Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

The Raymond Age-Friendly Community Connections group was created by volunteers as a way to engage Raymond residents of all ages with each other and to create or expand access to services which would allow residents to age in place.  With the Select Board’s support, Raymond has been accepted into the national Age-Friendly network established by the World Health Organization and AARP.

To raise awareness of the initiative and its goals, the Age-Friendly group held two fundraisers in the late summer.

The group would like to thank the Mosquito Ice Cream Shop for allowing us to set up a booth on their property on the Saturday of a very busy Labor Day weekend as the first fundraiser.  Travis and Darcy McClellan were pleased to support our cause and were gracious in offering space for the booth over the holiday weekend.

The second fundraiser, our First Annual Age-Friendly Yard Sale, was held on the following Saturday at the Sheri Gagnon Memorial Park on Mill Street.  The group would like to thank the Town of Raymond for allowing us to hold the yard sale, which again included an Age-Friendly booth, as well the Raymond residents who sold their goods at the sale. 

For both events, raffles for a bicycle and an inflatable kayak were held.  The bicycle was generously donated by Rick Schaeffer and was won by Sue V, a seasonal Raymond resident; the kayak was donated by a member of the Age-Friendly group and was won by Mike L, a year-round Raymond resident.   The Raymond Village Community Church and the Raymond Village Library loaned tables for both events. 

If you have an interest in hearing more about the Age-Friendly Community Connections effort, please join us for our monthly meetings at the Raymond Public Safety Building on the second Monday of each month at 2 p.m.  Meetings typically feature a presentation on a topic of interest to attendees, including Raymond Fire and Rescue’s discussion of home safety, Opportunity Alliance’s Foster Grandparents initiative, and the American Red Cross’ free smoke detector program.  Many future volunteer opportunities will emerge from these meetings and the survey results.

If you have questions, wish to complete the paper version of the survey or wish to volunteer, please contact us by phone at 655-2222 or by email at agefriendlyraymond@gmail.com.  If you’d like to complete the on-line survey, please go to the Town of Raymond website, and click the Age-Friendly Community Survey logo.  Your input and participation are very important.

Respectfully submitted,

Laurie Wallace and Susan Moore

Age-Friendly Community Connections

Dear Editor,

I am writing for our young kids who can't write for themselves yet. I was hoping to write a happy note about the library's "renovation", but instead this is a sad and upsetting note from a children's perspective and a parent's. How could the library cut the children's area in half (if not more)? This renovation is an outrage. Our children’s section was not big enough for the amount of traffic it would get on days there is story time before, and now they cut the space for a storage closet and a bigger checkout area. How is this ok?

I have to speak out because our children cannot express the looks on their faces when they walked into the "new" library and it had less space. Why is it the children that always get the short end of the stick? Why in a community this large and wealthy, can they do that to our future?

Children today are our future tomorrow. They should be encouraged to read more and have space to have fun in a library so that learning is not cramped and uncomfortable. I truly believe our children deserve more and could have gotten more out of this renovation if they were put as a priority.

My children and I are so glad that this library is not our only option, we have all decided as a family to go to neighboring libraries for their story times instead because of better selection of books, activities and space.

Thank you, 

Simone Emmons

 Dear Editor,

I have known Jennie Butler for many years and she is a quality person who is dedicated to what she believes in. She would make an excellent Legislator.

Roxanne Metayer

Windham

Dear Editor,

Please see this letter as my extremely strong support for Greg Foster to be the next Maine State Representative for Maine House Seat #66, Parts Raymond, Casco and Poland. I write due to my strong support for him as well as after reading a recent letter of support for the current seat holder. It is fair to say both candidates are nice people but Greg stands out in this race by far.

The letter I referenced commended the current representative for working collaboratively with others. In my current experiences in Augusta that has not been evident but even if it is, I do not want representation from politicians seeking to simply pass all the bills. There can be over 2,000 bills presented each session and I would ask you if you are hopeful of getting 2,000 new laws next year? 

Greg Foster comes with strong core values. I would suggest he will filter the proposals and come out to support only legislation that will benefit his community and his state. Greg does not feel the need to pass bills to then put on his resume.

Greg Foster is also different from our current representative in that:

-He is not just showing up, he has a long history of successful service and involvement locally and statewide.

-His core values come from faith, beliefs and life experiences. The other party seems to be confused on any number of present issues confronting us. They are confused on things that have worked for thousands of years. How can you make good decisions when you are confused? Greg’s core beliefs guide him and help him to make good decisions.

-Greg will, within reason, attend all important votes.

-Greg is a leader Now, sometimes at the front but as well in what he does quietly.

-Greg will not just go along with what party leadership tells him. In this current climate of political disagreement, Greg will always do what he believes to be right and best for our community. He is not seeking to be a politician.

I hope you will ask candidates who knock at your door why are you a republican and why are you a democrat? I hope you will challenge their answers. I hope you will send a strong message to say that the party of attacks and illogical ideas must rethink and start again. Please vote for Greg Foster for Maine House 66!

Sincerely,

Mike McClellan

Raymond