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Areawide

‘Touring Through Time’

“Touring Through Time,” a joint effort of 11 eleven historical societies and museums on the Blue Hill peninsula, will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 29-30, rain or shine, at the societies in Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Bucksport, Castine, Deer Isle-Stonington, Orland, Penobscot and Sedgwick-Brooklin. The Jonathan Fisher House in Blue Hill and the Wilson Museum in Castine also are participating.

In addition to regular exhibits, there will be special displays, demonstrations, walking tours and food.

Admission is free, but all of the groups welcome donations.

Special meals and refreshments include an ice cream social 2-4 p.m. Sunday, July 30, at the Orland Historical Society; crabmeat bag lunches beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Brooklin Keeping Society; and a bean-hole bean supper at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Penobscot Historical Society. There will be a modest charge for the meals in Brooklin and Penobscot.

On Sunday, the Rev. Mark Worth of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine will deliver a sermon on the first minister of the church, the Rev. Parson William Mason. The Reverend Lufkin of the First Baptist Church of Brooklin will lead a service structured to reflect the early 1900s.

Most of the historical societies have some type of genealogical section with information on earlier generations.

Touring Through Time offers residents and visitors a special opportunity to explore the entire Blue Hill Peninsula and learn more about the events and history that tie our communities together. The groups involved hope that Touring Through Time will become an annual event.

The occasion has been recognized by the state of Maine, which is providing a small grant through the Maine Tourism Marketing Partnership Program Fund to foster regional interpretive programs.

For additional information, contact the individual historical societies and museums or visit the Web site, www.bucksportbaychamber.com/touring.

Bangor

Art at the library

The Bangor Public Library will present “Four Questions,” artist Esther Taylor’s work in prismacolor, watercolor and ink during August in the Lecture Hall. Taylor is a member of Art in the Heart, an area art teacher’s organization.

Also during August in the Stairwell Gallery, photographer Don Powers of Orono will exhibit “My Mind’s Eye,” images depicting the simplicity of everyday surroundings.

Korean War observance

The Maine Korean War Veterans Association, Burton-Goode-Sargent Chapter 1, will hold a short service in observance of the 53rd anniversary of the signing of the Armistice in Korea on July 27, 1953.

The event will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 27, at the Korean War Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery, off Mount Hope Avenue, Bangor.

All veterans and members of the public are welcome to attend. The July meeting for chapter members will be held after the service.

For information, contact Marguerite Eckert at 825-3722.

Zonta service projects

Even though Zonta Club of Bangor does not hold business meetings during the summer, its members have been as active as ever performing local service projects.

One group of Zontians recently completed painting the interior of a large bunkhouse and its bathroom at Camp CaPella in Dedham.

In all, the crew amassed 72 service hours while taking advantage of the rainy weather. Their next project will be sprucing up a women’s room at Bangor Area Homeless Shelter in Bangor.

Meanwhile another group has been meeting weekly to create a stunning queen-size quilt which will be donated to Rape Response Services in Bangor. Almost 200 hours already have gone into this project as it nears completion.

Two members of Zonta Club of Bangor recently presented a free program to participants of the summer reading program at Bangor Public Library. They have another one scheduled in August as well.

Zonta International is a service organization of executives in business and the professions working together to advance the status of women worldwide.

At the club level, Zontians volunteer their time, talents and energy to local and international service projects. They work to promote legislative awareness, advocacy and equal rights in accordance with the objects of Zonta International. Zonta Club of Bangor was been active since it was chartered in 1930. To learn more, write Zonta Club of Bangor, P.O. Box 1904, Bangor, ME 04401-1904.

Commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima

A commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima will be held at noon Sunday, Aug. 6, beginning with the ringing of bells by local churches.

The public is invited to attend a “die in” at noon in Peirce Park next to the Bangor Public Library.

Participants will lie down to represent the 100,000 killed in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, l945; and the 70,000 killed in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, l945; and the tens of thousands who died of radiation poisoning or were blinded and maimed by the bombing in the years after.

The die-in will be followed by a roundtable discussion from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Connie Jenkins, who will talk about non-violent alternatives, will facilitate the discussion. Her talk will be held at the park, weather permitting, or at the Peace & Justice Center.

Jenkins will provide a brief overview and lead a discussion about future directions. The discussion will mark the end of the four-week rolling Bring the Troops Home Fast and will help explore opportunities for continuing ways to work to end the war in Iraq and promote nonviolent alternatives.

A program for children will follow the discussion at 3:30 p.m. with the reading of “Sadako and a Thousand Cranes” by Katie Greenman, and the folding of origami cranes. To learn more about ages appropriate for the reading, call the center at 942-9343.

Brewer

Historical society picnic

The Brewer Historical Society will not meet on Aug. 1, but will hold a potluck picnic at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, at the Clewley Museum, 199 Wilson St.

Orland

Lebanon, Libya trip talk

The public is invited to attend an ecumenical program about a trip made to Lebanon and Libya during the Easter season at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6, at the Orland Methodist Church, 24 Narramissic Drive. A social hour with dessert, music and pictures will take place at 6:30 p.m. before the talk. To obtain more information, call 469-3622 or 469-3714.

Orono

Potluck picnic for all ages

The University of Maine Page Farm and Home Museum is planning its annual potluck picnic for all ages 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, July 30. It will be a time for socializing, fun and games of old, including croquet, horseshoes, jump rope, relays and potato-sack races.

The free family event is part of the museum’s community outreach activities and programming designed to educate the public, and young people in particular, about lifestyles and customs of rural Maine for the period of 1865 through 1940.

The annual picnic usually attracts dozens of families, friends of the museum and others, said Page Farm and Home Museum director Patricia Henner. The event, being held rain or shine, is free. People are asked to bring a blanket or lawn chair, along with a dish, dessert or salad to contribute.

“This is a community picnic,” Henner said. “It’s pot luck. People can bring a traditional dish or something from a family recipe. It’s all about community.”

Activities for children include a demonstration by the Maine Antique Power Association, ice cream making, games and relays for children and adults, a soap-making demonstration, golden oldies music, a spinning and weaving demonstration and historic films in the one-room schoolhouse. The museum’s Farnsworth General Store also will be open for business.

The museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, for group tours, special hands-on programs and other educational and interactive events. More information is available by calling the Page Farm and Home Museum at 581-4100 or visit www.umaine.edu/pagefarm/.

Orrington

New postmaster

Linda Johnson Sewall will be installed as the new postmaster of Orrington at 1 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at the First United Methodist Church, 14 Center Drive. The oath of office will be administered by Susan S. Mills, manager, Post Office Operations for the U.S. Postal Service, District of Maine.

Sewall began her career 18 years ago as a postmaster relief in Bradley. Since then, she had served as a clerk on loan to the Old Town, Orono, Bangor, Brewer, Holden and Milford post offices, a PTF carrier in Old Town and PTF clerk in Milford. Other assignments have included officer in charge at the Bradley and Orono post offices.

In Orrington, Sewall will be responsible for one employee, handling the mail for 288 post office box deliveries. Sewall said her goal was to provide prompt and courteous service to Orrington and the surrounding communities.