Last month we told the story of Curtis Middle School student Hanna Fitzgerald and her quest in collecting 50,000 pennies and donating them to the U.S. military. As of last week, Hanna and her family say they are up to 17,370. "Hanna's getting there," Hanna's mom, Roberta, told Sudbury Patch in an email. In helping her effort, Koko FitClub, American Legion Post 191, Longfellow's Wayside Inn and the Sudbury Swim and Tennis Club have offered Hanna to use their locations as a drop-off for people wanting to donate pennies. Hanna and her family plan on donating the pennies on Oct. 10 in Wildwood, N…

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Mary Dockray-Miller.) On Aug. 4, Caroline Hultin completed the bulk of her work for her Girl Scout Gold Award project. The Gold Award is the highest achievement in Girl Scouts; it recognizes girls who make a difference in their communities and in their own lives by completing a service project of at least 80 hours. Through the homeless assistance organization Heading Home, Caroline coordinated an "up and out" move that prepared a three-bedroom apartment for a previously homeless family. On Aug. 4, the family moved from a shelter into their new, …

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Patty Helsingius, L-S food project mentor.) The L-S Community Garden Food Project is coming along beautifully. Several motivated students from the L-S Environmental Club have formed a group to grow food in one of the 30x30-foot plots at the Sudbury Community Garden on Lincoln Road, which they are donating to local food pantries. The kids kicked off the growing season with a weekend workshop at the Lincoln Food Project. They built a fence around their plot at the Community Garden, created trellises and raised beds, and are now growing an abundance…

The next time a cashier hands you change for a purchase, think about Hanna Fitzgerald before you toss aside your coins. The 13-year-old Curtis Middle School student, whose family has a history in the U.S. military, is taking on a special project and wants to raise $500 for the servicemen and women ... using only pennies. That's 50,000 if you're doing the math. Hanna and her family plan on donating the pennies on Oct. 10 in Wildwood, N.J., during the 60th reunion for the 4th Amphibian Tractors, a platoon of Marines that her grandfather, Leo Mogavero, was a member of before dying in 2004. "Once…

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Missy Wade.)

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Michael Sanders.) Sudbury Venture Crew 1776, the co-ed unit of Sudbury Boy Scouts, spent a day at Greenways completing a vital service project to preserve land and plant life along the Sudbury River. Over time foot traffic (man and dog) has destroyed the natural vegetation that prevented erosion and run-off of soil into the water. This labor-intensive project involved constructing and installing split rail fencing.  Greenways Conservation Area in Wayland, with its meandering trails, woods, and fields abutting the Sudbury River is a popular spot …

Ephraim Curtis Middle School was honored with nine awards at this year's Scholastic Art Awards. This is a new record for the school. One student also earned four awards, which is another ECMS record for individual recognition. "We are very proud that our school tied for 10th (for number of awards) among all public and private middle schools in Massachusetts," said Scott Greenaway of the school's Art Department. "This is even more remarkable considering that the Scholastic Art middle school level is grades seven and eight, and our students do not have an option to take art in eighth grade." …

The Sudbury Pop Warner D squad and with B squad recently competed in the Merrimack Valley, Eastern Mass. and Regional qualifiers, and are now preparing to competein the Regionals on Nov. 19 in Florida. The squads are now holding fundraisers to help defray the costs.

Even during its offseason, the Division 1 State Champion Lincoln-Sudbury girls swim and dive team continues to excel.   Five members of the team were just named All- American in recognition of their performance on two record-breaking relay teams. Both the 200 freestyle and the 200 medley relay teams were awarded the coveted All-American status, which is reserved for the top 100 fastest high school teams nationwide.    The L-S girls had great speed and depth on the 2011 team and knew this would reflect in their relays. Throughout post-season competition the L-S relays continued getting faster …

BOSTON - Sudbury fourth-grader Piyusha Kundu, a student at the Peter Noyes Elementary School, recently won first place in the annual College Savings Art Competition sponsored by the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), the not-for-profit college financing expert that offers the U.Fund College Investing Plan. Kundu won $5,000 to be placed into a U.Fund College Investing Plan account. MEFA's College Savings Art Competition awarded more than $20,000 in U.Fund accounts to this year's nine winners. The competition invites third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from Massachusetts…

Sudbury Brownie Troop 72496 had their final Court of Awards Ceremony of the year. The troop was awarded The Count Me In Troop Award from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass. Council for their participation in the 2011 Cookie Drive.   Not only did the girls earn money for their troop activities but they were able to help adopt an owl from a wildlife center. The meeting was the last for the girls as Brownies. Next year they will be “Flying Up” to become Junior Girl Scouts. 

More than 185 Lincoln-Sudbury seniors participated in the inaugural Senior Service Day organized by the Martin Luther King Action Project. Some of the tasks completed included: helping senior citizens with their technology needs cleaning up yards for senior citizens haying at Lovelane Special Needs Stables removing invasive plants at Wolbach Farm, Lincoln Conservation Land and the White House Pre-school teaching Spanish to elementery students working at Lincoln and Goodnow Libraries building benches at Haskell Field painting, cleaning, planting, and trash pickup at Fairbank cleaning at …