Folk Festival volunteer opportunities abound

Anyone who was part of last year’s National Folk Festival knows it was one of the greatest happenings this part of Maine has ever witnessed.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed being among the hundreds of individuals serving as volunteers for the three-day event. We had such a wonderful time, in fact, that we were eager and willing to submit our volunteer registration forms for this year’s festival, which will be held Friday, Aug. 22, to Sunday, Aug. 24, in downtown Bangor.

We invite you to join us.

More than 700 volunteers are needed to assist festival organizers before, during and after the festival, which is expected to attract more than 80,000 visitors to our city.

Volunteer opportunities are so many and varied that you’ll have a difficult time choosing among them.

For your information, being a member of the “bucket brigade” is great fun. Since this is a free festival, people actually stop you and ask to drop a donation into your bucket to help support the festival. You can be part of the parking patrol or transportation committees, work the information or registration booths, help the safety or hospitality committees, work in the vending booths, or survey those who attend.

Mary Turner, registration manager at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, is the volunteer coordinator for this year’s festival. Last year, as head of the bucket brigade, she was responsible for counting thousands of dollars, willingly given, by those who attended.

If you did not receive a volunteer registration form in the mail, you can obtain one online at nationalfolkfestival.com; by visiting the Folk Festival office in Suite 220, 30 Main St., Bangor; or by calling the office at 992-2630.

You must be 16 years old to volunteer without a guardian. Youngsters between the ages of 12 and 15 can volunteer with a guardian. Volunteers receive specially designed festival T-shirts that are not available for retail sale, and an invitation to attend the Saturday night celebration with festival artists and staff.

The National Folk Festival in Bangor is produced by the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city of Bangor, Eastern Maine Development Corp., and the Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine.

The festival is sponsored by Eastern Maine Healthcare, KeyBank, Snow & Nealley Co., the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bangor Daily News and the Maine Office of Tourism.

Benjamin Kirkland, past president of the Mid-Maine Rose Society, is the featured speaker for the opening luncheon of the St. Croix Valley International Garden Club as it celebrates its 25th season of activities with members from Washington County in Maine and Charlotte County in New Brunswick.

Eleanor Nixon and Joyce Howell are chairwomen of the event, which begins with registration at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 16, at the First Congregational Church of Calais.

The cost of the luncheon is $12, and annual dues of $10 will be collected at the luncheon.

Reservations are requested as soon as possible and can be made by calling club treasurer Tonya Troiani at 454-3696.

Mary Wallace is president of the garden club that meets the third Wednesday of each month from April through December, on both sides of the border. The group always welcomes new members.

If you have questions about joining, or about club activities and events, plan to attend the luncheon or call Troiani.

Pianist and Maine Maritime Academy professor of engineering Kaveh Haghkerdar will appear in concert to benefit the Katahdin Region Hope and Unity Fund at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in Delano Auditorium of Leavitt Hall on the MAA campus in Castine.

Haghkerdar, who is also a free-lance keyboard style designer and evaluator, will perform selections from Broadway and the big-band era as well as classical, jazz and ragtime tunes.

The popular musician has played during inaugural festivities for the last three Maine governors, and is cooperating with Yamaha Corp. of America to develop professional keyboards, including the new Tyros on which he will perform digital orchestral selections.

Proceeds from the concert, organized by MMA student volunteer Tarad Nadeau of Jay, will benefit families who have been affected by the recent closing of Great Northern Paper Co. operations in the Katahdin region. Donations are tax deductible and checks should be made payable to Katahdin Region Hope and Unity Fund.

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