Grange party

AUGUSTA – The Junior Department of the Maine State Grange will hold a Christmas party at Maine State Grange Headquarters, 146 State St., from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18.

Children ages 5 to 14 are invited. There will be games, fun, food and a visit from Santa. Each guest is asked to bring an item for the food bank and a small gift to exchange ($3 limit) marked with the age it is appropriate for and whether it’s for a girl or boy. For more information, contact Sue Hackett at 666-8849 or [email protected].

January workshops

AUBURN – Central Maine Community College, Corporate and Community Services announces its January workshops. To register or for more information, call 755-5280 or visit www.cmcc.edu/training. Programs can be customized for business/organization and delivered onsite.

The workshops will include a Health Care Leadership Institute; Accelerating Team Productivity; Propane Natural Gas; High Pressure Boiler Operator; and PLC and Motor Controls.

Calendars ready

ORONO – The 2006 North Country Garden Calendar is off the press. Developed every year by Extension specialists from the University of Maine, the University of Vermont and the University of New Hampshire, the illustrated wall calendar contains daily garden-related tips specifically timed for New England.

The 2006 edition includes information about using water to attract wildlife, protecting plants from deer, using native trees and shrubs and watching wildlife. There is also information about how to access Extension publications, soil testing labs and plant diagnostic services.

To order the calendar, send a check or money order payable to University of Maine Cooperative Extension to Garden Calendar, UMaine Extension, 495 College Ave., Orono, ME 04473. Calendars are $6 each or $4 each for 10 or more. For more information, call (800) 870-7270.

Project funding

PORTLAND – The largest collaborative arts project in Maine’s history, “The Maine Print Project: Celebrating 200 Years of Printmaking in Maine,” has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation.

The grant will support an innovative series of exhibitions, education programs and a symposium about all aspects of Maine printmaking. Organized by the Maine Print Project, a statewide collaboration of 25 art museums and nonprofit arts institutions, the project will take place from August 2006 through February 2007.

The exhibitions, on view from Ogunquit to Presque Isle, will feature prints from the early 19th century to the present.

In addition, the project will offer a special series of education programs and a symposium featuring Maine printmakers, historians of Maine printmaking and other artists and scholars.

The project will publish an illustrated history of Maine printmaking, to be written by David P. Becker, a distinguished scholar of printmaking.

A list of participating institutions can be seen at www.maineprintproject.org.

Teachers named

AUGUSTA – The Maine Education Leadership Consortium announces Maine teachers who have recently achieved national board certification with the help of $2,300 grants for application to the year-long process.

The area teachers are Jane Blais, Sabattus Elementary School, Sabattus; Lisa Galgay, Hartford-Sumner Elementary School, Buckfield; and Idella Harter, East Auburn School, Auburn.

The funds were made possible by members of the Maine Leadership Consortium, Maine State Legislature and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

There are now 92 teachers in Maine who have achieved certification. It is one of the highest honors bestowed