Christmas raffle, fair and luncheon will raise funds for hospital improvements.

LEWISTON – Three well-known local artists have donated art to be raffled as part of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center Auxiliary’s annual holiday fund-raising effort.

Money raised through the raffle will support improvements under way to the hospital’s Intensive Coronary Care Unit.

The artwork includes original paintings from Paul Boucher, Carole Rickards and Sissi Ventrone. All are respected artists from the area with an eye for their subject and detail. Raffle tickets are $1 each, or six for $5.

Boucher is a native of Maine and has resided here all his life. He is an avid lover of camping, canoeing and the Maine outdoors.

Boucher has been painting for more than 20 years. He has studied under various artists, but he is essentially a self-taught artist, which has enabled him to remain true to his own style.

Rickards moved to Maine 22 years ago where her brushes have flourished ever since, capturing nature scenes. She displays her work at fairs, shows, galleries and businesses on a statewide basis, winning prizes along the way.

Over the last quarter century, Ventrone has participated in many art shows throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as her native city, Innsbruck, Austria. She has teaching studios in Auburn and Norway, where she has taught the art of painting since 1978.

Three winners will be drawn on Friday, Nov. 21, in the hospital’s lobby. For more information on the raffle or to obtain tickets visit St. Mary’s gift shop or call 777-8372. The paintings are on display outside the gift shop.

The Auxiliary will hold its annual Magic of Christmas Fair from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday in St. Mary’s main lobby. The fair will include a lobster roll lunch, as well as crafts, baked goods and raffles.

A lobster roll lunch will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Potvin Room. The lunch includes a lobster roll, chip, cookie and spring water for $7.

Fair co-chairwomen are Mildred Bickford and Aline Cosgrove. Committee members include Ellie Delisle, Therese Baumer, Aline Cosgrove, Toni Orestis, Monique Pineau, Simone Paul, Jackie Deschane, Anita Fournier, Florence Boulanger, Tookie Clifford and Vyonne Spaar.

For more information about the fair or lunch, call the Sisters of Charity Foundation at 777-8863.