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Bangor

UCP’s Camp CaPella

Bangor Y Camp Jordan will be the host site for this year’s United Cerebral Palsy of Northeastern Maine Camp CaPella program. UCP was unable to host children at its Camp CaPella site this year because of funding issues. The program provides a one-week camp experience for a limited number of children with disabilities.

Camp Jordan has agreed to be the host facility for the UCP program children and their behavior specialists this summer to enable them to participate in the camp experience and enjoy the outdoors. Camp Jordan facilities will provide a welcoming atmosphere for the group. However, the program is staffed and managed by UCP, which provides appropriate staff and expertise that make the program at Camp Jordan possible.

Rob Reeves, Bangor Y chief executive officer, said, “UCP offers important programs for our community’s children. Bobbie-Jo Yeager, executive director of UCP, has worked for quite some time to find the right situation to make the Camp CaPella program viable this summer. I’m glad we are able to help by providing the Camp Jordan facility so these children can enjoy the benefits of a camping adventure.”

For information on United Cerebral Palsy of Northeastern Maine programs, call UCP at 941-2885.

Children’s book drive

United Way and Clear Channel Radio of Maine have marked April as Children’s Literacy Month as a part of their yearlong Acts of Kindness campaign.

Clear Channel Radio is asking the community to donate new or used children’s books to help low-income families give their kids a smart start. Research shows that children who have been read to at a young age have higher IQs, perform better in school and are more successful in life.

More than one in three kindergarten students in Maine are not ready to participate successfully in school. This can result in children being held back, a need for special education or increased school dropout rates.

Books may be dropped off at any Bangor Savings Bank location.

Or stop by Starbucks, Bangor Mall Boulevard, 6-9 a.m. Thursday, April 20. Mike and Mike from KISS 94.5 will broadcast live, and those who drop off a book get a free cup of coffee.

Penquis CAP, Washington-Hancock Community Agency, Waldo CAP and United Way will distribute the books to families in need.

“If children miss the thrill of reading when they’re little, chances are they won’t recover. Studies have found that one in three adults in Maine are not able to read or have difficulty reading. Last month’s Act of Kindness was to volunteer as an adult literacy tutor. This month we are taking a preventative approach and helping children get off to a smart start,” said Nancy Roberts, vice president of Community Impact for United Way of Eastern Maine.

For information on the Acts of Kindness campaign, visit www.unitedwayem.org, or call Sara Yasner at 941-2800.

“Experience Breakthrough”

The public is invited to “Experience Breakthrough,” an evening of worship and praise at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Bangor Y on Hammond Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. The event is sponsored by Grace United Methodist Church, with music by Modern Day Jeremiah.

Grace United Methodist Church is an urban church at 193 Union St. For many years, one of its major objectives has been to reach out to the neighborhood surrounding the church, officials said. It has served a free community lunch for nine years, and two years ago it opened the Saving Grace Thrift Shop to provide very low-cost or free clothes and household items to those who want them. The thrift shop is well-organized and inviting to reflect the dignity of all who walk through the door.

The church has held two block parties in as many years, providing music, free food and fun for all. Adult Sunday school is at 9 a.m., worship and children’s Sunday school 10:30 a.m.

Beginning in May, the church will offer a Tuesday evening contemporary service, focused on those in their late teens to early 30s.

During “Experience Breakthrough,” Bishop Peter Weaver, president of the worldwide United Methodist Council of Bishops, will conduct the day’s activities. He and members of Grace UMC and 66 United Methodist churches from the northern Maine district will meet with representatives of local government, law enforcement, social services, education, business and ecumenical leaders from Bangor.

The purpose will be a dialogue on how the groups can work together to meet the needs of the downtown area. Groups from other Methodist churches will learn how to bring the program to their communities.

In the afternoon and evening, the bishop will instruct and send out teams of people to survey the neighborhood concerning worship needs and invite them to the contemporary worship service at the Hammond Street Y that evening. For information, call 942-8320.

Altrusa fashion show

Altrusa International Inc. of Greater Bangor will hold its annual Fashion Review at 7 p.m. Monday, April 24, at the Campus Center, Husson College. The cost is $12 at the door, or in advance by calling 825-3178. Homemade refreshments will be served. Proceeds benefit Altrusa’s scholarship fund.

March of Dimes yard sale

FedEx of Bangor will hold a yard sale 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at FedEx, 124 Banair Drive, Bangor. The sale will benefit the March of Dimes.

New or gently used items may be donated for the yard sale by dropping them off 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at FedEx during the week before the yard sale. For information about donating items for the yard sale, call Cindy Smith at 947-2802.

Bangor Home Show

The 35th annual Bangor Home Show, April 20-23, at the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center, combines indoor and outdoor exhibitions to make it the fourth biggest home show in New England, according to Trade Show magazine.

The home show brings a bit of Main Street to Maine with a modular home set up on the grounds outside the show. The more than 24,000 people who usually attend the show may stroll through the home and experience what it would be like to live there.

Besides the modular home, an outdoor energy exhibit will display the services of the present and future. Other exhibits include home remodeling, kitchens and baths, interior and exterior decor, home entertainment, energy saving products, new construction, lawn, garden and financial services.

This year the home show will expand into the Civic Center and include exhibition space in the upper lobby. A food court also will be new this year.

Home show hours are: 5-9 p.m. Thursday, April 20; 1-9 p.m. Friday, April 21; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, April 22; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, April 23. Admission is $6, free to children under 12 accompanied by an adult. For information about the Bangor Home Show, call (800) 237-6024.

Record-keeping workshop

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension is sponsoring a record-keeping workshop for child-care professionals 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, at the Extension office, 307 Maine Ave.

The workshop will focus on the types of records a child-care business should keep. Topics will include direct and indirect expenses, types of income and basic record-keeping systems.

To register for the workshop, call the Extension office at 942-7396, or (800) 287-1485.

Keep Bangor Beautiful

Keep Bangor Beautiful is coordinating a volunteer effort to clean up the city to make it “Maine’s Cleanest City.”

Join the effort by meeting at 9 a.m. Saturdays at Java Joe’s on Central Street. For information, call 992-4183.

Book talk by Hileman

Bangor author J. Michael Hileman will visit Bangor Public Library at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 22, to talk about his book “Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods.” Hileman leads readers to another world, but is any of it real? Is the hero, Jason Tardin, trapped within a computer simulation, a dream or reality? Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Proclamation

The Bangor City Council issued a proclamation on April 10 proclaiming April 24 as Arbor Day in the city of Bangor.

In 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for planting trees. The first Arbor Day was observed in Nebraska and more than 1 million trees were planted. Arbor Day is now observed around the world.

Bradford

Horticultural award

A lifelong Maine journalist who spent his childhood summers helping to grow vegetables on a dairy farm in Bradford is now considered among the best of his profession. Paul Tukey of New Gloucester will be presented the highest honor in gardening journalism and broadcasting when the American Horticultural Society names him the 2006 winner of the Horticultural Communication Award.

Tukey, the host of a popular gardening program based on his magazine, People, Places & Plants, which airs on HGTV at 7 a.m. Sundays, is one of 12 outstanding members of the horticultural community who will be honored by the society during its Great American Gardeners Awards ceremony and banquet on June 2.

He is the third Maine recipient of the lifetime achievement award since the society began the awards in 1953. The other recipients were horticulturist Lewis Lipp in 1972 and hybridizer Currier McEwen in 1995.

After graduating from the University of Maine, he spent nine years as a sportswriter and newspaper editor, with critical acclaim. Tukey then followed his love of the outdoors into landscaping and founded his own company, Home ‘n Land, in the late 1980s. People, Places & Plants magazine, which he founded in 1995, combined both his passions of writing and gardening. He then became co-host of a television show with Roger Swain, another American Horticultural Society award winner, in 2002.

Tukey and his company have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to supporting the independent garden center. He also promotes environmentally friendly gardening, including a book on organic lawn care that is due out from Storey Publishing in 2007.

Bradley

Independence Day

The Independence Day parade and Community Fun Day committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, at the Viola Rand School. Local residents are cordially invited to attend.

Bucksport

Heritage Sunday

Heritage Sunday will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 23, at the North Bucksport United Methodist Church, 1147 River Road.

After the celebration, church memorabilia dating back to 1793 will be on display at the Arey Building across the road from the church. Refreshments will be served.

Castine

Woodwind concert

The MEla Ensemble, a woodwind trio featuring Midcoast professional performers, will present a concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Trinitarian Congregational Parish on Main Street.

The concert is sponsored by the Castine Arts Association. A $10 donation is suggested, and a reception will be held afterward.

The ensemble takes its name from the fact that all three musicians have studied and played in both Maine and Los Angeles – Kathleen McNurny, oboe; Kristen Finkbeiner, clarinet; and Wren Saunders, bassoon. They will be joined for part of the afternoon by pianist Anastasia Antonacos.

Features pieces will be “Divertissement” by Jean Francaix; “Cinq Pieces en trio” by Jacques Ibert; “Concert suite” by Ange Flegier; “Drei Romanzen” by Robert Schumann; and “Konzertstuck” by Felix Mendelssohn.

Glenburn

But Now I See’

Eric Nelson, portraying John Newton, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” will give a dramatic production, “But Now I See,” based on the hymn, at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, April 23, at the Glenburn Evangelical Covenant Church, 911 Hudson Road. For information, call 945-5460.

Hampden

Senior citizens’ concert

The Weatherbee School invites Hampden senior citizens to a luncheon and concert at noon Thursday, May 4. The concert will be performed by third-graders.

The lunch menu is roast pork and gravy, mashed potatoes, peas, applesauce, yeast rolls and a filled cookie for dessert. Those who wish to attend the event should call the school at 862-3254 before Friday, April 28.

“Memoranza”

A scrapbooking event sponsored by Creative Memories, “Memoranza,” will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at Reeds Brook Middle School. The cost is $25 in advance, or $30 the day of the event. The fee includes lunch and door prizes. Proceeds will benefit the Penobscot Area Special Olympics. Call Carol Ryan at 843-6077 to register.

Shower with Love

Shower with Love, a community service project organized by Paula Baines, is sponsoring a shower for My Choice in Bangor and a community diaper drive for the Oasis Food Pantry in Hampden.

My Choice provides emergency and transitional housing staffed by a supportive housemother for young women and children. The agency also provides clothing, food, and supplies for mothers and babies in residence and in the community.

The Oasis Food Pantry provides food to an average of 50 families each month in Hampden, Hermon, Bangor and other nearby towns.

Drop off donated items for the shower and the diaper drive through Saturday, May 6, at Hampden Curves, Main Road North. Items needed are diapers in all sizes, baby wipes, diaper rash ointment, baby shampoo, milk- and soy-based formula, blankets, bibs, pacifiers, clothing, new or gently used Pac ‘n Plays, baby monitors, toys, board books. Also needed for mothers are phone cards, note paper and gift cards from local stores.

For information about the shower and diaper drive, call Baines at 947-0087.

Orono

Orchid sale

The Eastern Maine Orchid Society will hold its spring orchid sale 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Roger Clapp Greenhouse, University of Maine.

Plants of many varieties, including complex hybrids, will be available. Society members will exhibit specimen plants and answer questions. Proceeds from the event benefit Eastern Maine Society projects. Call Mary Lou Hoskins at 848-5433 for information.

Food cooperative program

The Orono Area Food Cooperative will show a film about food cooperatives 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, at the Keith Anderson Community Center, 19 Bennoch Road. A discussion will follow the film. Speaker Mark McBrine will talk about a farm store he plans to open on Union Street in Bangor.

Talk on Israel Washburn

Kerck Kelsey, historian, author and descendant of one of Orono’s most prominent residents, will be the featured speaker in the fourth installment of the town’s Bicentennial Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20, in the Town Council chambers.

Kelsey wrote the biography, “Israel Washburn Jr.: Maine’s Little-Known Giant of the Civil War.” A Livermore native, Washburn came to Orono to practice law and later was elected to Congress, representing the Penobscot District. His “moderate stand on anti-slavery” added to his popularity, according to Kelsey’s biography.

By the mid-1850s, Washburn split from the Whig party and became one of the founders of the Republican Party. As governor of Maine, he was pivotal in mustering regiments for the Civil War. Washburn also built a stunning Greek Revival home on Main Street that is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Veazie

PTO yard sale

The Veazie PTO will hold a spring cleaning yard sale 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Veazie School gymnasium on School Street.

Furniture, household items, collectibles, toys, sporting goods and children’s clothing in good condition will be accepted for the yard sale 3-9 p.m. Friday, April 28, also at the school gym. Small trinkets and toys that children may buy with pocket change are especially wanted.

Those who wish may rent table space for $15 and sell their own goods.

Refreshments will be available for sale. Call Julia Emily Hathaway at 990-1313, or Amy Van Kirk at 990-3294 to obtain information.

Call for nominations

The Veazie Garden Club is seeking nominations for the fifth annual Veazie Community Improvement Award. The award is given each year to business, public or private organization that has made a significant improvement to a property in the town of Veazie, either through renovation or new construction, within the previous 12 months. Improvements to parks and other public outdoor areas within the community also will be considered. Private residences are not eligible.

Nominations may be submitted by any club member or resident of Veazie through Friday, May 5. Each nomination should include the owner’s name and the location of the property nominated; the name, address and phone number of the person submitting the nomination; and brief description of the improvements to the property that make it worthy of the award. The winner will be announced in June.

Past recipients of the award include Jackson Oil Co., Eastern Maine School of Self Defense, the Graham School Senior Housing and the Veazie Conservation Commission for the McPhetres Farm Forest Project.

Submit nominations to: The Veazie Garden Club, Community Improvement Award, c/o Barb Brown Dalton, President, 5 Black Bear Drive, Veazie 04401.