The Friday before Christmas, Tim Kamys of Sebec, a member of the staff at Harmony School, had the privilege of serving as auctioneer for a very festive and successful event.

Kamys wielded the gavel for the Harmony School Christmas Auction for which more than $800 worth of gifts donated by area businesses were bid on by students in grades six, seven and eight.

Kamys’ wife, Devora Kamys, told us that the youngsters “had been prepped on how you behave at an auction, how it works, and they did a really good job.

“It was quite stunning, really, and every student was able to buy something.”

The Christmas Auction was an opportunity to “celebrate and reward deserving students with something new,” Tim Kamys wrote of the event.

For six weeks before the auction, students were individually rewarded with token dollars for academic excellence, self-motivation and appropriate role modeling.

The exercise resulted in each student becoming motivated to improve his or her efforts at school.

Devora Kamys said the event went so well that she is sure “it will set the stage for future years, now that students have seen it work once, and seen how much fun it is.

“It was gratifying for them to have the opportunity to earn these tokens through a variety of things – not just academic achievement – but behavior and all sorts of little things. So it was a very nice incentive for them.”

For his part, Kamys said her husband was “so thrilled with the response by the businesspeople to become involved giving at all sorts of levels. Everyone was very enthusiastic.”But as Tim Kamys wrote, the auction “and the positive results it has inspired, would not have been possible” without the “incredible generosity of the local business community.”

He is, understandably, most grateful to the business owners and managers who agreed to help with this holiday school project.

Contributing businesses were Ames Department Store, Dover IGA, Coles Agway, Dover True-Value, Grave’s Shop ‘n Save, Community Pharmacy, Classic Candles, Rite Aid, Mr. Paperback, McDonald’s and Webber Hardware in Dover-Foxcroft.

Also Bud’s Shop ‘n Save, Mill Side Pharmacy, Tillson True-Value, Dunham’s Discount Mattress, Reny’s, Dexter Agway, Olmsted Jewelers and Rite Aid in Dexter.

Other contributing businesses were Guilford Hardware, Rite Aid, Goulette’s IGA and Guilford of Maine in Guilford; Harmony A.G., C&R Variety and Morrison’s Garage in Harmony, Wal-Mart in Palmyra; Ames and Shop ‘n Save in Newport; K-mart in Waterville and Quinn’s True Value, Wal-Mart and Shop ‘n Save in Skowhegan.

Before the auction, Tim Kamys had said that “we’ve never done anything like this to motivate the students, to inspire them to higher levels of academics;” and that he believed the business response was a major factor in the project’s success.

“It was incredible,” he said. “The support of the community was just overwhelming.” On behalf of the pupils at Harmony School who participated in this project, Kamys extends a most sincere thank you to the local business owners and managers who made it all possible.

.

Janet Meryweather, co-president of the Bar Harbor Garden Club, hopes this message will “reach students home on break.”

Meryweather wants college students to know that the Garden Club Federation of Maine and the St. Croix District each has a scholarship available for Maine residents.

The GCFM Scholarship is for $2,500 and the Nell Goff Memorial Scholarship of the St. Croix District is for $1,000.

The application deadline for each scholarship is March 1, 2001.

No matter what your interest, you might be surprised at what fields this scholarship covers.

The scholarships are available to students majoring in, or planning to major in, horticulture, floriculture, landscape design, conservation, forestry, botany, agronomy, plant pathology, environmental control, city planning and/or other gardening-related fields.

To qualify, the students must be Maine residents. All applications will be judged on aptitude in the field of horticulture, academic record, avocational interests and vocational potential; character and financial need.

Applications for the GCFM Scholarship can be obtained by writing Mildred Madigan, GCFM Scholarship Chairwoman, 87 Court St., Houlton 04730, or calling her at 532-3937.

Applications for the Nell Goff Memorial Scholarship are available by writing Shari Roopenian, P.O. Box 29, Salisbury Cove 04672-0029, or calling her at 288-4580; or by writing Barbara Rappaport, 33 Cleftstone Road, Bar Harbor 04609 or calling 288-4694.

.

Want to be part of the thrill that is theater?

Penobscot Theatre Company is hosting open auditions for its 2001 season 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2001, and Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2001, at 183 Main St. in Bangor.

Auditions are by appointment only, and an appointment can be made by calling Collene Frashure at 947-6618.

Actors who have auditioned for PTC/Maine Shakespeare Festival in the past need not attend.

To audition, interested actors should prepare one monologue – no longer than 11/2 minutes – from a play, book, movie or poem. Callbacks will take place throughout the season when specific roles require recasting. While rehearsals are generally held evenings and weekends, performance dates and times vary according to venue.

Complete the audition process by bringing a current resume and photo. Scripts for most plays are available to read at the theater.

Auditions are being conducted for the following plays: “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde; “Skylight,” by David Hare; “Coastal Disturbances,” by Tina Howe and “Servant of Two Masters” by Carlo Goldoni.

Auditions will also be held for “King Lear” and “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare; “The Little Prince,” by Antoine de Saint Exupery; “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” by Charles Ludlam; “Collected Stories” by Donald Marguiles and “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens and adapted by Mark Torres.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402;

990-8288.