A few fans watch a preseason boys basketball game Tuesday between Erskine Academy and Hall-Dale High School at the Augusta Civic Center. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Nitzan Isaacs-Weiss, 5, center, joins Hadas Isaacs-Weiss 4, left, and Nachshon Ngidi-Brown 4, right, as they light menorahs during Beth Israel’s Hanukkah celebration in Waterville on Sunday, Dec. 5. About 50 people attended the event. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Kimberly Bourque holds Audrey LeClair, 2, inside Bloomfields Tavern as the SKOW-Whoville Parade passes by Friday, Dec. 3, on Water Street in downtown Skowhegan. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Memories are made as photos are taken with Santa Claus during Unity’s 6th Annual Yuletide Celebration in Unity on Sunday, Dec. 5. The celebration also featured a parade of lights, treats and a tree lighting. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Colby’s Natalie Gonyea, right, snatches a loose ball away from Plymouth State’s Lauren Keller during women’s basketball action Monday, Dec. 6, in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Gardiner and Farmingdale firefighters extinguish embers from a chimney fire at a residence in Farmingdale on Thursday. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Judy Bruening, left, and her brother-in-law, Joe Bruening, secure a Christmas wreath Sunday, Dec. 5, as Joe’s wife, Dian, restores a placard at the Central Maine Veterans’ Cemetery in Augusta. The Bruenings are remembering Judy’s husband, Carl J.L. Bruening, who died in June. He served as a Marine in Vietnam from 1966 and 1969, according to his wife. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Carter Ulmer carries the tree that his father, Brett Ulmer, cut down Saturday, Dec. 4, at Ben and Molly’s Christmas Tree Farm in China. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

About 2 inches of snow remain on the walkways outside the Hathaway Creative Center in Waterville on Thursday morning. It was the first measurable snow to fall this December in Waterville. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

A truck can be seen inside a Maine Turnpike Authority garage on Friday, Dec. 3, in Litchfield. It was destroyed by a fire the night before. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Maine Army National Guard Sgt. Nicholas Whitmore prepares a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday during the mass vaccination clinic at the Augusta Armory. The free walk-in clinic is expected to be open through at least the end of 2021. The Guard is also being called upon to help hospitals cope with surging numbers of COVID-19 patients, Gov. Janet Mills announced Wednesday. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal