Happy 85th birthday, Boy Scouts of America.

Locally, the anniversary includes public awareness programs from noon to 5 p.m. today at four sites: the Brewer Auditorium, Caribou Armory, Belfast Armory, and SeDoMoCha School in Dover-Foxcroft.

Similar activities are next Saturday, March 25, at Ellsworth High School and the University of Maine in Machias.

The Boy Scout Booth Show in Brewer should draw between 1,500 and 2,000 people. For a $1 ticket, someone will win a 19-inch color television set.

Tim Archer, district executive of Penobscot Vally of the Katahdin Area Council, is anticipating a fun time cheering entrants in the Pine Wood Derby Race Car event. Three top finishers from each local Cub Scout pack will compete with cars made from blocks of pine on a special track under the watchful eye of race manager Glenn Mower, leader of Pack 8 in Bangor.

Kids may fling themselves at a Velcro wall. “You know about Velcro,” Archer said. “It has two halves. The wall is one half. The little jump suit is the other. It’s a riot.” And if you’re hungry, Troop 478 of Orono will fill you up.

Archer credits the Brewer Recreation Department staff, headed by director Ken Hanscom, for making this a positive experience for everyone.

Line-dancers from Maine to Alaska will try to enter “The Guiness Book of Records” in the world’s longest line-dance today, beginning locally at 1 p.m. at the Old Town-Orono YMCA.

Bobbie Allen is president of Denim & Leather Dancers of the Millinocket area, the lead group for the local effort, which benefits United Cerebral Palsy of Northeastern Maine. Over 60 cities are participating nationwide.

Susan Patten, local UCP fund development director, said the event evolved through a relationship with national UCP executive director John Kemp, who attended UCP’s annual meeting last November; Richard Scrushy, lead singer of Dallas County Line; and the Country Western Line Dance Association.

Through Thursday, 35 Denim & Leather members were gathering pledges. Any club or individual raising $1,000 is eligible to win a trip. Allen’s uncle, Cedric Knights of Lincoln, “may reach it all by himself,” she said. He had $661 by Thursday. Allen and a couple of others were over $100 each.

A new song, “Honk If You Love To Honkey Tonk” produced a new dance, “The Honk,” choreographed by the national line-dance group.

The band “Sundown” will provide live music the first two hours, with radio station Q106.5 taking over at 3 p.m. Then at 4:45 p.m., all sites will be linked by phone with Kemp and Scrushy. At 5 p.m., the final count will be announced and “The Honk” will be danced nationwide.

Dancers may enter for a $10 donation. Spectators are welcome for a $5 donation.

Many opportunities exist to be part of the commissioning of the Trident nuclear submarine, USS Maine, in Kittery on July 29.

Capt. Ted Curtis, USN (Ret.) of Orono is co-chairman of the USS Maine Commissioning Committee with Norman K. Berge of Brunswick, which is “fostering information and good relations between the ship’s crew and the people of the state of Maine,” Curtis said.

The third USS Maine is the largest to make a port of call in Kittery. The first USS Maine sank Feb. 15, 1898, in Havana Harbor, Cuba, sparking the Spanish-American War.

The committee has many costly responsibilities, including the Commanding Officer’s, VIP, and post-commissioning receptions; the Crew’s Banquet; and hosting crew families to the tune of $100 for each of the 350 crew.

The committee will follow naval tradition and present each crew member a “Plankowner Plaque,” a memento of their serivce on the vessel, at $100 each.

Chief Petty Officer John Ward of Bangor joined Curtis in memorial ceremonies marking the sinking of the first USS Maine last Wednesday in Bangor and is participating in similar ceremonies today in Portland.

USS Maine Capt. Gary Gradisnik wants groups to tour the vessel in Kittery. “This is really remarkable,” Curtis said. “It’s a very unusual situation. We are very pleased and honored to have that opportunity. The government does not usually allow the public to see a Trident submarine.”

Information may be obtained by contacting Debbie Holton at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, 438-1525.

Tax-deductible donations may be sent to The USS Maine Commissioning Committe, P.O. Box X, Brunswick, 04011.

The Standpipe, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.