Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – A fun-filled, family activity Saturday is sure to put people into the Christmas spirit, as well as raise money for the Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum. According to Nancy Chandler, museum president, Lunch with Santa will be held from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Presque Isle Elks Lodge 1954 located at 508 Main St. in Presque Isle.
“We wanted to have a fund-raiser that would involve children,” she said. “Children at Christmastime love to meet Santa and tell him what they would like for Christmas, so we wanted to provide them an opportunity to be able to do that and to have lunch and make it a social event.
“We also wanted to provide activities to showcase some of the different things that we will have in the children’s museum,” said Chandler, “so parents can see what is coming when we build the facility. At Lunch with Santa, we’ll be involving as many of the older kids as possible so they can do peer teaching and activities like face painting and reading to the children, for example.”
The Presque Isle High School Key Club, Haley Smith and other Girl Scouts from Troop 81 will be assisting in the project. Smith, a sophomore at PIHS, is working on her Gold Award and is using the event as part of her project on ABCs of Reading for the Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum.
“Haley’s idea for her Gold Award was to involve children in literacy. She chose 26 books, one starting with each letter of the alphabet, and with each of the 26 books she has an activity affiliated with it,” said Chandler, who is also Smith’s adviser on the project. “For instance, she has one book called ‘Yo-yo’ and she’s got some yo-yos that she has the kids doing some tricks with. She’s got a book about a chocolate moose and she brings a picture of a chocolate moose and the kids color it.
“Haley will be doing this throughout the year. She’ll be going to the ACAP daycare center, the library, the Kiwanis Home and Garden Show and similar places working with the kids on literacy,” she said. “Haley will accumulate 65 hours’ of service time and is involving other Girl Scouts, because leadership is one component in obtaining the Gold Award. She’ll probably have 3-4 books with her at the Lunch with Santa with the activities, so that will be something fun for the children to enjoy.”
At the Lunch with Santa, there will be other activities such as face painting, making bookmarks and writing letters to Santa. A $3 lunch will consist of a hot dog, chips, drink, cookie and cake. For an additional $2, children can have their picture taken with Santa. Raffle tickets for a $1,000 savings bond will also be sold for $1 each or six for $5.
Businesses and organizations that are generously sponsoring Lunch with Santa include the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Elks Lodge, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Country Kitchen of Presque Isle, Lay’s Potato Chips, Caribou Shop and Save, the PIHS Key Club and Girl Scout Troop 81.
“This is an event where families can come to together,” said Chandler. “It’s a great opportunity to spend time together and get in the Christmas spirit. We held a similar event Dec. 5 in Fort Fairfield and it was so wonderful seeing these little children with their parents having an activity to do together.”
In the midst of a capital campaign to raise funds for the Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum, Chandler said the board has been given an opportunity by a Caribou businessman to purchase a building downtown.
“We’d like to do that because it would come that much quicker,” she said. “To build one will cost $2.8 million which is such a huge amount to start raising at this time with the economy in the United States.”
The vision of the Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum is to transform the lives of children and families by awakening their senses to imagination and discovery. Through interactive exhibits, visitors will be able to explore the wonders of science, nature, heritage, and the humanities.
For more information about the children’s museum, log onto www.cariboudiscovery.org.
