For the fifth year, John and Sharon Walker cordially invite you to their annual plant swap.

That wonderful, neighborly event is 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, June 29, at their farm, Rocks Cry Out, located at 168 Pond Road in Dyer Brook.

Which, if you were on the other side of the road, Sharon Walker explained to me, would mean you were in Island Falls.

Apparently, when people refer to their place, Dyer Brook and Island Falls become interchangeable but, she assured me, “we live in Dyer Brook.”

The Walkers got the idea for this event after reading about a Massachusetts man who started a plant swap that grew so large it had to be relocated to a local school ground.

This is how the plant swap works.

“If people bring a plant, they can take home one or more for their own garden,” Walker said.

“We have everything from hardy shrubs to houseplants and tubers. A little bit of everything.

“We have probably more than 400 different variety of plants,” Walker said.

The Walkers are always finding “something different,” and have lots of “oddball things that need to be thrown away” that can, simply, be swapped.

“People just come, hang around the cookie table, talk, share ideas, walk through the gardens, hopefully, sign the guest book and come back,” she said.

The first time they hosted the swap, Walker said a 93-year-old woman reminded her of the importance of sharing, something that is not as common today as it was years ago.

“She had a 63-year-old woman with her,” Walker said, and the two “took a pitchfork, dug up what she wanted and took it home.”

Walker laughed recalling the delightful antics of those who come to the swap, remembering one woman who so wanted a plant being brought by another that “she chased the lady down the driveway before anyone else could see it.”

The Walkers have chopped peonies up in pieces and done just about anything to accommodate their faithful plant-swappers.

And, to top it off, there are cookies, lemonade and random door prizes.

“We don’t charge for anything,” Walker said.

“We feel the gods blessed us, and we are happy to share.”

For information about the plant swap, call the Walkers at 463-2300.

On behalf of the Down East Community Hospital Auxiliary, Lillian Hanscom invites the public to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening of the Auxiliary Gift Shop.

The event, co-hosted by the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and DECH, is 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, at the hospital, on Upper Court Street in Machias.

The SummerKeys’ Mary Potterton Memorial Concert series opens for the season with a performance by its founder and director, pianist Bruce Potterton, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, at Lubec Congregational Christian Church.

Potterton will present a program he performed this spring as a member of the faculty of Henry St. Settlement Music School and Turtle Bay Music School in New York City.

There is no charge to attend, but donations for the Piano Tuning Fund are appreciated and, for this concert, donations will also benefit the Quoddy Lighthouse.

This year, intermission refreshments will be offered by local business owners and representatives of nonprofit organizations.

Also, the Concert Boat is available to ferry concertgoers from Eastport to Lubec and back.

Call 853-2500 for information or to make a reservation for the Concert Boat.

Lee Blanchard Jack of Bangor reminds her classmates “there is still time to make your reservation for the 25th Reunion of Bangor High School Class of 1981.”

The event begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 8, at Spectacular Event Center, 395 Griffin Road in Bangor.

It features a dinner buffet, cash bar and music by Dana Wilson.

Also, a picnic lunch for alumni and families is planned for earlier in the day at Hayford Park on Thirteenth Street in Bangor.

If you want to make contact with class members and attend the reunion, call Jack at 945-4245 or e-mail Lmjbhs81@aol.com.

Norma Binan called to report the Etna Spiritualist Association begins its 130th Camp Meeting Saturday, July 1, at the Etna Campgrounds on Route 2 in Etna.

For information call the office at 269-2094 and leave a message to have printed information mailed to you, or visit www.CampEtna.com.

Binan said the meetings run each weekend now through Labor Day.

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