The Orono Bicentennial Committee has spent the last year gearing up for the town’s 200th birthday and is ready to start celebrating in 2006. Several bicentennial items now are for sale, including a commemorative sterling silver coin imprinted with the town seal, the “Orono Cooks” cookbook, a set of eight memorial postcards, and the Orono 2006 calendar. Coins are available at Degrasse Jewelers on Mill Street for $65, and postcards, calendars and other bicentennial celebration items can be purchased at various downtown businesses. Copies of “Orono Cooks,” a compilation of recipes from past and present Orono residents, is available for $15 at the public library. Cookbooks also can be ordered by going to www.orono2006.com, printing out the order form, and sending it to the listed address. At least one event per month is planned throughout the bicentennial year, which will kick off with a bonfire New Year’s Day. More information on the Orono Bicentennial Celebration can be found at www.orono2006.com.