Council Approves Memorial Bridge Lighting Trust

Editor's note: Welcome to "Across the River," which offers stories and news from Kittery, Maine. Each Thursday, Portsmouth Patch will present a story about this community along with a short list of upcoming events and happenings around town. All Portsmouth Patch stories about Kittery, Maine will also be posted in our new "Across the River" topic page that can be accessed by clicking on the News section of the tool bar any time.

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The Portsmouth City Council wasted little time approving a trust fund agreement on Monday to create a place where donations to the Memorial Bridge Illumination Subcommittee's fund-raising campaign can be collected.

The council also forwarded a copy of the trust fund agreement to the Kittery Town Council for their review. The creation of the trust fund is an important step for the between now and July 6, 2013, when the new Memorial Bridge is scheduled to be completed.

According to Peter Sommsich, co-chairman of the bridge illumination subcommittee, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation would not be able to accept donations to light up the bridge with energy-efficient LEDs unless a municipality agreed to partner with the subcommittee and set up a trust fund.

Bridge illumination subcommittee members approached the City Council about the need for the trust fund. For more information about the Memorial Bridge Illumination Subcommittee's fund-raising campaign, visit the Memorial Bridge project web site.

Meetings:

Kittery Port Authority, Kittery Town Hall, Thursday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.

Kittery Town Hall closed, Friday, Dec. 7.

Kittery Town Council, Kittery Town Hall, Monday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

Events and Announcements:

International Dinner: On Friday, Dec. 14, End 68 Hours of Hunger will host an International Dinner at Kittery Community Center at Frisbee Commons that will feature Greek, German, Russian and Italian foods. From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., there will be a buffet where tickets cost $15 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. From 7:30 p.m. on, there will be an elegant dinner, dancing and entertainment where tickets cost $30 for adults.

Holiday open house: The Kittery Historical and Naval Museum will hold a holiday open house from Dec. 3 to Dec. 8 with a craft fair and bake sale on Dec. 8.

Need a Christmas tree: Fraser firs and balsam Christmas are being sold at Dairy Queen on the Kittery Traffic Circle for $25 and up, seven days a week.

Get your dog licensed: Kittery town officials want to remind residents they need to get their dogs licensed by Dec. 31. Licenses cost $11 for unaltered dogs and $6 for altered dogs.

KTP Holiday events: The Kittery Trading Post is celebrating the holiday season with a host of fun family events.

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