Christmas is coming, and you’re not ready. You’ve still got a few holes on your shopping list, and you just don’t know what to do. Don’t worry. My elves have you covered. At least, if you’re trying to find something for an outdoorsy friend or relative, you’re in luck. I’ve got a few suggestions that may just turn you into a holiday hero.

Louise and Stephen Rhoda have watched a number of riveting things happen outside their back door, which faces the Piscataquis River in Milo: deer trying to cross the ice, flooding and, over the last three years, baby eagles. But on Tuesday morning, Dec. 17 they woke to something they had never seen before: a spinning disc of ice that nearly spanned the entire width of the river.

The United Methodist Church of Dover-Foxcroft will hold a Christmas dessert pie sale starting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 24, until sold out, with many varieties of delicious homemade fruit and filled dessert pies.

Even as health insurance companies report record profits, I regularly read about the growing crisis of Surprise Medical Billing (SMB). It seems implausible that these two trends are somehow unrelated. SMB occurs when health insurers won’t pay for medical care and, instead, those costs are shunted off to patients who can scarcely afford them. So are the insurance companies pocketing more profits at the expense of patients they claim to insure? It would certainly appear so.

On Nov. 19 the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program board voted unanimously to allocate $105,000 to the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation’s (MLREDC) project to acquire the last remaining greenspace in downtown Greenville to conserve it as a permanent public park with direct access to Moosehead Lake for everyone to enjoy. The LMF’s commitment brings the MLREDC’s fundraising campaign to $216,000 on the way toward its goal of $250,000 to purchase the 3 Lakeview Street property and develop the site and the docking system plus an additional $40,000 goal to establish a reserve fund for annual maintenance.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Friday night was opening night for The Center Theatre and the Slightly Off-Center Players’ production of “Little Women the Broadway Musical.

Dexter Regional High School Students do their part to help save lives. Students recently donated blood at a drive with the American Red Cross and sponsored by Dexter Regional High School student government.

Poor dental health impacts both individuals and their families. Being able to provide and take care of a family becomes increasingly difficult when someone is suffering.

Brunswick High School boys basketball coach Todd Hanson reached a milestone, earning his 300th career victory as the Dragons scored a 47-40 victory at Yarmouth. The Dover-Foxcroft native is in his 24th year at Brunswick, his only head coaching stop.

Embracing new technology, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and the Maine Forest Service are in the process of purchasing up to 20 drones to help monitor and map the state’s natural resources.