fields tops her list of favorite subjects, her paint brush has brought to life the scenery of Maine’s apple orchards.

She recalled the potato harvest in Aroostook County in which the school closed to allow the children to participate along with much of the community.

“There is so much romance in remembering potato picking because of the falls colors and the friendships we made,” she said.

Rev. Ed Boon and his climbing buddy, Lauky.

The Rev. Ed Boon, pastor of the Bridgton Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, is retiring in June after 49 years of ministry.

Ed and his wife, Karen, have served in Bridgton for 13 years. He will lead his last service as pastor of the Bridgton church on Sunday morning, June 2 at 9:30 a.m.

Ed grew up in Nyack, N.Y., where his father was a professor and then president of Nyack College. Ed and Karen met while studying at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and Gordon College in Massachusetts, and will have been married 49 years this fall.

The couple served in Daytona Beach, Fla. and Cranford, N.J. in preparation for an appointment to overseas service. Ed and Karen served in Africa for 11 years, first in Mali from 1969 to 1975, working with youth and teaching at the Bible School. Following that first term in Mali, they transferred to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) to help in the launching of the Maranatha Bible Institute in Burkina Faso, where they also taught. This school provides training for national pastors and is still very active today.

In 1979, Ed and Karen moved to France, where Ed first served as pastor of a Vietnamese Church in Toulouse, France and then as field director in Paris. They then moved to Mazamet in southwest France and served there for 11 years in a French church planting project. In 1992 while still in Mazamet, they began working with English speakers in the city of Toulouse some 50 miles away. Many of these people were business people working with the Air Bus company which has its international headquarters in Toulouse. They eventually moved to Toulouse and started the Toulouse International English language church. At the same time, they also pastored a French church in the suburbs of Toulouse.

In 1998, the Boon family returned to the United States and Ed spent two years traveling and speaking in churches about their work in France. On Aug. 1, 2000, after 31 years of missionary service with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Ed and Karen moved to Bridgton, where they have served faithfully, both in the church and in the community.

The Boons have three children and three grandchildren. Colette, the oldest, lives in Atlanta. She has a son, Silas. David lives in Auburn, and is married to Melissa, the daughter of Glen and Amy Chaplin of Harrison. David and Melissa have two children, Allura and Wyatt. Chantal, the youngest, lives with her parents. Ed, Karen and Chantal plan to move to north Georgia in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Ed is an avid mountain hiker and plans to continue hiking wherever he can. Since coming to Bridgton, Ed has climbed the 100 highest peaks in New England. He has also climbed the 48 New Hampshire peaks over 4,000 feet six times including one round of the 48 in winter. He is a member of the “48 over 70” club having climbed the New Hampshire 48 a couple of times since passing the age of 70.  He hikes mostly solo with his beloved Welsh Terrier, Lauky. (The name Lauky is a variation of an Indian word for “mountain.”)

The congregation of Bridgton Alliance Church will dearly miss these wonderful folks. Everyone in the community who has been touched by their service here is welcome to join with others on June 2 in honor of their many years of service and in celebration of their retirement. The worship service begins at 9:30 a.m. and there will be a celebration of their time here at 3 p.m. at the church.

By S. Peter Lewis

BN Columnist

On my desk at work, I have a photograph of my wife, Karen, when she was 20 years old; and on my computer background just a foot to the right is another photograph of her that was snapped after 30 years of marriage — I can’t tell the two images apart. When my eyes first fell into hers across a crowded college cafeteria in 1979, I took a deep breath, and it seems I haven’t let it out yet.

Karen has been a mom for the last 10,368 days, pulling double duty for the last 7,496 days. It started the day our son was born in an upstairs bedroom in our apartment after a day and a half of labor. Just a couple of hours later, after the midwife had assured us all was well and had quietly slipped out the front door, I found Karen downstairs making supper, shuffling about in her bathrobe and slippers as if nothing had happened.

Eight years later came our daughter, in a different upstairs bedroom this time, with a different midwife, but after a laborious bout of about the same ferocity. And again, Karen was up and scurrying about the house in short order. I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch.

Karen always wanted children, but wasn’t sure about the whole mom thing. Even today, she’ll tell you she’s not cut out for motherhood, not quite certain how to actually pull it off. “But look,” I’ll say, pointing to the clear evidence: our son (the engineer), a loving, responsible husband, a happy man on the verge of his own impending fatherhood, and our daughter, a bright-eyed, buoyant, college senior with a future as bright as the sun. “Look at them. They’re amazing. You did that!” And she’ll just shrug and thank God for all His help and hug me and wander into the kitchen to steam broccoli.

Cloth diapers sloshing up and down in the toilet of a cheap apartment, sippy cups, highchairs, the ins and outs of car seats, feedings every-two-hours, fevers, tears, screaming fits, tangled hair, stuffed animals, searching for favorite pillows, monsters under the bed, mind-numbing hours at the playground and the beach, bedtime stories, dying pets, huge grocery bills, no savings account or vacations, part-time jobs on the side, laughing uncontrollably, soccer games, thrift-store clothes, swimming lessons, listening, praying, laughing, crying, scolding, holding, shooing, lifting, cuddling, lots of hugs, zits, braces, laundry, new sneakers (again?), scrapes, bruises, mud everywhere, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, snakes brought into the house, rooms that look like explosions at the transfer station, lost socks, sleepovers, problems with matches and knives and flatware shoved into electrical sockets, “Get your butt in gear or we’ll be late for church!”, girlfriends, boyfriends, no friends, frozen pizza, doctor’s appointments, youth group, driving lessons, late-night talks… and the mom-stuff list just goes barreling along breathlessly and ends with, of course, a bladder that “just isn’t what it used to be.”

One of the most amazing things to me is that on top of all the usual stuff, Karen gave up her life and home-schooled our children right through the end of high school. From phonics to physics, history to theology, civics to calculus. Every day for years. Taking summers off to work.

Our daughter, Amanda, called recently from college. “Hi Dad, I’m stuck on something, is Mom there?” she said. “Oh, maybe I can help, sweetie!” I replied, all revved up and ready to problem solve. “Um, no Dad, it’s math,” she said. “Oh…hold on, I’ll get your mother.”

We became empty-nesters in the fall of 2010 when Amanda went off to school, but instead of flopping on the couch for a well-deserved three-month nap, Karen went back to college herself to get a second degree. The house soon filled with biology and anatomy and statistics textbooks and I found weird sticky notes lying around that said unintelligible things like, “must revisit the Krebs cycle — I just don’t get the oxidation of acetate…”

Just the other day, I stepped in front of Karen as she shot through the house on some higher-education mission. I put my hands on her shoulders and said, “Honey, you don’t need to do this, you know.” And then her eyes fell into mine again. “Oh, but I don’t want you to always have to work so hard,” she said. Then, she kissed me on the cheek and took off.

Henry Precht

By Henry Precht

BN Columnist

This discussion is about debt, the oppressive burden weighing on all of us, some more, some less.

The same lament could have been chalked up on a cave wall in Neolithic times. Debt is ancient, the experts say, older than money. Obligations to neighbors came first; money later, bringing with it the idea of interest.

That concept got religions involved, possibly because interest represented the rich taking advantage of the needy or earning a profit without labor. For a while, Christians banned interest, relying on Jews for loans, then Italian bankers got into the act and the church hierarchy gave its blessing. Moslems still observe a prohibition against interest. Yet, Islamic banks make loans, terming them investments. An Islamic bank making such an investment earns profits, which are not called interest.

But, I stray. We need to look at how debt figures in modern economies. In a word, it is essential. No government, no business, no individual can enjoy, it is assumed, a fulfilling, steadily improving existence without using assets now that are drawn from confident expectations of greater future income. To live without debt means a conservative existence that changes little, that is tied down to the slow accumulation of capital.

That’s the way my father and many like him lived. He had seen his hard-working father invest his money and borrow in two ventures. Both failed utterly. One time, he recovered; the second time he stayed down. There were also in those distant days national “panics” or periods of depression in which businesses were wiped out. So, my father learned his lesson thoroughly. He took no risks, made us open savings accounts and spend only what we had on what we absolutely needed.

The world changed around him: Saving gave way to spending. Things that once seemed unnecessary became essential. Governments waged costly wars while adopting lavish social programs. The payoff was votes, guaranteed because there was no price tag attached, no demand that expenditures be covered by taxes. More money in the hands of citizens, not governments, Republican dogma decreed, would generate more income from an expanding economy and the government would be made whole even with lower tax rates. Let the good times roll.

But, the day of reckoning dawned. Bubbles burst. In Europe, a half-dozen countries had (will have) to be bailed out. In America, conservatives saw our government — after tax cuts, two wars, expensive programs, plus the bank-led Great Recession — threatened by a debt of almost $17 trillion, about $12 trillion of which is owned by the public, about half of which is owned by foreigners (especially China and Japan). That level, experts say, is not sustainable unless it is reduced by the return of really good times or eroded by high inflation that will devalue the dollar. Critics say reducing the debt level by fiscal austerity will rob the economy and the less fortunate of needed support and impede recovery.

But, that isn’t all. There is also a huge bunch of debt in private hands including:

• Mortgage debt which now totals about $8 trillion;

• Credit card debt of $850 billion;

• Student loan debt of $1 trillion.

The first two figures have been declining somewhat as consumers face a tough economy and reduce spending. Student loans have risen, however, as a college education seems the best assurance of future employment. Graduates with heavy indebtedness unfortunately don’t buy houses or spend much on their credit cards — prolonging bad times.

There we have it — a very, very hard dilemma: Do we cut spending to drive debt down or do we increase taxes on those able to pay? The Republicans will have none of the latter and want more of the former; the president proposes some of each. One way or another, we in Bridgton are going to experience both cuts in services and higher taxes. We’ll get through the siege somehow, and maybe along the way we’ll relearn the old-fashioned rule of being ready to pay for what we spend.

Henry Precht is a retired Foreign Service Officer.

Molly Christensen

Freshman Molly Christensen is making an impact in her first year playing lacrosse.

“Molly is a tremendous athlete and one of the most coachable girls I have worked with,” Lake Region junior varsity girls’ lacrosse Coach Dave Keenan said. “She is constantly striving to improve her game.” Molly is always a threat on offense, but it is her play on the defensive side of the field that has made her so valuable to the Lakers.

“From her midfield position, Molly is usually the first one back on defense and has been effective in disrupting the other teams’ fast break attempts,” Coach Keenan said.

When it came time to select his “Player of the Week,” Coach Keenan was faced with a tough decision.

“This was a tough choice because so many girls on the team have worked hard and contributed so much to our lacrosse program (which is in its first year at the high school level),” the coach said. “Molly’s positive attitude, work ethic and willingness to do whatever is asked of her are just a few of the reasons that make her a great choice for Player of the Week.”

In recognition of her strong work ethic, determination, commitment and good sportsmanship, Molly Christensen is this week’s Boosters and Hancock Lumber “Player of the Week.” Each week, a Lake Region athlete is recognized for his/her dedication (does more than what is asked), work ethic, coachability and academic good standing. Recipients receive a specially-designed t-shirt, sponsored by Hancock Lumber.

The Christensen File

Name: Molly Christensen

Year in School: Freshman

Town: Sebago

Parents: Kurt and Linda Christensen

School Activities/Sports: Field hockey, basketball, lacrosse.

Q. Why did you choose lacrosse? MC. I wanted to try something new instead of playing softball. I thought lacrosse would be a great opportunity.

Q. What do you hope to accomplish this season? MC. Because this was everyone’s first time playing girls’ lacrosse, I was hoping to learn the game and come together as a team and win some games.

Q. What do you enjoy the most? MC. Winning.

Q. What do you like the least? MC. Losing.

Q. What makes you successful? MC. My work ethic. I work my hardest at practice and in games, trying to be the best I can.

Q. What would your dream moment be? MC. Having a winning team my junior and senior years.

Q. What has lacrosse taught you? MC. Not to be afraid to try new things because if you put your mind to it, you can be successful.

Q. Who has inspired you? MC. Coach Keenan’s daughter, Lindsey. She is incredible at lacrosse and it makes me want to be better and better.

Lewis Morton

Lewis Morton has been part of the foundation of which the Lake Region boys’ lacrosse program has been built upon.

Lewis started playing lacrosse seven years ago as a fifth grader when Lake Region first started lacrosse.

“You can tell he has loved the sport ever since,” Lake Region Coach Don White said. “Lewis has really impressed me in the past three months. He has become an exceptional leader on the team through encouragement, staying positive and motivating his teammates. He pushes himself to get better everyday and expects his teammates to do the same.”

Lewis has anchored the Laker zone defense, shutting down the opponents’ penetration near the goal.

“He has very good stick skills, which was demonstrated in a recent game verse Biddeford,” Coach White said. “He collected a loose ground ball in our defensive end, ran the ball from one end of the field to the other, past several Biddeford players, and scored with a hard sidearm shot using a defenseman’s long pole.”

In recognition of his strong work ethic, determination, commitment and good sportsmanship, Lewis Morton is this week’s Boosters and Hancock Lumber “Player of the Week.” Each week, a Lake Region athlete is recognized for his/her dedication (does more than what is asked), work ethic, coachability and academic good standing. Recipients receive a specially-designed t-shirt, sponsored by Hancock Lumber.

The Morton File

Name: Lewis Morton

Year in School: Senior

Town: Casco

Parents: Russell and Leslie Morton

School Activities/Sports: Football, basketball, lacrosse.

Q. Why did you choose lacrosse? LM. You get to hit kids with sticks.

Q. What do you hope to accomplish this season? LM. I hope to play the season with no injuries.

Q. What do you enjoy the most? LM. Being out on the lake.

Q. What do you like the least? LM. Losing to Fryeburg.

Q. What makes you successful? LM. I’m a big kid playing little kids.

Q. What would your dream moment be? LM. Going to the playoffs for the first time in Lake Region lacrosse history.

Q. What has lacrosse taught you? LM. How to work as a team.

Q. Who has inspired you? LM. Drill Sergeant Sirois, “Be the first to admit you messed up.”

WINNING T-SHIRT DESIGN for the annual Lovell Old Home Days 5K was created by Fryeburg Academy senior Kyra Hunsicker (left), who is pictured with FA art instructor Steve Pullan.

LOVELL — Kyra Hunsicker, a senior at Fryeburg Academy, submitted the winning design for the Ninth Annual Lovell Old Home Days 5K Run T-shirt.

As part of the competition, students are asked to incorporate the themes of Lovell and running into their artwork.  Although Kyra is a resident of Intervale, N.H., she is very familiar with the beauty of Kezar Lake. Kyra, a talented artist, will be attending Green Mountain College in Vermont, where she will be studying Environmental Studies and Photography.

For creating the winning design, Kyra receives a $100 prize, as well as the pleasure of seeing her artwork on shirts around town! Steve Pullan, the Academy’s art teacher, assisted the committee in making the selection.

This year’s run is on Saturday, July 20 at 9:45 a.m. Only the first 100 registered runners are guaranteed a t-shirt, so please sign up early. Applications are available in local stores or by contacting race director Stan Tupaj at stan@fairpoint.net or 925-1500. Registration is also available online at www.Running4Free.com

Visit www.lovell5k.com for more information, photos and past records.

The 5K run precedes the Old Home Days Parade and begins the day’s festivities. Family members are encouraged to cheer the runners along the route, enjoy the parade and participate in all of the activities at the Lovell Athletic Field, including the popular (and free) Lollipop Run for children.