Bangor

Pops Night

The Bangor High School Music Boosters will present Pops Night at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, at Bangor High School. The evening will feature a silent auction, ice cream sundaes and music performances by the school’s jazz choir, jazz bands, orchestra, fiddlers, middle school jazz bands, musical combos and soloists. Tickets are $5, $15 families.

Book sale

The Friends of the Library will sponsor a book sale 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St.

A preview sale, for members only of Friends of the Library, will be held at 5 p.m. Friday, May 13. To join, stop by the library and pick up an application.

Spring concerts

John Bapst Memorial High School musicians invite seniors to enjoy a free, sneak preview of their annual Spring Concert 11:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Friday, May 13, in the school’s auditorium, 100 Broadway.

The concert band, concert choir, chorale, chamber ensemble and jazz band will perform music ranging from the classics of Bach and Bizet to the jazz standards of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

Call Carol Robb, 947-0313, in the Fine Arts Office to obtain more information.

The band will play “Proud Heritage,” “American Elegy” and “The Great Locomotive Chase.”

The chamber ensemble will perform Bach’s “Fugue in G Minor” and Bizet’s “Carmen” suite.

The chorale will sing “May The Road Rise Up to Meet You,” “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” and “True Light.”

The concert choir will raise their voices with “Cool of the Day,” “Prelude to Peace” and “When You Believe.”

The jazz band will rock the house with “Back to the Apple,” Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s “The Star-Crossed Lovers” and “Cruisin’ For a Bluesin.”

The John Bapst musicians will present their annual Spring Concert at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at the school auditorium. Tickets are $3, $2 students and senior citizens, and $6 families. Tickets are available in the Fine Arts Office from 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on days when school is in session and at the door if any seats are remaining.

‘Fumbling Toward Divinity’

Poet, performance artist, cultural activist – all might describe Craig Hickman, author of “Fumbling Toward Divinity.” But if it’s hard to pigeonhole the Maine author, reviewers have found it equally difficult to categorize his work. While his publisher asserts that Hickman has reinvented the memoir, the book also has been described as a mystery, a history, part family saga and part divination.

Hickman will present the story of a man’s investigation into his adoption at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at the Bangor Public Library. To obtain more information, call 947-8336.

Covenant Players

Dinner theater with the Covenant Players will be offered at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at First United Methodist Church, 703 Essex St. The event will benefit the mission work of the church.

The entree will be roast pork or chicken and dessert is make-your-own-sundae. Tickets are $15, $5 for children 10 and under. Children may order macaroni and cheese. Make reservations by calling 945-9567, or e-mail fumco@juno.com.

Parent appreciation dinner

To mark National Foster Parent Appreciation Month in May, Howard Johnson restaurant will be the host for a dinner on May 19 in honor of foster parents from Community Care’s Bangor region. Scott Matthews, hotel manager and sales and marketing director for the Bangor Howard Johnson said, “We are happy to join the community in thanking foster parents for the tremendous work they do.”

Food drive

Representatives from the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, Cross Roads Resource Center and Manna gathered recently to speak about the importance of the 13th annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ Food Drive on May 14.

People are asked to place nonperishable food donations in their mailboxes on Saturday, May 14. The food collected will stay in the community where it is donated.

The United States Postal Service, AFL-CIO, United Way of Eastern Maine, Campbell’s Soup and America’s Second Harvest are the sponsors of the event.

‘Birdwatching 101’

Ron Joseph of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will present “Birdwatching 101” at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at Bangor Public Library. Slides accompanied by recordings will introduce birding, a fast growing recreational activity in the United States. Joseph will follow up his talk with a walk in the Bangor City Forest. Participants will meet at 6:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, at the Kittredge Road entrance of the forest for a two-hour walk. Adults and children are welcome.

Register for the walk by calling 947-8336, or stop by the Children’s Desk at the library.

Bike safety

Bike safety Officer Kerry Libby of the Bangor Police Department will talk about bike safety at 4 p.m. Friday, May 20, in the Story Room, Bangor Public Library. Officer Libby will demonstrate basic care and maintenance of bikes and how to ride safely on city streets. Door prizes donated by the Ski Rack, Pat’s Bike Shop and Marden’s will be awarded.

Compost bin sale

Tired of seeing those kitchen leftovers from preparing meals get thrown out in the trash bin or eaten by critters in a makeshift composting bin in the backyard?

The Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District is participating in a statewide backyard composting bin sale. Through May 20 a home compost bin and how-to guide with a combined retail value of $80 may be purchased for $36.50, tax included. The bin is black, has a 10-year warranty and is made of 100 percent recycled plastic. It is approximately 35 inches high and 33 inches wide.

Order forms are available at www.penobscotswcd.org, or call 990-3676, Ext. 3.

Child care training

The Penquis CAP Resource Development Center will offer Weaving Diversity into our Work with Children and Families, six hours of training for child care professionals, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, June 14 and 16, at Penquis CAP, 262 Harlow St.

Registration is $15. Call 973-3533 to register or to obtain more information.

Little Round Top

The Society of “Other-Maine” Miniature Enthusiasts will present Little Round Top 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Bangor Public Library. The society of avid history buffs holds monthly meetings and participates in war games, real and imaginary, from every conceivable time in history. Chances are if you have a special historic interest, from Roman chariots to jet fighters, one or more members of the society share that interest.

In order to introduce the hobby to others, a detailed diorama and an interactive war game will be on view in the library’s Lecture Room.

GEAR Parent Network

The GEAR Parent Network, the Maine Parent Federation and School Need Parents will sponsor a workshop 6-8 p.m. Friday, May 13, at the UCP Center, Suite 320, 700 Mount Hope Ave. The topic will be Children in Special Education, presented by Attorney Jim Munch.

Other workshops are planned for May 16, June 20, July 18 and Aug. 15. To obtain more information or to register for the workshop, call Helen Jones, (800) 264-9224.

Brewer

Bake sale and raffle

The Maine Action Coalition will sponsor a bake sale and raffle 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, May 12 and 19, at Marden’s to benefit children with disabilities.

Hampden

Yard sale

A yard sale will be held from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, May 14, in front of Graves Supermarket. The event will benefit Maine children’s cancer programs of the Logan Graves Foundation. Those wishing to donate items in good condition to the yard sale should call the store at 862-5444. Donations should not include clothing.

Hot dogs and other food also will be for sale during the event.

Red, White and Blue dinner

Boy Scout Troop 1776 will hold a Red, White and Blue dinner 4-6 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at the VFW Post, Canoe Club Road. Suggested donation is $5. The dinner menu is spaghetti and meatballs, salad and choice of blueberry or strawberry dessert.

The dinner will benefit the fund to build a proposed veteran’s monument to be erected in front of the town hall.

The Scouts are working with VFW Post 4633 and the Ladies Auxiliary on the event to fulfill part of their commitment for community service. Troop 1776 is charted by Hampden’s Whitcomb-Baker VFW Post 4633.

Tickets will be available at the door. Call Scoutmaster Curt Slininger at 862-4619 to obtain more information.

Hudson

Audubon Birdathon

Many organizations raise money for important causes by sponsoring walkathons, bikeathons and even haircut-a-thons. But there’s only one that tallies bird species to benefit wildlife conservation statewide: Maine Audubon’s Birdathon.

“It’s my favorite day of the year,” said birder and state Rep. Bob Duchesne of Hudson. Part of a Birdathon team known as The Cardinal Sins, Duchesne is a Birdathon veteran.

In its seventh year – held this year May 14-30, Maine Audubon’s Birdathon is like any marathon: quantity counts. Participants count birds, scanning skies, trees, water and even the backyard feeder. In advance, they solicit pledges from 10 cents to $10 for each bird species they see. Proceeds support Maine Audubon’s sanctuaries, local chapters and environmental education and conservation programs.

The Birdathon’s most competitive teams consist of birding fanatics who search out and count as many bird species as they can, listening and looking from dawn to dusk or, in some cases, for 24 hours straight. Armed with binoculars, field guides and secret strategies to hit as many hot spots as possible, the members of last year’s champion team saw 139 species.

People of all abilities and ages are invited to blaze a Birdathon trail. Duchesne and The Cardinal Sins, who began birding at 2 a.m. last spring, tallied nearly 120 species in 20 hours.

“You don’t even have to be a good birder – when you go out on an adventure like this in May, you’re going to see a lot of birds. They’re practically going to come to you,” he said.

Participants in the 2005 Maine Audubon Birdathon have May 14-30 to complete a choice of activities:

. Form a competitive or noncompetitive birding team with friends or family.

. Join a public Birdathon trip hosted by Maine Audubon’s state office in Falmouth or local Maine Audubon chapter.

. Be a backyard birder looking for birds in the back yard, neighborhood or a local park.

. Take a business bird break, counting birds with co-worker.

. Make a donation to the Birdathon or a pledge to Maine Audubon’s staff team.

Information is available at www.maineaudubon.org, call Susy Kist at 781-2330, Ext. 231, or e-mail birdathon@maine

audubon.org.

Winterport

Comedy improv workshop

Are you a natural comedian? Have you ever wanted to learn the improvisation games you’ve seen on TV? Now there’s a chance for 15 adults to give comedy a try.

Winterport Open Stage will present a free six-week workshop on comedy improvisation at 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays beginning May 17 at Wagner Middle School. Improv instructor Geri Misler will conduct the workshop, which is open to those age 18 and older. Call 223-0917 or e-mail geri@winterportopen

stage.comto obtain more information.