OGDENSBURG -- The next Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center babysitter training course is from 8:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12 in the center’s auditorium.

Class size is limited to the first 20 paid registrations received.

To get credit, students must attend the entire day.

Girls and boys who will be 12 by March 12 are eligible to enroll. Registration deadline is Tuesday, March 4.

For registration information, call the Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center Foundation at 393-9175 or pick up an application at 503 Mansion Ave.

POTSDAM – The Ukulele Club of Potsdam will be holding a "3 Chord Jam" this Friday, Feb. 25 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Creative Spirit Gallery, 6 Raymond St. (below the tile company).

Some loaner ukes are available.

Bring 10 copies of a familiar song to share.

Ukulele players of any ability level are encouraged to attend and join in the fun.

To the Editor:

The Potsdam Chamber of Commerce would like to thank Clarkson University for their generosity in allowing the chamber to sell tickets to the recent Clarkson/Brown College game. The chamber sold over 230 tickets, making this event a very successful fundraiser.

We also would like to thank Blevins Motors for sponsoring the “Make the Shot” Contest where three chamber ticket holders were given the chance to shoot a hockey puck to win a Jeep Wrangler. Even though two of the shots had potential, no one drove away with the vehicle.

I couldn’t help but laugh over the last few weeks of bickering back and forth between school administrators and teachers salaries. Everyone knows it all started with the governor stating how overpaid school superintendents are. Duh. When starting teachers make around $34,000 (yes that is what they make and what they file on their income tax return), while superintendents make three to ten times that amount, something is very wrong.

I laughed a little to myself today when I read an article about a local head start field trip to the local Price Chopper. While I applaud the head start teachers for trying to come up with a way to make something the children do probably weekly with Mom and Dad seem interesting, it made me realize what a post 9-11 world really means. When I was a kid we went to Ottawa almost every year, we went to museums and Upper Canada Village. Now with the borders all but closed, it is a much bleaker story. That being said though, there are lots of local places that most people do not realize exist.

Thank you so much to Handy Man for Hire. First I called about a leak in my roof. They were here the next morning to fix it. Second, the snow had piled up so high on the flat side of my roof, I called and the next morning at 8 a.m., they were here to get the snow off. They worked through hours in the cold to make sure my home was in good shape. Thank you Bruce and your men. It’s good to know such honest and dependable contractors.

CANTON - St. Lawrence University Dana Professor of Economics Steven G. Horwitz has been awarded the Hayek Prize by the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.

It is the 15th awarding of the prize, given for "scholarship that applies the paradigm of methodological individualism that is at the heart of the perspective of Austrian economics to areas of inquiry outside of traditional economic inquiry."

GardenShare is seeking farmers who wish to be listed in its 2011 Local Food Guide.

Each spring GardenShare distributes 35,000 copies of the guide around the county.

The Local Food Guide is the most widely read directory of farm stands, U-pick farms, orchards, organic farms, and other outlets where consumers can buy foods raised in St. Lawrence County. The guide lists dozens of farms offering fresh vegetables, fruits, cheese, honey, maple products, meat, and eggs.

The Northern New York Volunteer Firemen’s Association is again awarding scholarships to firefighters, children of firefighters, and grandchildren of firefighters. A criterion for application is community service, EMS, firefighting, and the like.

Applications, printed out or typed but not handwritten, must include an essay, letters of recommendation, transcripts, and a letter from the chief of the fire department stating that the applicant or the sponsoring adult is a member in good standing of the Association-member department.