AUBURN — For the second year, members of the Boys & Girls
Clubs of Southern Maine Auburn-Lewiston Clubhouse have made a calendar featuring stunning pictures of Lewiston-Auburn and the surrounding area.

Calendar art shot by students include a church’s
stained glass windows and a Androscoggin River night reflection by
Alexis Paradis, 11. Roger Charest, 15, shot two pictures of Tumbledown Mountain. Jessica Roy, 11, took artistic shots of downtown
Lewiston and a berry tree. Zariah Marden, 10, shot a scenic picture of a farm in fog; Bashandrea Carithers, 10, a scenic sunset; and Kalib Bilodeau, 9, a “frozen fall” woodlands scene.

The calendar was made possible through a grant program and generous
support from Staples and L-A Arts, said Andie Hannon, the Auburn
clubhouse director.

Students shot the pictures when they were out hiking or participating in their photography club. Some 50 pictures were displayed by L-A Arts, then the public voted on the top 13 that made it on the calendar pages and cover.

Participating in the calendar project gives students a sense of accomplishment “and a connection to their community,” Hannon said. “So often young people don’t see anything of value where they grow up. They can’t wait to get out of here.” Their own pictures prompt them to take a second look at the
beauty around them, Hannon said.

A limited number of calendars are for sale for $10 at the Auburn
clubhouse. Call 782-2446 to check on availability. The clubhouse is
working on putting the calendar online at www.bgcmaine.org.

— Bonnie
Washuk

Meaning of ‘The Three Marys’

LEWISTON — There’s no title on the new painting in the meditation room at The Center for Wisdom’s Women, a drop-in center for women.

The painting is called “The Three Marys” by Maine artist Peter Bals. “It’s on permanent loan here,” said executive director Klara Tammany. Bals didn’t want the painting’s title on it. He wanted it to be open to interpretation.

And it is.

Tammany reported that some look at the painting and see three women emerging from captivity. Others think of the “Three Marys at the tomb of Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James. Still others see Abraham and Islamic meaning.

Tammany thinks of the three nuns who founded the Wisdom Center 10 years ago: Sister Mona Guerette, Sister Irene Arsenault and Sister Maureen Hurley.

She thinks it’s neat that the painting inspires different meanings. “People come in the room and stare at it. They love it,” she said.

— Bonnie Washuk

Casual Friday became college Friday

Dec. 4 was “College Day” in Androscoggin County. In schools, businesses and gatherings, college hats, sweats and shirts replaced more typical school and business clothing.

“We are showing the world that education and college matters here,” said Jan Phillips of College for ME-Androscoggin, during that day’s annual awards ceremony. The banquet room was full of people in college wear from everywhere.

In Auburn teachers hung their college pennants in their classrooms. Bates students and faculty gathered for a huge group photo of everyone in Bates clothing. Grocery clerks, medical personnel, bankers and other businesses replaced casual Friday with college Friday, Phillips said. The result was, Phillips said, “hundreds of conversations about college are going on.”

— Bonnie Washuk