September 20, 2024
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Last call for National Folk Festival volunteers

With nearly 100,000 people expected to attend the third and final year of the National Folk Festival on Aug. 27-29 in Bangor, plans are in the wrapping-up stage.

“This is the last call for volunteers,” Folk Festival assistant director Noelle Richard told me this week.

“The bottom line is, we’re really not stressed out,” about having enough volunteers, she added, “but if anybody would like to help, we can really use some more volunteers on Saturday evening for the Bucket Brigade.”

The shift would be approximately 6-9 p.m., Richard said.

Having been a member of the Bucket Brigade and known as a “Bucket Head” for two years, I can tell you that assignment is a lot of fun and very rewarding.

Plus, all volunteers get one of those terrific volunteer T-shirts that you can proudly wear for many summers to come!

Your job as a “Bucket Head” is to walk through the crowd with a partner, at specific locations, carrying a bucket, into which very generous attendees drop everything from pennies to large bills.

Since the festival is free, people seem very willing to help support the Greater Bangor community, understanding that every “drop in the bucket” helps defray the expenses of bringing the festival to Bangor.

To be honest, it’s a privilege to be part of the oldest multicultural arts celebration in the United States, especially considering that Bangor is the smallest city ever to host this national event.

To become a Folk Festival volunteer, call Richard at 992-2630.

Tonight’s SummerKeys Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Lubec Congregational Christian Church is in memory of SummerKeys and area arts supporter Juanita Pike.

It features the quartet composed of Kathleen Grammer, Heidi Hayes, Richard Johnson and Nicholas Cotelessa accompanied by pianists Gregory Biss and Bruce Potterton.

Donations will be accepted for the piano-tuning fund, and information about traveling to the concert by boat from Eastport can be obtained by calling 853-2500.

Reservations are absolutely necessary if you plan to attend the seventh annual Dinner Theatre sponsored by Elm Street Congregational Church in Bucksport.

Festivities begin with hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 p.m. followed by the first act at 6 p.m. and dinner served between acts on both Friday, July 30, and Sunday, Aug. 1, at the church.

Admission is $15 for adults and $8 for children ages 5-11.

The play stars Cindy Bohlen, Joyce Sanborn, Irene Atwood, Effie Littlefield, Bob Cottrell and Ernest Sanborn.

You can reserve your table by calling Nancy Bourgon, 469-3328, or the church office, 469-3333.

Registrations are now being accepted for the Mary Jo Sekera Memorial Cancer Tournament with optional shotgun starts at 7:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at Pine Hill Golf Club in Brewer.

The registration fee for the three-person teams is $40 per person, and the fee includes a barbecue lunch.

Registration forms are available throughout the area, including local golf courses; by calling tournament coordinator Sandra Meehan, 989-2108; or Pine Hill Golf Club, 989-3824.

For more than a week, Hannah Allen of Bangor has been searching for her missing calico cat, who came to live with the Allens as a kitten more than a year ago.

If anyone has information on the whereabouts of her pet, please call Allen at 941-8426 or write her at 7 Cortland Circle, Bangor 04401.

Rape Response Services assists people in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties who are affected by sexual violence.

Client service coordinator Sue Currie reports RRS is offering a free support group for women who have experienced rape, incest or childhood sexual abuse.

The sessions will be offered 6-7:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays beginning Monday Aug. 9, in Bangor.

You can call RRS, 941-2980, for more information.

The family of Michael Thibodeau, a very popular third-grade teacher at Morison Memorial School in Corinth, wrote the Bangor Daily News recently to express thanks to “the people who have been so kind, generous and helpful” during Thibodeau’s cancer treatment.

“We really appreciate the continued positive thoughts, cards and kindness that people have shown Michael the last few months.”

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


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