JAY — Town leaders are seeking volunteers with the skills needed to address community needs.

Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said she, Town Clerk Ronda Palmer, Financial Director Lisa Bryant and Police Chief Richard Caton IV have been attending a training program through the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area and Service Enterprise Points of Maine.

“Our goal is to develop a volunteer program to benefit the community,” LaFreniere said Monday night at a selectpersons meeting.

Information on the effort was sent to residents with another mailing.

The idea is to get people engaged in what is going on in the town. It is not meant to replace workers; it is trying to get more people involved in the community and to understand what the selectboard does, LaFreniere said.

Caton is interested in reinstating Neighborhood Watch programs the department had when there were more officers, she said.

The volunteers would not be paid.

LaFreniere talked with Trevor Doiron of Jay, president of the Spruce Mountain High School Chapter of the National Honor Society. Doiron, a junior, told her that students who belong to the society are required to do community service.

Doiron spearheaded the start of the Tri Town Community Garden at the middle school in 2012, which continues to this day. The produce is donated to the Tri-Town Ministerial Association Food Cupboard in Livermore Falls. The cupboard serves Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls.

Other examples where volunteers could help include:

• developing the volunteer program;

• adopt-a-spot;

• gardening;

• seasonal recreational opportunities; and

• serving on boards and committees.

If someone is skilled in putting a town report together, their help is welcome, too. The 2015 report is available at the Town Office.

The Jay Recreation Committee, with help from other community members, put on this year’s Spruce Mountain Sled-In and Winter Family Festival in February. It was pulled together in less than a month, and people had a good time in spite of the freezing temperature, she said.

Anyone interested in volunteering may visit the Town Office on Main Street, call the office at 897-6785 or email LaFreniere at jmanager@jay-maine.org.

 dperry@sunmediagroup.net

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