FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2010 VOL. 2 NO. 231 PORTLAND, ME PORTLAND’S DAILY NEWSPAPER 699-5801

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Christmas refl ections

See Bob Higgins’

column on page 4

Again it comes: The dreaded

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See Curtis Robinson’s column on

page 5

Boles named new manager of Sea Dogs

See Sports, page 15

Enough composted refuse came out of Deering Oaks Park pond to fi ll two two-story houses, and the job still isn’t done, city offi cials reported of a major clean-up effort this month.

Ultimately, the city is in line for a $1.2 million federal grant to line the bottom of

the popular pond, a permanent answer to the siltation issue.

Earlier this month, Portland Department of Public Services crews brought in the heavy equipment for a major clean-up effort at the landmark pond to improve water quality and prevent structural damage.

“Our focus was really to get rid of the soil and leaf matter and the debris,” said

Public Services Department Director Michael Bobinsky. “We were pleased we were able to schedule that work in a late fall, early winter before we get into major storm events. It’s an example of the talent of our employees that can actually do those kinds of things. It’s also a partnership with Friends of Deering Oaks.”

Deering Oaks pond prepped for $1.2M upgradeBY DAVID CARKHUFF

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

see POND page 9

Portland’s Victoria Mansion, the Italian villa style residence on Danforth Street, is an opulent example of mid-nineteenth century American architecture any time of year, but during Christmas, the 150-year-old building is transformed by teams of local designers into a holiday spectacle that would make a pre-Civil War-era Clark Griswold proud.

Through Saturday, Jan. 8, Victoria Mansion will present its annual Christmas at Victoria Mansion, with this year’s decorations refl ect-ing the stanzas of the classic holiday carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

“This is the biggest annual event we put on, and it’s grown exponentially over the years. It started out as a two-day event, and now it goes for six weeks,” said Thomas Johnson, Victoria Mansion director.

The rooms of the Victoria Mansion, normally decorated in exacting historical style and fea-turing 90 percent original furnishings, are nearly unrecognizable for the holiday season, with feathers, snow and pine boughs creeping across the traditional Victorian decor.

“The rooms are transformed this time of year,” said Johnson.

“Without decorations, the drawing room on the fi rst fl oor’s major colors are gold gilt and red. To walk into it right now, it presents a very very cool silver and blue feeling,” he said.

The drawing room was decorated by local fl o-rist Harmon’s and Barton’s, who have helped to decorate a room since the seasonal tradi-tion’s inception in 1984.

Christmas in the MansionVictoria Mansion transformed for ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’

BY MATT DODGETHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

LEFT: The main staircase of Victoria Mansion is decked out for the his-torical residence’s annual Christmas at Victoria Mansion, a six-week event which concludes Saturday, Jan. 8. (MATT DODGE PHOTO)see MANSION page 8

“This is the biggest annual event we put on, and it’s

grown expo-nentially over the years. It started out

as a two-day event, and

now it goes for six weeks.” — Thomas Johnson, Victoria

Mansion’s director

Page 2 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

CHICAGO (AP) — Rahm Emanuel forged ahead with his campaign for Chicago mayor Thursday after an elec-tions panel ruled his name can appear on the Feb. 22 ballot, rejecting arguments the former White House chief of staff for-feited his city residency when he went to work for President Barack Obama in Washington.

The decision of the Chicago Board of Election Commission-ers removed a major obstacle to Emanuel’s ambitions to replace retiring Mayor Rich-ard M. Daley, and Emanuel said it allowed him to “turn the page” and focus on issues more important to voters.

“It reminds . . . everybody what the priorities are facing the city, which is about safer streets, strong schools and stable city fi nances so we can create the economy and busi-ness environment so we can produce the type of jobs we need in this city,” Emanuel said after greeting diners at the landmark Berghoff restau-rant downtown.

More than two dozen people had challenged Emanuel’s can-didacy, contending he didn’t

meet a requirement that he be a resident of Chicago for a year before the election. An attorney for some vowed to immediately appeal the ruling and fi ght all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court if necessary.

Board hearing offi cer Joseph

Morris ruled early Thursday morning that evidence show-ing Emanuel had no intention of terminating his residency in Chicago, left the city only to work for Obama and often told friends he intended to live in Washington for no more than

two years.Morris said Emanuel’s name

should be placed on the ballot, and the elections board agreed later in the day.

Emanuel is among a crowded fi eld of candidates, including former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, former school board president Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle.

Late Thursday afternoon, State Sen. James Meeks, the pastor of a South Side mega church, said he was dropping out of the race and urged the other African-American candidates — which include Braun and Davis — to do the same.

Meeks, a Democrat, said the city was too divided and the remaining candidates should appeal to a caucus of black leaders so they can choose a candidate and not divide votes.

“As long as our community remains divided and splintered —to the specifi c advantage of the front-running, status quo candidates — we will never see things improve,” Meeks said in a statement. “We need to speak with one voice.”

Election board: Emanuel can run for Chicago mayor

Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel shakes hands at the Berghoff Restau-rant before a press conference, Thursday, in Chicago. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners ruled Thursday that the former White House chief of staff can run for Chicago mayor although he spent much of the last two years living in Washing-ton while working for President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

DENVER (AP) — The Obama adminis-tration plans to reverse a Bush-era policy and make millions of undeveloped acres of land once again eligible for federal wil-derness protection, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday.

The agency will replace the 2003 policy adopted under former Interior Secretary Gale Norton. That policy — derided by some as the “No More Wilderness” policy — stated that new areas could not be rec-ommended for wilderness protection by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and it opened millions of acres to potential commercial development.

That policy “frankly never should have happened and was wrong in the fi rst place,” Salazar said Thursday.

Environmental activists have been pushing for the Obama administration to restore protections for potential wilder-ness areas.

Salazar said the agency will review some 220 million acres of BLM land that’s not currently under wilderness protection to see which should be given a new “Wild Lands” designation — a new fi rst step for land awaiting a wilderness decision. Con-gress would decide whether those lands should be permanently protected, Salazar said.

Congressional Republicans pounced on

the “Wild Lands” announcement as an attempt by the Obama administration to close land to development without congres-sional approval.

“This backdoor approach is intended to circumvent both the people who will be directly affected and Congress,” said Washington Rep. Doc Hastings, a Repub-lican tapped to lead the House Natural Resources Committee when the GOP takes control of the House in January.

The Congressional Western Caucus, an all-Republican group, also blasted the decision. “This is little more than an early Christmas present to the far left extremists who oppose the multiple use of our nation’s public lands,” Utah Rep. Rob Bishop said in a statement.

BLM Director Bob Abbey said it hasn’t been decided how many acres are expected to be designated as “Wild Lands” and whether those acres will be off-limits to motorized recreation or commercial devel-opment while under congressional review. It’s also unclear whether there will be a time limit on how long acres can be man-aged as “Wild Lands” before a decision is made on their future.

The BLM has six months to submit a plan for those new wilderness evaluations.

These “Wild Lands” would be separate from Wilderness Study Areas that must be

authorized by Congress. Wild Lands can be designated by the BLM after a public plan-ning process and would be managed with protective measures detailed in a land use plan.

Ranchers, oil men and others have been suspicious of federal plans to lock up land in the West, worrying that taking the BLM land out of production would kill rural economies that rely on ranchers and the oil and gas business.

Their suspicions have been heightened since memos leaked in February revealed the Obama administration was consider-ing 14 sites in nine states for possible pres-idential monument declarations.

That included 2.5 million acres of north-eastern Montana prairie land proposed as a possible bison range, along with sites in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington.

The 2003 policy was an out-of-court deal struck between Norton and then-Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt to remove protections for some 2.6 million acres of public land in that state.

The policy allowed drilling, mining and other commercial uses on land under con-sideration as wilderness areas.

Salazar’s reversal doesn’t affect about 8.7 million acres already designated as wilderness areas.

Wilderness rules restored for public lands––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– WORLD/NATION–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– DIGEST––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Critics slam

wedding coin

SAYWHAT...The Wedding March has a bit of

a death march in it.”—Brian May

LONDON (AP) — That’s Kate Middleton? Britain’s Royal Mint on Thursday released a commemorative coin featuring portraits of Prince William and his bride-to-be, but critics said the results were far from lifelike.

Images of the couple on the memento bear little resemblance to either the prince or his 28-year-old betrothed. Middleton appears plump in the face and lips and has bags under her eyes, while some critics suggested William looks more like former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Available in silver or gold, the 5-pound ($7.70) coin — which costs 9.99 pounds ($15.40) to buy — marks the April 29 wedding of the second-in-line to the British throne.

“This coin is of histori-cal importance, to get it so wrong seems ridicu-lous,” Ingrid Seward of Majesty magazine told Britain’s Sky News.

The Royal Mint said the coin was designed by its in-house engrav-ing team and insisted the portraits had gone though “a rigorous approval process.” Both the Queen and Prince William had given their consent to the design and staff had used photos of the couple to produce the images, the mint said in a state-ment.

“The inspiration for the design came from pho-tographs of the couple at a sporting event,” the mint said.

Dickie Arbiter, a former royal spokesman, said it is often difficult to pro-duce accurate images on a coin.

Engravers man-aged a better likeness of William’s father and mother, Prince Charles and Diana, the Princess of Wales, in an official coin released to mark their 1981 wedding. In 2008, the mint released another coin to com-memorate Charles’ 60th birthday.

“The Royal Mint has been recording histori-cal events for over 1,100 years,” said Dave Knight, of the Royal Mint.

The coin is the latest official merchandise to celebrate the royal wed-ding. William’s office has also already approved a souvenir tankard, plate and pill box that feature the couple’s entwined initials, the prince’s coronet emblem and the date of the wedding.

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THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010— Page 3

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PORTLAND (AP) — The Pakistani man detained in Maine during an investigation of a botched car bombing in New York City’s Times Square no longer faces deportation and is pursuing permanent resi-dence status so he can remain with his wife in South Portland, his attorney said Thursday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement dropped its deportation request last month for Mohammad Shafi q Rahman of South Portland, said Cynthia Arn, his immigration attorney.

Rahman was one of three Pakistani men detained May 13 in New England during the Times Square investigation. He was held for 15 weeks on a visa violation before being released in August. The man who has admitted to leaving an SUV rigged with a homemade bomb in Times Square on May 1, Faisal

Shahzad, has been sentenced to life in prison.“Clearly, a determination has been made there’s

nothing controversial about this case any more as far as immigration is concerned,” Arn said.

Rahman’s former employer, Larry Adlerstein, expressed frustration with the federal bureaucracy over the slow pace of the immigration proceedings.

“This did not have to take so long. It was very obvi-ous that a Pakistani person is low on the totem pole as far as justice in his country. And I’m embarrassed for our country,” said Adlerstein, owner of Portland-based Artist & Craftsman Supply, a company with more than a dozen stores from Portland to Los Angeles.

Adlerstein said he’s loaning money to Rahman to help pay administrative costs for obtaining his green card and to help Rahman with back rent to

avoid being evicted.An Immigration and Customs Enforcement offi -

cial didn’t immediately return a call from The Asso-ciated Press.

Because of Rahman’s lengthy detention, Adler-stein had to hire a replacement computer program-mer. But he said he plans to make room for Rahman on his staff. “I have an obligation to Shafi q to make up for the injustices he has suffered at the hands of our bureaucracies,” he said.

Rahman’s wife, Sara, didn’t immediately return messages. Adlerstein said she proved her devotion by sticking with Rahman during some tough times. “I think Sara has proved their love. Their relation-ship is stronger for the experience. That’s the feeling I get,” he said.

ICE drops deportation request for Maine man

Hoping to reduce prescription drug abuse in the state, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency awarded $158,683 to four drug prevention pro-grams, according to MDEA Director Roy McKinney.

The funding comes from a federal $1.1 million forfeiture as a result of an international marijuana smuggling ring that MDEA helped to break up in 2004. The money awarded to the four agencies was the maximum allowed under the forfeiture guidelines.

“Prescription drug abuse has reached epidemic proportions in Maine and the four agencies receiving the funding will help to reduce and prevent the misuse of these drugs,” McKinney said.

Agencies receiving the funds include the Peoples Regional Opportunity Program of Portland, the Kennebec County Sheriff ’s Offi ce, York Hospital and the Maine Judicial Branch.

PROP will use the $54,724 in funds to support it’s Communities Promot-ing Health Coalition (CPHC) program, using a social marketing campaign to increase awareness of the risks asso-ciated with the misuse of prescription drugs, particularly to young adults in Cumberland County.

The Kennebec County Sheriff ’s Offi ce will use its $63,414 allotment for its Bi-County Safe Collection & Disposal of Prescription Drugs proj-ect, which will work to reduce abuse in Kennebec and Somerset counties through a three-part program aug-menting existing prevention efforts.

The program will involves placing drug drop-off boxes in 12 local police departments, replicating an existing drug offender registry which shares information about individuals con-victed locally for drug violations and giving it to providers and pharmacies in southern Kennebec and Somerset counties and training 20 people as prescription drug educators who will

train 200 others in drug misuse pre-vention efforts.

York Hospital will use $25,000 for its project to reduce prescription drug abuse in York County by working with three Healthy Maine Partnerships in the county. That effort will involve increasing community awareness, improving the ability of schools, police,

parents and health care providers to increase youth safety and increasing and improving regional drug prevention efforts by law enforcement, substance abuse coalitions, health care providers and schools. The Maine Judicial Branch will use $7,545 for its Forensic Case Management Services to the Maine Co-Occurring Disorder Court.

Maine DEA awards funds for drugs prevention

Eric Lusk (left) and Bob Tancredi man the Salvation Army Red Kettles at Tommy’s Park earlier this month for Harborview Invest-ment. Last year the Salvation Army helped 29 million people and served 64 million meals, according to the group’s website (http://give.salvationarmyusa.org). The Red Kettle campaign had raised $1.05 million toward a $3 million national goal as of Thursday, according to the group’s website. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

Reaching toward the goal

DAILY SUN STAFF REPORT

Vets groups to qualify for fed. surplus donations

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Veterans groups are now on the list of those in line for millions of dollars’ worth of federal government surplus items — from computers to snowmobiles — given away every year.

A bill signed by President Barack Obama on Wednesday adds the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans to the list of potential recipients.

Last year, $410 million worth of surplus was given to states to distribute under the U.S. General Ser-vices Administration’s federal surplus personal property donation program.

The program funnels used-but-still-usable gov-ernment equipment — including trucks, televisions, offi ce equipment — to states and sometimes directly to the recipients. It’s not free. Typically, the receiving organizations have to pay between 6 percent and 30 percent of the value of the item to handle transpor-tation or administrative expenses.

“Allowing veterans’ groups to participate in the federal property donation program is a valuable use of property that the taxpayers have already bought, and another way to help thank them,” said David Robbins, director of the GSA’s General offi ce of per-sonal property management, which oversees the program.

“It’s part of our overall theme of fi nding benefi cial uses for property the government no longer needs. Veterans are well-deserving of being able to partici-pate,” Robbins said.

Page 4 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

Looking back, I suppose I should give a Christmas gift to the city of Portland.

Becaues, overall, this hasn’t been too bad of a year. The econ-omy has been a bit frightening of late, and my day job slows down considerably in the fi rst few months of the new year. That means a diminished income, but thankfully, this year, I’m ready for it.

Looking back at over 20 years of debauchery, heavy drinking, partying like a rock star, and generally doing almost any-thing that seemed like fun, I’m actually lucky to still be sitting up and drinking water from a cup.

I have friends who are fi ght-ing addictions of all sorts, and I’m thankful that the only mon-keys on my back are the ones that crave nicotine, donuts and other deep-fried foods. Occa-sionally, the beer monkey chirps in these days, but I’ve been able to club that simian into a stale-mate submission. Call it a best two out of three on the pinfall.

I’ve had good luck with this column. Friends are now cluing me into news when they hear or see it, before calling anybody else. I’ve gotten a few surprising stories, just by being in the right

Christmas refl ections

place at the right time with my laptop, and relatively sober.

Further proving that life ain’t fair, I’m even in reasonably good health. Sure, like everyone else, when climbing the big hills I tend to wheeze a bit, but I still have just enough teeth in my head to enjoy the tastiest cashews that seem to appear only this time of year. Those, and the particularly tasty walnuts, are the taste of winter for me.

I’m thankful that my own per-sonal mid-December housing crisis was averted. I was stubborn and stupid enough to convince myself that I would “rather sleep in my truck” in the long winter months than resort to asking for help. At the last minute, I was able to borrow enough to get into a place, and didn’t have to resort to sleeping in the bone-chilling cold Maine winter.

Over the course of the last year, I’ve even become more optimistic. I’ve always been a

glass-half-empty kind of guy, more importantly an observer of the fact that the glass was a half-empty beer. That all sort of changed over the course of the year, for reasons I have yet to understand. I can still get snarky with the best of them when point-ing out some bizarre policy or city oversight, but I can still see that a lot of good is getting done.

This year, towards the end of the summer, I stopped “help-ing” karma. Maybe that was the thing that did it. When someone had done me wrong, I always took delight in the turning of the tide, sometimes coming up with devious and dastardly plans that sought to give karma a push in the right direction. I realized this year that the uni-verse doesn’t need my help. If someone wronged me, I’ve tried to shrug it off with a Lebowski-ish “Well, whatever man. That’s, like, your opinion.” Not always successful, I’ve tied to stay on the dude-ism path.

I’m thankful that I still notice things. More columns came from wandering down the street and noticing some-thing odd or out of place. Port-land is a good city for that. You

see HIGGINS page 5

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– COLUMN ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

––––––––––––– LETTERS TO THE EDITOR –––––––––––––

Bob Higgins–––––

Daily Sun Columnist

Portland’s FREE DAILY NewspaperCurtis Robinson Editor

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With rail, don’t think in isolationEditor,What follows is the same message that I sent to Rep.

Chipman. I applaud him for his support of rail transpor-tation (“Train fans embrace trends,” Dec. 23). I am a fre-quent rider on the Downeaster and once worked on it, so understand the benefi ts. I have met the TrainRiders and NNEPRA folks and know they do not plan or think in a vacuum. They know, in order to make rail service success-ful, they have to tie into bike paths, pedestrian and bike trails, in addition to addressing the needs of the passen-gers with autos. Unfortunately, the folks hosting the brief-ing on the Mountain Division line DO plan in a vacuum.

I am an avid recreational walker and member of the Maine chapter of a national volkswalking club. Some of my favorite volkswalks are the ones I get to by riding the Downeaster and then connecting to the MBTA. You men-tioned the exciting future possibility of taking the train to Sebago to camp. Yes, let’s also take the train to walk, hike, or bike. I applaud you for making the connection between public transportation and accessing recreational areas, trails and pathways. We need more conversations like this.

But, there could be nothing to take the train to if we continue to think in isolation as narrowly as the folks did at the briefi ng. I was very disappointed, for example, that you did not mention the existing rail-with-trail along the Mountain Division line. Take a walk or bike ride on the Mountain Division Trail and you will meet other walkers, bikers, or even a horse rider or two. Yet, there was no men-tion of this in your article. If we are applauding efforts to reduce traffi c and highway costs, the solution is to fi rst recognize the need for a transportation policy that is broader than just auto, rail, and bus. It has to include bike and pedestrian access like a complete streets approach.

Unfortunately, the bond issue that provides track improvements to the MD line de-railed the completion of the Sebago-to-the-Sea Trail (which links to the Moun-tain Division Trail) because the designers of the bond and the folks hosting the briefi ng fail to see the connec-tion between the return of rail service and non-motorized forms of recreation and commuting. They think too nar-rowly. Had they approached it from a more inclusive vision, funds would have been set aside in the bond to complete rather than de-rail the STTS trail. I mentioned this to one of the representatives from the Lake Region. His response was, we couldn’t afford to add the trail. So, this a train to where?

Every policy conversation re rail or any other form of motorized transportation should be an inclusive one — heavy rail, light rail, bus, auto, bike and pedestrian. Oth-erwise, you will be planning in a vacuum as the highway people did years ago when they put rail service out of business. Let’s not help the Mountain Division line folks make the same mistake.

Get “onboard” with a comprehensive vision like com-plete streets.

Marilyn RussellPortland

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010— Page 5

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Appreciating the million tiny things that go right in a yearcan be wandering about, and see something from a slightly askew view than you ever seen it before.

Luckily, the part of the brain that makes you want to keep up with cur-rent trends is on the side that got dam-aged in a motorcycle accident a few years back. I’ve never seen anything “smart” about buying a “smartphone,” as they are perhaps the dumbest items I’ve ever seen. When the power dies out, your entire connective net-work is inside the brick.

Also, I’ve managed to avoid the twin plagues of toe-socks and the latest fad, toe-sneakers. In both cases, the indi-vidual tootsies have their own area all to themselves. Portland has far too many brick sidewalks for me to be walking around in the sneakers, and

a friend of mine suggested to me that ten individualized compartments of stench for my feet was simply going too far.

Everyone wants to win a million dol-lars on the lottery for Christmas, or even the new year. Though that might be a life-changer, I’ve come to appreci-ate the million tiny little things that go right over the course of the year. For every “bad” day someone had this year, I bet, with just a little looking, you could fi nd at least one good thing that hap-pened that day, like the free coffee you got at the store that morning.

My gift to Portland is this: Every-thing is about perception. Find that one small thing every day, and that is the real winning lottery ticket.

(Bob Higgins is a regular contribu-tor to The Portland Daily Sun.)

HIGGINS from page 4

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– STAFF OPINION –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

see ROBINSON page 6

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ll get to the column after a few programming notes.

First, in celebration of Christmas, The Daily Sun will not publish a Saturday (Christmas Day) paper this week. So read this one slowly. We will resume our regular Tues-day-through-Saturday schedule next week.

Secondly, for fans of Heidi Wen-del’s serialized column/novel “The Port City Chronicle” there’s good news. Year one of the adventures of Gretchen Reingren, the 45-year-old (still?) lawyer living atop Munjoy Hill, and her family is available as a book, “Getting Off The Earth” (image at left). You can fi nd it at Longfellow Books and online at blurb.com (tip: type “Getting Off The Earth” into the search box. Or you

This time of year can bring the dreaded ‘s-fl u’

Page 6 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

Support your H.O.M.E. Team! Support your H.O.M.E. Team! Ever wonder when somebody is going to do something about the clearly troubled or horribly intoxicate d people who sometimes make our streets difficult? Well, if you know about the “HOME teams,” you know somebody already is. And with great success.

It’s a simple idea: Trained teams who know what social services are available literally walk the beat, engaging merchants and street people and defusing problems. For shop keepers, it means a way to deal with a problem short of calling the cops – and it means a better, faster, cheaper access to help for those who needs it.

The HOME – or Homeless Outreach and Mobile Emergency – teams, are putting up impressive numbers (as reported in The Daily Sun): In the HOME team area – mostly downtown and in the Bayside neighborhood – the Portland Police Department reports a 23 percent drop in calls involving people who are intoxicated;

• Police report a 55 percent drop, in that same area, in what are called “layouts,” meaning people too drunk to stand;

• About 3,000 contacts with homeless or other street people, with 68 percent of those contacts involving people who were thought to be intoxicated.

• A 14 percent citywide drop in calls involving intoxicated people;

• And, perhaps most importantly, 787 HOME clients were transported to the Milestone detox center. That number will likely be considered a direct diversion from ambulance service, at about $450 per transport, and overnight stays at the

Mercy Hospital emergency room at a cost of $1,500 per night.

This weekend, more than 40 businesses are donating part of their holiday-season revenue to support the HOME Team. And another challenge is just letting people know that they exist. That’s why we’re publishing this ad every week until further notice. The numbers document the success, but ask your downtown neighbors about the effectiveness and you will likely find another HOME team to support.

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–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– OPINION –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

can email the author at hwendel@portlanddailysun.me.

And look for an announcement about the resump-tion of the column soon. ...

Now, it’s time for my annual health warning:It’s different for everyone, but sometime this

weekend most of us will shift from Christmas season mode to New Year’s Day mode.

It’s seldom pretty.First, we can expect to be bombarded next week

with all those year-in-review lists, reminding us that time marches on. By next weekend, we’ll have been totally infected with that series of ideas I’ve decided to call “Signifi cance Flu.”

The dreaded s-fl u can begin almost casually, per-haps with wearing more black and pausing at IFC while chan-surfi ng for old episodes of “Friends.” Next thing you know, you’re playing Leonard Cohen CDs in the car and wondering if those dusty poetry anthologies are still in the basement (what was that thing in “Song of Myself” about looking backward at our days ...). Or maybe you fi nd yourself fi nally understanding the subtle bowling analogy in “The Big Lebowski.”

And why not? Because of some quirk of the cal-endar, we have just been called upon to conjure up perfect gifts, refl ect with wisdom upon the year just passed and somehow resolve to improve this random sequence of space-time called “our life.”

Toss in some “time marches on” quest for signifi -cance, and you got yourself some real trouble.

Just as swine fl u is much like other fl u-like ill-nesses, Sig-Flu is much like your standard “got the blues.” The key is how bad the fever becomes.

In an oft-cited case, a 23-year-old female with a

healthy meditation practice went from “get new yoga mat” to a fever spike: A three-week spiritual tour of India, complete with leaving her job and apartment. Curry rehab alone will take years.

The last time we spoke, she noted that the little houses in the middle of certain ponds contain ducks that both exist and don’t and live in both the past and future, similar to some sort of cat.

So here again are some of the warning signs of too much signifi cance:

• Your weekend goals advance from “laundry,” “pick up milk” to include “run Boston Marathon.”

• Your bedside copy of People Magazine has been replaced with “War and Peace” ... again.

• Jon Stewart suddenly seems like a made-up comedy news show.

• Fox News seems like a real news show.• You actually mail that PBS pledge check.• That tat of an Irish eternity knot turns out not

to be temporary.• Instead of online tech school, you fi gure Har-

vard makes more sense.• Dialog from the novel in your head starts to

seem as good as a Seinfi eld episode ... again.• You wear black for fashion reasons and not

because it hides red wine stains.• You actually dig the old poetry journal out

from under the tax-receipt boxes. WARNING: This is a Stage II S-fl u symptom and requires immedi-ate action.

The real tragedy is that treatment is both effec-tive and cheap. Proven holistic techniques include:

• Share your goals and dreams — especially those involving a new commitment to “getting into shape” and literary aspirations — with spouses and/or siblings. The resulting dose of laughter and soul-crushing reality can usually remove all symptoms of looming signifi cance.

• Excessive New Year’s Eve alcohol consump-tion. While this treatment initially increases symptoms, the resulting social humiliation and energy-draining hangover are cures for signifi -cance on any level.

• If you have kids, realize that your signifi cance is really dependent on them — they’ll need more after-school training. And you will never be cool.

• If you don’t have kids, borrow some from your friends. Nothing cures unhealthy quests for sig-nifi cance like dealing with potty training setbacks at the mall — it’s the whole literal underscoring the fi gurative thing.

If all else fails, you can always just ride out the fever, write the poems, listen to the conversations in your head, go to India.

Just realize that you ain’t coming back to normal.

(Curtis Robinson is editor of The Portland Daily Sun. Contact him at curtis@portlanddailysun.me.)

ROBINSON from page 5The dreaded s-fl u can begin almost casually, per-haps with wearing more black and pausing at IFC while chan-surfi ng for old episodes of “Friends.”

Next thing you know, you’re playing Leonard Cohen CDs in the car and wondering if those dusty poetry

anthologies are still in the basement (what was that thing in “Song of Myself” about looking back-ward at our days ...). Or maybe you fi nd yourself

fi nally understanding the subtle bowling analogy in “The Big Lebowski.”

Quest for signifi cance an annual affl iction

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010— Page 7

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Page 8 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

Based on the “seven swans a swimming” verse of the holiday carol, the drawing room has been a crowd favorite this year, with fake fl uffy snow, blue lights and ceramic swans creating a wintry tableau on the fl oor.

“With the feathers and the blue and the silver, it’s gorgeous and not something you’d see anyplace else,” said Ruth Caron of Wind-ham, who was returning for the second year with Virginia Sands of Wells.

“I think it’s absolutely beauti-ful, it’s just gorgeous to see the details and colors and it puts you in the holiday spirit to see all the different decorations that we could never even imagine doing,” said Caron.

Sands said the annual visit gives her inspiration for her own holiday decorations.

“I may take a piece of it here and there,” she said.

The sitting room’s “nine ladies dancing” by Blue Elephant Cafe & Catering of Saco is another crowd favorite this year. Inspired by the ballet “Swan Lake,” the room features a fl uffy mat of pearly snow, and female manne-quins in various states of trans-formation between lady and waterfowl.

Other deco-rators include O’Donal’s Nurs-ery, Portland bou-tique Emerald City and Dodge the Florist.

This year’s Christmas at Vic-toria Mansion has been the biggest on record, accord-ing to Johnson, with 420 people traipsing through the Mansion last Saturday alone, smashing the previous single-day record of 225.

“We’re fi nding a lot of people who were brought here as children are now bring-ing their own children back. It’s become a tradition for many Portland area families,” he said.

Being the single largest event in support of the Mansion, design-ers and staff start planning the holiday tradition during summer.

“This is a year round thing for us — in July we’re thinking Christmas around here,” said Johnson.

“The attendance income from this goes a long ways towards helping us preserve and restore the mansion,” he said.

Built in 1860 as a summer resi-dence for New Orleans luxury hotel owner Ruggles Sylves-ter Morse, the residence was purchased by dry goods merchant Joseph Ralph Libby in 1893 and became known as the Morse-Libby Mansion.

William H. Holmes and sister Clara turned the Mansion into a museum to honor Queen Victoria in

1941, transferring control to The Victoria Society of Maine Women in 1943, earning the building the name “The Victoria Mansion.”

The Victoria Mansion was named a U.S. Department of the Interior National Historic Land-mark in 1971.

“This is absolutely the premier pre-Civil War era house in Amer-ica, it has no equals. The furnish-ings are 90 percent original, the interiors really meticulously pre-served, it’s really a landmark in American architecture and we’re so fortunate to have it right here in Portland,” said Johnson.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Victoria Mansion attracted a record number of visitors, 420 people, last Saturday. ABOVE: The “eleven pipers piping” in The Green Room of Victoria Mansion all take the form of tiny Santa Claus fi gurines hidden throughout the room. TOP RIGHT: The kitchen of Victoria Mansion features 12 drummers drumming as part of this year’s theme for Christmas at Victoria Mansion, based on the popular holiday carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” MIDDLE RIGHT: A stained glass window at the top of the mansion’s main stair-case features Maine’s state seal (top) and Louisiana’s state seal (bottom). Built as a summer residence by wealthy New Orleans hotelier Ruggles Sylvester Morse, the residence became a National Historical Landmark in 1971. BELOW, INSET: The lamp in the Victoria Mansion’s Turkish smoking room was hung by a pulley which could lower the fi xture so cigars could be lit on its gas torches.

MANSION from page one

LEFT: “Five Gold Rings” decorate the main hall of Victoria Mansion. The stained glass ceiling once caved in during a hurricane, exposing the mansion to the ele-ments for a full year before the ceiling was replaced.

Historic site gets decked out

Photos by Matt Dodge

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010— Page 9

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“They knew they weren’t going to fi nish the whole job by winter, so I think they’re going to fi nish the northern corner in the springtime,” said city spokesper-son Nicole Clegg.

Toys, a bicycle and a lot of bot-tles came out of the pond — “We have families that play around there, and things can roll into the pond,” Clegg noted.

“It’s consistent with what hap-pens sometimes in ponds and lakes with people who may dis-card things,” agreed Bobinsky.

Some areas of the pond yielded 2-foot-deep composted material, leaves and debris from stormwa-ter run-off. Over the years, this organic materials releases nutri-ents into the water during decay, triggering large algae blooms during the summer months that deteriorated the quality of the water, city offi cials explained.

A grant is reserved in the city’s name for $1.2 million from

the Environmental Protection Agency to allow a solid lining on the bottom of the pond. The local match is 45 percent, or $540,000. The city’s match has been placed in next year’s Capital Improve-

ment Plan. Next year’s CIP will likely be considered by the Port-land City Council next fall, Clegg said.

Bobinsky said the city just needs clarifi cation on the ear-mark to make sure the money can be spent on the solid bottom; cleaning out the refuse this winter laid the ground work for that improvement.

“It’s a precursor to a future design of a solid bottom that will allow the city to improve the maintenance of that pond in the future,” Bobinsky said. “The city has an earmark that’s reserved for the city through Sen. (Susan) Collins’ offi ce, it’s actu-ally through a grant through EPA that will allow the engineer-ing and design and the material to construct some solid bottom whether it’s concrete or some material that will not be as dif-fi cult to get all the material out that comes with runoff.”

Meanwhile, the pond will be refi lled to allow for ice skating during the holidays.

About those lights ... “Six years ago, in 2002, the Friends of Deering Oaks fi rst introduced its seasonal lighting display, designed by local artist, Pandora LaCasse, to bring light and beauty to the park during the bleak winter months,” write Friends of Deering Oaks on their website (http://deeringoaks.org/index.shtml). “Focused on the pond, the display includes forms in two shapes. The light-ing color combination has changed every year. In 2005, a special additional display was created in the massive Cande-labra Tree, the largest Pin Oak in the State of Maine.” Again this year, visitors to Deering Oaks can enjoy the fl oating lights.

POND from page one

City crews trim the grass at Deering Oaks near the park’s popular pond in spring of 2009. (DAVID CARKHUFF FILE PHOTO)

Deering Oaks Park pond yields a bicycle, toys and bottles as crews dredge the bottom

Page 10 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

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HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You respect words and have a rich vocabu-lary. You’ll pick up a few more choice terms as you spend time with a book or in conversation with a particularly expressive someone. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). If you never refl ect on your past, you won’t have an understanding of how far you’ve come. But if you spend too much time refl ecting, you won’t go any-where new. Strike a balance. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You have an excellent imagination, though today you won’t have the luxury of let-ting it run wild. You’ll need to tame it in order to concentrate on the important business of the day. CANCER (June 22-July 22). You like order, but you’re not a slave to it. When things get out of place, don’t rush to clean up the mess. Savor it fi rst. It’s evidence that change and growth, essentially life, have happened. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You have been known to leave your belongings in other people’s territory. This reminds them of you after you have left. But will the remembrance be positive? That depends on what you leave behind. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The work that’s before you is rather exact-ing. Luckily for everyone involved, you fi nd this kind of thing relaxing. In one afternoon, you’ll get through what would take others a week to accom-plish. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Your public image gets a boost now. You don’t mind being the center of atten-tion, especially when you are the one most qualifi ed to explain or exemplify the main reason for the gathering.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You are highly responsible and wouldn’t dream of shirking your duties. How-ever, when someone offers to handle a responsibility, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t share the burden. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). There’s a time to say “let’s go” and a time to say “no, thanks.” You’re no stranger to trouble, but you know better than to seek it out. A friend who is less experienced will need your guidance. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Though you usually fi nd it appropriate and necessary to put business fi rst and emotions second, your heart is softer now -- so soft, in fact, that you may be able to feel the feelings of others. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You don’t like to talk a lot and draw atten-tion to yourself. However, there are times when it’s important for you to speak up -- like today, when you have the information that everyone else needs to know. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You tend to be quiet around people you don’t know, especially when those people are boisterous and rowdy. As much as you’d like to join the party, you have to fi rst be sure that it’s a party worth joining. TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Dec. 24). The friendships that mean so much to you make for laughs, fun times and travel. But you’re also more business oriented than ever. You fi nd goals that excite you and pursue them with passion. Your vision becomes more real because of the work you do in January. Greater freedom is yours in March. Leo and Scorpio people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 8, 2, 14, 32 and 49.

ACROSS 1 Male child 4 Furry swimmer 9 Turn over 13 Small bills 15 Ill-mannered 16 Venetian beach 17 Twofold 18 Shaped like a

tepee 19 Frothy drinks 20 Wonder; theorize 22 “The Beehive

State” 23 Invalid; void 24 Actor Aykroyd 26 Surrounded by 29 Entwining 34 Whittles 35 Goatee locations 36 Sticky stuff 37 Slightly open 38 Sprained arm

support 39 Insulting remark 40 Go bad

41 Glances over briefl y

42 Flip-fl op 43 Giving medical

care to 45 Gloomy 46 Acrobats’ building 47 “Sport of Kings” 48 Flooring piece 51 Gap in time 56 Nation in the

Middle East 57 Goodyear

products 58 Prescription 60 Word of warning 61 Still breathing 62 Certain 63 Stops 64 Fend off 65 May honoree

DOWN 1 Turf 2 Burden 3 __ tide

4 Sorcerer’s fi eld 5 __ dolls; fads of

past decades 6 Albacore, e.g. 7 Correct a

manuscript 8 Like a balding

man’s hairline 9 Show off 10 Rhythmical swing 11 Concept 12 Luxurious 14 Thin 21 Use bad words 25 Beast of burden 26 Separated 27 Main fi eld of study 28 Hot under the

collar 29 Object 30 Is victorious 31 Home of snow 32 Parts of speech 33 Overeat 35 Extended family 38 Sword with a

DAILY CROSSWORDTRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

curved blade 39 Burial garments 41 Pig’s home 42 Peal 44 Secret __; spies 45 Crumb 47 Annoy 48 Laundry deter-

gent brand 49 Press clothes 50 Terra fi rma 52 African river 53 Stumble 54 Bongo, for one 55 Foreign dollar 59 Ruby or topaz

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 thru 9.

Solution and tips at

www.sudoku.com

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Yesterday’s Answer

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010— Page 11

FRIDAY PRIME TIME DECEMBER 24, 2010 Dial 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 5 CTN 5 Profiles The Build Drexel Int. Bike TV Penny Dreadful’s Shilly Shockers

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News Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s

7 WPFOMovie: ›‡ “Are We Done Yet?” (2007) Ice Cube. Premiere. A bizarre contractor complicates a family’s move to the suburbs. (In Stereo)

News 13 on FOX (N) Fra-sier “Frasier Grinch”

According to Jim Å

8 WMTWDisney Prep & Landing

Phineas and Ferb Christmas

Movie: ›› “The Santa Clause 2” (2002) Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell. Santa must get married in order to keep his job. (In Stereo) Å

News 8 WMTW at 11 (N)

Nightline (N) Å

10 MPBNGreat Performances “Dance in America: San Fran-cisco Ballet’s Nutcracker” San Francisco Ballet’s interpretation of “The Nutcracker.” Å

Christmas With the Mormon Tabernacle-Natalie Cole

Charlie Rose (N) (In Stereo) Å

11 WENHAntiques Roadshow

NH Out-look Å

Happy Holidays: The Best of the Andy Wil-liams Christmas Shows

Christmas With the Mormon Tabernacle-Natalie Cole

Christmas at Concor-dia: Journey to Beth-lehem Å

12 WPXTSmallville “Lazarus” (In Stereo) Å

Supernatural Dean is suspicious of Samuel’s motives. Å

Entourage “Neighbors”

TMZ (N) (In Stereo) Å

Extra (N) (In Stereo) Å

Punk’d (In Stereo) Å

13 WGMECSI: Crime Scene Investigation “Unshock-able” Å (DVS)

CSI: NY “Redemptio” Hawkes confronts a tragic secret. Å

Blue Bloods “Smack Attack” Three teens die from a drug overdose.

WGME News 13 at 11:00

A Christ-mas for Everyone

17 WPME Monk (In Stereo) Å Monk (In Stereo) Å Curb Earl Star Trek: Next

24 DISC Dirty Jobs Å Dirty Jobs Å Dirty Jobs Å Dirty Jobs Å

25 FAM Santa Claus, Town Year Without a Santa Rudolph’s Shiny Year The 700 Club Å

26 USA National Movie: ›› “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” (2007) Movie: “The Pacifier”

27 NESN Outdoors Outdoors Outdoors Outdoors Connects Outdoors Connects Connects

28 CSNE Celtics Classics From May 26, 1987. Sports Sports Tailgate Patriots

30 ESPN College Football Sheraton Hawaii Bowl -- Hawaii vs. Tulsa. From Honolulu. (Live) SportsCtr

31 ESPN2 College Basketball College Basketball NFL Live

33 ION Criminal Minds Å Criminal Minds Å Criminal Minds Å Criminal Minds Å

34 DISN Movie: “Santa Buddies” (2009) George Wendt. Phineas Fish Suite/Deck Suite/Deck

35 TOON Tom & Jerry: Nutc. Save Christmas King of Hill King of Hill Fam. Guy Fam. Guy

36 NICK “Merry Christmas” My Wife My Wife Lopez G. Martin The Nanny The Nanny

37 MSNBC Countdown Rachel Maddow Show The Last Word Countdown

38 CNN Parker Spitzer (N) Larry King Live Å CNN Presents: After Jesus: First Christians

40 CNBC Ford: Rebuilding Trash Inc: The Coca-Cola New Age of Wal-Mart

41 FNC The O’Reilly Factor (N) Hannity (N) Greta Van Susteren The O’Reilly Factor

43 TNT Movie: ››‡ “The Holiday” (2006) Cameron Diaz. Å Movie: ››‡ “This Christmas”

44 LIFE Movie: “A Boyfriend for Christmas” (2004) Å Movie: “Under the Mistletoe” (2006) Å

46 TLC Cmas Lights Cmas Lights Crazy Christmas Lights Cmas Lights

47 AMC Movie: ›››› “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) Movie: ›››› “White Christmas” (1954) Å

48 HGTV White House Hunters Hunters Hunters Hunters Hunters Hunters

49 TRAV Ghost Adventures Ghost Adventures Ghost Adventures Ghost Adventures

50 A&E Criminal Minds Å Criminal Minds Å Criminal Minds Å Criminal Minds Å

52 BRAVO Movie: ››› “Casino Royale” (2006, Action) Daniel Craig. Premiere. ››› “Casino Royale”

55 HALL Movie: “Battle of the Bulbs” (2010) Å Movie: ›› “Eloise at Christmastime” (2003)

56 SYFY WWE Friday Night SmackDown! (N) Å Star Trek: Next Star Trek: Next

57 ANIM Planet Earth “Caves” Planet Earth Oceans. Planet Earth Å Planet Earth Oceans.

58 HIST Pickers Pickers Pickers Pickers American Pickers Å American Eats Å

60 BET Movie: ›‡ “The Perfect Holiday” (2007) Å BET 30: Movements and Moments Å

61 COM Movie: “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” “Harold & Kumar Escape”

62 FX Movie: ››› “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” Movie: ››› “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!”

67 TVLND ›› “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” Roseanne Roseanne Å Roseanne

68 TBS Movie: ›››› “A Christmas Story” (1983) Å Movie: ›››› “A Christmas Story” (1983) Å

76 SPIKE “Star Wars-The Phantom Menace” Movie: “Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones”

78 OXY Law Order: CI Law Order: CI Law Order: CI Law Order: CI

146 TCM Movie: ››› “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947) Å Movie: ›››‡ “Make Way for Tomorrow”

––––––– ALMANAC –––––––

Today is Friday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2010. There are 7 days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve.

Today’s Highlight in History:On Dec. 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 astro-

nauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.

On this date:In 1809, legendary American frontiers-

man Christopher “Kit” Carson was born in Madison County, Ky.

In 1814, the War of 1812 offi cially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.

In 1851, fi re devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.

In 1865, several veterans of the Confed-erate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn. called the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1871, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Aida” had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces as part of Operation Overlord.

In 1980, Americans remembered the U.S. hostages in Iran by burning candles or shin-ing lights for 417 seconds — one second for each day of captivity. Karl Doenitz, the last leader of the Third Reich following the sui-cides of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, died in West Germany at age 89.

In 1990, Canadian teenager Tammy Homolka died after being drugged and sexu-ally abused by her older sister, Karla, and Karla’s fi ance, Paul Bernardo.

One year ago: The Senate passed health care legislation, 60-39, in the chamber’s fi rst Christmas Eve vote since 1895. Sean Gold-man, a 9-year-old boy at the center of a fi ve-year custody battle on two continents, was fi nally turned over to his American father, David Goldman, in Brazil. A woman jumped barriers in St. Peter’s Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he was walking down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass; the pope was unhurt.

Today’s Birthdays: Songwriter-band-leader Dave Bartholomew is 90. Author Mary Higgins Clark is 83. Recording com-pany executive Mike Curb is 66. Rock singer-musician Lemmy (Motorhead) is 65. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is 64. Actor Grand L. Bush is 55. Actor Clarence Gilyard is 55. Actress Stephanie Hodge is 54. The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is 53. Rock musician Ian Burden is 53. Actor Anil Kapoor is 51. Actor Wade Williams is 49. Designer Kate Spade is 48. Rock singer Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) is 47. Actor Mark Valley is 46. Actor Diedrich Bader is 44. Actor Amaury Nolasco is 40. Singer Ricky Martin is 39. Author Stephenie Meyer (“Twilight”) is 37. “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest is 36.

ACROSS 1 Old name of

Thailand 5 Earnest request 11 __ Aviv-Jaffa,

Israeli 14 Top-drawer 15 Musical tour

employee 16 Lennon’s beloved 17 Fish out of water 19 Put to some

purpose 20 Of Chilean

mountains 21 Set of points, in

math 23 Sheriff’s followers 26 Rustling sounds 28 “Rosemary’s

Baby” writer Levin 29 Incessantly 33 Depend (on) 34 Doofus 35 Scale notes 37 __-bitsy 40 Colorado tribe 42 Country occupied

by China 43 Short letter 44 Green of Austin

Powers movies 45 Hired killers 47 Chum 48 Tall tale 50 Traditional tales 51 Down with a bug 52 Similar things 55 Rubes 57 Valletta’s nation 58 Madagascar

primates 62 State north of Nev. 63 Dog in the manger 68 Title for a knight 69 Part of a BLT 70 Sea east of the

Caspian 71 Bad actor 72 Fashion modes 73 Tilly and Ryan

DOWN 1 America’s uncle 2 Debt letters 3 Word in

partnerships 4 Flat-top hills 5 Hot and dry 6 Roman Catholic

leader 7 Head Smurf 8 Idyllic gardens 9 Melodic tune 10 Nielsen of

“Airplane!” 11 Elephant in the

room 12 Follow in order 13 Fertile loam 18 Struck with a bent

leg 22 Singer K.T. __ 23 Holier-than-thou 24 Speak pompously 25 Canary in a coal

mine 27 Wordsmith 30 Casting a ballot 31 Clapton or Idle 32 Mutineer 36 Offi ce missive 38 Celery unit 39 Hollers

41 Commandment verb

46 Former Indian leader

49 Cooks with dry heat

52 Pennsylvania Mennonites

53 Gymnast Comaneci

54 Viscous 56 Submission to the

will of Allah 59 Lat. list-ender 60 Deal (out) 61 ETs’ rides 64 Kitty 65 Mine extraction 66 Old Gray Mare 67 Aerial RRs

Yesterday’s Answer

DAILY CROSSWORDBY WAYNE ROBERT WILLIAMS

Page 12 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN CLASSIFIEDS

DOLLAR-A-DAY CLASSIFIEDS: Ads must be 15 words or less and run a mini-mum of 5 consecutive days. Ads that run less than 5 days or nonconsecutive days are $2 per day. Ads over 15 words add 10¢ per word per day. PRE-

MIUMS: First word caps no charge. Additional caps 10¢ per word per day. Centered bold heading: 9 pt. caps 40¢ per line, per day (2 lines maximum) TYPOS: Check your ad the fi rst day of publication. Sorry, we will not issue credit after an ad has run once. DEADLINES: noon, one business day prior to the day of publication. PAYMENT: All private party ads must be pre-paid. We accept checks, Visa and Mastercard credit cards and, of course, cash. There is a $10 minimum order for credit cards. CORRESPONDENCE: To place your ad call our offi ces 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 699-5807; or send a check or money order with ad copy to The Conway Daily Sun, P.O. Box 1940, North Conway, NH 03860. OTHER RATES: For information about classifi ed display ads please call 699-5807.

CLASSIFIEDS • CALL 699-5807

Prickly City by Scott Stantis

ANNIE’S MAILBOX Dear Readers: Merry Christmas to one and all. In honor of the holiday, here is a short poem, author unknown: May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, The gladness of Christmas give you hope, The warmth of Christmas grant you love.

Dear Annie: There are some wonderful people in this world, but it seems we only hear about the bad things that happen. On October 10, I went to New York with a bus group to see a Broadway musical. The bus arrived early to give us some free time to explore the city. My friend Carl and I went to look at the shops inside a hotel and have a sandwich before show time. The hotel had a huge automatic revolving door, each section capable of holding several people. Carl went into one section, and I followed in the next one. As I entered, my shoe caught on something and I fell fl at on the fl oor. I am nearing 80 and have two bad knees. There was no way I could get up, and the door was still moving. As I crawled along, I looked up to see two darling little hands reaching down to help me. The little boy could not have been more than 9 or 10. He wasn’t quite strong enough to pull me up, but fortunately, another Good Samaritan behind me got his arms under mine, and the two of them got me to my feet. I never saw the person behind me. I was rather dazed. I hope you will allow me to use your column to thank him and also to express my gratitude to that wonderful boy who was so courageous and thoughtful to help a stranger in need. His little hands will live in my heart forever. My thanks also to the boy’s mother and father, because children learn kindness from their parents. I will always remember them -- and all

New Yorkers, who sometimes get an undeserving bum rap. I hope they read this and know that I thank them from the bottom of my heart. -- Nancy in Fort Myers, Fla. Dear Nancy: What a charming thank-you note. We hope they see it, too. Dear Annie: This is for “Loving and Missing All at the Same Time” and all parents of freeloading children. I am a 28-year-old male who was spoiled growing up. My every wish was entertained. No surprise that when it came time to spread my wings, I failed to launch. I was terrifi ed of growing up and its attendant responsibilities. I tried moving out a few times, but never took it seriously because I knew my safety net (my parents) was always there to bail me out. When I lived with them, I was a disrespectful and lazy slob who never contributed to the household. My loving parents, especially my mother, put up with it for many years, but they fi nally put their collective foot down. Because they stood up to me, I can proudly say that I am a man. I now live in a lux-ury apartment with my wife. We take pride in our place and keep it spotless. Money is tight, but I manage my fi nances and work hard. I can now say no to myself because my parents fi nally did. And I have a better relationship with them and the rest of my family now than I did before. Please, parents, don’t be afraid to say no to your children. They will thank you for it later. -- Riverside, Calif. Dear Riverside: You are a rare bird to recognize how in-dulged you were and how that swift kick enabled you to grow up and get your act together. Not all children are mature enough to appreciate that kind of parental guidance. Bravo.

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to: anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

Animals

CHIHUAHUA pups and 18month old tiny female. FMI call(603)723-9973.

SHIH-TZU and Shih-Tzu crosspuppies, health and tempera-ment guaranteed. Non-alergic,$350 & $450. (603)539-7572.

Animals

HAVE you noticed meat pricesrising? Buy bulk and save!We’re selling half or whole pigsraised on quality grain and pas-ture until 1/2/11. (207)445-2141or see Emma’s Family Farm-Quality Meats and talk about anorder Friday from 11am-4pm at28 Monument Square.

Autos

BUYING all unwanted metals.$800 for large loads. Cars,trucks, heavy equipment. Freeremoval. (207)776-3051.

MARK’S Towing- Free junk carremoval. No keys, no tires, noproblems. Late models.(207)892-1707.

For Rent

PORTLAND- Danforth Street, 2bedrooms, heated, newlypainted, hardwood floors.$ 8 5 0 / m o . C a l l K a y(207)773-1814.

For Rent

PORTLAND- Maine Medical-Studio, 1/ 2 bedroom. Heated,off street parking, newly reno-v a t e d . $ 4 7 5 - $ 8 5 0 .(207)773-1814.

PORTLAND- Munjoy Hill- 3 bed-rooms, newly renovated.Heated, $1275/mo. Call Kay(207)773-1814.

PORTLAND- Woodford’s area. 1bedroom heated. Newly in-stalled oak floor, just painted.$675/mo. (207)773-1814.

For Rent-Commercial

PORTLAND Art District- 2 adja-cent artist studios with utilities.F i r s t f loor . $325 -$350(207)773-1814.

For Sale

CHICKEN, grass fed beef, andpork! Available Fridays from11-4pm at Emma’s Family FarmStand, 28 Monument Square.

This advertising spaceavailable.

Printed in 15,000 newspapersdaily. $5 a day/obo*

Call 699-5807 to place an ad.

Furniture

$110 twin or full mattress setnever used 396-5661.

3PC king Mattress set must sellall new $200 call 899-8853

A new queen mattress set $125factory sealed 899-8853

BLACK leather sofa brand newworth $1100 take $475 call 396-5661

Help Wanted

SALEBAAN Motors, 235 St JohnSt, Portland, (207)541-9088. Me-chanic wanted, 10 years experi-ence needed, well paying job$14-20/hr.

Looking To Rent

MONTH to month- Conservativeretired Teacher seeks first floorrental. Freeport to Scarborough.Call (207)523-0495.

Real Estate

PEAKS Island- 71 Luther St.1880’s Greek Revival, 4 bed-room, 2 bath, $389,000. Ownerbroker. (207)766-2293.

Roommate Wanted

SCARBOROUGH- Room for rentin luxury home. Private bath,cable, shared kitchen, parking.$450/mo. (207)883-1087.

Services

ASTROLOGICAL readings/coun-seling, deeply personal, for youonly, 40yrs exp. John McLaugh-lin (207)522-4465 Leapin Lizards(207)221-2363.

HELPING Hands House Clean-ing, 10 plus years experience.Dependability with a smile. CallBecky (207)252-9679.

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Wanted To Buy

I buy broken or unwanted lap-tops. Cash today. Up to $100 fornewer units. (207)233-5381.

Gifts stolen from Salvation Army center in northern Maine community

HOULTON (AP) — Police in a northern Maine town are investigating the theft of Christmas pres-ents and toys from a Salvation Army community center.

Salvation Army offi cials in Houlton said Thursday that the pilfered items were donated by residents and destined for children who might otherwise wake up Christmas morning with little or nothing under the tree.

Maj. Hermas Pearl told the Bangor Daily News somebody went through some of the gift bags and stole the most expensive items, including jewelry, cosmetic bags and cosmetics, dolls and video games. She was still working to determine all that was stolen.

Pearl said she is scrambling to see what she can do to replace the items, and that it’s not too late for people to donate gifts.

Maine Democrats upset over hiringAUGUSTA (AP) — Maine Democrats are reacting

harshly to news that the 22-year-old daughter of Gov.-elect Paul LePage is getting a job in her Republican father’s administration.

Lauren LePage will work as an assistant to LePage’s chief of staff, John McGough, and will be paid about $41,000 a year.

Executive Director Mary Erin Casale of the Maine Democratic Party calls the hiring a “brazen display of political nepotism” and wants to know who else was considered for this position and how was it advertised. LePage offi cials say Lauren LePage’s position is entry-level and commensurate with her

experience, work history and education. Spokes-man Dan Demeritt says she worked on policy issues during the campaign and is managing policy and constituent concerns during the transition.

Rightful owner of lost $2,200 foundAUGUSTA (AP) — A 41-year-old central Maine

man is earning praise after fi nding the rightful owner of $2,200 in cash he found in a parking lot.

Joseph Gaboury of Readfi eld found the money last week outside a Lowe’s store in Augusta. Before leav-ing, he gave Lowe’s employees his name and number in case anybody called looking for the money.

Gaboury told the Kennebec Journal he got a call the next day from Peter Brown of Hampden, who had stopped at Lowe’s on his way to Boothbay to buy a snowmobile. Brown told Gaboury the cash must have fallen from his jacket pocket.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– STATE BRIEFS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010— Page 13

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– EVENTS CALENDAR–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

see next page

Friday, Dec. 24

Longfellow House Holiday Tours10 a.m. “Bring your family and friends and step back in time to the 1800s! See the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s childhood home — decorated for the holidays!” Through Dec. 31, tours run every hour. Last tour leaves at 4 p.m. when the Longfellow House closes at 5 p.m., and at 1 p.m. when it closes at 2 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; Last tour leaves at 4 p.m. today (Dec. 24); Dec. 31, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., last tour leaves at 1 p.m. Visit www.mainehis-tory.org.

Christmas Eve Services at Hope.Gate.Way 4 p.m. United Methodist communities of Hope.Gate.Way (on the ground fl oor of the Gateway parking garage, just beyond the Eastland Park Hotel at 185 High St.) announced the church is offering three distinct Christmas Eve worship celebrations: 4 p.m. — Family Flashlight Celebration: designed for fam-ilies with young children. Bring a fl ashlight (or we’ll have glowsticks) to use instead of candles. 6 p.m. — Candlelight Celebration: candles, carols, and Communion, designed for all ages. 11 p.m. — Silent Night, Holy Night: a quiet, medi-tative celebration, with candles, carols, and Communion, ending just in time to usher in Christmas Day. http://www.newlightportland.org/#/worship

Christmas Eve Candle Lighting7 p.m. Christmas Eve Candle Lighting by Unity Church of Greater Portland, 54 River Road, Windham. “This ceremony focuses on the wonder of our lives and the promise of our future. The candle lighting event is a spiritual acknowledge-ment of the light within each of us and within ourselves. It faces the future with hope and optimism for the spirit that fl ows though us all. This journey of our light unfolding will be told through many of the traditions of Christmas; the Christ-mas Story and our Christmas Carols.” For more information about Unity or its events, please contact the church offi ce at 893-1233 or visit www.unitygreaterportland.org.

Nutcracker Burlesque at the St. Lawrence Arts Center7:30 p.m. It’s time again for Nutcracker Burlesque at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress St. “Come see the show that started it all! This year’s show brings new cho-reography, a new story, and sexy new dances to the stage at St. Lawrence. Don’t miss your chance to see the show that was selected by The Portland Phoenix as ‘Portland’s Best Annual (hopefully) Event.’” Tickets are $12, on sale at Longfellow Books or online at www.vividmotion.org. They go fast, so get yours early! Shows are Friday through Sunday, Dec. 17-19 and Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 21-23. This year’s show is sponsored by Warren Memorial Foundation, Shipyard Brewing Company, Gorham Self-Storage, Longfellow Books, and The Portland Phoenix. “Director Rachel Stults Veinot, weaves together a story of love and lust to create a world where true love fi nds a way to bring two people together. This year, our main character Clara, played by none other than local favorite Amy Gieseke (rhymes with whisky), fi nds herself throwing yet another fes-tive holiday party for friends; including her new boyfriend, Big Guns Antonowicz as the Rat King, and his wandering eyes.” www.stlawrencearts.org

The Polar Express7:45 p.m. The Polar Express will come to life again in a whole new way when the Maine Narrow Gauge train departs its Portland depot for a journey to the “North Pole.” Holiday decorations along the train’s route will light up the night as guests on board meet the conductor, have hot chocolate and cookies (may not be suitable for patrons with food aller-gies), listen to a reading of the magical story over our sound system, and sing carols. Santa will ride back with everyone to the train station from a special outpost of the North Pole and every child will receive the special bell on board the train. This event is the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad’s big-gest annual fund raiser. https://tickets.porttix.com/public/default.asp

Sunday, Dec. 26

Phyzkidz! at SPACE Gallery2 p.m. Phyzkidz! Norman Ng, Drew Richardson, Yo-Yo People come to SPACE Gallery. “In the grand tradition of vaudeville, Acorn Productions has assembled a line-up of world-class performers from all over the country to enter-tain kids of all ages with a unique blend of expert juggling, incredible illusions, mystifying magic, unbelievable feats of dexterity, and side-splitting physical comedy.” $12 adults; $10 students/seniors; $8 kids 12 and under, all ages. www.acorn-productions.org/pages/Phyzgig2009.html

‘My Dog Tulip’ screening at Movies at the Museum2 p.m. “My Dog Tulip” at Portland Museum of Art as part of the Movies at the Museum series. Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m.; also Sunday, Dec. 26, 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 2, 2 p.m. “Beautifully animated and featuring the voices of Christopher Plummer, the late Lynn Redgrave, and Isabella Rossellini, My Dog Tulip is a bittersweet retrospective account of author J. R. Ackerley’s 16-year relationship with his adopted Alsatian, Tulip. A pro-found and subtle meditation on the strangeness that lies at the heart of all relationships, My Dog Tulip was written, directed, and animated by award-winning fi lmmakers Paul and Sandra Fierlinger and is the fi rst animated feature ever to be entirely hand drawn and painted utilizing paperless computer technology.

Monday, Dec. 27

‘Celebrate Kids’ vacation camp10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Celebrate Kids” vacation camp, Dec. 27-31 for kids ages 8-14. Register today. Arts and crafts, movies, activities and more. Space is limited. Old Port Play-house, 19 Temple St. Portland. (207) 773-0333. For more info go to oldportplayhouse.com

Acorn Productions’ annual Phyzgig festival11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Acorn Productions announces its annual Phyzgig festival, a celebration of physical comedy and vari-ety entertainment for the family, will take place in downtown Portland between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2010. The week includes six Main Stage Vaudeville Shows at the Portland Stage Company (including two shows on New Year’s Eve), eight Phyzkidz shows at SPACE Gallery and a rare appearance by Phyzgig’s Artistic Director and Peaks Island resident Avner the Eccentric, who will be performing his full-length show for the fi rst time in four years in Port-land. Tuesday the Phyzkidz shows are at SPACE Gallery. www.phyzgig.org or www.acorn-productions.org/pages/Phyzgig2009.html

Tuesday, Dec. 28

Holiday Vacation Day Camp10 a.m. A Holiday Vacation Day Camp for kids from Dec. 27-31 at the Old Port Playhouse. The day camp will run Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday, 10

a.m. to 2 p.m. Kids ages 8-14 will do a variety of activities each day includ-ing arts & crafts, jewelry making, fairie houses, games, movies, cooking and other special activities that put the “F-U-N” back into vacation! The cost is $225 per kid with discounts for more than one kid per family. Camp is held in a safe, secure and healthy environment with a professional staff.

For more information, call 773-0333. Space is limited so sign up today. Old Port Playhouse is located at 19 Temple St. in Portland. oldportplayhouse.com

Acorn Productions’ annual Phyzgig festival11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Acorn Productions announces its annual Phyzgig festival, a celebration of physical comedy and variety entertainment for the family, will take place in downtown Portland between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2010. The week includes six Main Stage Vaudeville Shows at the Portland Stage Company (including two shows on New Year’s Eve), eight Phyzkidz shows at SPACE Gallery and a rare appearance by Phyzgig’s Artistic Director and Peaks Island resident Avner the Eccentric, who will be per-forming his full-length show for the fi rst time in four years in Portland. Tuesday the Phyzkidz shows are at SPACE Gal-lery. www.phyzgig.org

Avner the Eccentric7 p.m. Avner the Eccentric fundraiser, Portland Stage Com-pany. Phyzgig’s own Master of Mirth presents his full-length show as a special Phyzgig fundraiser. www.phyzgig.org/

Wednesday, Dec. 29

Phykidz at SPACE; vaudeville at Portland Stage11 a.m. Phykidz (SPACE Gallery); 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Vaude-ville shows at Portland Stage Company.

Comedian Bob Marley at Merrill7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29 through Friday, Dec. 31, Come-dian Bob Marley returns to Merrill for his annual holiday show with this year’s special guest, Kelly MacFarland. Pre-sented by Cogee Entertainment. Tickets $45; $48 on New Year’s eve (includes service fee). Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m.; Merrill Auditorium; Friday at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. https://tickets.porttix.com/public

Thursday, Dec. 30

Phykidz at SPACE; vaudeville at Portland Stage11 a.m. Phykidz (SPACE Gallery); 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Vaude-ville shows at Portland Stage Company. http://www.phyzgig.org or www.acorn-productions.org/pages/Phyz-gig2009.html

Holiday blood drive11 a.m. to 6 p.m. FairPoint recently teamed up with WCSH-TV and WLBZ-TV, the American Red Cross and other community partners for a fi rst-ever holiday blood drive, scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 30 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The drive will be held in two different locations around the state in hopes of attracting a large number of donors during this challenging time of year. Eligible donors may visit the Holiday Inn by the Bay, located at 88 Spring Street in Port-land, or the Bangor Elks Lodge at 108 Odlin Road in Bangor to give blood. To make an appointment, or for more information about giving blood, call 1-800 RED CROSS or visit online at redcrossblood.org or fairpointbundleupblooddrive.org.

The Portland Pirates (www.portlandpirates.com) welcome the public to a New Year Eve’s celebration at the Cumberland County Civic Center. (COURTESY IMAGE)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s child-hood home is open for tours (FILE IMAGE)

Page 14 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

Friday, Dec. 31

Plunge at East End Beachnoon. “Be bold in the cold with a plunge into the Atlantic to support the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s work to reduce global warming pollu-tion. The bone-chilling fun will take place at East End Beach in Portland, Maine on Friday, Dec. 31st at noon (the “warmest” part of the day!) Your friends and family can pledge your plunge, to raise money and awareness about global warming and what NRCM is doing right here in Maine to curb it. And, it will be fun, with folks in polar bear cos-tumes and hot coffee from Coffee by Design and pastries from Whole Foods. The two top fundrais-ers will receive $50 gift certifi cates to LL Bean, while additional top fundraisers will receive com-memorative NRCM tote bags or caps. To par-ticipate, email or call stacie@nrcm.org, 430-0127, with your name and contact information and we will send you an information packet. We request that you raise a minimum of $50 in pledges. Your pledgers may use the online pledge forms at http://supporters.nrcm.org/polar_plunge.”

Vaudeville at Portland Stage2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Vaudeville shows at Portland Stage Company. http://www.phyzgig.org or www.acorn-productions.org/pages/Phyzgig2009.html

Portland Pirates vs. Connecticut Whale, Kid’s New Year’s Celebration5:30 p.m. Portland Pirates vs. Connecticut Whale, Kid’s New Year’s Celebration at the Cumberland County Civic Center. WGME 13 and WJBQ pres-ent the annual Kid’s New Year’s Game. The game, an expected sellout, will mark the 16th season the Pirates have celebrated New Year’s featuring New England’s largest indoor fi reworks display at the conclusion of the game. www.portlandpi-rates.com

A Lucid New Year’s Eve6 p.m. Ring in the New Year with Portland’s newest performing arts venue, Lucid Stage, at 29 Baxter Boulevard, Portland. “A Lucid New Year’s Eve” runs from 6 p.m. to midnight; $5. Live music by The Modest Proposal, and afterwards, a com-munity jam. Bring your instruments and play solo or jam with others! There will be door prizes, and a raffl e with a variety of items to choose from — gift certifi cates, memberships, artwork, and a sur-prise big-ticket item! 899-3993. www.lucidstage.com

New Year’s Burning Bowl Service7 p.m. New Year’s Burning Bowl Service at Unity Church of Greater Portland, 54 River Road, Windham. “The burning bowl service is a favorite within Unity. It encour-ages each of us to identify the doubts and fears which stand between us an true spiritual enlightenment. It is an opportunity to release those limitations into a ritual fi re, let-ting go of them and opening ourselves to new possibilities to come.” For more information about Unity or its events, please contact the church offi ce at 893-1233 or visit www.unitygreaterportland.org.

New Year’s Eve Gorham7 p.m. Volunteers, with the cooperation of the Town of Gorham’s public safety, fi re, public works and recreation department, coordinate a community-wide New Year’s Eve event. Churches and other public buildings serve as vari-ous venues where performances are scheduled throughout the evening. They offer a variety of entertainment, which is presented for families and people of all ages to enjoy. The New Year rings in with an exciting celebration at mid-night culminating with a fi reworks display accompanied by music, dancing and lots of Auld Lang Syne. http://newyear-gorham.org

New Year’s Eve Celebration 2011 at 51 Wharf 7:30 p.m. Two DJs on two dance fl oors spinning two genres of music at 51 Wharf St. in Portland. A $2 coat check; fi ve-hour countdown. Red Bull VIP Party: RedBull@NewYears-PortlandMaine.com. Watch the Ladies of Go-Go Maine live all evening; Evan Smith will be taking photos; 20 percent off pre-ordered bottles). For tickets, visit www.newyearsport-landmaine.com/tickets.htm.

Sid Tripp’s Black Cat Ballat the Mariner’s Church8:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. New Year’s Eve Bash, Mariner’s Church,368 Fore St. $50 tickets per person; festive holi-day attire. Sid Tripp & Proactive Resources Design are pleased to announce the revival of the Black Cat Ball.

The Black Cat Ball originally began at the Eastland Ball Room in the mid-’80s. On hiatus for 17 years, Tripp has a big night planned as he weaves his magic into a night of singing, dancing, laughing and celebrating as revel-ers enjoy a cocktail or two. Join us to relive the magic of the Black Cat Ball, and ring in 2011 in Red Carpet style in glamorous festive holiday attire with 350 of your best friends. The rockin’ sounds of local band Wavelength will be jamming all night long. The celebrations will include heavy hors d’oeuvres, Italian wine tasting, three cash bars, party favors, photo booth, roving photographer, countdown, champagne toast and balloon drop, psy-chics and surprise guest performances. Tickets are $50 per person; advanced tickets may be purchased by call-ing 772-3599. Cash, check and credit cards accepted in advance, at the door during the event, or anytime online at brownpapertickets.com. Visit Sid Tripp’s Black Cat Ball on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Sid-Tripps-Black-Cat-Ball/154751921233348?ref=mf for up-to-the-minute details.

Saturday, Jan. 1

Harlem Globetrotters at the Civic Center7 p.m. The Harlem Globetrotters, who have contrib-uted more innovations to the game of basketball than any other team in history, have implemented the fi rst-ever 4-point shot as part of all of its games on the team’s 2011 “4 Times the Fun” North American tour, the team’s record 85th season of touring. This game-changing innovation will be on display when the Globetrotters take on the Washing-ton Generals at Cumberland County Civic Center. Tickets, starting at $13.50, are on sale at www.harlemglobetrotters.com, the Cumberland County Civic Center box offi ce, or by phone at 207-775-3331 or 603-868-7300. Information on group and scout tickets can also be found at www.harlem-globetrotters.com.

Tuesday, Jan. 4

Portland School Board meeting7 p.m. Business meeting of Portland School Board, Room 250, Casco Bay High School. Beginning in January, the Portland School Board will hold its regular business meetings and workshops on Tues-days rather than Wednesdays. Most School Board committees also will meet on Tuesdays. The board decided to change the meeting day earlier in the fall to accommodate members who have to travel for work. School Board meetings and committee meet-ings are announced on the Portland Public Schools Web site: www.portlandschools.org.

Wednesday, Jan. 5

‘Checkered Floors’7 p.m. “Checkered Floors,” a controversial and inspir-ing true story of the 1,500 Somali migrants in Maine and how playwright/actress, Cheryl Hamilton’s own life parallels their plight with humor and horror. Janu-ary 5-9. Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. with talk-backs. $15. Old Port Playhouse, 19 Temple St. Port-land Box Offi ce: 773-0333. oldportplayhouse.com

Thursday, Jan. 6

Film: ‘Budrus’7:30 p.m. Film: “Budrus,” fi lm screening at SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland. 828-5600. Doors open at 7 p.m.; fi lm begins at 7:30 p.m. Admis-sion $7, $5 for SPACE members. “Ayed Morrar, an unlikely community organizer, unites Palestinians from all political factions and Israelis to save his vil-lage from destruction by Israel’s Separation Bar-rier. Victory seems improbable until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known movement in the Occupied Palestin-ian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-fi lled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat yet remain virtually unknown to the world. The movie is directed by award-winning fi lmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer and editor Control Room, co-director Encounter Point), and produced by Bacha, Palestinian journal-ist Rula Salameh, and fi lmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni (formerly of Witness, director of Encounter Point).” www.justvision.org/budrus

Friday, Jan. 7

Rwandan Cooking Class 5:30 p.m. Join Catholic Charities Maine at St. Pius X Church in Portland for a Rwandan Cooking Class followed by a tra-ditional Rwandan meal. Cost to participate in this one of a kind event: $15 per person. This dinner is limited to only 40 people; buy tickets at the St. Pius X Church Business Offi ce, 492 Ocean Ave., Portland. Contact Mary Gordon at 797-7026, ext. 211.

Portland Playback Theater7:30 p.m. Theme: Forks in the road. To celebrate the start of the new year, Portland Playback Theater is exploring forks in the road, those transformational events after which, better or worse, life will not be the same. “Tell your story and watch our talented improvisors play it back on the spot, or just come to watch this unique community event. Find out more at www.portlandplayback.com.” First Parish Uni-tarian Church, corner of Congress and Temple streets, Port-land; $5-$10 suggested donation.

Wednesday, Jan. 12

West End Neighborhood Association6:30 p.m. After some discussion with members of the West End Neighborhood Association governing board, the association will be holding its annual meeting to elect a governing board and the offi ces of President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. “Chris Hirsch has graciously offered to run the election as he has done during our past annual meetings. Anyone interested in a board position can e-mail their willingness to serve to me at dmartin7@maine.rr.com. Our focus for winter/spring 2011 is to put on another successful WestFest, and con-tinue our work with Wayside, Community Policing and kid’s swimming.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– EVENTS CALENDAR–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

from preceding page

Avner the Eccentric will make a rare appearance in Portland in late December as a fund-raiser for Phyzgig. Avner is probably best known for his endearing portrayal of The Jewel, the scene-stealing holy man, in “The Jewel of the Nile,” co-starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. He was also featured in the fi lm Brenda Starr and the television series Webster and Mathnet. Avner’s one-man show, Avner the Eccentric, was a hit of the 1984–1985 Broadway season. Avner is the artistic director of Phyzgig, and annual festival of physical comedy, (COURTESY PHOTO)

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010— Page 15

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Red Claws game with Idaho, Walker to be aired

The Maine Red Claws announced that NBA TV has selected the Red Claws Dec. 16 game vs. the Idaho Stampede to be broadcast nationally on Christmas Day. The rebroadcast will air at 1 p.m. (ET).

“The much-hyped game between the Red Claws and the Idaho Stampede garnered signifi cant national, regional and local media coverage with the return of former Boston Celtics star Antoine Walker to New England,” the Red Claws noted in a press release. “The NBA All-Star had his best game of the season only to have his Stampede squad shut down by the young and hungry Red Claws in one of the team’s most exciting games of the year.”

Time Warner Cable subscribers in Cumberland and York Counties can fi nd NBA TV on channel 466 and in the Lewiston area on channel 170. Other areas should check local listings for availability.

DAILY SUN STAFF REPORT

Walker

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– SPORTS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

It may be the holidays, but high school hockey players will not be taking very many days off. It is time for the Maine High School Hockey Invitational.

Starting Tuesday, Dec. 27 and running through Friday, Dec. 30, 39 high schools teams will be facing off. Twenty of those teams will be from Maine, including Portland, Deering, Cheverus, Scarborough, Westbrook, Falmouth and South Portland.

The 19 other teams are from out of state. This year they will come from as far South as Florida and as far North as New Brunswick.

“In the past we have even had teams from Michi-gan and Illinois,” said promotor Gary Prolman. It is a great chance to raise the level of high school hockey in Maine. The coaches here can actually see how Maine stacks up against the rest of the nation. I don’t think we do it enough.”

For four days, games will be played morning, noon and night at three different arenas. The games start

as early as 8 a.m. and as late as 8 p.m. at the Port-land Ice Arena, University of Southern Maine in Gorham, the Biddeford Ice Arena and the M.H.G. Arena in Saco.

“We have games all day and almost all night,” said Prolman. “Some of the teams play as little as two games during the tournament, while teams that travel a long ways will play as many as six, some-times playing two in one day.”

Not only it is a great opportunity to play teams basically from all over the country, but the tourna-ment has become a destination for many pro and college scouts as well. “This year, representatives from over 60 colleges, junior teams, prep schools and pro teams will be checking out over a thousand high school hockey players,” said Prolman. “They are here to see if any of these kids can play at the next level.”

To say this tournament has grown over the years would be an understatement. This is the 10th annual Maine High School Hockey Invitational. Back during the fi rst tournament in 2000, only six teams from Maine took part. Now sometimes as

many as 50 come to Maine to play.“It has really become quite a tradition for fans,

schools and the scouts,” said Prolman. The event is billed as a tournament, but it is not a

traditional bracket tournament. There is no winners bracket or losers bracket and not really a champion.

“This is just a great way for teams to fi nd out what their strenths and weaknesses are,” said Prolman. “I set the schedule so there are no blow outs. I match up the top teams so they play the top teams and so on.”

If you want to check out some of the best high school hockey around tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students and kids under 12 are free for each game. The admission not only pays for all of the expenses, but any net income goes toward a scholarship fund.

“We are proud to say that we have given out around $100,000 in scholarships to student athletes over the past nine years,” said Prolman. “It is a great way to help out these hockey players and tell the rest of the country that Mainers are just as good as anyone else.”

BY JEFF PETERSONSPECIAL TO THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

Hockey tournament hits the ice Tuesday

Kevin Boles selected as new manager of Portland Sea Dogs

PORTLAND (AP) — The Portland Sea Dogs base-ball team has a new man-ager.

Kevin Boles has been named manager for the upcoming season of Maine’s Double-A affi liate of the Boston Red Sox. He takes over for Arnie Beye-ler, who has been promoted to manage Boston’s Triple-A affi liate, the Pawtucket Red Sox.

The 35-year-old Boles last year was manager of the Red Sox’ Class-A affi li-ate in Salem, Va.

Sea Dogs’ hitting coach Dave Joppie and pitching coach Bob Kipper will return to the Sea Dogs. Ath-letic Trainer Paul Buchheit will also remain with the Sea Dogs, the team reported.

Boston Celtics beat Philadelphia 76ers 84-80 for 14th straight win

BOSTON (AP) — There’s something about the Boston Celtics’ 14-game winning streak that doesn’t seem quite right to coach Doc Rivers.

Point guard Rajon Rondo, after getting off to the best start of his career, has missed six of the 14 wins. Backup Delonte West missed the last 12. Shaquille O’Neal sat out four. Jermaine O’Neal hasn’t played since the win-ning streak began. And Kendrick Perkins, the starting center on last season’s Eastern Conference champions, hasn’t gotten on the fl oor all season.

“Usually, when you’re on a winning streak, every-body’s healthy, everybody’s playing well and you’re rolling,” Rivers said Wednesday night after the Celt-

ics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 84-80 for their 14th win in a row. The Celtics play Saturday at Orlando for a 2:30 p.m. game.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– SPORTS BRIEFS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Boles

Page 16 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Friday, December 24, 2010

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is sacked by Green Bay Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji during the fi rst quarter of the Patriots’ 31-27 win over Green Bay at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Sunday, Dec. 19. This Sunday, the Buffalo Bills (4-12) are set to face the Patriots (12-2), who make their annual trip to Orchard Park for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Buffalo opened as 8-point underdogs. New England has already secured its sixth playoff berth in seven years, is riding a six-game winning streak and is one victory from clinching home-fi eld advantage through the AFC playoffs. The Bills have won four of six, but had their playoff chances dry up for an 11th straight year following an 0-8 start. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Facing the Bills