Community News

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Bangor

Diversity through literature

The Penquis Community Action Program Resource Development Center is offering training in “Many Eyes, Many Voices: Talking About Diversity With Children Through Literature” for child care professionals. Classes will be held 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays, March 27 and April 3, at the Bangor Public Library.

Young children are aware of differences – skin color, body shape, gender, language, family structure, living arrangements – from a very early age. This training uses high quality, vividly illustrated children’s books as a vehicle for having conversations about differences. Activities accompanying the children’s literature selection are included in a curriculum guide. Each participant will receive 12 books and the curriculum guide.

The training was developed by the Maine Humanities Council, and is being offered collaboratively with the Penquis CAP Resource Development Center. Funding is provided by a grant from Verizon.

There is a $10 registration fee. Current child care providers may apply to the Penquis Resource Development Center’s Scholarship Fund for reimbursement of this fee.

To register, call 941-2840.

YWCA Spring Fair

The YWCA Spring Fair will be held March 26-28 at the Bangor Civic Center and Auditorium. There will be rides, games, entertainment, food, and more.

The fair will be held 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 26-27; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, March 28. Pre-sale tickets are available at the YWCA until March 26. For information, call 941-2808.

District garden clubs

The Bangor Garden Show will be held March 19-21, and within that show the Penobscot District Garden Clubs will present a standard flower show.

This year’s theme is “My Fair Lady,” and entries will include decorated hats, a decorated bird cage, and a mirror. Also included in the show is a horticulture class. To learn more about the class, call Sonia Cianchette at 368-5972, or e-mail caddy@gwi.net.

Authors on tap

Authors scheduled to read and sign books at Bangor Public Library are:

. Kathy Lynn Emerson, author of “Deadlier than the Pen” and the “Face Down” mystery series, 2 p.m. Thursday, March 18. Part of her latest suspenseful tale is set in Bangor.

. Steve Clark, author of “In Their Footsteps,” 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 25. His book is a new look at Benedict Arnold’s march to Quebec and a travel guide for walking and canoeing excursions.

. Pam Flowers, author of “Big Enough Anna” and “Alone Across the Arctic,” 7 p.m. Monday, March 29. Flowers, a veteran of the Iditarod, is the first woman to cross the Arctic alone.

. David Lindley, author of “Degrees of Kelvin,” 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 7. Lindley will introduce the audience to the work of Kelvin, a pioneer in electromagnetism and thermodynamics.

. Andrea Hawkes, author of “The Same Great Struggle: The History of the Vickery Family of Unity, Maine, 1634-1997,” 6 p.m. Thursday, April 8. Drawn in part from the extensive genealogical research of the late James B. Vickery, Hawkes tells the tale of a remarkable Maine family.

Foster care, adoption

The Department of Human Services will hold an informational meeting for prospective foster parents and adoptive parents 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 17.

For location and further information, contact A Family for ME at (877) 505-0545.

Brewer

Blood drive

The city of Brewer, the union representing displaced workers from Eastern Fine Paper in Brewer and Hemacare-Coral Blood Services – the company that operates the Eastern Maine Medical Center Blood Donor Program – will collaborate on a blood drive to support the EMMC blood bank, and to raise money for the food and fuel fund set up to help workers who lost their jobs.

Hemacare-Coral Blood Services will collect blood 1-6 p.m. Monday, March 15, at Brewer Auditorium. For each pint collected, the company will contribute $2 to the Eastern Employee Assistance Fund, establish by the city of Brewer.

“We will be signing up people interested in donating blood,” said Lora McGeechan, donor recruiter for the blood drive. On the day of the blood drive, only 40-50 appointments will be available, but those who donate blood on other days at the EMMC Blood Donor Center through March 31 may request that a $2 donation be made to the Employee Assistance Fund.

Those interested in participating are encouraged to call Howard Kroll at 989-7500.

Dedham

Benefit supper

A spaghetti supper will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at the Dedham School. Proceeds from the supper will benefit Steve and Pokey Gray to help defray medical expenses incurred during recent treatment for cancer. The suggested donation is $10. A silent auction, door prizes and a raffle drawing are some activities.

To learn more, call Sharon Hillman-Waters, 843-0797; Lorraine Bloodsworth, 827-4704; or Brandy Malchiodi, 843-7322. Donations made be to The Gray Family Benefit Fund, c/o Merrill Bank, 1007 Main Road, Holden, ME 04429.

Eddington

Historical society

The Eddington Historical Society will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at the Eddington Salmon Club. Vernon Shaw will show old pictures of Eddington.

Old Town

Running for Legislature

Richard Blanchard has announced he will seek the Democratic Party nomination for the House of Representatives in District 14, which encompasses Old Town. The seat will be vacated by Matt Dunlap.

Blanchard has been District III county commissioner since 1986, and is currently county chairman. He is a past president of the Maine County Commissioners Association, and a member of the board of directors of Penquis Community Action Program. He also has held several offices with the Knights of Columbus and the Old Town-Orono YMCA.

He is married to Nancy Cloutier Blanchard and they have five children.

Chocolate Lover’s Festival

A sandwich luncheon and Chocolate Lover’s Festival will be held noon-1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14, at the Old Town United Methodist Church, 744 Stillwater Ave.

For $3.50 patrons may dine on sandwiches, chips, pickles and a hot fudge sundae. Other chocolate treats, including bars, candies, cookies, fudge and brownies, will be available at an additional cost, to eat in or take out. Proceeds will be used to purchase textbooks for college students.

Orono

Vaudeville auditions

Orono Community Theatre will hold auditions for an eight-week Vaudeville Workshop at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 14, at the Keith Anderson Community House, Bennoch Road.

A troupe of eight to 12 performers will be selected to train with magician Bruce Johnson. Workshop sessions will focus on magic, mime, juggling and slapstick comedy. The workshop will culminate in a public performance. Workshop sessions will beheld from 1-4 p.m. Sundays beginning March 21, at the Community House. The workshop fee is $50. Call 866-5065 for more information.

Forum on birding

Birding in Your Own Back Yard, a family forum, was held Feb. 15 at the Page Farm and Home Museum on the University of Maine campus.

Forum participants learned to identify backyard birds, found out about their favorite foods and got tips for creating bird-friendly habitat. The forum was sponsored by the Edith Marion Patch Center for Entomology, the Environment, and Education.

Veteran backyard birders Kathy Burns and Hope Brogunier, and nature photographer Joni Dunn shared their experience, expertise and resources in the forum.

It was the first in a series of monthly gatherings sponsored by the Edith Marion Patch Center, and hosted at the Page Farm and Home Museum. The forum series focuses on science and the environment, and celebrates of the life and work of Edith Marion Patch (1876-1954), the first woman scientist employed by the University of Maine.

Future topics in the series include sustainability, children’s literature and the environment, raising monarch butterflies and container gardening. To obtain information about the Patch Center Forums or the Friends of Dr. Edith Marion Patch, call Mary Bird at 581-2434, or e-mail mary.bird@umit.maine.edu.

Crisis intervention training

The Spruce Run Association, the domestic violence project serving Penobscot County is looking for volunteers. Beginning May 3, the organization will provide a 43-hour training program for hotline volunteers.

Spruce Run also will offer children’s worker training, a 24-hour program that prepares volunteers to provide support to children affected by domestic violence.

Training session topics for both positions include the dynamics of domestic violence and crisis intervention skill development.

Work study and continuing education units are available. Call 945-5102 for more information.