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Coastal Youth Orchestra Winter Concert: December 17th, 7PM, Orion Performing Arts Center. The Coastal Youth Orchestra 's Winter Concert will be held Monday December 17th at 7PM at Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham. The concert is free and a reception will follow. Come and enjoy music of this festive season. CYO, directed by MWS string teacher Nancy Roderick is comprised of three ensembles. The group gives string students of every level a chance to play in a group with other children and to explore quality music. The Fiddleheads, CYO 's youngest group is a beginning string orchestra.The Coastal String Ensemble is an intermediate level string orchestra and the Coastal Chamber Orchestra is a more advanced ensemble that includes strings and brass. MWS students Siona Henze and Louise Ahearne will be performing. Fiona Ahearne (8th grade class of 2012) will also be performing.(12/11)

The Pageant of the Nativity Sunday, December 15, 5pm at The First Parish in Portland Unitarian Universalist Church, 425 Congress Street, Portland: First Parish Portland, Unitarian Universalist , has been staging its Pageant of the Nativity for 86 years now and it is quite different in the genre of nativity pageants. Non-denominational in nature, this event makes no political or religious statement. Rather, it uses a combination of music, historic text, and tradition to honor the birth of one of history’s great prophets. It is a truly magical hour in which we stop, quiet our hearts, and remember the spirit that this holiday represents. Please plan to join us this yearat 5PM on December 16 and share in the experience!
      After a short vesper service which sets a contemplative tone, the story of the Nativity is told in music and readings while the cast, bit by bit, creates a tableau that replicates a Fra Angelico-style painting. The scriptural story of the birth of Jesus is told by the minister who is off to the side, unseen by most of the congregation. Some of the costumes have been created from fabrics brought back from Palestine by nieces of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Light bulbs in the 30 sconces in the church are replaced by candles.
      This Pageant has a cast of nearly 80 people, most of whom are adults, and several of whom have been in this pageant, in one role or another, since they were children. The children from our RE program participate as revelers on the steps of the Meetinghouse to welcome the congregation into the service, and as angels and junior disciples. Cast members are never singled out by name, nor do they have speaking roles; thus highlighting the purity and grandeur of the visual representation of the Nativity. Another 50 people support the service preparations and backstage. Mary Bloch (12/11)

Please find attached the AWSNA newsletter "Inform," a publication sent by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) to all the affiliated Waldorf schools in its membership to keep parents, teachers, board members, alumni, and all those interested in Waldorf Education informed of the current events affecting Waldorf schools nationally and internationally.December 2012 Inform. It can also be found at http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/03_NewsEvents/index.asp (12/04)

News from the Center for Biography and Social Art: A new three-year cycle of the Biography and Social Art Certificate Program will begin this coming summer—July 2013—in Chestnut Ridge, New York, and enrollment is now open. In Waldorf schools, teachers intensively study child development. In biography work, we consider development across the life span, within the context of gender, temperament, planetary influences, the twelve senses, contemporary questions of human freedom. Rudolf Steiner anticipated the need for this important work—for people capable of “a special kind of human understanding.” The Biography and Social Art Certificate Program develops competent leaders in this growing and vital endeavor. For more information or to request an application, visit: www.biographysocialart.org.     Click here to view flyer. (12/04)

Heartfelt School Holiday Events:

East End Holiday Stroll, December 15, 11-5
Businesses in Portland’s East End will be open for Holiday Shopping.
Come visit us at the Heartfelt School, take a break from shopping to relax, have a cup of tea, and let your children play in the classroom. We’ll have Waldorf related books, crafts, and supplies available for sale as well. (12/04)

Supporting Maine made products. Saturday december 8th, Salt Furniture Co., The Belted Cow, Chart Metalworks, Mainely Labs, Two Salty Dogs and Lobster Rope Mats will be hosting a special holiday event. 12/8 10:00 am-5:00 pm at The Belted Cow in Yarmouth, ME. 207-846-3364. (12/04)

DaPonte String Quartet: For our latest news and schedule of concerts visit: http://www.daponte.org/ (12/04)

Are We There Yet? Introduction To The Buddhist Practice of Seated Meditation: Sitting Meditation is based on a very simple idea. When we sit quietly and pay attention to our basic being the speed and hyperactivity of our mind settles. Just as silty water that is stirred in a glass settles and clears as the speed of the water slows – so our mind’s speed and discursiveness settles when we sit quietly. As our mind settles and becomes clear our lives become much more workable and enjoyable – this is really just basic sanity and happiness. At this point we begin to see the ordinary magic and sacredness of our lives.
“At any moment throughout the three times,
To simply sustain the boundless innate state of nondoing mind,
Is given the name ‘meditation’.
Don’t control the breath, don’t tie down thought,
But rest your mind uncontrived, like a small child.” Shavaripa
Regular Meditation Classes Wednesday Mornings 10 – 12

and Thursday Evenings 5 – 7.
Silent Meditation Sundays from 9 – 12 join us for lunch.
Dzogchen Meditation Center, 4 Armstrong Way West Bath, ME, 207-607-339 www.dzogchenmeditation.com (11/27)