The May Festival: A Celebration of Generations, takes place Wednesday, May 1, to Sunday, May 4, in Bangor and Brewer.

“The festival is our way of introducing the University of Maine Center on Aging to the community,” said director Leonard Kaye.

“We hope it’s the beginning of many programs and activities that brings the UMaine campus into Bangor.”

And there is no better way to begin that than by attending the Kickoff Luncheon and Welcome set for noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, at the Holiday Inn, 500 Main St. in Bangor.

“The Kickoff Luncheon is the best deal in town,” Kaye said of the two-hour event that costs just $5 along with your registration fee of $2 for the four-day event.

That very small $7 fee brings a very big reward, including a delicious luncheon and wonderful entertainment featuring Maine humorist Clyde Folsom of Bangor and the all-woman Six Basin Street Dixieland Band.

Bangor City Councilor and National Folk Festival chairman John Rohman will serve as master of ceremonies for the event. May Festival planning committee co-chairs Stanley Freeman and Cynthia Cavanaugh will also be in attendance.

“It’s a wonderful event,” Kaye said of the luncheon. “You can eat and drink to your heart’s content, enjoy the entertainment, and we’ll even have door prizes.”

Planners are already expecting many older adults and other residents to attend the luncheon and launch the celebration. “The presence of older citizens enriches our communities,” Kaye said, There is still plenty of room for more people to attend, and he certainly hopes you will make plans to do so.

He emphasized that the luncheon is open to people of all ages, and that senior groups and organizations are invited to attend, but reservations are necessary.

To receive a registration form that will be faxed or mailed to you, call 581-3444, or register by visiting the UMaine Center on Aging Web site at mainecenteronaging.org.

“The luncheon really kicks off the May Festival, which will proceed four days hence with dozens of programs, events, music and exhibits,” Kaye said. “There will be something for everyone in the family, including wagon rides through the streets of Bangor. And it all comes to a head at our closing reception with Mayor Michael Crowley from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the Freese’s Assisted Living atrium at 10 Water St. in Bangor.

But, before the closing and all that takes place in between, comes the terrific Kickoff Luncheon that Kaye hopes as many people as possible will attend.

It should be a great time for all, full of fun and an absolutely terrific way to launch this Celebration of Generations, which we in Maine are so privileged to enjoy.

I was happy to hear from Kathy Plourde of Portland because our conversation provides me one last opportunity to remind you of the eighth Child Welfare Conference, “The Culture of Violence: How it Impacts the Welfare of Children,” from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, at the Bangor Civic Center.

Admission is $65 per person, and reservations must be made by today by calling 581-2378.

The featured presenter is Jackson Katz, a pioneer in the field of gender violence prevention education with men and boys, particularly as it relates to the sports culture and the military.

Katz will offer a performance from Plourde’s Add Verb Productions titled “You the Man.”

Plourde – whom some will recognize from her days as a teacher at the former Camden-Rockport High School in the early ’90s – told me Add Verb Productions “has been creating and touring educational theater for professional, non-Equity actors since 1998.”

The group has also been touring a piece on eating disorders titled “The Thin Line.”

Plourde started writing plays in the early ’90s for a conference on girls and women, and is now working for organizations such as the Maine Women’s Fund with her production, “Money Talks,” which “educates women and girls about money,” she said.

Plourde is obviously proud of Add Verb Productions and the work it is doing, for good reason.

Many of the plays, such as the one she wrote and Katz will perform at the child welfare conference, “are appropriate for high school and college settings, as well as training professionals,” Plourde said.

If you’d like more information about Plourde, check the Web site at addverbproductions.com.

If you want to see her work, make your reservation to attend the eighth Child Welfare Conference.

I hope it was obvious to all seniors and veterans who read in yesterday’s column about the offer by John Bapst Memorial High School musicians to attend a preview of their spring concert, “Celebrating Freedom,” that I typed a “p” when I should have typed an “a” for the time of that performance.

The free concert preview begins, of course, at 11:45 a.m. Friday, April 26, at the John Bapst Auditorium, 100 Broadway in Bangor.

To reserve a seat, for individuals or groups, call Carol Robb of the JBMHS fine arts department, 947-0313.

People will be welcome at the door, as seating permits, but it is best to call ahead.

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