Bangor

Twirling a ton of pasta

On Saturday, Jan. 7, the stations of Cumulus Broadcasting will team up to broadcast live from four area Hannaford Supermarkets to collect a minimum of 2,000 boxes of pasta – a ton – at each location between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Last year, through the generosity of listeners, the radio stations collected a combined total of three and a quarter tons of pasta for local food cupboards.

Cumulus stations will broadcast live from the following locations:

. Broadway Hannaford in Bangor, WEZQ 92.9.

. Brewer Hannaford, WQCB Q106.5.

. Ellsworth Hannaford, WWMJ I-95.

. Old Town Hannaford, WBZN Z107.3.

A 1-pound box of pasta can easily feed a family of four, Cumulus officials said. “We are encouraging our listeners to stop by and donate boxes of pasta and sauce – plastic bottles are preferred. All food collected stays locally and is given to various food shelters. There is no organized food drive in the area until the postal workers’ drive in May.

“With heating prices at record highs,” officials said, “Cumulus Broadcasting realizes that in the winter, many Mainers are faced with terrible decisions as to whether to pay for food or fuel. Maine has a terrific tradition of Mainers helping Mainers, and we at Cumulus Broadcasting wish to be the conduit for such a display. Please join us Saturday, Jan. 7, as we collect a ton of pasta!”

Martin Luther King birthday commemoration

A commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday will be held 4-7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, at the Bangor Y on Second Street. Snow date is 4-7 p.m. Monday, Jan. l6, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 120 Park St., Bangor.

The event, free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine and the Bangor Y-YMCA and YWCA of Greater Bangor.

The commemoration will focus on Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy to the people of Maine. A showing of the documentary film, “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action,” will be followed by a panel discussion with John Banks, department of natural resources director for the Penobscot Nation; and Maulian Dana, language apprentice at the cultural and historical preservation department on Indian Island and daughter of Barry Dana, former governor of the Penobscot Nation.

They will discuss the struggles of Native American people to challenge racism, preserve sovereignty and save their lands from environmental degradation.

A potluck dinner will follow the discussion. Bangor Interact Leaders will provide onsite child care.

At the event, tickets will be on sale for the NAACP’s “I Have a Dream” Breakfast, to be held 8:30-10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. l6, at the University of Maine, Orono. For information about the breakfast, call 827-8115.

There will be a Martin Luther King, Jr. commemorative story hour for children ages 5-8 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Bangor Y on Second Street, and 1-2 p.m. at the Bangor Y on Hammond Street.

Both sessions are free and open to the public. Librarians Katie Greenman and Jan Silbury will lead the sessions. For more information, call 942-9343 or 941-2808.

Maine Transition Network

The Maine Transition Network, Region 3, Penquis, will hold a mission transition forum on Social Security benefits and works incentives for students with disabilities 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Alpha One, 1048 Union St. Bangor.

Francis Lee, Social Security administrator, and Gary McLaughlin, benefits specialist, will be guest speakers. To register for the free workshop, call Cindy Tuck at 992-2270.

Brewer

Kiwanis news

Katee June Stearns, Miss Maine USA 2006, will be the guest speaker at the Brewer Kiwanis Club dinner meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at the Muddy Rudder Restaurant in Brewer.

Not since 1977 has a contestant from Maine made the top 15 nationally in the Miss USA Pageant, which will be televised April 21 from Baltimore.

Stearns is from Hampden and a 2004 graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor. She is a student at the University of Maine.

The cost of dinner is $13 and includes tax and gratuity. Those who plan to attend the meeting must call Kathleen Harding Heber at 825-4477 or e-mail kheber@daysjewelers.com by Monday, Jan. 9.

Castine

Chautauqua Days

The Wilson Museum in Castine will serve as the host for the second public meeting for planning Chautauqua Days, a community celebration with music, art, drama, literature, lectures, workshops and recreation.

Organizations, businesses and individuals already have come forward to participate in some aspect of the July event.

The public is invited to join organizers for coffee, muffins and discussion at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Emerson Hall, Court Street.

Orono

Women celebrating Kwanzaa

Women of the World will celebrate Kwanzaa at noon Monday, Jan. 6, at the Church of Universal Fellowship, Main Street, Orono. Traditional dishes will be served and a presentation will explain the African American holiday.

Volunteers are needed to help set up at 11:15 a.m.

Women of the World is a group of international women, including Americans, who gather once a month around an ethnic lunch. A cultural program featuring the country-theme represented usually follows.

The fee for lunch is $4, $2 children 6-10, free under 6. To obtain more information, call Mireille Le Gal at 581-3423.

Let’s Talk About It

The Orono Public Library has been selected by the Maine Humanities Council to offer a Let’s Talk About It free reading and discussion group with copies of books available through the library.

The series “Crossing Over: Mediating Between Cultures in Contemporary American Indian Literature,” with discussion leader Judith Hakola, begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Birch Street Senior Center.

The series continues for a total of five sessions, meeting at the same time on Feb. 15, March 1, March 29 and April 12. The location for the first four sessions will be the Birch Street Senior Center in Orono. The location for the April 12 session will be the Native American Center, Room 372, Aubert Hall on the University of Maine campus.

Books to be discussed in the series are “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie; “Tracks” by Louise Erdrich; “The Sharpest Sight” by Louis Owens; “Ceremony” by Leslie Marmon Silko; and “Song of Rita Joe: Autobiography of a Mi’Kmaq Poet” by Rita Joe and Lynn Henry.

Series books are available for loan at the library. For information and registration, call 866-5060.

The program is offered to Maine libraries through the Maine Humanities Council through a grant from the Belvedere Fund of the Maine Community Foundation.

New Year’s bonfire

Orono kicked off 2006 with warm wishes for its bicentennial year with a bonfire celebration Sunday afternoon behind the high school.

Commemorative calendars, postcards and cookbooks are for sale. For information, visit www.orono2006.org.

“Orono is very fortunate to have John Hackney, Ginny Whitaker and many other great citizens step up to organize a full year of bicentennial events,” said state Sen. Elizabeth Schneider.

Penobscot County

Emergency funds

Penobscot County has been chosen to receive $80,353 to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the area.

The selection was made by a national board that is chaired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and consists of representatives from The Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Council of Jewish Federations, Catholic Charities, National Council of Churches of Christ and United Way of America, which will provide the administrative staff and function as fiscal agent. The board was charged to distribute funds appropriated by Congress to help expand the capacity of food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country.

A local board, chaired by John Bragg of N.H. Bragg & Sons, will determine how the funds awarded to Penobscot County are to be distributed among the emergency food and shelter programs run by local service organizations in Penobscot County. The local board is responsible for recommending agencies to receive the funds and any additional funds available under this phase of the program.

Under the terms of the grant from the national board, local and governmental or private voluntary organizations chosen to receive funds must be nonprofit, have an accounting system or a fiscal agent approved by the local board, practice nondiscrimination, have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and-or shelter programs, and if they are a private voluntary organization, they must have a voluntary board. Qualified organizations are urged to apply. Applications must be received by Wednesday, Jan. 11.

United Way of Eastern Maine administers this program for Penobscot County as a service to the community. Last year 17 agencies received funding from FEMA to provide emergency food and shelter in Penobscot County. For more information, call the United Way of Eastern Maine at 941-2800.