Community News

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Bangor

Cemetery tour

If you have ever been to Mount Hope Cemetery, located on State Street in Bangor, you know that it is one of the loveliest spots in Bangor. What you may not know is that it is the second-oldest garden cemetery in the United States. Join guide Ryan King for a tour of the cemetery and tales of the many renowned and colorful people who are buried there.

The next tour is set for 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2. The tour meeting place is the cemetery supervisor’s office off State Street. The cost for the tour is $5, $4 for seniors. Members of the Bangor Museum and Center for History and children under 18 may take the tour without charge.

Church anniversary

The Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a service at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at 120 Park St. The Rev. Elaine Peresluha will preside.

It was on Sept. 10, 1995, that the Unitarian Church of Bangor held its last service at the church at 126 Union St., which had been its home for 168 years. Members of the congregation, about 65 strong, marched down Union and onto Main Street to their new home, the Universalist Church at 120 Park St.

They carried from their old church to their new home gold and silver candleholders, chalices, bowls, church vestments and a bust of U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, who was one of the church’s members in the 1860s.

The Universalist Society also had deep roots in the community, having met in various locations going back to the 1830s. The church at Park Street was virtually destroyed by the Great Bangor Fire in 1911 but was rebuilt with notable stained-glass windows.

The Rev. Susan Jamieson, who had been the Unitarian minister, served the combined congregations for four years.

Peresluha was called in 1999. She issues an invitation to all those who “recognize and affirm personal freedom and human dignity and want to be with others who seek to preserve these core beliefs. We invite you to get to know us and let us get to know you.”

For more information, call Bill Carlin, 945-0069, or e-mail billcarlin@yahoo.com.

School committee seats

Nomination petitions are available for City Council and school committee seats to be filled during Nov. 8 elections. This year, voters will fill three of the council’s nine positions and three of the school committee’s seven seats. All positions are for three years.

In council elections, voters will fill the expiring positions of Frank Farrington, Richard Greene and Dan Tremble. Tremble is not eligible to seek another term under the city charter, which requires councilors to take at least a year off after serving two consecutive terms. On the school side of the ballot, voters will fill the expiring school committee seats now held by Susan Carlisle, Phyllis Guerette and Christine Szal. Nomination petitions, available from the city clerk’s office on the first floor of City Hall, must be returned by Sept. 9.

New Brunswick tour

The Wellesley College Alumnae in Eastern Maine invite the public to take part in its sixth annual fall coach trip to Down East and New Brunswick on Sunday, Sept. 11. The cost is $109 and includes coach fare, brunch, decorative art museum, a garden tour with high tea and the Calais Downeast Heritage Museum. Reservation deadline is Tuesday, Sept. 6.

Highlights are brunch at the Fairmont Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, a guided tour of the Ross Memorial Museum in an 1824 Georgian mansion and Kingsbrae Garden graced with Don Pell sculptures. Brief stops also may be made at the St. Croix Island International Historic Site and the Ganong Chocolatier.

Participants will meet at the Bangor Park and Ride lot, corner of Odlin Road and I-395, opposite the Ramada Inn. Boarding will be at 6:30 a.m. and departure at 7 a.m. For more information or reservations, call Nancy Ziegenbein at 947-7965.

‘Camelot’

Join the Penobscot Theatre Guild for North Shore Music Theatre’s production of “Camelot” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Shubert Theatre in Boston. Tickets are $119 and include coach fare, theater ticket and lunch at the Wenham Teahouse. Deadline is Sept. 6.

Participants will meet at the Bangor Park and Ride lot Odlin Road and I-395, across from the Ramada Inn. Coach boarding will be at 6:30 a.m. Departure is at 7 a.m. Short stops will be made in Augusta for coffee and Newburyport, Mass., for supper. Proceeds benefit the Penobscot Theatre. To make reservations for the trip, call Nancy Ziegenbein, 947-7965.

Ballet auditions

The Robinson Ballet will hold auditions for its annual production of “The Nutcracker.” Male and female dancers from beginner to advanced levels are invited to audition. Actors with dance experience also are needed for “The Nutcracker.”

Auditions will take place Saturday, Sept. 17, at River City Dance Center, 107 Union St. Those age 12 to adult will audition at 12:30 p.m., and 9- to 11- year-olds at 2:15 p.m.

An open ballet class of intermediate to advanced level dancers will be held at 10:30 a.m. for those who will be auditioning. There is no fee for the class. For more information, call Robinson Ballet at 989-7226.

Book talk

Beatrice Blake of Bangor, author of “New Key to Costa Rica,” will talk about her book at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Bangor Public Library.

A former resident of Costa Rica, Blake will give details about traveling to the country and information about ecotourism there.

Blake’s book will be available for purchase and signing. For more information about this and other library programs, call 947-8336, ext. 139.

Brewer

Memories of Eastern Fine

The Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine is seeking former Eastern Fine Paper Inc. workers to discuss their experiences for an oral history project.

The purpose of the project is to document and preserve the history and culture of the mill and its workers through a series of tape-recorded interviews. Starting immediately, the Folklife Center wishes to interview men and women who worked at the Brewer mill in any capacity.

Interviewers would like to hear workers’ accounts of the jobs they performed and how they learned their skills; stories they may have about the mill, its people or events that occurred in the mill, including rituals and pranks; and feelings workers had about their jobs, both before and after the mill’s closing.

The information will be included in an exhibit entitled “The Writing on the Wall: The Twentieth Century Culture of a Maine Paper Mill,” which will open in the Brewer mill and then travel throughout the state, so that Mainers can learn more about the culture of paper mills and the lives of mill workers.

Those interested in assisting the Folklife Center with this important project or getting more information may contact Amy L. Stevens at the Maine Folklife Center, 5773 South Stevens Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5773; or call 581-1891.

School supplies for kids

Penquis CAP, Brewer Wal-Mart and Z107.3 extend thanks to those who contributed to the success of Stuff The Bus.

The bus, donated by Cyr Bus Lines, was at the Brewer Wal-Mart for three days, Aug. 17-20. The bus left Wal-Mart at 6 p.m. Friday stuffed with more than $9,000 worth of school supplies for thousands of kids in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. Microdyne alone contributed more than 3,000 school supply items and $400 worth of backpacks.

The school supplies were distributed to students through the three offices of Penquis CAP in Bangor, Dover and Lincoln.

Z107.3 provided a live broadcast throughout the three-day event, and the Brewer Wal-Mart provided the location for the Cyr bus used to collect school supplies. Organizers say they are planning to do the three-day event again next year.

To learn more about the project, call Penquis CAP at 973-3500.

Kiwanis news

At a recent meeting of the Brewer Kiwanis Club, President Bill Newberry introduced its newest member, Kim Long, sponsored by club secretary Herb Hopkins.

Bill and Jane Newberry returned recently from the New England District Convention held in Burlington, Vt. Bill Newberry gave a summary of the events that occurred at the convention. He reported that the New England district governor for the 2005-06 is Timothy McMahon of the Presque Isle Kiwanis Club. It is the third year in a row that the district governor is from Maine.

The speaker at the Brewer Kiwanis meeting was Marion Syversen, insurance and financial consultant with Wall Street Financial Group Inc. She is the financial adviser of the National Association of Women’s Business Owners. She emphasized how important it is for women to understand financial matters. Forty-seven percent of women age 50 and older are single. They need to know how to provide for retirement and understand many financial situations.

Brewer Kiwanis is still working on an advertising program with L and M Videomarketing.

The club’s next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, at the Muddy Rudder. Those interested in joining Kiwanis are encouraged at attend a meeting or call 945-0746 for more information.

Frankfort

Glasswork honor, tour

Nancy Tang of Glass Orchids, Frankfort GlassWorks, North Searsport Road, has been selected to give a presentation at the 2006 International Precious Metal Clay Conference in Indiana in July 2006.

Tang is a senior instructor for the PMC Connection, one of the two importers of precious metal clay to the United States. She was selected as a senior instructor because of her recognized expertise in fusing dichroic glass.

Tang’s presentation will be a technical one on the discoloration of some colors of glass that occurs when they are fired with silver. Precious metal clay is made from silver particles recycled from the film industry and mixed with a cellulose binder that makes the silver pliable much like clay.

It is worked like clay but, when fired, becomes fine silver as the binder burns off. Many PMC artists like to set glass “stones” into their silver pieces, but some colors of art glass have an adverse reaction to the silver and discolor – a certain green glass turns milky white where the silver touches it.

Tang’s presentation will be the culmination of a year of testing every color of art glass with silver to document which colors react and which don’t.

Conference attendees come from across the United States and Japan as well as from many other countries.

The Bangor Jewelry Club will visit Glass Orchids, Frankfort GlassWorks, at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, for a studio tour and presentation on glass fusing and precious metal clay. Studio tours are available to trade, civic, educational and social groups at no charge. Tang also is available to give presentations to organizations at their meetings.

Glass Orchids also donates works to civic organizations raising money for charitable endeavors. Call 223-0070 or e-mail glass@glassorchids.com to obtain more information.

Levant

Nomination papers

Nomination papers for one position on the Levant Board of Selectmen and two positions on the SAD 23 board of directors are available at the Town Office and are due back by Oct. 6. Selectman Gary Adams is seeking re-election after completing the three-year term of former chairman David CoWallis, who had resigned.

Charles Langbein, a minister, resigned from the school board on Aug. 12, citing his work schedule at two churches as his reason for leaving, a school department official said. His replacement will serve for two years. A three-year position on the school board is up for election. Absentee ballots will be available on Oct. 7. Municipal elections will coincide with the national election on Nov. 8.

Old Town

Nomination papers

Nomination papers for City Council and school board members are available and must be returned by Friday, Sept. 9. Candidates must obtain 25 signatures to be put on the municipal ballot for the Nov. 8 election.

Nomination papers can be picked up at the city clerk’s office on the second floor of the Bangor Savings Bank at 265 Main St.

There are three positions open on the City Council and three on the school board. Each position is a three-year term. Councilors whose terms are expiring are Linda McLeod, Charles Pinkham and Alan Stormann.

School board members whose terms are expiring are Donna Conary, Lianne Judd and James Dill. For information, call the clerk’s office at 827-3980 or e-mail City Clerk Patty Brochu at pbrochu@old-town.org.

Concert at the library

Six Basin Street Band and The Sweet Adelines will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at the Old Town Museum, 353 Main St.

Museum hours are 1-5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. To obtain more information, call 827-7256.

Orono

Reading group

New members are welcome at the Orono Public Library’s reading and discussion group, the Friday Morning Reflective Readers. The group will meet at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at the library to discuss “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck.

Copies of each month’s selection are available for loan at the library. Participants are advised to walk past the “closed” sign on days when the group meets. To obtain more information, call the library at 866-5060.

Symphony auditions

The Bangor Symphony Orchestra will hold auditions on Saturday, Sept. 10, in Minsky Recital Hall, Class of 1944 Hall, School of Performing Arts, University of Maine, Orono.

A new, one-year percussion position recently opened with the BSO.

Other available positions are principal clarinet, principal viola and section strings. Substitutes are needed for all instruments.

Contracted musicians are paid on a per-service basis, with mileage and housing arrangements included. The 2005-06 season includes six classical concerts, three youth concerts, three performances of “The Nutcracker” ballet, plus summer pops events.

For audition requirements and more information, call Surya Mitchell, personnel manager, at 942-5555, or visit surya@bangorsymphony.com.

Orrington

Curran Homestead

The Curran Homestead board of directors invites the public to join them in a celebration at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at the homestead, Fields Pond Road, Orrington.

The celebration will include the dedication of a picket fence, the work of Boy Scout Michael Mower who undertook the task as an Eagle Scout project. The day also will celebrate the contributions volunteers have made to the farm over the past 15 years and will mark the progress that has been made in accomplishing the farm museum’s mission.

During a brief recognition ceremony, certificates will be presented to those who have made significant contributions to the farm’s restoration and education endeavors. Charter owner certificates will be presented to those who purchased fence pickets for themselves, a business or in memory of a loved one.

To learn more about the Curran Homestead, call 945-9311.

Winterport

Scrapaganza

Scrapaganza, an all-day scrapbooking workshop, will be held 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Victoria Grant Civic Center, Winterport. Host for the event is Magical Memories Scrapbooking Store of Verona Island. Proceeds from the workshop will benefit the Rivertown Playschool in Winterport.

Activities include games, raffles, drawing, prizes and classes. The cost for the day is $20. Lunch is $5.

To register or to obtain more information, call Denise, 469-3931, or Rivertown Playschool, 223-4108.