School’s out, but don’t be sad

It isn’t just the parents, fearful that their children are moving away to college this fall, and the graduates, dreading leaving all their friends, who get emotional at graduations.

Teachers and administrators can get a little weepy-eyed, too.

I’m not saying that Edward Little High School Assistant Principal Steve Galway was crying. In fact, there wasn’t a tear visible on his face. But as the Class of 2010 was lining up to march on June 5, Galway was quick to say how much he’s going to miss them.

“I’ve seen them from their freshman to their senior year,” Galway said.

He’s happy for the graduates, “but I’m sad too,” he said. “I’ve had four wonderful years with a great group of kids who academically, artistically, athletically are just superlative.”

— Bonnie Washuk

YADA, YADA, YADA

Youth + Adults + Dialogue = Action, otherwise known as YADA, wants to build a community center for teens in Auburn and Lewiston, something within walking distance of the cities’ respective downtowns.

Molly Ladd, a VISTA volunteer at the Lewiston Public Library, is working with YADA to raise money for the group, including the Web-based fundraising Pepsi Refresh Project, which will award a $50,000 grant to the project that garners the most “votes.”

“I think the Lewiston-Auburn community already recognizes the need for more safe spaces for youth,” Ladd said, “and this grant is an easy way for everyone, even if they don’t have a lot of time to help.”

The concept of a teen center emerged from a series of four community “conversations” held in 2007, attended by 100 adults and teens to talk about issues that affect youth in the Twin Cities, according to YADA.

The Teen Community Center Action Group, according to YADA, formed after these conversations and began the process of planning the center. Since 2007, the group has developed bylaws and a mission statement, has established a website and visited other youth centers in Maine to consider its options. Members have been scouting space in each downtown, but don’t yet have any money.

Also in Lewiston, Belinda Anderson, who lives on Pierce Street and considers herself a pseudo-grandmother to neighborhood children, sees a need for a teen center in Lewiston. She’d like to establish one on Pierce Street, in what is now a vacant building, but doesn’t have funding to rent the building.

She has, however, solicited volunteers to help man the center and renovate the building if money becomes available. She’s excited about the possibility of doing something positive for inner-city youth.

For more information about YADA’s project, including how to vote for the Pepsi grant, go to www.yadala.org

For more information about Anderson’s project, call her at 784-7760.

— Judith Meyer

It’s all in the cards

Phil “The Unabomber” Laak Shatters, who set a world record for the most hours of poker played in a single sitting at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on June 7, pledged half of his winnings during the 115-hour game to Camp Sunshine in Casco.

His hours of play beat the previous Guinness World Record by more than an astonishing 75 hours. It wasn’t easy to endure the 4.8-day game, but Shatters had a support team that included someone to make him specialized meals of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean chicken and fish and sweet potatoes every five hours, so he could maintain his energy.

Shatters is a well-known poker figure, recognized for his signature dark sunglasses and a hoody pulled well over his head. Unlike the real Unabomber, Shatters is no recluse, and is known for his chatter at the poker table.

Camp Sunshine is a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses, and Shatters’ niece has attended the camp. His donation of winnings to the camp was $3,383, but he also donated $1,000 he won in a challenge to do 30 pushups some 58 hours into the game.

Among his support team was his girlfriend, actress and poker professional Jennifer Tilly. According to a press release from Camp Sunshine, she was inspired by his commitment to help the camp and to “see what an ordinary man can accomplish if he just sets his mind to it.”

Oh, and “I can’t believe my boyfriend is such a weirdo!”

— Judith Meyer