Art show kicks off BPL rededication celebration

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All who care about one of eastern Maine’s greatest treasures — the Bangor Public Library — will want to mark their calendars for the three-day rededication celebration of its renovation and expansion.

BPL director Barbara McDade and library dedication committee chairwoman Alice Wellman want you to know that May 1, 2 and 3 are the dates for the celebration called “One-Two-Three-GO!” which also marks the kickoff of a yearlong celebration of the arts at the library.

A full schedule will be provided later, but you should know that the festivities begin with an open house from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday, May 1, featuring the Bangor Art Society Exhibit, the Bangor Area Student Art Show, guided tours of the renovation and addition, and Glenburn artist Elizabeth Busch addressing young artists.

Events run from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, and are not only inside the library, but outside as well.

Besides art exhibits, concerts, computer demonstrations and the unveiling of the George Mason Donor Walls and the Jan Owen commissioned works, “The Beat Roots” will be the featured performers for a street dance 1-3 p.m. in the Abbot Square parking lot.

The official dedication is at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 3. The time capsule will be closed, a tree will be planted in memory of one of the library’s staunchest supporters, the late Constance Carlson, and guests will watch the fountain being turned on.

And although these events are a month away, one aspect of the preparation needs the immediate attention of some of our readers: those of you who are artists.

Bangor Art Society vice president Jean Oliver told us she is thrilled that the Bangor Art Show is returning to the library this year and, most especially, that it will be held in conjunction with “One-Two-Three-Go!”

“This year it will be a special,” she said of the show. “We’re planning a lot of different features.”

Included in those features is a plan to have the judging, awards and the artists’ reception completed before the May rededication dates.

“What we are going to have people do is bring their art in on Saturday, April 25, and then have our awards and reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, at our regular meeting in the library’s lecture hall,” Oliver said.

So, what does that mean for those who plan to enter the BAS annual art show?

It means you have to go out and get your entry forms, and if you haven’t begun your work, you now know the deadline.

“The show is open to any artists,” Oliver said of the mixed media event.

Entry forms are available in Bangor at the libary, 145 Harlow St.; Penobscot Paint Products, 191 Exchange St.; Intown Art Center and Gallery, 42 Columbia St.; and Maine Alliance for Arts Education, 28 Merchants Plaza.

Oliver said interested artists can also obtain entry forms by calling or faxing her at 825-3157, or e-mailing her at cobool@aol.com “and I’ll get one in the mail to them.”

While we’re on the subject of planning ahead, this next event leaves you with very short notice, but enough so that you can participate.

Borders Benefit Days for Literacy Volunteers of America-Bangor is Friday through Sunday at Borders, 116 Bangor Mall Blvd. Store hours are 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

For certificate holders, 15 percent of the amount of your purchase will be donated to LVA-Bangor Friday through Sunday.

But, LVA member Brook Merrow tells us, in order to have that contribution go to LVA-Bangor, you must must obtain the certificates ahead of time. They are not available at Borders.

Certificates to participate in this LVA fund-raiser can be obtained in Bangor at Green Acres Kennel Shop, 1653 Union St., United States Cellular and Oriental Jade Restaurant, both on Bangor Mall Blvd., or at the LVA office, 6 State St.

For information on the event, which is one of several fund-raisers for the local literacy program that helps adults and teens improve reading and writing skills, or for information on LVA, call 947-8451.

If Kermit the Frog were hawking The Pond Daily News, he would be yelling, “RIBBITT, RIBBITT, READALLABOUTIT! WE’RE IN TROUBLE! WE NEED HELP!”

And, if you stopped to talk with him, Kermit would beg you nott to lie around your pad, but to leap into action with the Maine Audubon Society and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, collaborators in a frog monitoring program in need of volunteers.

The reason for the monitoring, according to information provided by director Judy Markowsky of the Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden, is that frogs appear to be declining in number not only worldwide, but in Maine as well, and deformed frogs are showing up, even here, in alarming numbers. Volunteers who can identify frogs by their songs are being asked to drive a route with designated stops where they will listen for species and numbers of frogs calling. You will be helped in learning frog songs.

The data will help scientists determine how serious these problems may be for our frogs, which are considered good indicators of environmental health.

Mark McCulloch will speak about Maine’s frogs and salamanders at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Fields Pond Nature Center.

The sounds of frogs — especially the little peepers in the marshes and frog ponds — are the real signal that spring has arrived in Maine.

And the bigger frogs, along our lake shores, who gently “RIBBITT, RIBBITT, RIBBITT” us to sleep on heavenly summer nights, need our help.

If you would like to be a frog monitor, listen to McCulloch on Friday, or call Markowsky at 989-2591.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.