Before the opening of its 2004 summer season, the Castine Historical Society invites the public to attend the lecture “That Damned Hole! The Penobscot Expedition, 1779,” featuring William M. Fowler, director of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

The lecture will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, at the Unitarian Church on the Castine town common.

Society member Del Davis wrote that the group will feature two new free exhibits 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-4 p.m. Sundays, beginning Thursday, July 1, and running through Monday, Sept. 6, in Abbott School on the town common.

“The new permanent exhibit is a multimedia explanation of the Penobscot Expedition,” Davis wrote, “which occurred in and around Castine in the summer of 1779. It is considered one of America’s worst naval defeats. The new summer exhibit addresses the aftermath of the Penobscot Expedition in Castine from 1779 to 1814.”

For more information, visit www.castinehistoricalsociety.org.

Garrett Conover will discuss “Of Maps and Dreams” – a story of canoeing an obscure route starting in Quebec and crossing into Labrador – at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, at Willimantic Town Hall.

Admission is by donation and all proceeds benefit the Willimantic Civic Association.

Refreshments will be served.

Bev Rollins wrote that the 13th annual reunion of all the Thorndike schools, with the exception of Mount View High School, begins with a social hour at 11 a.m., rain or shine, and a potluck lunch at noon Sunday, July 11, at the Thorndike town office.

A brief business meeting at 1 p.m. will be followed by an auction to benefit the organization’s Scholarship Fund.

Beverages and desserts will be provided, and you are asked to bring items for the auction.

“Join us and bring a friend,” Rollins wrote.

For more information, call Rollins at 679-2136 or Linda Dixon at 568-3411.

In the latest edition of the Franklin Historical Society Newsletter, president Irene Obermann reports the society’s museum will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays, beginning July 8, at the facility on Hog Bay Road, Route 200, in East Franklin.

However, what really caught my eye was her request for “museum sitters.”

“If you can spare a few hours during the day,” Obermann wrote, “please call me” at 565-3336, or Helen Cantor, 565-2223.

Kathryn Tega-Gonzalez of River City Cinema Society reports that group will present a free outdoor film series in Pickering Square in downtown Bangor, and “we sure could use some help.”

The dates for Noir Beneath the Stars are all Friday evenings: July 9, 16, 23 and 30, and Aug. 6 and 13.

The shows “start at sundown” and last about two hours, she explained, “but we’d need people there beforehand and afterward.”

Help is needed for volunteer coordination, crowd control, technical help, hauling, transportation, concessions, bucket brigade and cleaning up.

She also asks “if anyone out there can print up some T-shirts for our volunteers, for free or for cheap, that would be great!”

The organization also has basic needs ranging from film series sponsors to financial contributions and Web site maintenance.

If you can help with the summer programs or year-round,

e-mail Kathy@rivercitycinema.com.

Laurie McCarthy, a member of Bangor High School Class of 1984, reports that class is planning its 20th reunion Friday and Saturday, Aug. 13-14, in Bangor.

“Invitations to the event have gone out,” McCarthy wrote. “However, there are a number of classmates we cannot locate.”

She urges all member of Bangor High’s Class of ’84, or those who have information about them, to call Shawna Michael Allen, 469-9913.

Drivers who participated in the Law Enforcement Torch Run to Serve & Protect Campaign (which benefited the Special Olympics) earlier this month at 93 Mainway and Big Stop locations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, raised $187,000.

Irving donated 5 cents to LETR for each gallon of gas purchased on Friday and Saturday, June 5-6.

Last year, the effort raised $140,000 for Special Olympics.

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