Everyone is welcome to attend Garden Gathering ’06 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at Rogers Farm on Bennoch Road in Orono. The farm is located between Stillwater Avenue and Route 43.

Barbara Bowler reports the event, sponsored by Penobscot County Master Gardeners, University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Maine Experiment Station, will be held rain or shine.

Among the gardening programs will be a demonstration of how to make your own garden statuary or pottery with Steve and Teresa Wong of Smith’s Ceramics.

You can learn about alpine gardens, flower arranging, perennial propagating, bugs and the hottest new garden trends while you are there.

Admission is $5 for families, $3 for individuals and free for children under 12.

Supervised, fun activities for children, food and entertainment are all part of the event, and everyone will get a kick out of the musical and comedic entertainment of the Beecher Boys and Girls Hillbilly Band.

You can shop at the Garden Bazaar for new or gently used garden-related items, books and magazines, and participate in a question-and-answer session about plant pests and diseases.

A small, backyard greenhouse and a handmade potting bench will be raffled, and you will certainly enjoy touring the gardens of Rogers Farm.

A special treat is in store for members of the Bangor Troop Greeters and Cole Land Transportation Museum volunteer veterans, reports Greeter Bill Knight.

Moosehead Marine Museum, American Legion Post #94 and the town of Greenville are hosting the Greeters for a twilight cruise Friday, Aug. 18, aboard the historic steamship Katahdin on Moosehead Lake.

Knight wrote the cruise was organized to express the gratitude of the people of the Moosehead Lake Region for the dedicated services of these individuals.

Our Bangor International Airport Troop Greeters meet incoming and outgoing troops at all hours on a daily basis to show them our support, and the museum volunteers meet with students to help them understand the sacrifices that generations of veterans have made to maintain our freedom.

The Katahdin, used until 1975 as a tow boat to haul booms of logs, participated in the last log drive and was designated a National Historic Landmark.

The Orono Bicentennial Celebration “Everything Floats” Parade on the Stillwater River begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at the Steam Plant parking lot on College Avenue on the University of Maine campus, ending at Webster Park.

Later that evening, a Bicentennial Fireworks Celebration begins at approximately 8:30 p.m., in the area of Orono High School.

The 94th Number 10 Schoolhouse annual Old Home Picnic is at noon Saturday, Aug. 19, at the schoolhouse in Dexter.

Judy Wilbur Clark reminds attendees to bring a dish, desserts, or vegetables as well as family stories to share.

Orono Boosters Club President Teddi Covell invites all high school students to enjoy a Bicentennial Fireworks High School Dance beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, outdoors at the hockey rink behind Orono High School.

The dance features a disc jockey, and “all area high school students are welcome to enjoy a front row seat to the fireworks,” from the dance site Covell said.

Admission to the dance is $3, and refreshments will be provided.

Proceeds benefit the work of the Orono Boosters Club.

Hancock County Genealogical Society encourages the public to attend its next meeting and hear internationally known DNA scholar Dr. Thomas Roderick address the gathering at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, in the Riverview Room of Ellsworth Public Library, 20 State St.

Society president Patti Leland reports Roderick will discuss how genetics can be used as a tool in genealogical research, adding that “through DNA it is possible to learn what surname lines you do and do not connect in to, plus much more.”

For more information about this meeting, call Leland at 276-5305 or e-mail pattileland@adelphia.net.

Jun Zhu, a visiting professor at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, will present an illustrated talk on his hometown of Dalian, China, at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at Wilson Museum, 120 Perkins St. in Castine.

His talk is titled, “The City of Dalian, China, In My View.”

Dalian is a port city on Liaodong Peninsula in northeast China.

Zhu will discuss the changes he has witnessed in the city and region during his 20-plus years as a resident there.

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