South Portland News Briefs

Winter preparations

Members of the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Rotary Club posed last week with the $20,000 warming hut promised to South Portland during the group’s inaugural Mill Creek Winter Festival in February. Work is now being completed at Port Harbor Marine. The hut will be formally presented to the City Council in November, just in time for the new skating season.

“Not only did the club provide the monetary resources for this project but equally important is the fact that many, many Rotarians provided sweat equity by volunteering for numerous work details,” said club President Bob Flynn.

Election notice

Nomination papers are now available at city hall for three-year positions opening up this fall, including two seats on the City Council and three on the school board. Rosemarie De Angelis is up for reelection to the council in District 3. However, Maxine Beecher of District 4 has reached the limit of three consecutive terms, guaranteeing at least one new face on the council come inauguration time in December. School board slots up for grabs are in District 3 (Richard Matthews), District 4 (James Gilboy) and District 5 (Tappan Fitzgerald). Petitions, with signatures of 100-300 registered South Portland voters (from any district), are due to the town clerk between 8 a.m. Aug. 27 and 4:30 p.m. Sept 10. District maps are available on the city website, www.southportland.org.

History lesson

Proving that Maine’s maritime history is about more than just wind and masts, the South Portland Historical Society will stage a demonstration of cooking methods used aboard the tall ships that once graced Casco Bay.

“Food under the Sails: A Demonstration of Foodways at Sea” will take place 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12, at the Cushing Point Museum at Bug Light Park. During the event, Susan McLellan Plaisted, owner of Pennsylvania-based Heart to Hearth Cookery, will present cooking practices and recipes popular on wooden sailing ships of the mid-1800s. This is a free event, open to the public. For more information, call 767-7299 or visit www.sphistory.org online.

School notes

The South Portland Board of Education has released updated information on its expanded preschool program, debuting this year at the James O. Kaler School of Inquiry and Exploration. The class for 4-year-olds will run 9:15 a.m.-1:15. p.m. Monday through Friday, beginning Sept. 10. There will be 12 slots available for children living in the Kaler neighborhood and four to students living anywhere else in the city, provided parents are willing to commit to enrolling their children at Kaler through Grade 5. A lottery system will be used if there are more applicants than available space. Transportation to and from the preschool will be provided free of charge. For more information, contact Maria Sorensen at SoresMa@spsd.org.

Property deals

CBRE The Boulos Company has announced its July property transaction, including three in South Portland totaling nearly 16,000 square feet in commercial space. Due to “substantial growth,” construction firm Global Environmental Solutions has doubled its office space, moving to a 6,000-square-foot location at 707 Sable Oaks Drive. The University of Medicine and Health Services has renewed its lease at the Atlantic Space, 189 Darling Avenue, and expanded to 8,268 square feet. UMHS is a “fifth semester” program where students train alongside Maine physicians. Finally, Sonja Terlaje, a seller of custom cut wigs and hair pieces for women, is moving her salon from Portland to Suite 26 in the Atlantic Place.