Recovered Y-Players ready to take ‘Opry’ stage

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One of the area’s favorite annual productions comes your way, starting this week, with the “Grand Ol’ Opry” and a “Godspel Gathering,” directed by Pam Martin, accompanied by 94-year-old Anna Wareing, and starring the beloved Y-Players.

Martin wrote that this year’s production of the “Portia Wagoner Show with special guests Minnie Pearls and Patsy Kline, special appearances by Tammy Whynot and everyone’s favorite good ol’ boy, Willie Nellson … is gonna be swell.”

All but one performance will be at the Bangor Y on Second Street, and admission is by donation only.

The show premieres at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, and the remaining performances will be at 7 p.m. Friday, May 19; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 21; 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 30; 7 p.m. Friday, June 2; and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 4; the final performance will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 25, at the Old Town Museum on Main Street.

If ever there was a cast that might not like to hear the usual pre-performance comment “break a leg,” it is this one.

Martin wrote that Wareing hurt her back, so the first week of shows was postponed to accommodate her recovery; another star has recovered from a heart attack, and others have recovered from a knee replacement, a fall, three broken ribs, a kidney removal, bypass surgery, “a trip to Japan and just one thing after another.”

“But,” Martin added of the not-so-young performers, “we are on the mend and will be doing our show.”

May 14-20 is National Women’s Health Week, and Gov. John Baldacci has proclaimed this to be Women’s Health Week.

In observance of that focus, various services are available to area women.

Gaile Nicholson of Katahdin Valley Health Center reports KVHC will offer free blood sugar and blood pressure screenings to women of all ages from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on the following days at these KVHC locations: Tuesday, May 16, 30 Houlton St., Patten; Thursday, May 18, 180 Aroostook Ave., Millinocket, and 1300 Crystal Road, Island Falls; and Friday, May 19, 59 Bangor St. in Houlton.

Walk-ins are welcome, and no appointment is necessary.

For The Penquis Breast and Cervical Health Coalition, Mary Ellen Pedersen reports it is sponsoring Women’s Breast and Cervical Health Screening Days on Monday, May 15, in Bangor; Tuesday, May 16, in Millinocket; and Wednesday, May 17, in Dover-Foxcroft and Lincoln.

The screenings are for women 40-64 who meet generous income guidelines and have a high insurance deductible or have no health insurance.

The screening includes a mammogram, pap and pelvic exam, and clinical breast exam.

Registration is required. Call (800) 350-5180 for your appointment.

The Three Sport Challenge, to benefit Eastern Maine Medical Center’s CancerCare of Maine and children’s cancer services, begins Monday, May 15, and runs for two hours each night for three weeks.

Civic groups, organizations and high schools are encouraged to form teams to participate in dodge ball, ultimate frisbee and soccer.

The entry fee is $200 per team. More details are available by calling the sponsors, All Pro Sports Center in Waterville, 877-6666, or Bouchard Sports Center in Hampden, 862-5634.

Mary Marin Lyon, executive director of Literacy Volunteers of Bangor, reports individuals interested in English Language Learners Tutor Training must call 947-8451 by Monday, May 15, to register for the 18-hour course.

The course will be taught 6-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, May 16, 18, 23, 25, 30 and June 1, at United Technologies Center on Hogan Road in Bangor.

Course materials are $20, and scholarships are available.

Michael Povich, president of the Ellsworth High School Alumni Association, reports its annual meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, in the high school auditorium.

Recipients of the 2006 scholarships will be announced, and the Ellsworth Middle School Show Choir will perform.

A spaghetti supper precedes the meeting in the cafeteria. Tickets are $5 and are available at First National Bank of Bar Harbor, Larry’s Bakery, and from any association director or at the door.

Povich invites alumni, parents, friends and guests to attend.

“Get Real,” an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival 1999, is the third in the free film series sponsored by the Welcoming Congregation Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor.

The showing will be at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 17, in the church vestry, 120 Park St.

The coming-of-age, coming-out film stars Ben Silverstone and Brad Gorton, and is rated R.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.