Lincoln residents invite the public to join in and celebrate the town’s 175th anniversary. Running from mid-June through September, most events are concentrated in July around Lincoln’s annual homecoming, which is Saturday, July 10, through Sunday, July 18.

You can attend one of the free summer concert series at 6 p.m. tonight at the new gazebo on Main Street’s lakefront and hear Hook ‘n I, a popular local trio performing folk, blues, country and contemporary music.

Other activities include the Penobscot River Canoe Trip and a barbecue at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 10, starting from the North Chester Bridge and led by David Edwards and other river keepers.

Following the 57th Riverdrivers Supper 4-6 p.m. Thursday, July 15, a time capsule ceremony begins at 7 p.m. at the gazebo.

The Tony Boffa Big Band presents a free concert at 7 p.m. Friday, July 16, at Prince Thomas Park, and the U.S. Air Force Cross Into the Blue makes its second Maine appearance.

A state-of-the-art movie theater takes visitors on a tour of the U.S. Air Force beginning at 9 a.m. both days, Friday, July 16, and Saturday, July 17.

Lincoln’s official homecoming is Saturday, July 17, and that day is just chock-full of activities ranging from a golf tournament to the parade to fireworks at dusk at Cobb Field.

Beth Weatherbee, the celebration’s coordinator, said the event has received a great deal of community support through sponsorships and willing volunteers.

“All parts of the community are participating,” she said, adding that all town departments are working on a float for the parade.

For the complete schedule, visit lincolnmaine.org or stop by the Lincoln Town Office, 63 Main St.

The 20th anniversary of the death of Charles O. Howard, a 23-year-old gay man who was thrown from a bridge into the Kenduskeag Stream where he drowned, is Wednesday, July 7.

The group working to place a permanent memorial to Howard is sponsoring several activities, including a walk through downtown Bangor. The group also is encouraging walkers to get sponsors to pledge money for the event.

All proceeds benefit educational activities of the Charles O. Howard Memorial Foundation, whose purpose is “embracing diversities in our neighborhoods.”

A nondenominational service precedes the walk at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 7, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bangor on Park Street, where Howard was a member.

The Walk That Remembers begins at 7:15 p.m. at the church and ends at the public parking garage in downtown Bangor, where a gathering is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

According to a release about the event, people are invited “to walk with someone you love and in doing so, speak out against discrimination of all kinds, intolerance and bigotry, and to work together to create dialogue and openness among all peoples in Bangor and the nation.”

For more information about this event or the foundation, call Dan Williams, 942-9319, or Gary Malone, 299-0720.

Keeping Children Safe Downeast and United Way of Eastern Maine jointly invite community groups and agencies serving parents and children in Washington County to submit applications for funding.

KCSD project director Sandra Prescott reports this organization is in its fifth and final year of funding projects that help children, parents and communities learn how young children – specifically, those up to age 6 – are affected when they witness violence.

Applicants’ projects may educate children, parents and communities. KCSD organizers also hope that the projects will support similar events or develop educational materials.

The project also could enhance direct services benefiting children and parents by expanding the applicants’ current service-delivery capacity.

Applications must be received by 4 p.m. Thursday, July 22, and all funds must be spent by mid-December.

For information and an application, visit unitedwayem.org; write KCSD, P.O. Box 866, 367A North St., Calais, 04619; call Prescott, 454-0472, or e-mail sprescott@whcacap.org.

Donor recruiter Colleen Robbins of the American Red Cross Donor Center reports the center will be open 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, July 3, and 7 a.m.-noon Monday, July 5, at 900-B Hammond St. in Bangor.

Although the center is not usually open on weekends or holidays, she said, it is open this year “because of the need for blood, which is at very low levels.”

All donors will be served a continental breakfast.

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