Today is the first day of Folic Acid Awareness Week, Cindy Ault of the March of Dimes office in Brewer reminds us.

The goal of Folic Acid Awareness Week is to help women of childbearing age understand and remember that taking a multivitamin with 400 micrograms of the B vitamin folic acid daily, starting before pregnancy begins, is an important way to help reduce the risk of birth defects.

The March of Dimes reports that taking folic acid daily can reduce defects of the brain or spine, called neural tube defects, by up to 70 percent. NTDs occur in the first weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant.

Because January is Birth Defects Prevention Month, Ault also urges women of childbearing age to consider following several other healthful lifestyle choices.

Among those choices are not smoking and avoiding secondhand smoke: not using alcohol and illegal drugs; having a preconception checkup and checking with a doctor before taking any medication including herbal products; and maintaining a healthful weight and eating a healthful diet.

To have a healthy baby, you also should reduce caffeine intake and avoid fish high in mercury, raw and undercooked meat, and unpasteurized juice and dairy products.

A diet of enriched grain products, fortified cereal, beans, orange juice and green, leafy vegetables also can give your baby a healthful start in life.

For more information, Ault urges a visit to www.marchofdimes.com, the National Birth Defects Prevention Network at www.nbdpn.org or the National Folic Acid Council at www.folicadicinfo.org.

Bangor Nature Club will hold its first meeting of the new year at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, at First Congregational Church on Church Street in Brewer.

Guest speaker Grayson Richmond will discuss Birdsacre wildlife sanctuary in Ellsworth.

Board member Ella Waitt reports that “guests and new members are most welcome” to attend this meeting.

Sally Bates, a development officer for the city of Bangor, wants readers to know that the city “is seeking public comment on a proposed plan for a waterfront park in the currently undeveloped green space” that it owns between the railroad tracks and the Penobscot River.

Comments would be appreciated at one of two public meetings: noon to 1:30 p.m. or 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, in Bangor City Council chambers.

Among the presenters will be city officials and Pam Shadley, a principal of Shadley Associates, the landscape architectural firm that prepared the plan.

Bates added that “members of the general public are encouraged to attend.”

Staff of the Bangor Public Library report that participants in this month’s Penobscot Reads Program are enjoying Gerard Robichaud’s novel “Papa Martel.”

Participating libraries, besides Bangor, are: Orono Public Library, Old Town Public Library and Edythe Dyer Community Library in Hampden.

A highlight of the January program will be the appearance of Betsy Paradis of the Belfast Public Library, who will discuss Franco-American genealogy at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the lecture hall of Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St.

Also at the Bangor library, visitors will find displays of French history and culture, as well as books about the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, the time period during which “Papa Martel” is set.

Check with staff of the other libraries to learn about programs related to Penobscot Reads.

To participate in Penobscot Reads, you can obtain a schedule and more information at any of the participating libraries.

More information is available by visiting www.bpl.lib.me.us and clicking on Penobscot Reads.

Phyllis Cohn, communications director for AARP Maine, passed along information that the application deadline for the annual AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 list is Thursday, Feb. 22.

Any employer based in the United States with at least 50 employees is eligible to apply for the program, including for-profit companies, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and local, state and federal governments.

The AARP Best Employers program rewards innovative organizations that offer policies and features that appeal to workers age 50 and over, including flexible work options, training-learning opportunities, competitive health and retirement benefits, and age-neutral performance and appraisal systems.

Among the employers honored last year was L.L. Bean, the first Maine winner.

To apply before the February deadline, visit www.aarp.org/bestemployers.

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