Bangor

Auction for PICA

The 16th annual PICA silent and live auction is set for 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at the College Center, University College, 201 Texas Ave.

Shoppers will have the opportunity to bid on high-quality items from around the state, made with care and dignity – books, sweat-free clothing, get-away weekends by the sea, pottery dishes, vegetarian meals, desserts, restaurant gift certificates, carpentry, artwork, sailing and whitewater rafting trips. Admission is free. There will be door prizes and refreshments.

The auction, which raises approximately $5,000 each year, benefits the Bangor-Carasque El Salvador Sister City Project, the U.S. El Salvador Sister Cities network, the Bangor Clean Clothes Campaign and Youth Adelantando. To obtain info, to donate an item or to volunteer, call Deborah at 942-1524.

Festival of Lights Parade

Area businesses, schools, nonprofit groups and religious organizations are invited to be part of the Bangor Rotary Festival of Lights Parade at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, downtown. The theme is “Lighting Our World With Community Spirit.”

Besides Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, representations celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan and Kwanzaa will be part of the festivities.

Trophies will be awarded in the nonprofit, commercial, performing, youth group, adult group and band categories. The Bangor Rotary Festival of Lights Parade Theme Award will go to the outstanding entry.

For applications or information, write Bangor Rotary Festival of Lights Parade, c/o Debora Farnham, 517 Westwood Drive, Hermon 04401; e-mail afarnha198@earthlink.net; or call 848-0829.

New mayor

Councilor Nichi Farnham was elected mayor and council chairman by fellow city councilors Nov. 13. Farnham is beginning the final year of her second three-year term on the council. She is the third woman to have been named mayor in 168 years. Mary Sullivan and Patricia Blanchette were the other two.

Richard Greene was sworn in for a first term on the council, and councilors Dan Tremble and Frank Farrington were sworn in for second terms.

At another meeting, the school committee re-elected Martha Newman as chairman, and Phyllis Shubert as vice chairman. The women have held those positions 10 years.

Husson College art exhibit

Paintings by Dover-Foxcroft artist Jane Belle Pieriboni are on display in the Robert E. White Gallery at Husson College until Nov. 25.

Pieriboni has been featured in art shows throughout New England. Her work in oils, acrylic and watercolors has taken two Purchase Awards in Bangor and one in Augusta, and awards in Saco, Portland and Portland. The Robert E. White Gallery is open 8:30 a.m-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday in Peabody Hall.

New personnel

Lynn Thibeau of Bangor has joined Bangor Securities, a subsidiary of Bangor Savings Bank, as a financial consultant.

A former trust officer at Bar Harbor Bankshares and a native of Aroostook County, Thibeau will serve the northern and western regions of Maine. She has a music degree and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Maine, and is treasurer of the Junior League.

Deputy sheriff appointed

Sheriff Glen Ross appointed Allen T. Stehle as chief deputy of the Penobscot County sheriff’s office.

Stehle is the former president of Beal College in Bangor, where he developed a law enforcement degree program. He has 20 years of law enforcement experience at the federal, state and local levels. For the past several years, he has worked as a volunteer at the sheriff’s office, assisting with planning and procedures. In August, the county commissioners hired him as a paid consultant. Stehle was sworn in Nov. 15.

Turkeys for Manna

As of Nov. 15, Manna had collected 830 turkeys, but 2,600 were still needed. Manna is open to receive donations 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday at 180 Center St.

Fire department wins award

The Bangor Fire Department received a Community Service Award from the Mid-Coast EMS Council Nov. 9 at the council’s annual dinner. Officials cited as reasons for the award the department’s injury prevention classes such as Riskwatch and Learn Not to Burn; CPR, first Aid and safety classes; coalition work with Maine Safe Kids; “One for Over the Line,” a video on teen drinking and driving; and the Muscular Dystrophy Fill the Boot campaign, the American Cancer Society Relay for life and Race for the Cure, and the Operation Heartbeat defibrillator program.

New fitness business

A new business is offering a promotion that will benefit three nonprofit organizations. Curves For Women, a weight loss and fitness center for women of all ages, opened Sept. 23 at 1179 Hammond St.

“Our youngest member is 12,” said owner Sandy LaVersa, “and our oldest is 75. Currently, we have 250 members.” The atmosphere at Curves is relaxed and women wear comfortable clothes, she explained. “I don’t think I’ve seen any spandex here,” LaVersa said.

Curves For Women offers a free month’s membership to new members in exchange for making a blood donation to the Red Cross, for donating food to benefit the Manna Ministries soup kitchen on Center Street, or for giving to the scholarship fund at New Horizons, a Maine wilderness camp for troubled teenage girls.

The Curves workout consists of 30-minute sessions three times a week, LaVersa said. Members exercise at a circuit of 16 stations – eight hydraulic strength-training machines, alternating with padded platforms called “aerobic recovery boards” – where they move in a lively way in order to keep their heart rate up. The women spend 30 seconds at each station before moving on to the next, making the circuit three times. The workout burns as much as 500 calories, LaVersa said.

Waterville also has a Curves For Women exercise center. Based in Waco, Texas, Curves for Women has facilities in all 50 states, Europe and Mexico. Curves for Women in Bangor is open 7 a.m.-1p.m. and 3-7:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 7 a.m.-1 p.m. and 3-6 p.m. Friday; and 8-11 a.m. Saturday. For information, call 947-0000.

Bank promotion

Darlene Hawkes, marketing communications officer, has been promoted to assistant vice president at the corporate office of Bangor Savings Bank.

Before joining the bank, Hawkes was for 11 years a planner-buyer and senior administrative assistant at Edwards Systems Technology in Pittsfield. She worked at Cianbro Corporation for six years before joining Edwards.

In 1998, Hawkes was hired at Bangor Savings Bank as the corporate giving coordinator, then promoted to marketing communications officer. She also served as corporate communications officer, editor of the Bangor magazine, and administrator of the corporate philanthropy effort of Bangor Savings Bank and The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation.

A graduate of Nokomis Regional High School, Hawkes holds a bachelor’s degree from Norwich University in Vermont. She is treasurer of a stock market group in Newport, co-treasurer of the Nokomis Alumni Association, and co-owner with her husband, Steve, of King’s Appliance & Floorcovering in Newport.

Brewer

Moving award

Parker K. Bailey & Sons Inc., an agent of United Van Lines, has been honored for exceptional professional achievement for generating at least $1 million in sales for the United system in the past year. The award was given as part of the van line’s annual awards program.

Operation Christmas Child

Last year, First United Methodist Church participated in Operation Christmas Child, in which 125 shoe boxes were filled with school items and toys. The boxes are sent to needy children worldwide through Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian relief organization with headquarters in Boone, N.C. Included in each shoe box is Christian literature in the child’s native language.

This year the Brewer church is serving as a collection site for all shoe box donations from northern and central Maine.

“The tractor-trailer truck, donated by Roadway Express, leaves our parking lot on Tuesday morning, November 26,” said Judy Lunt, project committee member, “and we’re hoping to fill that truck.”

Hours of collection are noon-6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23; and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25.

The goal this year for the Brewer church is 200 boxes, Lunt said. Last year, more than 5 million boxes were collected in the United States. For information, call the church at (800) 396-7137, Judy Lunt at 262-6119, or Jan Ashton at 989-3893.

Eddington

Trash collection

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, trash collection will be held Saturday, Nov. 30.

Hermon

Bluegrass music

The 4th annual Evening of Bluegrass Music 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Hermon High School Auditorium will benefit the Maine Brain Injury Association.

The concert, with host Bob Duchesne of Q106.5 FM radio, will feature bands Northstar, Sweet Grass and Midnight Flyer. The Maine Center for Integrated Rehabilitation is the concert sponsor. Tickets, sold at the door, are $10, $8 for students. Children under age 12 are admitted free.

Kenduskeag

Rabies Clinic

The town of Kenduskeag will hold a rabies clinic, 1-2 p.m. Dec. 7, at the fire station. The cost is $6 per shot. Dogs and cats are welcome. The town office will be open for licensing dogs only.

Old Town

Leaf pick up

The Old Town Public Works Department will pick up leaves and pine needles during November. Those who would like the department to take their debris must place it at the curb in biodegradable kraft paper bags this month.

Residents also may haul leaves and pine needles to the leaf pile at the transfer station. Materials must be dumped out of containers unless they are in the biodegradable bags. Dump permits are not required for doing so. For more information, call the Public Works Department at 827-3974.

Blood drive

Georgia-Pacific, PACE Local80, and the Old Town-Orono Kiwanis will sponsor a blood drive 1-7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, at the GP Training Center in Old Town. Walk-ins are welcome. A bag of Georgia-Pacific products will be given to everyone who donates. For information, call Lisa Bird at 827-0795.

Orono

Parking ban

The town’s parking ban will be in effect until April 15 to aid snow removal. All cars must be parked in off-street locations between midnight and 8 a.m.

Book drive

The College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine has launched its annual drive to collect books for needy youngsters. The public is invited to donate new books suitable for toddlers to teens.

Used books in excellent condition also are accepted.

Books, gift wrapped if possible, and marked for a particular age level, may be brought to the office of college Dean Robert A. Cobb, 151 Shibles Hall, until noon Friday, Dec. 6.

Members of the Orono-Old Town Kiwanis Club distribute the books at the service organization’s annual holiday party for area children.

The UMaine bookstore is joining the college in its collection effort this holiday season. Children’s books are 25 percent off through Nov. 23, and the store will match each book purchased for the drive with a book of approximately equal value, as well as gift wrap and deliver the books to the college.

Established nearly 25 years ago, the college’s annual community book collection, in cooperation with the Kiwanis Club, has made thousands of books available to children.

Veazie

Ladder truck in service

The Veazie Fire Department recently put into service a 110-foot ladder truck it received in August from funds provided to the town by Duke Energy.

According to Town Manager William Reed, the new truck was financed using a tax increment fund, in which Duke Energy allocated a year’s worth of taxes to fund public safety and community improvements. Through the fund, the town was able to buy the ladder truck without using tax dollars.

The Fire Department also has made improvements to its building. For more information, call the Veazie Fire Department at 945-5627.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin