By Kayla Pelletier,Lisbon High School

With the start of this recent school year, and the election of a new president, the class of 2006 has finally saddled up for the long haul to raise the needed funds for graduation events. Previously inactive, the class has shown a wave of zeal from parents and students alike, resulting in an increase in profits which will hopefully secure our graduation and prom. This year we hope will be the start of a more cohesive and enthusiastic effort.

Kicking off the year was the cotton candy sales at the D.A.R.E football game in September, followed by our first bottle drive in November. On December 4, we commanded a booth at the Christmas Craft Fair at the MTM Community Center which included homemade cracked.com neck warmers, and candle lamps, as well as an abundance of other donated crafts. These included handmade ornaments made by Felicia Robishaw, and home made bread sales by Jean Burkhardt & Laurie Thiboutot. We also had two raffles, which included a snowman quilt made by Mary Robishaw and a birdhouse fence donated by Peter and Laurie Thiboutot. Following that was baby-sitting day on December 18, which consisted of baby-sitting for children whose parents were Christmas shopping. Despite the lack of customers, profit is profit, and the class refused to lose face.

We took our new determination on to one of our most successful fundraisers yet: the January 2 bottle drive. Turnout was excellent, as a motley crew of juniors gathered in the student parking lot to receive their bottle drive routes. As tiring as it was to go from door to door, the bottle drive lasted until almost 4:30 in the afternoon when, weary and cold, we brought our bottles to the Bottle Barn for counting. The amount of bottles was incredible, the effort was apparent by the bags and bags of bottles that overflowed the space of the barn and surrounding storage areas. All of the hard work paid off, as we accumulated over eight hundred dollars in pure profit.

Our spirits were quite freshened by this, and we attacked our next fundraiser with a zealous energy. We took on the task of serving lunch as a Scrap booking day at MTM Community Center. Volunteers overwhelmed the kitchen as we manned the bake sale and served lunch to the scrap hookers. The most amazing part was that, there were several juniors present, proving even further the new determination and dedication that is erupting in this class.

Upcoming events look prosperous for the juniors if this activeness is to continue. We are looking forward to a karaoke night and spaghetti dinner on Fri., March 11, as well as Little Caesar pizza sales, a spring yard sale, and a French fry booth at the annual Moxie Day Festival.

Currently, we are conducting a car raffle for a 1997 Volkswagen Jetta donated by Crafts Auto Sales in Lisbon Falls. Proceeds from this raffle are predicted to be high and the future of this class is definitely in the air. For more information about the car raffle, you may contact Donna at 353-6112 or e-mail Lkbme@cs.com.

Thankfully, there are enough students willing to reach for it, that this class stands a fighting chance at reaching our goal of $10,000 by our senior year. If there is anything that can be said about this year for the Class of 2006, it’s that we have most definitely come alive.