Several activities are planned for this month as members of Elm Street Congregational Church in Bucksport continue their celebration of the church’s 200th anniversary.

Bicentennial committee chairwoman Joyce Sanborn reports that during the children’s hour at 10 a.m. church services on May 4, Sunday School members will hand out “really cute and old-fashioned [May baskets] that they’ve made out of milk and juice cartons.”

Many people have signed up to carpool for a tour of the schooner Amistad in Portland, leaving Bucksport at 7 a.m. Saturday, May 10. You are welcome to call Sanborn at 469-0544 if you’d like to participate.

Sanborn reports that Pat Ranzoni will present her May basket poem during a potluck supper beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, at the church. Sanborn encourages adults “to bring May baskets to trade, so everybody will have a chance to take home one filled with lots of goodies.”

The bicentennial committee will hold an indoor yard sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the church, and is gratefully accepting donations.

Though Nancy Bourgoine and other church members already have collected lots of items, “we are still collecting, and people can call me if they have items to donate,” Sanborn said.

For more information about bicentennial activities, call Sanborn or the Rev. Daniel Berry III, at the church office, 469-3333.

Members of the historic Bangor Band invite you to a free spring concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 4, in the auditorium of Hermon High School.

Conductor Fred Heath has selected a variety of marches and light classics for your pleasure.

This year’s Bangor Band schedule includes performances at the Bangor Public Library, local parks, the Paul Bunyan Bandstand, R.B. Hall Day in Lincolnville and Fort Knox in Prospect.

To celebrate National Dance Week 2003, which is April 25-May 4, Kathie Jamison Cote invites you to enjoy “A Celebration of Dance” from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 4, at the Bangor Mall.

Studios from Augusta to Millinocket have been invited to participate in the event featuring dancers of all ages exhibiting a variety of dance styles.

You are invited to the third annual art show and sale from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, May 5-9, at the Hammond Street Senior Center, 2 Hammond St. in Bangor.

The approximately 200 works include original oils, watercolors, pottery, drawings, dolls, pen and ink, quilts, watercolor, crayons and pencils.

For the first time, the event, which features works by members of the senior center’s classes taught by Ellen Beattie, will be a juried show. Many pieces will be for sale. For more information about the show, or the senior center, call 262-5532.

I’ll have complete details about this event in Tuesday’s column, but I want you to know the premier performance of “The Y Players Presents a Gay ’90s Review” is from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in the gymnasium of the YWCA Bangor-Brewer, 17 Second St.

Admission is by donation. For more information, call the YWCA at 942-2808.

Louise Snow of Orono and Denis Roessiger of Penobscot, members of the American Orchid Society, will give a slide and video presentation on growing orchids, and orchid diseases, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in the lecture room at Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St.

Sponsored by Penobscot Valley Senior College, the event is free to members and their friends. To register, call the message phone at 581-1947.

May is Doula Awareness Month and the Maine Association of Independent Doulas, or MAID, invites you to learn about this profession by attending a free Mother’s Day Tea from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, at the Isaac Farrar Mansion, 17 Second St., Bangor.

MAID is a nonprofit group providing childbirth support services to women and couples in Greater Bangor.

Doulas provide information about shortening labor and reducing the need for medication and cesarean sections during childbirth.

Doulas, explained Evelyn Conrad of Bangor, are trained professionals who charge for their services.

However, MAID provides doulas-in-training free of charge.

Additionally, information on Operation Doula Care, which offers free labor support for women whose husbands or partners have been deployed, also will be available.

For more information about this event or the organization, call Conrad at 945-9804.

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