PARIS — The public is invited to attend the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Oxford County Soil and Water Conservation District at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at the First Congregational Church of Paris. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. followed by awards and entertainment. The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum of Bethel will present the program for the evening.

Award presentations will be made to the following individuals and businesses:

Partnership Award: Androscoggin River Watershed Council. This spring, ARWC staff played a large role in surveying the Nezinscot River watershed for barriers to fish passage at stream crossings. ARWC also worked with the District helping write the grant proposal for the Ellis Pond 319 Implementation Grant.

Watershed Organization of the Year: Ellis Pond Watershed Council/town of Roxbury. Ellis Pond goes by several names — Roxbury Pond and Silver Lake. When the pond experienced an algal bloom in late 2013, the town of Roxbury formed a group, made up of local and seasonal residents, to address some of the issues that may have contributed to it. EPWC has been instrumental in driving many improvements in town roads, private roads and ATV trails, as well as some logging roads. They approached the District to help them apply for a 319 Implementation Grant that includes funding for up to 15 more projects during the course of the next two years, plus expand upon efforts to educate the area property owners about the ways they can help protect Ellis Pond by managing their land in lake-friendly ways.

Award for Continuing Support of Educational Programs: Maine Balsam Fir and Cooper Farms, Maine Balsam Fir Products, Wendy and Jack Newmeyer. Making balsam sachets is a perennial favorite of the children who attend Agriculture and Conservation Day at Waterford and Oxford fairs. For the past several years Wendy and Jack Newmeyer, owners of Maine Balsam Fir Products in West Paris, have supplied the pre-made calico bags and the ground balsam for this event. Cooper Farms of West Paris has supplied apples and apple cider to support Agriculture and Conservation Day for many years.

Volunteer(s) of the Year: Linda and Laina Pulkkinen. The Pulkkinens have been a behind-the-scenes support team for so many events through the past five years, leading the educational events with the children, setting up (and taking down) portions of the program and even by making the “special recipe” for the Really Big Bubbles! Laina has covered the Balsam Sachet, Fairy House and Outdoor Games stations. Linda has volunteered for any task that needed to be done and covered the registration desk at Oxford Fair.

Winners of the 2015 annual photo contest will be recognized. The first place photo is Highland Cow Grazing by Dottie Bell of Waterford. Photos winning honorable mention are Sunset on Field by Sandy Geddry of Norway; Mist on the Mountain and It’s Going to be a Scorcher by Robert Federico of South Paris.

Certificates and prizes for winners of the 2015 Oxford County Big Tree Contest will be awarded. There will also be a ticket auction. Guests may purchase tickets for a chance on several nice items and certificates.

The 2015 OCSWCD annual reports will be available online by early December.

To reserve seats, call 743-5789, ext. 111, or email: [email protected] by Nov. 28.