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News from the Chebeague Island Community Association

On November 29, the Chebeague Island Community Association (CICA) held its annual meeting at the school. As usual, most attendees were board members, but we would like to remind you that all year-round and seasonal residents who want Chebeague to remain a vital year-round community are members of CICA. So, if you are interested in anything we are doing, we welcome you to come to a meeting or contact one of our board members to find out more. At the meeting,Viktoria (Vika) Johnson was elected to be the new president, with Beth Howe as secretary and Bob Earnest continuing as treasurer. We all want to thank retiring board members David Whiston and Shannon Adams. The new board members are Diane Lukac and Julia Maine. You probably all know Vika as the newest Town Clerk—a position of great, if quiet, importance to the island. The mother of a child in the Chebeague Island School, Vika is working toward a master’s degree in social work. She has deep family roots on the island, and she and her fiancé look forward to building their life here, so she has a strong interest in the issues central to CICA: supporting the island’s ability to remain a community that provides things like affordable housing, jobs, and a fine education, as well as local food and music that contribute to our lively social lives. CICA’s projects have evolved since its beginnings in the secession movement. An early, large project was the creation of an affordable

Vika Johnson, New CICA President.

duplex for families. This has worked well, but has also convinced us that continuing affordable housing efforts should be smaller in scale and, whenever possible, involve future owners or residents. CICA’s work with the Chebeague Island School has focused on growing food in a school garden and using it in school lunches—both fun and educational projects. A particularly popular aspect of this endeavor has been the outdoor pizza oven behind the school, which CICA built and donated to the school. More recently, with the incorporation of the Free Concert Fund into CICA, we have branched out into providing both professional and home-grown musical performances ranging from jazz to classical to eclectic/ participatory concerts. Last summer CICA sponsored an “Aquaculture Fest,” exploring new ways to build on the island’s long engagement in fishing as an economic activity. So, if any of these projects interest you or you wish to propose a new direction, we invite you to join us as an active, rather than simply a passive, member of CICA. Emergency Preparedness Tips

This new column is intended to offer tips for individuals to implement in their own homes during a power outage or other emergency and will complement an island-wide emergency plan. Tip # 1: Choose a container and a spot for that container with supplies that you have designated for an emergency. What supplies might you need first when the power goes off in the middle of the night? A flashlight or a lantern. What no batteries?

If you can grab that container, the flashlight with extra batteries will be there. (For those of you with cell phones, yes, you canuse themas aflashlight, but many of us remember the difficulties encountered recharging phones after this last storm.) So let’s all get prepared and share those ideas. Send your suggestions to the Council at chebeagueislandcouncil@gmail.com .

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JANUARY 2018 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR