Free SummerKeys concerts offered in Lubec

The third concert of the 2003 Mary Potterton Memorial Concerts features the return of The Halcyon Duo at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 9, in the Lubec Congregational Christian Church.

The duo features flutist Eve Friedman and pianist Roberto Pace in an evening of 20th century music.

Bruce Potterton, founder and director of the SummerKeys Music School in Lubec, where Pace is an instructor, began offering the free weekly concerts in 1994 in memory of his mother, whose interest helped make this Downeast summer music school experience possible.

Ann Carter of Charlotte writes that this year’s concerts offer “a new twist, in that a boat collects people from Eastport and transports them to Lubec, saving about an hour or more in travel time (if you look at a map) plus giving the passenger a traditional Downeast experience.”

And while the concerts, held each Wednesday throughout the summer, are free, “there is a small charge for that, of course,” Carter writes of taking the boat rather than the road.

The charge is $12, “if you call ahead,” or $15 upon boarding, she writes.

To reserve your boat space, call Linda Sisson at 853-4574.

Carter also informs us that the “lovely Lubec Congregational Church” provides “more room for the enthusiastic and appreciative audiences that were bursting the seams of the Parish Hall of the Sacred Heart Church” in Lubec, “where the concerts have been held in previous years.”

If you have not attended one of these events this year, obviously, you are in for more enjoyment than ever before, with a new venue and a new way to get there!

Visitors to Vacationland might want to plan to attend what should be one of the loveliest, and most interesting, of Maine garden tours.

“Silver Bells & Cockleshells” is the theme of the seventh Southwest Harbor Public Library Garden Tour, rain or shine, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 13, on the west side of Mount Desert Island.

The tour features two gardens in Bass Harbor, and at one, you will find Paul J. Tukey, founder and editor of the gardening magazine “People, Places, Plants,” available for consultation.

A ledge garden awaits you in Bernard and, in West Tremont, a playful, colorful garden; the delightful sights and smells of Parson’s Garden Center; many stone walls in another and, finally, an organic garden.

Tickets are $20 each, $15 in advance, or $5 for individual gardens. Children under the age of 12 are admitted free.

Advance tickets can be obtained by calling the library, 244-7065, or at Wendell Gilley Museum, Southwest Harbor; Port In A Storm, Somerville; Sherman’s Bookstores, Bar Harbor and Northwest Harbor; and the Visitor Information Center in Trenton.

To preview the event, visit www.swharbor.lib.me.us.

Nancy Dysart, director of Children’s Miracle Network of Eastern Maine Healthcare, has announced that last month’s 15th annual 12-hour telethon on WABI-TV 5 raised more than $481,000 for CMN.

The money raised, which remains here, is used to support the newborn, pediatric and adolescent healthcare services of EMH through its member hospitals, and also helps fund Pathfinders, a grief-counseling program for children.

The deadline for nominations for The Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program Maryann Hartman Awards is Friday, July 11.

The award is presented to distinguished Maine women whose achievements in the arts, politics, sports, sciences, business, education or community service has inspired others.

Forms are available by calling Angela Olson at 581-1228, by writing or visiting the Women in the Curriculum office, 101 Fernald Hall, University of Maine, Orono 04473, or by e-mailing Angela Olson@umit.maine.edu. In the e-mail address, there is a space between Angela and Olson.

For Pastor Bill and Betty Stone, and members of the Clifton Baptist Church, I extend thanks to everyone who attended the church’s recent benefit supper for the Gerald Folster family of Clifton, whose home was destroyed by fire last month.

More than $1,700 was raised at the supper, and materials are being collected and purchased as community members continue their effort to rebuild the Folster home.

Donations of material and labor, as well as financial contributions, are still being accepted.

Checks can be made out to the Folster Family Fund and mailed to the Town of Clifton, 135 Airline Road, Clifton 04428.

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