Bangor

Literacy Volunteers

Volunteers interested in helping adults improve their reading or English speaking skills are encouraged to become involved in Literacy Volunteers of Bangor.

Interested volunteers are invited to take a one-hour “Intro to Literacy” overview to learn general information about literacy programming and tutor expectations before to enrolling in the certification tutor training course.

Several times and dates are available this fall for the “Intro to Literacy” class:

. 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12.

. Noon-1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18.

. 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17.

. Noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25.

All are offered at United Technologies Center at 200 Hogan Road in Bangor. To register, call 947-8451. For more information about Tutor Training Courses visit www.lvbangor.org

LV-Bangor is an organization that links volunteer tutors with adults who either want to improve their reading or are learning English. People interested in improving their reading or learning English can contact LV-Bangor at 947-8451 for more information about how to get a tutor.

Self-esteem class

A four-session class, “Self-Esteem For Women,” will be offered by Women, Work and Community from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday and Thursday, Sept. 5, 7, 12 and 14 at the agency.

The focus will be on sources of self-esteem and how to encourage, not discourage oneself.

Preregistration is required. To register, or to obtain information about this and other training, call 262-7842. Space is limited.

Before- and after-school child care

When kids go back to school, parents often have to juggle their schedules to meet the needs of their work and family.

Parents needing child care in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties can turn to the Penquis CAP Child Care Resource Development Center for help in locating before-school, after-school, full- or part-time child care.

This free service can be accessed by phone or through the Internet. The online search tool is located on the Penquis CAP Web site at www.penquiscap.org – click on the Resource Development Center icon.

Basic and advanced searches are available to help parents locate providers that meet the needs of their children and families. Parents also may call the Resource Development Center at (888) 917-1100 or visit 262 Harlow St.

In addition to helping parents locate child care, the RDC can provide information on the various types of child care and how to select child care; types of subsidies or tax credits or Dependent Care Assistance Programs available to families; and other consumer education based on the age of the child and any special circumstances.

The Penquis CAP Resource Development Center, funded by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, promotes quality and accessible child care services in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.

It also provides training and technical assistance to child care providers; and education and support to employers, schools and communities. The Resource Development Center is a member of MRDC Inc., Maine’s Network of Child Care Resource Development Centers and the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.

Space simulation missions

The Challenger Learning Center of Maine is offering space simulation missions to the general public.

Missions will be offered at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug 18. Participants will experience what’s required to complete a successful mission as they work on a team as astronauts, scientists and engineers to “Rendezvous with a Comet.”

The mission is open to adults and children ages 10 and up. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Admission is $18, $15 for children. Reservations are required. Call 990-2900 or visit www.clcofme.org/about/contact/.

Camp meeting

Glad Tidings Church will hold its annual camp meeting Friday through Sunday, Aug. 25-27, at the church, 1033 Broadway. Speakers are:

. Pastor Ron Morris, “Lift Your Shield,” 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25.

. The Rev. Myles Holmes and his wife, Valerie, “Reveal the Cross and Shine!” 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26.

. The Rev. Myles Holmes, “Sword,” 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug, 27.

. Evangelist Easton Gobourne, who ministers in music and the Word, 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27.

The event is open to the public. For more information, call Dixie at 947-0324, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Dinner and silent auction

Westgate Manor will sponsor the annual spaghetti dinner and silent auction to benefit the Maine Alzheimer’s Association 4:30-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at the Bangor Elks Club, 108 Odlin Road. The cost is $5, $2.50 children under 10.

New and gently used items, except clothing, are needed for the silent auction. Those who wish to make donations should call Sandy Inman at 942-7336.

The Maine Alzheimer’s Association is also gearing up for its annual Memory Walk taking place Saturday, Oct. 7, in 14 locations throughout Maine, including Bangor.

Participating in the walk is as easy as forming a team with family, friends or co-workers, or taking part as an individual. Teams or individuals set fundraising goals and e-mail contacts to ask them to join in and provide support. The funds raised in the walk remain in Maine and support programs and services available through the Maine chapter.

Since 1989 the Memory Walk has raised more than $200 million to help in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

Nearly 30,000 Mainers are affected by Alzheimer’s.

To learn more about Memory Walk and to register online, visit www.mainememorywalk.kintera.org or call 942-7336.

School supplies

More than 500 children throughout Central Maine have already applied for school supplies at Manna Ministries. Many families struggle to buy school clothing for growing children, put food on the table and pay fuel bills. Manna is requesting donations of backpacks, three-ring binder notebooks, lined paper, colored pencils, index cards, protractors and rulers.

Drop off donated items 8 a.m.-6 p.m. any day of the week at 629 Main St. To obtain more information, call Manna at 990-2870.

Vouchers for child care

Penquis Community Action Program is accepting applications for child care vouchers. Vouchers help parents who are working or going to school pay for child care expenses. A family of two may earn up to $34,447, and a family of four may earn up to $50,657 to qualify for assistance.

Vouchers may be used in a variety of child care settings, including family child care, child care centers and friend or relative child care, if the care giver passes the state background checks.

Call the Voucher Program at 973-3534 for more information and to request an application, or print and download an application at www.penquiscap.org.

Castine

French, American music

Lyric soprano Amy Burton and composer-pianist John Musto of New York City will bring a lively program of French and American music to Castine at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, at the Trinitarian Congregational Parish, 68 Main St.

The program will feature works by Poulenc, Messager, Hahn, Edith Piaf and Louiguy, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin and Noel Coward. Tickets are $20, available at the Wilson Museum or at the door.

Amy Burton, with her flair for acting and keen sense for comedy, enjoys a busy career on stage and in opera, both internationally and at home.

Burton has recorded for Angel/EMI/Albany Records, Harbinger and CRI.

John Musto, award-winning composer and pianist, “is regarded as one of the most versatile musicians before the public today,” one critic wrote. A finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize, winner of two Emmys and two CINE awards, a Rockefeller Fellow at Bellagio, Italy, and a frequent guest lecturer at the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, Musto serves as composer-in-residence at the Caramoor Festival for the 2005-06 season. He has recorded extensively.

Orono

Talk on Orono history

Wayne Reilly, a Bangor Daily News history columnist, is the next featured speaker in the Orono Bicentennial Lecture series.

Reilly will present “A Snapshot of Orono” from local, national and world news reports of 100 years ago. The lecture will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, in the Orono Town Council Chambers.

Reilly graduated from Bowdoin College and the University of Missouri graduate school with a master’s degree in journalism. He worked for the Bangor Daily News for 28 years as a reporter, an editorial writer and an assignment editor.

His freelance work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers. He has won many journalism and civic awards for his reporting and writing. He taught high school English for five years and has taught journalism courses at the University of Maine and Husson College.

Reilly has edited two books, “Sarah Jane Foster: Teacher of the Freedmen” and “The Diaries of Sarah Jane and Emma Ann Foster: A Year in Maine During the Civil War.” He writes a weekly Maine history column for the Bangor Daily News. He and his wife, Karen, have lived in Hampden for 30 years where they raised three children.

The Orono Bicentennial Lecture series is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council. For more information on bicentennial events, visit www.orono2006.com.