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Bangor

Auction at John Bapst

The public is invited to attend the fourth annual John Bapst Auction from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, in the school’s auditorium, 100 Broadway. Local media personality Paul Dupuis of Cumulus Media will be the guest auctioneer. Proceeds will benefit student academic, athletic and arts programs at John Bapst Memorial High School.

Hors d’oeuvres will be provided by John Bapst alumnus Paul Noonan, owner of New Moon Cafe, and a cash bar will be available.

John Bapst will offer for auction a large variety of unique and unusual items including many distinctive pieces for the home, camp or office. Many items will be available that will appeal to the more personal side of bidders. Additional items are being added daily, and the updated list may be viewed at www.johnbapst.org.

Tickets for the auction are $10 and may be obtained at the school or by calling 947-0313, ext. 115. Reserved tables for parties of eight will include recognition on the Bapst Web site and in the auction program. Corporate sponsorships also are available.

Basket bingo for Zonta

Bingo lovers throughout the Bangor area are in for a double treat if they attend the Basket Bingo sponsored by Zonta Club of Bangor at noon Sunday, May 7, at Rangeley Hall, Sylvan Road. Bingo games beginning at 1 p.m.

Baskets for the event are provided by a well-known, high-quality basket company. Each of the 18 basket prize packages is valued at more than $100. In addition 10 admission tickets for Penobscot Indian Bingo’s June event, worth $50 each, will be awarded. Participants are assured of a great chance of winning valuable prizes as well as an enjoyable afternoon.

Admission tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the door. Make reservations by calling Doris at 942-4322.

Zonta Club of Bangor will use profits from the event to help support a variety of local non-profit organizations and for local scholarships.

Bangor Band concert

The Bangor Band will perform its second annual spring memorial concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at All Souls Congregational Church.

Fred Goldrich will conduct the band. Musical selections will include “Trumpeter’s Lullaby,” music from “The King and I,” “On the Trail,” and other familiar band music.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Spring-O-Rama

The Children’s Miracle Network of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems invites the public to attend its eighth annual Spring-O-Rama 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Sprague’s Nursery and Garden Center, Outer Union Street.

Festivities include a bounce house, amazing creatures up close with Maine Discovery Museum’s Tony Sohns, Old MacDonald’s treasure trail, plant pot painting, seed planting, games, craft projects, and a petting zoo with baby bunnies, kittens, a calf and more. Admission is $2. Food, Ducks on the Pond, raffle and suncatcher painting have small extra fees.

Ladies conference

The Maine District Ladies Conference, will be held Friday and Saturday, May 5-6, at the Bangor Motor Inn Conference Center, 701 Hogan Road, according to representatives of Calvary Apostolic Church in Winterport. Registration is 6 p.m., worship service 7 p.m. Friday, May 5. Saturday’s program runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Karen Harding will be the guest speaker and singer. The cost of the event is $25.

Books, crafts and music will be available for sale. For more information, call the church at 223-5564.

Child care training

The Penquis CAP Resource Development Center will offer Weaving Diversity training for child care professionals 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 27, in the Story Room, Bangor Public Library. The session will prompt discussion about growing-up experiences and assumptions concerning those who are perceived to be different. The fee for the class is $15 and is not refundable. Current child care providers may apply for reimbursement of the fee. To register or for more information, call 973-3533.

Book talk

Bangor author Barbara Goldscheider will speak at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at the Bangor Public Library. She will discuss her novel, “Al-Naqba: The Catastrophe.” The author drew on her experiences as a former resident of Israel and her shock at the changes she found during her recent visits to the area when she was writing her novel.

While Goldscheider’s Israeli and Palestinian characters are fictional, her concern for the violence-torn region is real. In an interview with the Jewish Advocate she said, “I’m very frightened by the line that is being taken by Israel toward the Palestinian Arabs … this all really needs to stop. The only way to peace is when Israeli Jews realize that Palestinians are just like they are.”

Her book will be available for purchase and signing.

Earth Team volunteers

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is recognizing and honoring its Earth Team volunteers during National Volunteer Week, April 23-29.

In fiscal year 2005, more than 34,000 Earth Team volunteers nationally donated more than 938,000 hours to conservation. In Maine, 508 volunteers donated more than 13,400 hours.

The Earth Team Program, created in 1985, offers all types of opportunities to anyone over the age of 14 who is interested in volunteering and making a positive difference for the nation’s natural resources.

Earth Team Volunteers help NRCS conservationists provide everything from conservation technical assistance to teaching and generating awareness about conservation through community projects. Volunteers often can be found helping with projects impacting water quality, community beautification and erosion control.

In addition, Earth Team volunteers can work in NRCS offices providing clerical, computer and writing skills.

“We at the NRCS are proud of the dedicated volunteers and employees who have committed their time and talents to conserving and protecting soil, water and wildlife for their community and everyone in it,” said Joyce Swartzendruber, state conservationist for NRCS in Maine. “We hope that National Volunteer Week will motivate others to volunteer their time and talent to help NRCS and its mission as we continue Helping People Help the Land.”

Information on NRCS programs and assistance and the Earth Team volunteer program is available online at www.me.nrcs.usda.gov.

Walk for Peace

Busloads of Mainers will travel to New York on Saturday, April 29, for a rally for peace, justice and democracy. For those unable to travel to New York that day, there will be a solidarity Walk for Peace in Bangor beginning at 11 a.m. at Davenport Park at the corner of Main and Cedar streets.

Participants will walk to Eastern Maine Medical Center, three miles round trip or 1.5 miles one way.

Those interested in carpooling back from the hospital should call the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine at 942-9343. There will be signs, banners, flags and photos to carry.

solo slou

In her first public solo show, slou will present a series of provocative landscapes inspired by color and light during May at the Whig & Courier Pub, 18 Broad St., Bangor. Although simple in form and composition, each piece is a comical attempt to capture the ridiculousness of remembering a time and place. An opening reception will be held 6-8 p.m. Monday, May 1, at the pub. Call 947-4095 for more information.

Provocative films

The Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine will show two films at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at the center, 170 Park St.

“Fallujah: April 24, 2004,” a film by Japanese independent journalist Toshikuni Doi, documents the U.S. invasion of Fallujah and the conditions of the city under siege. “Caught in the Crossfire,” a joint production of Iraqi and American filmmakers, captures unreported perspectives of Iraqi civilians and was made to aid innocent civilian victims. The films showings are free and open the public. A discussion will follow. Call 942-9343 to obtain more information.

Bird talk

Ron Joseph will present “Birds and Birding” at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 4, in the Lecture Hall, Bangor Public Library. He will discuss the birds of woodland habitat, the rocky coats and the salt marshes of Maine.

Joseph is a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who leads many birding trips each spring. He will conduct a bird walk at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6, in the Bangor City Forest. Call 827-6099 for information.

Brewer

World Dance day

World Dance Day will be marked Saturday, April 29, when ordinary people all over the world will celebrate the art and fun of dancing. The Mainiac Swing Dance Society, a statewide nonprofit membership organization, will hold a series of partner dance workshops at Well Forms, 797 Wilson St. The workshops will be followed by an evening dance. Although partner dances will be taught, it is not necessary to bring a partner.

The afternoon workshop schedule is:

. Balboa basics, 2 p.m.

. Charleston variations, 3 p.m.

. West Coast swing intermediate, 4 p.m.

. Lindy hop for East and West Coast dancers, 5 p.m.

The cost if $5 per class for members, $6 others, all four classes $15 members, $20 others.

The evening schedule is:

. West Coast beginner, 7:30 p.m.

. Dance, 8:30-11 p.m.

Lesson and dance $10, dance only $8.

For information, call Abbie, 326-8022, or Linda, 368-5153.

Frankfort

Story time

Preschool story time is held 9:30-10:30 a.m. Tuesdays at the Waldo Peirce Reading Room. Children are invited to attend with a parent or caregiver to enjoy stories and activities. Library hours are 6-8 p.m. Monday, 9-11 a.m. Tuesday, 4-8 p.m. Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. Friday and 9-11 a.m. Saturday. For more information, call librarian Susan Rizza at 223-4438.

Hampden

Benefit yard sale

The Hampden Fire Department will hold its annual yard sale Friday and Saturday, April 28-29, at the Hampden Municipal Building, 106 Western Ave. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Those who wish to donate goods for the sale should call the Hampden Fire Department at 862-4586, or drop of the items at the municipal building. Arrangements may also be made to have the items picked up.

For more information, call Kim Mancini at 854-3749.

Holden

Art show

Artist Bob Magnus will exhibit watercolor paintings and photographs 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday, during May and June at Fields Pond Audubon Center, 216 Fields Pond Road.

Magnus’ work depicts Maine coastal landscapes – a lighthouse, an island, mountains, or sometimes a single leaf. His photographs frame beautiful scenes or show the beauty of the texture of rock formations. To learn more about the art show, call 989-2591.

Orono

Hearing Expo

Hearing Expo 2006 to mark Better Speech and Hearing Month will be held 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at 28 Dunn Hall, University of Maine. Adults may have their hearing screened, learn about what’s new in hearing aid technology, have their hearing aids checked and cleaned, and learn better ways to communicate.

The event is sponsored by the department of communication sciences and disorders and will be offered by the graduate students of the department. It is the only event of its kind in the United States and has been the subject of feature stories in national publications. More than 150 are expected to attend the Expo. The event is free.

To obtain more information or to request a free hearing screening, call 581-2009.

Craft show and sale

Orono Creates, a bicentennial arts and crafts show and sale, will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Asa Adams Elementary School gym in Orono. Admission is free.

Artists and Artisans Auction

The third annual Upward Bound Artist and Artisans Auction will take place 6-9:30 a.m. Friday, April 28, at the Penobscot Valley Country Club. The event will feature a silent auction, live auction, dinner and musical entertainment. The cost is $20, $35 couple, $120 reserved table of eight. The event benefits the Upward Bound scholarship program. To obtain more information, call 581-2522.

Hospital fundraiser

The Eastern Maine Medical Center Auxiliary will hold a fundraising reception at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 11, at the Maine

Center for the Arts. Funds raised from the reception will benefit the EMMC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and provide medical services and programs for newborns and children in northern, eastern and central Maine.

At the event, auxiliary past presidents will be honored. It will be followed by the performance of the award-winning musical “The Will Rogers’ Follies: A Life in Revue.” Call 973-5055 for ticket information about the reception.

Statewide

Spring rally

The Maine Association of Congregational Christian and Community Churches will hold its Spring Rally 2006 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at First Parish Church in Pownal. Guest speaker will be David Larson of International Students Inc. His topic will be “Christianity and Islam.”

Larson is International Students Inc. city director in Buffalo, N.Y., and the organization’s area director for western New York and Pennsylvania. He has served the organization for 15 years in Tucson, Ariz. and Buffalo.

Larson received a divinity degree from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Ind. In Tucson he specialized in ministry to Muslim students. He has participated in four series of Christian-Muslim dialogues. He is the author of “The Bible and Qur’an: Two Amazing Books,” which will be available for purchase at the rally.

For information, call Leigh Butler at Second Congregational Church in Brewer, 989-7930.