Bangor

Collecting Toys for Tots

Toys for Tots, a project of the Marine Corps League, already has collected 1,000 toys for distribution in the Bangor area during the holidays.

The Toys for Tots store at the Airport Mall is accepting contributions of toys and money, said Skip Young, a representative of the Marine Corps League.

Monetary donations also may be sent to Toys for Tots, 901 Hudson Road, Glenburn 04401.

Hampden

Fiddle Festival

Arcady Music Society will offer Fiddle Festival, a day of fiddle workshops with master fiddler Greg Boardman, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at Hampden Academy, 1 Main Road.

Boardman’s workshops are fit for fiddlers of all ages and skill levels and are open to violists, cellists and bass players as well. After the workshops, a traditional country supper will be held at 5 p.m., followed by a country dance with music and dancing provided by Boardman, the workshop participants, families and friends.

Registration for the Fiddle Festival is $20, which includes the workshop and country supper. For registration forms and more information, including sheet music that may be downloaded, visit www.arcady.org, e-mail arcady@arcady.org or phone 669-4225.

Orono

Music by German composers

The music of Weber, Beethoven and Brahms will be performed by the Bangor Symphony Orchestra at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, at the Maine Center for the Arts, with Music Director and Conductor Xiao-Lu Li.

The performance opens with Carl Maria von Weber’s “Der Freischutza: Overture.” Next, Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Concerto, violin, violoncello and piano” will feature BSO’s musicians Trond Saeverud, violin; Phillip Silver, piano; and Noreen Silver, cello. The afternoon will close with Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.

Violinist and conductor Trond Saeverud recently joined the BSO as concertmaster. He has been a frequent soloist with orchestras in Norway and Denmark, has produced CDs with orchestras in both countries, and regularly premieres and records new works dedicated to him. Concert tours in Japan, the United States and Europe have been combined with positions as concertmaster of several Scandinavian orchestras.

Saeverud had a successful London debut in 1992 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. His New York debut was as a soloist with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at the Lincoln Center.

Phillip Silver is an internationally acclaimed soloist and collaborative artist. He has performed with distinguished artists including Denes Zsigmondy, Jian Wang, Elmar Oliveira, Albert Markov and Alexander Markov. Silver has been a member of the Van Leer Chamber Players in Jerusalem, the Rachmaninov Trio in the United Kingdom, and the Silver Duo, a long established ensemble with his wife, cellist Noreen Silver.

Silver has been on the faculties of Glasgow University, Strathclyde University and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. He is an associate professor of music at the school of performing arts at the University of Maine.

Principal cellist of the BSO Noreen Silver studied at the Royal College of Music in London, then in Geneva with Pierre Fournier, and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

With the Silver Duo, and as a member of the Israeli-based Van Leer Trio, Noreen has performed in the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, France and Belgium, and has broadcast frequently for the British Broadcasting Corp. and other national radio stations.

Noreen Silver has taught on the faculties of Strathclyde University and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. She also has been a member of the Boston Opera Orchestra, Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

Noreen Silver is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine.

Advance tickets for the concert range from $13 to $38 and may be purchased online at www.bangorsymphony.com or by calling the Bangor Symphony Orchestra box office at 942-5555 or (800) 639-3221.

International Week

Many educational and enlightening activities have been scheduled during International Week 2005, Oct. 31-Nov. 11 at the University of Maine. The schedule is:

. “Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America” exhibit; and “New Mainers” exhibit; “Talismans, Tokens and Treasures” exhibit, ongoing, Hudson Museum.

. French Language Table, noon-1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31, 207 Little Hall.

. Global Outreach at the University of Maine Discussion Series: Project Maine/France, an overview, noon Monday, Oct. 31, Coe Room, Memorial Union.

. William S. Cohen Lecture with former CBS news anchorman Dan Rather, 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, Maine Center for the Arts. Free. Tickets required, 581-1755.

. The Day of the Dead: Discussion and Altars, 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Nov. 2, Hudson Museum. RSVP, 581-1901.

. Russian Language Table, noon-1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, 207 Little Hall.

. German Language Table, noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, 207 Little Hall.

. Global Outreach at the University of Maine Discussion Series: Exploring Faculty Research Connections, noon Wednesday, Nov. 2, Senior Skulls Room, Memorial Union.

. Thinking About Study Abroad?, Study Abroad Fair, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, Donald P. Corbett Hall atrium.

. Spanish Language Table, noon-1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, 207 Little Hall.

. Global Outreach at the University of Maine: Social gathering for International Education, La Francophonie: Project Maine/France, 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, Coe Room, Memorial Union.

. International Coffee Hour, 4-5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, North Pod of the Market Place, Memorial Union.

. Sweet Honey in the Rock, 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, Maine Center for the Arts. Ticket cost and information, 581-1755.

. Culturefest: A Celebration of Countries and Cultures, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, field house and Memorial Union.

. International Mass, 10 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, Newman Center-Our Lady of Wisdom Parish, 83 College Ave.

. Shekaiba Wakili, “Immigration, Peace and Foreign Policy,” 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, Unitarian Universalist Church vestry, 120 Park St., Bangor.

. “Crossing into Maine: Old and New Immigration Stories,” 12:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, Bodwell area, Maine Center for the Arts.

. Women’s basketball exhibition game, University of Maine vs. University of New Brunswick, 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, Alfond Arena. $10 reserved seats, $8 general admission, $6 youth and senior citizens.

. Reading, “Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, Minsky Recital Hall, Class of 1944 building.

. “Women, Girls and Immigration, 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, Bangor Room, Memorial Union.

. Mexican exchange program, noon Wednesday, Nov. 9, Coe Room, Memorial Union.

. International Coffee Hour, 4-5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, North Pod of the Market Place, Memorial Union.

. Visiting Composer: Jan Gilbert, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, Minsky Recital Hall, Class of 1944 Building. $6, $4 senior citizens.

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

On relatives as parents

For Maine children being raised by grandparents or relatives other than biological parents, cultural differences can seriously affect the quality of a family’s experience with community support services such as schools or social service providers.

How social workers, guidance counselors, teachers and family members respond to and appreciate cultural differences – whether ethnic, racial, generational, geographic or even economic – can be either very helpful or very harmful.

The Maine Center on Aging at the University of Maine and the Relatives As Parents Project Task Force are holding a special workshop on Friday, Nov. 4, to raise awareness of familial cultural differences with professionals, parents and relatives involved with what are called “kinship families.”

The free workshop, set for 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Bangor Room in the Memorial Union at the University of Maine, will be of interest to social workers, parents, grandparents and those who work closely with children being cared for by relatives when biological parents cannot do so.

Expert speakers and panel discussions will challenge participants to think about how they approach working relationships with relatives as surrogate parents, said Len Kaye, director of the UMaine Center on Aging.

Speakers for the workshop, “Grand-families and Cultural Diversity: Building Cultural Competency,” include John Bear Mitchell, a member of the Penobscot Nation, and associate director and Native Program Waiver coordinator for the University of Maine System at the Wabanaki Center at UMaine. His workshop is “Cultivating Diversity in Families: An Understanding of Human Diversity.”

Susan Nichols, executive director of the UMaine Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, will moderate an afternoon discussion with panelists Claire Bolduc, Amy Cooper, and Lorraine Haynes – all area grandmothers or aunts with parenting experiences to share – and members of the Relatives As Parents Program Task Force.