Several chances coming to sign up for children’s lacrosse

Come and find out about the fastest growing sport in town – lacrosse. There is play at all levels from beginner to experienced, for boys and girls ages 6-14 as of Dec. 31. This year there will be new coed, noncontact instructional teams for 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds. These new teams will focus on basic skills, game rules and fun. Each player will be given a stick and ball to keep. The season will run from next April to June.

Registration for spring lacrosse will be held Dec. 2 and 4 from 7-9 p.m. and Dec. 6, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Merrimack Youth Association building. Bring a copy the child’s birth certificate. The cost is $65 per player plus a 2004 MYA membership. There are scholarships available upon request.

The Merrimack Youth Lacrosse program also needs adult coaches and is looking for anyone with experience coaching, working with kids or playing lacrosse. The youth lacrosse program has some open coaching positions. Organizers are also looking for any high school lacrosse players who would like to mentor youth teams.

For more information, call Claire Lester at 423-0022 or e-mail to myalax@merrimackonline.com.

Trash dump contest

Want a police escort to the dump? No waiting in line – just toss and go? The Merrimack Public Library Building Committee has come up with a unique fund-raiser called “Last or First: The Great Merrimack Trash Toss Drawing.”

In cooperation with the Board of Selectmen, the Department of Public Works, and the Merrimack Police Department, the Merrimack Public Library Building Committee will hold a drawing for the opportunity to be the last person to use the town’s landfill, which is slated to close Dec. 31, or the chance to be the first person to use the new transfer station.

Tickets are being sold by committee members and at the library circulation desk for $1 each, or six for $5. Two winners will be drawn – the first person gets his or her choice of being last or first. The drawing will be held at the transfer station open house in December. All proceeds from the drawing will benefit the library development fund, whose purpose is to raise money for equipment and furnishings for the new library.

For more information, call the library at 424-5021 or visit its Web site at www.merrimack.lib.nh.us.

Ski club chaperone meeting

The chaperone meeting for the Mastricola Middle School ski club has been changed to Monday, Dec. 1, at 6:30 p.m. in Room 157 at the school. Organizers hope to see all interested chaperones at this meeting to go over responsibilities and other information. Call Sue Retelle at the middle school at 424-6221, Ext. 1289 with questions.

Winter ordinances in effect

Snow is coming. The town of Merrimack has winter parking and snow removal ordinances that went into effect on Nov. 15. The winter parking ban requires no vehicle or trailer to be parked on any public street or highway from 11 p.m.-6 a.m., from Nov. 15-April 15. The snow removal rule states no vehicle or trailer shall be parked on any public street or highway from Nov. 15-April 15 in such a manner as to impede snow removal.

A violation of the ordinance can be punishable by a fine up to $500. In addition, your vehicle would be towed from the street.

Tree of Life needs volunteers

Home Health & Hospice Care is looking for individuals or groups to volunteer for its Tree of Life Celebration this holiday season. The Tree of Life is a community awareness and fund-raising event for the agency. The Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua hosts the Tree of Life program from Nov. 23-Dec. 24. Volunteers are needed to sit at the tree for a two- to four-hour block of time, either by themselves or with a friend, and help patrons who would like to participate and make an ornament donation.

The Tree of Life is an annual community event where people give a small donation to Home Health & Hospice Care for the hanging of a symbolic ornament on the tree. They write a name or a message on the ornament tag to a loved one or friend who has died and hang it on the Tree of Life. It is a meaningful experience to see the tree and read some of the ornament tags written with love and hope. Hanging an ornament on the Tree of Life symbolizes the hospice philosophy that love never dies.

Proceeds raised from the trees will support the agency’s hospice program. It will help provide expensive pain medications, supportive care services and home medical equipment for hospice patients without health insurance. If you are interested in volunteering, call Kristi Durette, community events coordinator, at 882-1278, Ext. 112 or e-mail to kristi.durette@hhhc.org.

Doughnuts for a cause

Pre-orders are now being taken for the second Krispy Kreme Doughnut Fund-raiser sponsored by the Merrimack Public Library Building Committee. The doughnuts are being sold for $6 a dozen and will be available Saturday from 9 a.m.-noon in the library’s Klumpp Room. Orders may be placed at the library. A limited supply of extra doughnuts will be available. Proceeds benefit the library development fund.

Parent Teacher Group meets

The Merrimack High School Parent Teacher Group did not meet on Veterans Day. The group, which is open to all parent and guardians of Merrimack High School students and their teachers, meets on the second Tuesday of each month. The next meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. in the lobby conference room. The guest speaker is Pam Tinker, who will speak about Channel 21, the Internet system at the high school, and how students may access school resources and materials from home computers.

The group formed a committee to look into parking options for the high school. Andy Schneider (Schneidsnh@_aol.com) and Judy Bezler chair the committee. For information, call Schneider.

There’s a new PTG page on the school Web site at www.merrimack.k12.nh.us/mhs/mhshome.htm.