What's New?

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Upcoming:

(Your news can be added here: email it to info@keysregion.org

Also check the new calendar at www.the236diner.com While the focus is on South Berwick, many of the items listed are regional.

MAY

May 12, Senior Leadership Coalition, 9 - 11 AM, Meetinghouse Village, Kittery. Review of survey of concerns among York older adults, and discussion of next steps. For more information, contact Ann O'Sullivan at Southern Maine Agency on Aging, 1-800-427-7411.

May 13, Tuesday, 8:30am to 3pm: Boys to Men Annual Conference - Masculinity, Culture and Identity, USM, Portland. If you are the father of a boy of middle or high school age, consider taking the day off from work and school and coming up to Portland for a jam packed day of education and fun. For conference brochure go to http://www.boysconference.org/

May 14, Wednesday, 7:00 pm: – “Getting a Grip”, a discussion of Francis Moore Lappe’s book at Quaker Friends Meeting House, Dover. Information: Heidi Porter 207-384-0048.

May 16, Friday, 8-10:30am, Small Homes, Small Lots: Great Communities
"Building in the New England Tradition" at Foster's Downeast Clambake - 5 Axholm Road (off Rte. 1A) York Harbor, Maine, Cost: $15 - includes continental breakfast, scholarships available. Join your fellow Elected and Appointed Municipal and State Officials, Planners and Housing Developers to learn how our historic "New England Tradition" of community design and building is being revived to help solve today's housing challenges. Learn how smaller homes and smaller lot sizes can minimize development costs and impacts, and help create diverse housing stocks and vibrant communities. Presenters: Architect - Robert Knight, AIA - Knight Architects, Blue Hill ME; Nonprofit Developer - Peter Farrow, Esq., President - Concord Housing Trust, Concord MA; Planner - Steve Burns, Director - Town of York Community Development, York ME. Register by phone at (603) 431-3620 or on-line at http://www.events.unh.edu/register.shtml?event_id=4414
Workforce Housing Coalition 1555 Islington Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 p: (603) 766-3231 info@seacoastwhc.org

May 22, Thursday, 12:30 - 5pm: Smoke-Free Housing and Behavioral Health Workshop hosted by Healthy Maine Partnerships. Those residential care professionals who work directly with the mental health and substance abuse community would benefit from attendance. Find out more and register at: www.smokefreeforme.org/training/

May 23, Friday, 8:30am to 12:30om: Schools - How to Get Started Saving Energy, hosted by Efficiency Maine, www.EfficiencyMaine.com FMI: karen.bickerman@maine.gov

May 30, Friday, 7-8:30pm: Gatherings for Families Raising Children with Special Needs at the Family Resource Center, 518 Rte 1, Kittery, Maine. If you are raising a child with a Special Need, including but not limited to, Downs Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Diabetes, or has Mental Health issues, please join us to share information, resources and support. Meetings will be held the last Friday of the month. FMI contact Marcia at mflinkstrom@comcast.net

SUMMER

Tues. June 3 @ 7:00 pm: Talk by David Korten, author of “The Great Turning, from Empire to Earth Community” at South Church. As Korten writes, “We face a defining choice between two contrasting models for organizing human affairs. Empire organizes by domination at all levels, from relations among nations to relations among family members. Earth Community, by contrast, organizes by partnership, unleashes the human potential for creative co-operation, and shares resources and surpluses for the good of all. It was the human way before Empire; we must make a choice to re-learn how to live by its principles.” Collaboration of South Church Minds Alive! and Green Sanctuary programs, RiverRun Bookstore and the Piscataqua Sustainability Initiative. Information: Peter Randall, 603-431-5667, peter@perpublisher.com.

June 20, Friday & June 21, Saturday: UNH Energy Conference. Kingsbury Hall, UNH Durham. Dr. Paul Werbos of the National Science Foundation will give the keynote address, and a panel discussion will of energy experts from academia, industry, and NH state government will discuss pertinent energy issues. Demonstrations of energy technologies and a variety of topics will be offered, including presentations on power-generation technologies, transportation, energy efficient end-usage, and public policy and economic issues. There is no fee to attend this conference. For more information and to pre-register, contact Dr. Gordon Kraft at (603) 862-1318 or gordon.kraft@unh.edu
http://www.ece.unh.edu/energy_conference/index.htm

Sun. July 20 @ 4:00 pm: Book signing by Bill McKibben, author of "Deep Economy, the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future" with Reception to follow at South Church. The book addresses what the author sees as the shortcomings of the growth economy and envisions a transition to a more local-scale enterprise. Bill McKibben founded Step It Up 2007 and organized 1400 global warming demonstrations across all 50 states on April 14 2007 to demand that Congress enact curbs on carbon emissions that would cut global warming pollution 80 percent by 250. Sponsored by RiverRun Bookstore and Seacoast Local, as part of the "Making the Connection" series, with special co-hosts the South Church Minds Alive! and Green Sanctuary programs, the Rye Energy Committee and Slow Food Seacoast. Information: Judy Miller, 603-433-8572, judymil@comcast.net.

July 23, Wednesday, 12:40-5:15pm Maine Arts Commission Workshops/Discussions at Dunaway Community Center, Ogunquit. Free, no reservations required except for meeting with the "Grants Doctor" - For more information: http://mainearts.maine.gov/events/artME/index.shtml

Ongoing:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine's York County Office is
growing! We are currently recruiting both Bigs and Littles in York County.
Sharon F Trafton, Match Support & Co-Program Coordinator
773 5437 ext 32
cell 207-749-3243
You don't have to change your life to change theirs - Become a BIG TODAY!

The Natural Step for Communities: How Cities and Towns Can Change to Sustainable Practices by Sarah James and Torbjorn Lahti is a book being read and studied in the Piscataqua Region. Participants go to an introductory meeting followed by 8 study circle sessions, and there is no monetary cost other than the purchase of the book. Topics include energy, housing, transportation, business, land use, etc. If you are interested in joining a future study circle in the KEYS Region or in Portsmouth, email info@thepsi.net (PSI = Piscataqua Sustainability Initiative) or go to www.thepsi.net Study Circles are starting in Portsmouth, York, S. Berwick, and Eliot.

Time Bank Organizing in the KEYS Region: Time banking is based on the idea of neighbors helping neighbors. As a time bank member, you earn time dollars doing things you like to do for another time bank member. Then, you can use those time dollars having another member do something for you. FYI: www.yctb.org or contact Tory Leuteman toryl@yccac.org , 324-5762 x2951

Support Group for Families Raising a Child with Special Needs: Meets the last Friday of each month, in the evening. For more information call 207-384-5041 or email mflinkstrom@comcast.net

Coastal NH Adoptive Families Network From Julie Burke:

Coastal NH Adoptive Families Network, based in Portsmouth, reaches as far as South Berwick to Andover Mass. and anywhere in between if the families are willing to drive for our gatherings. We were orignally an online group that has grown to 60 and we meet up and have playdate monthly, book club, discussion group and will be doing larger events come summer to that reach out to adoptive families of all types and our communities, as well as working on Grants to get more info on adoption in the local seacoast libraries.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNHAF/ Or Contact Julie Burke @ jlcoffey1274@yahoo.com

Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grant: the Environmental Protection Agency announced in May 2007 that the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission was the recipient of a one million dollar Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grant. SMRPC will provide the funds to businesses and municipalities in the region to aid in the assessment, clean up and redevelopment of former industrial/commercial sites in downtowns and villages throughout the region. For more information, contact Paul Schumacher or Chuck Morgan at 207-324-2952.

Old but Good

School Merger Citizen Forums and Meetings - Reports

Short Summary Report on first three forums (webpage); Kittery Forum 10/23 Report (webpage or pdf), Marshwood Forum 10/29 Report (webpage), York Forum 11/1 Report (webpage), and all towns Informational Forum 11/13 7pm at Kittery Trading Post Conference Room (feedback form responses/webpage). January 1, 2008 update (webpage). March 13, 2008 update

• KEYS Our Future by Design webpages are released for use!

The OUR FUTURE BY DESIGN Webpages are ready to use!! (Click on any topic to the left to see the new pages.)

On October 20, 2006, the two-year project "KEYS: Our Future by Design - Better Together" released its web-based report to the public. Instead of a static printed report, these webpages share, in a form that can continue to grow and develop, the results of the process, from vision and plans to accomplishments, next steps, indicators, and resources. You can see the new pages by clicking on any of the links to the left, and read the October 20th article about the project in The Weekly Sentinel, here: front page pdf and page 11 pdf .

Comments about and suggestions for the new webpages are welcome and may be sent to info@keysregion.org

• Information and Referral for York County is on the phone and online!

www.211Maine.org is now up and running! This is a huge new listing of resources! "Get connected! Get answers!" And now you can also dial 211 for information. It's a free call, and Thanks to United Way of York County for this news, and for being a big part of creating this new resource!

• The Workforce Housing Coalition June 2006 Forum

The WHC of the Greater Seacoast region (including the KEYS towns) held a dynamic forum on June 23, 2006. Check their website http://www.seacoastwhc.org/ for monthly meeting times. Below are some of the newsprint drawings, made collaboratively at separate tables during the visioning process. There was a remarkable similarity in the community visions of those present, with an emphasis on citizens being involved in the design process to address housing, transportation, and land use in the context of sustainable, rapidly growing communities.