Bangor

Assignment: Japan

Like many of the area’s young adults who have moved away, Mike Mahoney, 24, used the Christmas holiday as a time to see family and friends and to stock up on whoopie pies and Tri-City Pizza.

Mahoney’s new home is in Tajima, a town in the snow-bound mountains of northern Honshu Island in Japan.

He has lived there teaching English since August. Mahoney has been keeping busy, fitting in a crash course in cultural relations while he has taught middle and elementary schoolchildren correct English pronunciation.

“They call me ‘Sensei,’ which means ‘master.’ It’s the same word they use for doctors.”

The program subsidizes Mahoney’s four-room apartment, “a small palace” by Japanese standards.

Despite extreme differences in prices, cuisine and attitude, Mahoney has been struck by the similarities between Maine and Japan, and between people in general. Though the Japanese he has met often have never heard of Maine, some do know Bangor’s most famous international export.

“Some people know Stephen King,” he said. “I tell them I’m from the same town. That always impresses them.”

Mahoney took the job after graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a double major in English literature and urban planning, and working a few months in New York City for a small book publishing house. His teaching contract in Japan ends in August and he has not yet decided if he wants to extend it by a year.

Mike Mahoney is the son of Sally and Bangor Daily News sports reporter Larry Mahoney.

Winter Weekend

Co-chairmen Terry Delargy of J Group Advertising and Steve Ribble of Ames A/E announced the slate of activities for downtown’s third annual Winter Weekend.

The weekend will kick off Friday, Feb. 10, with a dance at the Union Street Brick Church and wind up with the Banff Film Festival Monday, Feb. 13, at the Bangor Opera House. Children and adults may enjoy many activities, most of them free of charge. Stores and eateries will run specials during the weekend, and Bangor Frameworks and Sephone Internet Solutions will offer free seminars.

A schedule of events is available at www.downtownbangor.com or call Terry Delargy at 734-5008.

Master gardener training

The Penobscot County Extension office announced the 2006 Master Gardener training program, which will concentrate on the growing of vegetables. Instruction will include basic soils, botany and pest management training. The fee for the program is $90. Participants receive a reference manual, opportunity to interact with other gardeners and opportunities to work on volunteer projects.

Forty hours of volunteer time is required of each trainee as part of the program.

Training begins Tuesday, Feb. 7, and will be held at the Extension office, 307 Maine Ave., Bangor. Application deadline is Friday, Jan. 13.

Application packets for the program may be obtained by calling the Extension office at 942-7396, (800) 287-1485 or e-mail lkinney@umext.maine.edu.

Tutor training for English

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor will offer tutor training for volunteers interested in helping adults speak English and understand American culture and customs. The 18 hours of training will be held at United Technologies Center on the Hogan Road:

. 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7.

. 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9.

. 9:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11.

. 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14.

. 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16.

Those interested must call Literacy Volunteers of Bangor at 947-8451 by Friday, Feb. 3, to register. Course materials are $20. Scholarships are available.

LV-Bangor is an organization that links volunteer tutors with adults who want to improve their literacy skills, which includes learning English. In particular, adults who have moved to this area from countries in Asia, Africa and Central America are in need of English language services. Last year, LV-Bangor volunteers donated more than 11,300 hours of service.

LV-Bangor is accepting applications from adults who want to improve their English-speaking skills. They may call LV-Bangor at 947-8451 for more information.

Dental hygiene clinic

The University of Maine System offers a low-cost dental hygiene clinic to the public from September until April. Dental hygiene services provided are oral exams, dental cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, athletic mouth guards and X-rays. Services are provided by dental hygiene students under the close supervision of faculty. For more information, call the University College Dental Health Programs at 262-7872.

Brewer

Silent auction and dance

Bangor Community Theatre will sponsor a silent auction and dance 8:30-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at Well Forms Ballroom, 797 Wilson St., Brewer. A free salsa lesson – no partner needed – will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The facility is smoke-free and chemical-free. Refreshments will be served.

Items for the silent auction range from a cord of split firewood valued at $200 to Maine Center for the Arts tickets, University of Maine women’s and men’s basketball tickets, dinner for two at various restaurants and more. Proceeds will benefit Bangor Community Theatre.

For more information, call Karen McCall at 848-7765, 989-9730 or visit www.have2dance.com.

To make a donation, call Karen or Stephanie Erb at 884-8114.

Benefit for homeless

Owners of the Detour Bar and Grill wanted to give back to the community, so they hosted four drag queen and king shows in the weeks prior to Christmas and donated half of the entry fees to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter.

“We wanted to make sure everyone had a good Christmas dinner,” Chase Blanchard, who owns the club with partner Troy Blanchard, said recently. The club raised $433 from the drag shows and individual donations, and handed a homeless shelter staff member a check on Dec. 23.

Eddington

Passion Play auditions

Auditions for an Easter Passion Play will be held 6-9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 19-21, at Comins Hall in Eddington. Dozens of parts need to be filled. Volunteers also are needed for technical jobs relating to the play. Call 296-3335 for more information.

Orono

Food co-op meeting

Have you ever wished the Bangor area had a storefront food co-op like those in Belfast and Blue Hill? If so, plan to attend a public meeting 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the Keith Anderson Community Center, 19 Bennoch Road, to discuss the possibilities.

A cooperative is an organization that is owned and controlled by its membership, with each member being an equal co-owner. Food co-ops promote environmental responsibility and build sustainable communities. For more information, call 866-3059.

Public lectures grant

The Orono Historical Society has received a grant for $1,000 from the Maine Humanities Council in support of a series of monthly public lectures on Orono’s history. The lectures are key events in the celebration of the town’s bicentennial year. The lectures take place at 7 p.m. the third Thursday of each month in the Town Council chambers.

The first lecture, Thursday, Jan. 19, will feature University of Maine faculty members Dr. David Sanger, anthropologist, and Dr. Harold Borns, geologist.

The Feb. 16 lecture will be on the historical place of the Penobscot Indians in this region of what is now Maine. Chief James Sapier and his colleagues will be the speakers.

For a schedule of lectures and other bicentennial events, visit the Web site at www.orono2006.com/events.htm.

Image of Orion Nebula

The University of Maine Maynard F. Jordan Planetarium participated in the national unveiling on Wednesday of a mural-sized image of the Great Orion Nebula, a turbulent region of star formation seen in exquisite and unprecedented detail by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

The 4-foot-by-4-foot picture, an immense seamless mosaic of 104 Hubble images, reveals a tapestry of star formation with features never before seen.

Alan Davenport, director of the Jordan Planetarium, unveiled the image at midday. He called it one of the largest and most magnificent images ever taken by the Hubble telescope.

To celebrate the event, the planetarium scheduled special hour-long showings of its Hubble Vision 2 program on Wednesday.

Additional information about the Hubble Space Telescope is available at http://hubblesite.org/.

The Jordan Planetarium is located at Wingate Hall on the UM campus in Orono. It presents private and school group star shows and weekend public shows throughout the school year. For more information, call the planetarium at 581-1341 or visit http://umainesky.com.