December 26, 2024
Column

Community News

Got something for Community News? E-mail it to weekly@bangordailynews.net, or mail it to The Weekly, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or drop it off at the front desk of the Buck Street entrance of the Bangor Daily News, 491 Main St., Bangor.

Bangor

Thomas Hill House

The Bangor Museum and Center for History announced the summer schedule for tours of the Thomas A. Hill House.

From Tuesday through Friday, tours are available by appointment only. The fee for tours is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and free for children.

Visitors will get an in-depth peek into the pages of history during the tour, which will take in the architecture, decorative arts, paintings, furnishings and textiles of the 19th century home and will highlight stories of the families who lived there.

The Thomas A. Hill House functioned as a private home for more than 100 years, from 1834 to 1944. The Sons of Union Veterans purchased the home in 1944, and deeded it to the Bangor Historical Society in 1974.

The Hill House is a Greek Revival style home commissioned by Thomas A. Hill, who was a lawyer, banker, amateur architect and speculator. Richard Upjohn, one of the earliest professional architects in America, was best known for his Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture. He got his start as an architect here in Bangor, and grew to be a very important architect in America. Aside from his beautiful buildings, he was also one of the founders of the American Institute of Architects and was its first president.

The Hill House is located at 159 Union St. Appointments for tours may be made by calling 942-1900.

Profile of symphony

Maine Public Broadcasting System’s Emmy award-winning television series that explores Maine businesses, people and products will air in brief the history of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra on “Made in Maine.” The story will air first at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 27, on MPTV and then again at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 29.

MPBS conducted interviews with Xiao-Lu Li, music director and conductor of the BSO; Bernard Miller, percussionist with the BSO and longtime orchestra member; Christina Winrich, principal viola and one of the BSO’s newest members; and Susan Jonason, executive director of the orchestra.

The BSO is the oldest continuously operating community orchestra in the United States, founded in 1896. MPBS explores the reasons why the BSO has thrived for more than 100 years and discusses the future of the orchestra.

The Bangor Symphony is preparing for its 109th season, beginning in October, with works by Verdi, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky. As a special feature, the BSO will prepare a new work by composer Thomas Oboe Lee, “The Penobscot River,” a five-movement symphony that explores the history of Bangor through music.

For information on the symphony and coming BSO events, call the box office at 942-5555, or (800) 639-3221, or visit bangorsymphony.com.

Live carnations

The Korean War Veterans of Burton-Goode-Sargent Chapter One will offer live carnations – for donations only – to benefit the Korean War Memorial at Mt. Hope Cemetery. The carnations will be available May 28-30 at Wal-Mart stores in Brewer, Bangor, Ellsworth and at Palmyra, the Brewer Marden’s and Main Street Shaw’s in Bangor.

The monument honors Maine military who lost their lives in the Korean War. The flowers that decorate the memorial were donated by Ledgewood Gardens and Wiswell Farm Greenhouses in Orrington.

Vocal concert

Rabbi Larry Milder from Congregation Beth El will present a vocal concert at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at Wells Commons, Bangor Theological Seminary, to benefit the Charles O. Howard Memorial Foundation. Part of the evening will include a raffle of a kayak, a flotation device and a paddle.

Tickets are $15 each and include finger foods. For information call Dan Williams at 942-9319.

Meet the author

Maine native Skip Strong, author of “In Peril,” will visit the Bangor Public Library at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 8.

Strong still makes his living on the sea, but at the time “In Peril” begins, he was a 32-year-old captain of the oil tanker Cherry Valley.

In a volatile sea, he received a distress call from a tugboat off the coast of Florida. To aid the tug, he would have to maneuver his own ship, laden with 10 million gallons of oil, through extremely hazardous conditions.

What Strong didn’t know was that the tugboat was carrying a 150-foot aluminum fuel cell for the space shuttle worth approximately $50 million. By rescuing the tugboat and its crew, Strong became involved in a dramatic legal struggle that pit him against the U.S. government.

Summer concert series

Bangor’s summer concert series on the waterfront has a new lineup of performers and has renamed itself CoolSounds.

King Pirogi, a polka-dance band, will open the concert series at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 17. Other groups scheduled to perform at subsequent concerts are the Acadia Brass, Devonsquare, Pride of Maine Fiddlers, Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection, and Flash in the Pans steel drum band.

The series, known as Twilite Delight last year, is produced by the Bangor Center Corp. and takes place each Thursday evening through July 22. Sponsors of the concert series are Sea Dog Brewing Co., Bangor Hydro, Epic Sports, Bangor Center Corp., the Bangor Museum and Center for History and the Bangor Daily News.

Motorcycle show

The Goldwing Riders Association Chapter D will hold its annual motorcycle show 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, May 29, at the Bangor Mall. One must be an association member in order to enter a motorcycle in the show. To obtain more information, call Phil Albert at 947-0824.

YWCA capital campaign

The campaign steering committee of the Bangor-Brewer YWCA announced that it has received a $1,000 gift from the Bangor Wal-Mart. Allison Carson of Bangor Wal-Mart presented the gift to Jackie Hewett, co-chairman of the steering committee May 21.

Brewer

Brewer High School Class of 1974 will hold its 30th class reunion 6:30 p.m.-midnight at the Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono. Reservations are required in order to plan for food. To obtain more information, call Cathy Mayo Harriman at 989-4744.

Eddington

Bicentennial plans

The Eddington Historical Society is making plans for the town’s bicentennial in 2011. Eddington was incorporated as Eddy Plantation on Feb. 22, 1811, in the meetinghouse on the hill above the Penobscot River at Eddington Bend.

The society is seeking volunteers to serve on committees to help with fund-raising activities and to come up with ideas for celebration activities.

The “Reflections of Eddington, Vol. II” committee will update the history of Eddington, work begun by Carolyn Wood. Background work is completed. Committee members are now in the process of gathering more information from organizations and individuals.

The bicentennial committee is planning fund-raising events to help pay for the 2011 celebration. They will solicit businesses and organizations for donations for items to raffle in February 2005.

Those wishing to serve on either committee should call the Eddington town office at 843-5233, or contact a member of the historical society.

Hampden

Lura Hoit Pool tickets

Discount tickets for the Lura Hoit Pool will be on sale during June, and may be purchased at the pool. Tickets are $2 and are sold in groups of five, with a limit of 50 tickets per person. Tickets are applicable to lap, senior, family and open swims, and are valid for six months. For information, call 862-4305.

Voter registrar hours

The registrar of voters for Hampden will hold office hours at the town municipal building from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, June 2, 3 and 4, for the purpose of accepting new registrations, party enrollment and name and address changes.

Holden

Butterfly walk

A free butterfly walk will take place 2-4 p.m. Saturday, May 29, at Fields Pond Audubon Center. The first part of the walk will be near the nature center entrance, so that those wishing to stay for an hour or less may leave early. Participants will help count butterflies as part of the North American Butterfly Association’s nationwide Memorial Day count.

For information, call the nature center at 989-2591.

Orono

Author signing

The Orono Historical Society and Friends of the Library will hold a launch party for “Orono” by Scott Peterson at 7 p.m. today at the Orono Public Library. Copies will be sold to benefit both groups, and the author will be available for signing.

Hartman Awards

The University of Maine’s Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies programs are seeking nominations for this year’s Maryann Hartman Awards.

The award is presented every fall to distinguished Maine women whose achievements in the arts, politics, sports, sciences, business, education and-or community service have provided inspiration to others. Honored last fall were artist and author Dahlov Ipcar, research scientist Joy Longcore, and community activist and state representative Lillian O’Brien.

To obtain more information or a nomination form, call Angela Olson at 581-1228, e-mail angela.olson@umit.maine.edu, or stop by the office at 101 Fernald Hall. The nomination form also is available at www.umaine.edu/wic. The deadline for nominations is Friday, June 25.

Winterport

Annual library meeting

The annual meeting of the Winterport Free Library Association will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, in the library. The public is invited.

The library will hold a book sale 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, June 5.


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