Bangor

Wildflower walk

The Bangor Land Trust will be the host for a free wildflower walk at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at Walden-Parke Preserve. Participants will look for and learn about wildflowers. Dick Andren will lead the walk.

From Essex Street, take a right on Walden-Parke Way, then right on Tamarack Trail. Park at the end of the road near the BLT sign. For more information, call Chandra McGee at 942-1010, or Lucy Quimby at 935-3675 or 356-5954.

USDA open house

BANGOR – An open house for the new Penobscot County USDA Service Center was held on June 14 at 1423 Broadway.

Offices of the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rural Development, Heart of Maine Resource Conservation and Development, and Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District are located at the new Service Center.

Blue Star Mothers

Mothers of children who are serving or have served the United States in any branch of the military are invited to meet at 7 p.m. the second Monday of the month at the Maine Veterans Home, 44 Hogan Road. For more information, call Ellen Sweeney-Celli at 989-4720 or e-mail mainearmymom@hotmail.com.

Bucksport

Craft, activity donations

Challenging Choices is a teen enrichment program for youth in grades six through 12. In addition to offering activities during the school year, Challenging Choices will offer a summer program with a variety of activities.

Because the program has limited funding, organizers are seeking donations to help keep costs down so that all children can attend the activities.

Items needed include 11/2 to 2-yard pieces of cotton material, use of sewing machines, thread, sewing scissors, glass beads and other jewelry supplies, scrap-booking supplies, cooking supplies, yarn, board games, books on card games and gift certificates to a variety of stores.

To obtain information or to schedule a donation pickup, contact Barb Ames at 469-6682 or e-mail Barbara.ames@bucksportbayhealth.org

Glenburn

Sewing machine winner

Evelyn Caruso of Glenburn was the lucky winner of a sewing machine, her name drawn from a pool of entries when she participated in a statewide quilt shop hop in April.

She and her sister, Lori-Ann Knowles, and her aunt, Mildred Kinens of Hudson, spent five days visiting participating quilt shops from Caribou to Cape Neddick. Caruso also was the winner of a quilting DVD offered as a door prize at a quilt shop in Caribou.

Hampden

Pilgrimage fundraiser

A bake sale, car wash, bottle drive and yard sale will be held 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 23, at St. Matthew’s Parish, Western Avenue. The event will support Pilgrimage 2007.

This summer nearly 100 youth and adults from the parishes of St. Gabriel’s in Winterport, St. Matthew’s in Hampden and St. Teresa’s in Brewer will go on pilgrimage to Quebec and Montreal to visit religious shrines and other places of worship, including Notre Dame du Cap and Sacred Heart Shrine of Beauvoir.

Levant

Home Ownership Month

A replacement home made a dream come true for Eleanor Knowlton, 70, of Levant on June 14. Her previous home was a tarpaper shack. The event was part of USDA Rural Development’s National Homeownership Month celebration.

In addition to celebrating Knowlton’s new home, the event was an opportunity to recognize partners involved in the project and to increase public awareness about programs available to assist Mainers in attaining the “American Dream” of home ownership.

Knowlton’s new home was built adjacent to the old house, which will be torn down.

The new home was made possible by partners including Rural Development, Penquis CAP, MaineHousing, Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Energy.

Attending the event were USDA Rural Development staff members Jim Fitzgerald, chief of staff; Michael Aube, state director; Valarie Flanders, assistant state director; Raymond Roberts III, area director; Emily Cannon, pubic affairs specialist; Carlton Pinney of Penquis CAP; Bill Burney of HUD; Gail McBride, MaineHousing; Levant Town Manager Scott Pullen; and representatives of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud.

Knowlton was presented with the “Key to Home Ownership” and a U.S. flag.

Orland

Work day on the trails

Join Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust 8 a.m.-noon Sunday, June 24, for a trail work day in the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands. Meet at 8 a.m. at the south gate on Route 1, just south of Route 176.

Bring work gloves and one or more of these: spades, rakes, loppers, pruners or bow saws. Don’t forget bug spray, sun screen, water and snacks.

Work on the Hillside Trail on Oak Hill will include raking leaves, moving brush, shoveling and spreading gravel and moving rocks. Painting pre-cut blazes will provide a task for those who aren’t up for a lot of exertion.

Finishing the last stretch of this multi-use trail completes a loop for hiking, biking and horseback riding. If time permits, work may begin on East Ridge Path to create a hiking loop on Oak Hill.

For information, call Scott Bennett at 825-4709 or e-mail scottcom36@adelphia.net.

Orono

Poetry Slam in the bog

Holly Twining, Fields Pond Audubon naturalist, will be the leader of some fast-paced fun with poetry and nature 9-11 a.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Orono Bog Boardwalk.

The group will tour the bog boardwalk with a keen eye and creative mind. Pausing at interesting places, participants will have a go at timed free-writing exercises and then share their scribbling. Sharing is not required. Some of the writing will be used to create a small booklet of poems for the participants.

The event is for adults and children age 10 and up. The cost is $8 Audubon members, $10 others. Meet at the trail head of the Orono Bog Boardwalk in Bangor City Forest. Call 989-2591 or e-mail htwining@maineaudubon.org to register.

Library annual concert

The Orono Public Library will present its annual concert, featuring Julie Monroe and The Bug Boys, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 21, in Webster Park.

Monroe is a music teacher for 18 child-care programs. Her band, The Bug Boys, features entomologists Don Berry on drums and Clay Kirby on bass. Professors Jim and Laura Artesani also play with the band.

The concert is free and sponsored by the Friends of Orono Public Library and the Orono-Old Town Kiwanis.

The Friends of the Orono Library will be on hand to sell hot dogs, baked goods and balloons. Donations of baked goods will be accepted on the day of the concert. Proceeds from sales will benefit library programs.

In case of rain the concert will be held at Asa Adams Elementary School. For more information, call the library at 866-5060.

Prospect, Verona

Pictorial postmark

The U.S. Postal Service will offer a special pictorial postmark at the Penobscot Narrows BridgeFest Dedication 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, June 23, on the Prospect and Verona ends of the old bridge.

The special pictorial postmark, which features a line drawing of the bridge along with the words Penobscot Narrows BridgeFest Dedication Station and the date, marks the dedication event.

Having a postcard or envelope marked with the pictorial postmark is a great way to take home an inexpensive souvenir of this important and fun-filled event.

The Penobscot Narrows BridgeFest celebration is a two-town event, full of family fun on both ends of the bridge and includes a shoreside festival filled with other vendors and exhibitors.

Stillwater

Plant diseases, insect pests

A panel discussion on plant diseases and insect pests will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 26, at Rogers Farm. Visitors are encouraged to come early and tour the gardens.

Jim Dill, Extension pest management specialist; Bruce Watt, Extension plant pathologist; Lois Stack, Extension horticulture specialist; Phil Stack, research entomologist; and Stephanie Burnett, assistant professor of horticulture; experts on pests and plant diseases, will comprise the panel.

Entomology research associate Alejandro Arevalo will discuss the appearance of the European red ant in Maine. The European red ant, often confused with the imported fire ant which is doing extensive damage in Florida, Georgia and other southern states, is somewhat less aggressive than the true fire ant but does present problems, which Arevalo will discuss. He will describe his research project designed to study and control the pest.

The event will be held rain or shine. It is the first of the summer series, “Public Nights at the Garden.”

The second meeting, “Moon, Tune, Croon,” features music and readings to celebrate the July full moon and will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 24.

“Something Old, Something New” will feature new and unusual plants along with some old favorites at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24.

These events will be held rain or shine.

Rogers Farm is located at 914 Bennoch Road in Stillwater. The demonstration garden features plots maintained by the volunteers of the Master Gardener program, a program of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service. The garden is open every day from dawn ’til dusk.

For more information about the Demonstration Garden, the Master Gardeners program or the Public Nights at the Garden series, call the Extension Service 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays at 942-7396 or (800) 287-1485.

Statewide

Silver and Gold Mass

PORTLAND – A Silver and Gold Mass will be celebrated for couples who are celebrating their 25th, 40th, 50th, 55th, 60th, 65th, 70th or 75th wedding anniversaries at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 30.

Bishop Richard J. Malone, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, will celebrate the Mass.

There will be a reception following the service and couples will have the opportunity to have their pictures taken with the bishop. No prior arrangements are necessary.

For more information, contact Bill Wood at Catholic Charities Maine Family Life Institute, 871-1130 or 1-800-CARE-002, ext. 772.