Spring is in the air, as indicative of the tire snowmen-turned Easter bunnies at O’Brien’s Quality Autocare on Main Street.  (Photo by Jayna Smith)

Jayna Smith
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Two members–Tristan Seavey and Cassidy Carr–of Calais High School’s drama program, The Calais Callbacks, recently received top honors at the state festival, earning the recognition of All Festival Cast.  

Both Seavey and Carr, seniors at CHS, have been members of the drama program since middle school.  The two were among the few chosen for the recognition due to their strong acting skills displayed at the festival.  

St. Croix Regional Technical Center students competed against other students from around the state in the State Conference in Bangor on March 18.
Earning medals were Cassidy Carr, silver in Prepared Speech, and Danielle White, bronze in Extemporaneous Speech.

Other students competing Joseph Jennings, Culinary Arts; Justin Carney, Job Interview; Katie Bitar, Job Skill Demonstration; Brady Cronister, Welding; Ti Bennett and Cole Dunphy, Welding Sculpture; and Cadence Baskerville, Alexis Donahue, and Lexi Doten, Health Knowledge Bowl.

First National Bank recently announced that it has made donations totaling $17,500 to twenty-nine food pantries in the bank’s market area. “First National Bank is grateful for the critical services that our food pantries provide to our neighbors in need,” remarked Tony C. McKim, President and CEO. “As a Maine community bank, it is our goal to respond to the needs of these vital organizations that serve and help families put food on the table.”  

Jayna Smith
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Calais got a long-awaited economic boost last weekend, thanks to more lenient rules at the border.

Just a few weeks prior, Canada had scrapped its PCR testing requirements, making rapid antigen tests within 24 hours of crossing acceptable.  Finding a testing site, however, proved difficult for most.  

Jayna Smith
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When additional resources or manpower are needed to complete a project, Calais High School’s student organizations often come to mind.  Such was the case recently when Vicki Farrell, manager at the Maine Visitor Information Center in Calais, asked for assistance with the food drive for those in Ukraine.

On Saturday morning, April 2, the U.S. Coast Guard station in Eastport received a report from Washington County Regional Communications Center of a person who had fallen from their boat into the St. Croix River.

The call came in around 10 a.m. and the incident occurred near St. Croix Island.

The person who had fallen into the river was not wearing a life jacket.  

USCG responded and found the person severely hypothermic and holding on to the swamped paddle boat.

Jayna Smith
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There was heavy pegging at Fitzgerald’s Tavern on Sunday for a cribbage tournament that benefited this year’s International Homecoming Festival.  
The festival planning committees on both sides of the border have begun organizing and raising funds to host the numerous events.  Fitzgerald’s owner Tim

Krug decided to raise some money in addition to providing his own donation, all while offering up a fun day of cribbage.

Kaileigh Deacon

It has been a while since The Calais Callbacks were able to take to the stage with a live audience, but this past weekend, they brought their competition performance to the stage of Calais High School. During the peak of the pandemic, the group was still able to meet and put on a play but were unable to attend their competition or put on a performance for friends and family as they had done in the past.